Polarization of the Twilight Sky: Measurements, Empirical Model, Radiative Transfer Simulation and Application to Aerosol Profile Retrieval

Abstract

Polarimetric observations of the twilight sky are effective for the investigations of scattering properties of the atmosphere at different altitudes. Modern computer technique allows to reduce the influence of multiple scattering on the twilight sky background which is necessary for the aerosol investigations. In this paper the results of polarimetric observations of the twilight sky are discussed and compared with the numerical analysis by MCC++ model for different models of atmospheric aerosol. As it was found, the model of urban troposheric and background stratospheric aerosol shows the best agreement with observed polarimetric properties of the twilight sky.