Light scattering on hexagonal ice columns

Light scattering on finite dielectric cylinders having noncircular cross sections has become of growing importance in remote sensing applications. For analyzing their scattering characteristics at moderate size parameters, i.e., at a region where ray-tracing techniques fail, a few methods have been developed, among which an approximation based on the generalized separation-of-variables method has become very successful. This approach reveals two interesting features, which we discuss, that reduce the numerical effort drastically if applied to hexagonal boundary surfaces. Finally, some results for the phase function of hexagonal ice columns are given