Angularly resolved elastic scattering from airborne particles - Potential for characterizing, classifying, and identifying individual aerosol particles

Analysing the light scattering properties of individual airborne particles has become a powerful tool by which they may be characterized, classified, and in some cases, identified. The approach offers a non-invasive, nondestructive, and potentially real-time monitoring capability that has widespread application in environmental pollution and occupational fields as well as in the detection of possible deliberate releases of pathogens. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the historical development of the theoretical models and experimental techniques underphining angularly resolved light scattering, address key methods of data analysis used to derive particle characteristics, and describe some of the very latest research results in the field.