Multi sky-view 3D aerosol distribution recovery

Aerosols affect climate, health and aviation. Currently, their retrieval assumes a plane-parallel atmosphere and solely vertical radiative transfer. We propose a principle to estimate the aerosol distribution as it really is: a three dimensional (3D) volume. The principle is a type of tomography. The process involves wide angle integral imaging of the sky on a very large scale. The imaging can use an array of cameras in visible light. We formulate an image formation model based on 3D radiative transfer. Model inversion is done using optimization methods, exploiting a closed-form gradient which we derive for the model-fit cost function. The tomography model is distinct, as the radiation source is unidirectional and uncontrolled, while off-axis scattering dominates the images.