National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Publication Abstracts

Liu et al. 2008

Liu, L., M.I. Mishchenko, and W.P. Arnott, 2008: A study of radiative properties of fractal soot aggregates using the superposition T-matrix method. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 109, 2656-2663, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2008.05.001.

We employ the numerically exact superposition T-matrix method to perform extensive computations of scattering and absorption properties of soot aggregates with varying state of compactness and size. The fractal dimension, D_f, is used to quantify the geometrical mass dispersion of the clusters. The optical properties of soot aggregates for a given fractal dimension are complex functions of the refractive index of the material m, the number of monomers NS, and the monomer radius a. It is shown that for smaller values of a, the absorption cross section tends to be relatively constant when D_f < 2 but increases rapidly when D_f > 2. However, a systematic reduction in light absorption with D_f is observed for clusters with sufficiently large N_S, m, and a. The scattering cross section and single-scattering albedo increase monotonically as fractals evolve from chain-like to more densely packed morphologies, which is a strong manifestation of the increasing importance of scattering interaction among spherules. Overall, the results for soot fractals differ profoundly from those calculated for the respective volume-equivalent soot spheres as well as for the respective external mixtures of soot monomers under the assumption that there are no electromagnetic interactions between the monomers. The climate-research implications of our results are discussed.

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@article{li05400j,
  author={Liu, L. and Mishchenko, M. I. and Arnott, W. P.},
  title={A study of radiative properties of fractal soot aggregates using the superposition T-matrix method},
  year={2008},
  journal={J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer},
  volume={109},
  pages={2656--2663},
  doi={10.1016/j.jqsrt.2008.05.001},
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - li05400j
AU  - Liu, L.
AU  - Mishchenko, M. I.
AU  - Arnott, W. P.
PY  - 2008
TI  - A study of radiative properties of fractal soot aggregates using the superposition T-matrix method
JA  - J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer
VL  - 109
SP  - 2656
EP  - 2663
DO  - 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2008.05.001
ER  -

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