abstract: Multi-angle polarimeters (MAPs) have the potential to retrieve microphysical parameters of clouds and aerosols by imaging the Earth's atmosphere. In order to retrieve information using data from remote sensing observations, many assumptions about the aerosols and surface must be made. Often, particle size distributions (PSDs) are modeled as two log-normal distributions representing fine and coarse mode particles, respectively. There may be uncertainty in the retrieved aerosol properties as a result of this assumption. To examine the effects of this assumption on retrievals, we simulate MAP observations with PSD measurements from the CAMP2Ex campaign. Using the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) software package, the aerosol and surface properties are then retrieved and compared to the simulated truth used to generate the synthetic observations. The study uses a suite of MAP instrument configurations based on the HARP family of polarimeters. The synthetic retrieval study is carried out over ocean and land surfaces in the principal plane with different solar zenith angles as well as using realistic geometries for a satellite in sun-synchronous orbit. According to a preliminary analysis of the data, the assumption of bimodal log-normal distributions results in biases in effective radius and particle number distributions. A comparison of the accuracy of aerosol properties determined using different MAP instrument configurations will be presented and the limitations associated with them will also be discussed.
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