On geometric optics and surface waves for light scattering by spheres

A geometric optics approach including surface wave contributions has been developed for homogeneous and concentrically coated spheres. In this approach, a ray-by-ray tracing program was used for efficient computation of the extinction and absorption cross sections. The present geometric-optics surface-wave (GOS) theory for light scattering by spheres considers the surface wave contribution along the edge of a particle as a perturbation term to the geometric-optics core that includes Fresnel reflection–refraction and Fraunhofer diffraction. Accuracies of the GOS approach for spheres have been assessed through comparison with the results determined from the exact Lorenz–Mie (LM) theory in terms of the extinction efficiency, single-scattering albedo, and asymmetry factor in the size–wavelength ratio domain. In this quest, we have selected a range of real and imaginary refractive indices representative of water/ice and aerosol species and demonstrated close agreement between the results computed by GOS and LM. This provides the foundation to conduct physically reliable light absorption and scattering computations based on the GOS approach for aerosol aggregates associated with internal and external mixing states employing spheres as building blocks. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.