Snowtonics: the photonics of snow?
Fresh snow is bright, white and opaque. What does this actually mean, optically? Fresh snow is opaque If you’ve seen snow, you will know this to be true. But why? Snow is made of, erm, snowflakes, which are made of ice, which is transparent, not opaque. Snow is what we call a multiple scatterer, in other words, most of the light that falls onto it is scattered around (inside the snow) several times before it gets out. The consequence of this is that light falling on the snow gets mixed up, randomised, and any information within it is scrambled. So, Continue reading
