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Atmospheric optics is "the study of the optical characteristics of the atmosphere or products of atmospheric processes .... [including] temporal and spatial resolutions beyond those discernible with the naked eye". [1] Meteorological optics is "that part of atmospheric optics concerned with the study of patterns observable with the naked eye". [2]
Common optical phenomena are often due to the interaction of light from the Sun or Moon with the atmosphere, clouds, water, dust, and other particulates. One common example is the rainbow , when light from the Sun is reflected and refracted by water droplets.
Atmospheric optical phenomena include: Afterglow; Airglow; Alexander's band, the dark region between the two bows of a double rainbow. Alpenglow; Anthelion; Anticrepuscular rays; Aurora (northern and southern lights, aurora borealis and aurora australis) Belt of Venus; Brocken Spectre; Circumhorizontal arc; Circumzenithal arc; Cloud iridescence ...
A light pillar or ice pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in which a vertical beam of light appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from tiny ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere or that comprise high-altitude clouds (e.g. cirrostratus or cirrus clouds). [1]
Diagram showing displacement of the Sun's image at sunrise and sunset Comparison of inferior and superior mirages due to differing air refractive indices, n. Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of height. [1]
Atmospheric windows are useful for astronomy, remote sensing, telecommunications and other science and technology applications. In the study of the greenhouse effect, the term atmospheric window may be limited to mean the infrared window, which is the primary escape route for a fraction of the thermal radiation emitted near the surface.
A Terrestrial Atmospheric Lens is a theoretical method of using the Earth as a large lens with a physical effect called atmospheric refraction. [ 1 ] The sun's image appears about a half degree above its real position during sunset due to Earth's atmospheric refraction.
Its ability to provide simultaneous observations of the Earth's atmospheric temperature, water vapor, ocean surface temperature, and land surface temperature and infrared spectral emissivity, as well as humidity, clouds and the distribution of greenhouse gases, makes AIRS/AMSU a very useful space instrument to observe and study the response of ...