Retrieval of Particle Size Distribution of Polar Stratospheric Clouds Based on Wide-Angle Color and Polarization Analysis

Abstract

The intensive polar stratospheric vortex in the Arctic that shifted to northern Europe in the winter of 2019-2020 caused low temperatures and the frequent occurrence of polar stratospheric clouds followed by a significant decrease in the total ozone content. Polarimetry and multi-color photometry using all-sky cameras in Lovozero (Murmansk Region, Russia, 68.0 deg N, 35.1 deg E) together with a new method of cloud field separation against the twilight background allowed for finding the light scattering characteristics related to the particle size distribution of polar stratospheric clouds. The results are compared with lidar and balloon experiments. The conditions of the appearance of visually bright polar stratospheric clouds of type I are discussed.

arXiv comment15 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Planetary and Space Science

References in corpus (4)

• Noctilucent Clouds Polarimetry: Twilight Measurements in a Wide Range of Scattering Angles
• Noctilucent Cloud Particle Size Determination based on Multi-Wavelength All-Sky Analysis
• Polarization Analysis and Probable Origin of Bright Noctilucent Clouds with Large Particles in June 2018
• Mesosphere Study by Wide-Field Twilight Polarization Measurements: First Results beyond the Polar Circle

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Cross-Wave Profiles of Altitude and Particle Size of Noctilucent Clouds in the Case of One-Dimensional Small-Scale Gravity Wave Pattern