Simulation of the polarization pattern of skylight affected by mineral dust aerosol particles

Atmospheric aerosol has important influences on the global climate either directly by scattering and absorption of the solar radiation or indirectly by affecting cloud droplet concentration or cloud radiative properties
^[1-2]
. A high proportion of aerosol in the Earth's atmosphere consists of non-spherical mineral dust particles
^[3]
. Light scattering by non-spherical particle such as mineral dust is commonly known as a major difficulty in aerosol characterization
^[1,4]
. Compared with the total radiance, polarization is more sensitive to aerosol particle shape. It has a distinct advantage in study non-spherical aerosol particles. In the sky under some atmospheric conditions (e.g., clear sky, cloudy sky, hazy sky), it usually exists a characteristic polarization pattern, which is related to the position of the sun, the distribution of various atmospheric constituents, and the properties of the underlying surface
^[5]
. The polarization pattern can be applied not only in navigation, but also in studying of atmospheric aerosol properties.