Electromagnetic wave scattering by a sphere with an eccentric inclusion: application to precipitation particles

Uses the indirect mode matching (IMM) technique to obtain an exact solution to the problem of electromagnetic wave scattering by a sphere with an eccentric inclusion. The IMM intrinsically takes into consideration the continuity of fields across the eccentric spherical interfaces and the orthogonality of complex spherical eigenvectors; the resulting solution is the most compact available. Two previous treatments of this problem were based on direct mode matching (DMM): boundary conditions had been imposed directly on multipolar expansions of the electric and magnetic field intensities. As the DMM solutions have not produced similar results, there is ground for the present independent solution. Applications include radar monitoring of hydrometeors, quality control of optical components and brain tumor diagnostics. The paper considers ice-water particles in the melting layer of precipitation.<>