Article
Article
Meteorological optics
Article By:
Greenler, Robert Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.420700
The study of optical phenomena occurring in the atmosphere. Many light effects can be seen by looking skyward, and all of them, resulting from the interaction of light with the atmosphere, lie in the province of atmospheric optics or meteorological optics. The subject also includes the effect of light waves too long or too short to be detected by the human eye—light-type radiation in the infrared or ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. Light interacts with the different components of the atmosphere by a variety of physical processes, the most important being scattering, reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, and emission. Some other processes involving photochemistry and ionization are not considered in this article. See also: Atmosphere; Optics
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