Markov chain formalism for polarized light transfer in plane-parallel atmospheres, with numerical comparison to the Monte Carlo method

Building on the Markov chain formalism for scalar (intensity only) radiative transfer, this paper formulates the solution to polarized diffuse reflection from and transmission through a vertically inhomogeneous atmosphere. For verification, numerical results are compared to those obtained by the Monte Carlo method, showing deviations less than 1% when 90 streams are used to compute the radiation from two types of atmospheres, pure Rayleigh and Rayleigh plus aerosol, when they are divided into sublayers of optical thicknesses of less than 0.03. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America