Depolarization, Scattering, and Attenuation of Circularly Polarized Radio Waves by Spherically Asymmetric Melting Ice Particles

The eccentric spheres model and an extended Mie solution are used to formulate scattering of a plane, electromagnetic wave by a single melting ice particle as well as by a horizontal layer of such particles. The incident wave is left-hand circularly polarized, whereas the scattered wave, as a result of depolarization by the spherically asymmetric particles, comprises left-hand and right-hand circularly polarized components. The Stokes parameters of the scattered wave are calculated throughout the melting process. Furthermore, radar observables of backscattering and depolarization, as well as the specific attenuation, across the melting layer are calculated. The numerical application manifests how the internal spherical asymmetry of melting ice particles is imprinted on backscattering, forward scattering, and depolarization. Moreover, it is shown how each part of the melting layer contributes to the attenuation and depolarization of the radio waves crossing that layer