Scattering properties of singular and aggregate atmospheric hexagonal ice particles

This paper presents the results of calculating and analyzing the light scattering matrix of aggregates of atmospheric hexagonal ice particles located in cirrus clouds. Two types of basic particle shapes for aggregates are considered: a hexagonal column and a hexagonal plate. For both forms, two types of particle arrangement in aggregates were chosen: compact and non-compact. As a result, 4 sets of aggregates were built: compact hexagonal columns, non-compact hexagonal columns, compact hexagonal plates, and non-compact hexagonal plates. Each set consists of 9 aggregates differing in the number of particles in them, and the particles in each individual aggregate have the same shape and size, but different spatial orientation. The light scattering matrices for all aggregates were calculated for the case of arbitrary orientation in the geometric optics approximation. Dependences of the first element of the matrix on the number of particles in aggregate, with different types of particle arrangement, and for two types of shapes are give