NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The single-scattering properties of four types of ice crystals (pure ice crystals, ice crystals with an internal mixture of ice and black carbon, ice crystals coated with black carbon, and soot coated with ice) in young contrails are investigated at wavelengths 0.65 and 2.13 mm using Mie codes for coated spheres. The four types of ice crystals show differences in their single-scattering properties because of the embedded black carbon whose volume ratio is assumed to be 5%. The bulk-scattering properties of young contrails consisting of the four types of ice crystals are further investigated by averaging their single-scattering properties over a typical ice particle size distribution found in young contrails. The effect of the radiative properties of the four types of ice particles on the Stokes parameters I, Q, U, and V is also investigated for different viewing zenith angles and relative azimuth angles with a solar zenith angle of 301 using a vector radiative transfer model based on the adding-doubling technique. The Stokes parameters at a wavelength of 0.65 mm show pronounced differences for the four types of ice crystals, whereas the counterparts at a wavelength of 2.13 mm show similar variations with the viewing zenith angle and relative azimuth angle. However, the values of the results for the two wavelengths are noticeably different.