Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
AMT
Articles | Volume 19, issue 18
Articles | Volume 19, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5905-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5905-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 19, issue 18
Research article
 | 
17 Sep 2026
Research article |  | 17 Sep 2026

On the origin of the twilight color index maximum and its application to cloud-height retrieval

Daniel Toledo

Cited articles

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Gomez-Martin, L., Toledo, D., Prados-Roman, C., Adame, J. A., Ochoa, H., and Yela, M.: Polar Stratospheric Clouds Detection at Belgrano II Antarctic Station with Visible Ground-Based Spectroscopic Measurements, Remote Sensing, 13, 1412, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13081412, 2021. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
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Kinne, S., Toon, O., Toon, G., Farmer, C., Browell, E., and McCormick, M.: Measurements of size and composition of particles in polar stratospheric clouds from infrared solar absorption spectra, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 94, 16481–16491, 1989. a
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Short summary
A single-scattering formulation of the color index is presented to investigate the physical mechanisms governing the CI maximum observed during twilight in the presence of high-altitude clouds. Within this framework, the maximum is shown to occur at the solar zenith angle (SZA) for which the relative SZA-variations of the zenith intensity become equal at the two selected wavelengths. The formulation is validated against Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations, showing good agreement.
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