Abstract

An extensive series of measurements of the intensity and polarization of the light from the zenith sky during periods of twilight was made at an altitude of 3400 m on the island of Hawaii during a 5-month period in 1977. This first of two papers is on the twilight polarization; the second will deal with intensity. The measurements were made in eight narrow spectral ranges between 0.32 and 0.90 μm under clear sky conditions. The data show that the degree of polarization at the zenith is a sensitive indicator of the existence of turbid layers at high levels in the atmosphere, and by monitoring the zenith skylight as a function of time during the twilight, it is possible to obtain qualitative information on both the altitude and relative density of the layers.

© 1980 Optical Society of America

Characteristics of skylight at the zenith during twilight as indicators of atmospheric turbidity. 2: Intensity and color ratio

Kinsell L. Coulson
Appl. Opt. 20(9) 1516-1524 (1981)

Effects of the El Chichon volcanic cloud in the stratosphere on the intensity of light from the sky

Kinsell L. Coulson
Appl. Opt. 22(15) 2265-2271 (1983)

Zenith polarization and color ratio during twilight

Frederic E. Volz
Appl. Opt. 20(24) 4172-4174 (1981)

Volcanic turbidity, skylight scattering functions, sky polarization, and twilights in New England during 1983

Frederic E. Volz
Appl. Opt. 23(15) 2589-2593 (1984)

Retrieval of stratospheric background aerosol scattering coefficient from twilight polarization measurements

Beiying Wu and Daren Lu
Appl. Opt. 27(23) 4899-4906 (1988)