Spectral and depolarization ratios for atmospheric ice particles of hexagonal and arbitrary shape within the framework of the physical optics and discrete dipoles

The optical characteristics of atmospheric ice particles are usually calculated within the framework of the physical optics approximation, since particle sizes generally vary from 10 to 1000 microns. However, the results of experimental measurements show that ice crystals up to 10 microns in size are observed in cirrus clouds of the upper tier. The report presents a solution to the problem of light scattering for particles, obtained in the framework of the methods of the physical optics and discrete dipoles. Based on the solution, such important optical characteristics as depolarization and spectral ratios were calculated. Two limiting cases are considered: ideal hexagonal particles and randomly shaped particles