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Enhancing Our Vision of Aerosols: Progress in Scattering Phase Function Measurements

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Calculating atmospheric aerosol radiative forcing is a crucial aspect of climate change research. The aerosol scattering phase function stands out as a vital parameter for radiative forcing computations and holds significant importance in the remote sensing retrievals of aerosols. Despite its significance, research on aerosol scattering phase function measurements has been limited over the years. This review article provides a comprehensive summary of relevant studies on the measurements of aerosol scattering phase functions.

Recent Findings

In recent times, the application of imaging detection techniques in the measurement of aerosol scattering phase functions has emerged, highlighting advantages such as portability and high temporal-angular resolution. In addition, the development of aerosol retrieval algorithms facilitates a broader application of the results obtained from aerosol scattering phase function measurements in estimating aerosol physical properties and satellite retrievals.

Summary

This review introduces the measurement techniques, instruments, and retrieval algorithms associated with aerosol scattering phase functions, encompassing laboratory experiments, in situ field measurements, and remote sensing retrieval. The measurement results and related research on aerosol morphological effects and physical property retrievals have been summarized. Finally, it outlines future research prospects, suggesting improvements in instruments, experimental expansion, and enhanced data analysis and application, providing feasible suggestions for further studies.

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Data Availability

No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Funding

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41975043 and 42275070).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yuxuan Bian

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Chunsheng Zhao

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  1. Yuxuan Bian
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Y.B. wrote the original draft of the manuscript. C.Z. revised the manuscript and provided supervision. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chunsheng Zhao.

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Bian, Y., Zhao, C. Enhancing Our Vision of Aerosols: Progress in Scattering Phase Function Measurements. Curr Pollution Rep 10, 87–104 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-024-00292-z

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