Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? The answer involves Rayleigh scattering. When light strikes small particles, it bounces off in a different direction in a process called scattering. Rayleigh scattering is the scattering that occurs when the...

The phenomenon of light scattering by aerosol particles. This has strong size and wavelength dependence, with greatest scattering at short...

Rayleigh scattering (named after Lord Rayleigh) is the scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It can occur when light travels in transparent solids and liquids, but is most...

Raman spectroscopy is a widespread spectroscopic technique, yet this column hasn't covered it yet. The next few columns introduce the basics of Raman spectroscopy. This first installment covers the fundamental physical process involved; next time, we'll look at some details of the spectroscopic technique...

ABSTRACT A well-established technique for the determination of temperature in the middle atmosphere is the retrieval of temperature profiles from density profiles of air. The measurement of air density profiles from the ground and from space are typically determined from measurements of Rayleigh-scattered...