Polarization Measurements and Evaluation Based on Multidimensional Polarization Indices Applied in Analyzing Atmospheric Particulates

Abstract

Online identification and characterization of suspended aerosols can provide a scientific basis for understanding aerosol transformations, quantitatively evaluating the impacts on air quality, public health, and the source apportionment of different atmospheric particulate matters. In this study, we confirm the validity of our developed high-throughput multi-angle polarized scattering vector detection of aerosols and multidimensional polarization scattering index systems. By observation of the mean values, variance, and Wilk’s Lambda of multidimensional polarization indices for different aerosol types, the polarization index shows unique characterization abilities for aerosol properties, and the optimal combination of polarization indices can always be found for a specific aerosol category with a high resolution and discrimination. Clearly, the multidimensional polarization indices of individual aerosols are more suitable for online and real-time aerosol identification and even help to explain the in situ microphysical characteristics of aerosols or evaluate the dynamic evolution of aerosols.