Sensitivity of backscattering to spherical particle physical properties: Size, refractive index, and shape deviations

The purpose of this paper is to study the dependency of light backscattering on particle physical properties: size, refractive index, and shape; and to demonstrate the extreme sensitivity of backscattering on these properties. We demonstrate how the nondescript backscattering pattern evolves seemingly chaotic, in contrast to the orderly forward scattering, with the particle's physical properties. The demonstration was carried out by light scattering from water droplets and with spherical particle Mie theory. Our results show systematic, descriptive evolution of the forward scattering pattern, which is clearly shown in logarithmic Q–space, whereas non-descriptive, chaotic evolution within the backscattering regime is displayed in linear θ–space. Additionally, our study shows that within the last 1°, the backscattering intensity remains constant and featureless for the ∼ 2.5 μm diameter water droplets investigated here.