The effect of reflecting boundaries on the polarized radiation field

The in fluence of the different reflective boundaries on the polarized radiation field in a conservative homogeneous plane-parallel atmosphere is studied. The equation of transfer for molecular scattering is solved using the method of discrete ordinates and the results are checked by using the invariant imbedding approach. The results of a long series of numerical experiments have shown that in general a reflecting boundary at the bottom depolarizes the radiation field while the depolarizing effect of an isotropic scatterer is much larger than that of a specular reflector or a perfect absorber.