Clouds affect the climate of the Earth, and they are an important factor
in the weather. Therefore, their radiative properties must be understood
in great detail. This book summarizes current knowledge on cloud optical
properties, for example their ability to absorb, transmit, and reflect
light, which depends on the clouds' geometrical and microphysical
characteristics such as sizes of droplets and crystals, their shapes,
and structures. In addition, problems related to the image transfer
through clouds and cloud remote sensing are addressed in this book in
great detail.
This book can serve as a major introductory text in cloud optics for
students; it can also be an important source of information on
theoretical cloud optics for cloud physicists, meteorologists and
optical engineers.
All basic ideas of optics as related to scattering of light in clouds
(e.g. Mie theory and radiative transfer) are considered in a self
consistent way. Consequently, the book can also be a useful textbook to
newcomers to the field.