PARSC Ice Cloud Optical Property Model, Version 1

The PARSC ice model assumes ice clouds are comprised of three different ice particle habits: a 20-particle ensemble average of randomly distorted 8-column aggregates, a regular 8-column aggregate, and a slightly distorted hexagonal column. The PARSC ice model has a wavelength range from 0.43 to 12.5 µm with a resolution of 0.1 µm and a particle maximum dimension range of 2 to 10000 µm. The PARSC ice model also includes the specific lidar wavelengths of 355, 532, and 1064 nm. The microphysical and optical properties of the PARSC model are calculated using three single-scattering computational methods: Invariant Imbedding T-Matrix Method (IITM) (Johnson 1988; Bi and Yang 2014), Improved Geometric Optics Method (IGOM) (Yang and Liou 1996), and Physical Geometric Optics Method (PGOM) (Yang and Liou 1996, Yang and Liou 1997).