Scattering from arbitrarily shaped particles : theory and experiment

A numerical implementation of the volume integral equation formulation of electromagnetic scattering is used to calculate the scattered intensity of various particles. The numerical method has the capability of determining the scattering by arbitrarily shaped and inhomogeneous scatterers. Results of calculations are presented for scatterers which have not only a size comparable to the wavelength of the incident radiation but are also irregular and inhomogeneous. The theoretical results are compared to microwave analog measurements performed at the microwave facility of the Space Astronomy Laboratory (ISST). It is found that experiment and theory agree well. The accuracy and versatility of the numerical method and the analog measurements are illustrated. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the numerical method are discussed.