Relations among atmospheric structure, refraction, and extinction
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Young, Andrew T.
- Source
- Comptes Rendus. Physique, Vol 23, Iss S1, Pp 179-212 (2023)
- Subject
- Refraction
Extinction
Atmospheric Structure
Polytropes
Lapse Rate
Inverse Problems
Standard Atmosphere
Physics
QC1-999
- Language
- English
French
- ISSN
- 1878-1535
The refraction and extinction in the Earth’s atmosphere depend on the atmosphere’s structure, so it was natural to try to infer that structure from optical observations. Efforts to extract structure from observed refractions led to proof that this is possible only below the astronomical horizon. Direct studies of the real atmosphere show complicated, variable structure. The complex history of relations between structure and refraction is outlined by citing some important works.