Light Scattering by Irregularly Shaped Particles

This volume contains most of the invited papers presented at the International Workshop on Light Scattering by Irregularly Shaped Particles held on June 5-7, 1979. at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA). Over seventy participants representing many dis ciplines convened to define some of the ever-increasing number of resonant light-scattering problems associated with particle shape and to relate their most recent investigations in this field. It is obvious from the two introductory papers that an investi gator's primary discipline determines his/her approach to the light scattering problem. The meteorologist, Diran Deirmendjian, advocates an empirical methodology: to model the scattering by atmospheric aerosols, using equivalent spheres as standards, in the most effi cient and simplest manner that is consistent with remote sensing, in situ, and laboratory· data. Because of the almost infinite variety of particle shapes, he questions not only the possibility but even the usefulness of the exact solution of scattering by a totally arbitrary particle. The astrophysicist, J. Mayo Greenberg, is primarily concerned with the information content carried by the scattered light because this radiation is the sole clue to under standing the nature of interstellar dust. What measurements (polar ization, color dependence, etc ••• ) should be made to best determine a given particle characteristic (size, surface roughness, refractive index, etc ••• )? Thus, he considers the physics of the scattering process to be of paramount interest.