On the possibility of determining the imaginary part of the complex refractive index of aerosol particles in an individual altitudinal cloud layer of Jupiter’s atmosphere

Abstract

We suggest the method for determining the imaginary part n_i of the complex refractive index of aerosol particles forming a cloud layer at a specified altitude in the atmosphere of a giant planet. From the data of spectral measurements of the geometric albedo of Jupiter (carried out in 1993), the value of n_i was calculated for the whole atmospheric column and the pressure range of 0.52 to 0.78 bar in the cloud layer presumably composed of ammon_ium hydrosulfides. The values of n_i obtained for the cloud layer and the whole atmospheric column substantially differ and amount to 0.00098 and 0.00012, respectively.