METHOD OF DETERMINING OPTICAL THICKNESS OF ATMOSPHERE Russian patent published in 2020 - IPC G01W1/00 G01N21/59 

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to diagnostics of atmosphere characteristics and method of determining optical thickness of atmosphere. Method includes obtaining optical images of sky near horizon with capture of horizon line in at least three spectral windows of optical spectrum, plotting the angular dependence of the sky brightness near the horizon and calculating the value of the angular height of the sub-horizon maximum of the cloudless sky brightness in each spectral window. Optical thickness of the atmosphere is obtained by solving the problem of reversing the model dependence of the angular height of a sub-horizon maximum of the brightness of the cloudless sky on the optical thickness of the atmosphere. Sky images are obtained using synchronized optical systems with the same azimuthal direction and sensitivity in different narrow spectral windows. At the same time either optical systems scanning by azimuth or at least two sets of optical systems which observe in different azimuthal directions are used.

EFFECT: technical result consists in improvement of spectral accuracy in a wide spectral range and improvement of spatial and time resolution of conducted measurements.

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