@article{3834, abstract = {{The problem of light scattering by ice crystals of cirrus clouds is considered in the case of a hexagonal ice plate with different distributions over crystal orientations. The physical-optics approximation based on (E, M)-diffraction theory is compared with two exact numerical methods: the finite difference time domain (FDTD) and the discontinuous Galerkin time domain (DGTD) in order to estimate its accuracy and limits of applicability. It is shown that the accuracy of the physical-optics approximation is estimated as 95% for the averaged backscattering Mueller matrix for particles with size parameter more than 120. Furthermore, the simple expression that allows one to estimate the minimal number of particle orientations required for appropriate spatial averaging has been derived.}}, author = {{Konoshonkin, Alexander and Borovoi, Anatoli and Kustova, Natalia and Okamoto, Hajime and Ishimoto, Hiroshi and Grynko, Yevgen and Förstner, Jens}}, issn = {{0022-4073}}, journal = {{Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer}}, keywords = {{tet_topic_scattering}}, pages = {{132--140}}, publisher = {{Elsevier BV}}, title = {{{Light scattering by ice crystals of cirrus clouds: From exact numerical methods to physical-optics approximation}}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.jqsrt.2016.12.024}}, volume = {{195}}, year = {{2016}}, }