A Comprehensive Review on Study Methods of Aerosol Optical Properties in Different Dimensions

A comprehensive understanding of the optical properties of atmospheric aerosol is essential for a variety of applications, such as optical imaging, optical communication, and remote sensing. In recent years, many theories and numerical simulation methods have been developed to connect aerosol physical-chemical properties to their intrinsic and integral optical properties. Usually, simulations and measurements are intertwined to synergistically attain the retrieval of aerosol optical properties and mitigate or even eliminate the adverse impacts of aerosol during imaging, sensing, or communication. This review covers the fundamental theories of aerosol optical properties, the development of numerical simulations, the instrument-based sampling measurements, and the cutting-edge techniques of remote sensing. Numerical simulations have been progressing from symmetric particles to asymmetric particles over the past two decades, although any simulation method is limited by specific shape and a restricted size parameter range. Thus, this review also examines the most typical advances in aerosol instrumentation that are frequently used to measure the intrinsic optical properties of unknown aerosols. Such obtained properties validate simulations and constitute the basis of integral optical properties. In terms of practical applications, integral optical properties are the most critical knowledge about atmospheric aerosol. Remote sensing measurements, be it ground-based, airborne, or satellite-based, all retrieve integral optical properties of atmospheric aerosol from various perspectives, which are elaborated upon in this review. In conclusion, this review provides an all-encompassing comprehension of aerosol optical properties.