A Fresh Approach to the Study of Atmosphere Turbidity

Abstract

The problem of assessment of atmospheric turbidity caused by aerosol particles, viz., dust, smoke, haze, and other atmospheric pollutants, apart from the effect of variable water vapour content of the atmosphere, has been studied afresh. The basic concept underlying Linke's turbidity factor, T has been found to be theoretically sound, although its quantitative formulation suffers from one major defect, viz, its 'virtual variation' with air mass. This error has been traced to defective formulation of the quantitative expression for T. A 'Rational turbidity factor', Tr, has been proposed which is likely to overcome the limitations of Linke's turbidity factor, T. A nomogram has been development for quick evaluation of Tr, and the effect of altitude has also been considered.