Jochen Wauer, Karsten Schmidt, Tom Rother, Thilo Ernst, and Michael Hess (2004): Two software tools for plane-wave scattering on nonspherical particles in the German Aerospace Center´s virtual laboratory, Appl. Opt., 43, 6371-6379

Abstract: We present the methodological background, the range of applicability, and the on-line usage of two software packages, MIESCHKA and CYL, which we have developed for light-scattering analysis on nonspherical particles. MIESCHKA solves Maxwell�s equations in a rigorous way but is restricted to axisymmetric geometries, whereas CYL is an approximation for finite columns with nonspherical cross sections. We have established an easy on-line access to both of these programs through the Virtual Laboratory. Its generic software infrastructure was designed to simplify the web-based usage and to support the intercomparability of scientific software.