Uncertainties in laboratory-measured shortwave refractive indices of mineral dust aerosols and derived optical properties: a theoretical assessment

Abstract. Mineral dust particles are nonspherical and inhomogeneous; however, they are often simplified as homogeneous spherical particles for retrieving the refractive indices from laboratory measurements of scattering and absorption coefficients. The retrieved refractive indices are then employed for computing the optical properties of spherical or nonspherical dust model particles with downstream applications. This study aims to theoretically investigate uncertainties involved in the aforementioned rationale based on numerical simulations and focuses on a wavelength range of 355–1064 nm. Initially, the optical properties of nonspherical and inhomogeneous dust aerosols are computed as baseline cases. Subsequently, the scattering and absorption coefficients of homogeneous spheres and super-spheroids are computed at various refractive indices and compared with those of inhomogeneous dust aerosols to determine the dust refractive index. To mimic the real laboratory measurement, the size distribution of the baseline case is assumed to be unknown and determined through a process akin to using optical particle counters for sizing. The resulting size distribution differs from the original one of the baseline cases. The impact of discrepancies in size distributions on retrieving the dust refractive index is also investigated. Our findings reveal that these discrepancies affect scattering and absorption coefficients, presenting challenges in accurately determining the refractive index, particularly for the real parts. Additionally, the retrieved refractive indices are noted to vary with particle size primarily due to differences in size distribution, with imaginary parts decreasing as the particle size increases. A comparison between sphere models and super-spheroid models shows that the former tend to underestimate the imaginary parts, leading to an overestimation of single-scattering albedo. This study underscores the importance of employing consistent nonspherical models for both refractive index retrieval and subsequent optical simulation in downstream applications. Nevertheless, the impact of refractive index uncertainties on the asymmetry factor and phase matrix is found to be minimal, with particle shape playing a more significant role than differences in the imaginary parts of the dust refractive index.