DIRECTIONAL AND SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE OF THE KUWAIT OIL-FIRE SMOKE

The angular reflectance pattern of the Kuwait oil-fire smoke was measured from an aircraft at 13 discrete wavelengths between 0.5 and 2.3 mum. Measurements at 0.75 and 1.64 mum showed that the reflectance of the smoke layer was about 12% in the nadir direction with considerable limb brightening toward the horizon. Furthermore, these observations revealed a backscattering maximum in the antisolar direction and an enhanced scattering near the rainbow direction. These characteristics suggest that the smoke layer 90 km downwind of the Kuwait oil fires was composed of a significant number of oil drizzle droplets that scatter solar radiation as a layer composed of spherical particles.