PROPAGATION THROUGH OPTICALLY THICK MEDIA

An analytic model for propagation of an optical pulse through an optically thick multiple-scattering medium such as a cloud is developed. Both a narrow collimated and a broad Gaussian beam are considered incident at the entrance of the medium, which is assumed to be a plane-parallel slab of infinite horizontal extent. Analytic expressions are derived for the radiance and power received by an on-axis receiver at any distance beyond the exit plane of the medium. Calculations with these expressions are compared with published Monte Carlo results for an infinite-plane, pi/2-field-of-view receiver at the exit plane of the medium. Calculated and simulated results show excellent agreement for optical thickness beyond approximately 20. (C) 1995 Optical of Society of America