Methods comparison to retrieve the refractive index of small scatterers

Simulation tools to generate the inherent optical properties of small scatterers are useful to complement data difficult to measure, as for instance their angular scattering features. However, in most cases, shapes are reduced to homogeneous spheres, which is a gross simplification for any particles in water, and the inner complex refractive index is estimated using some approximations. In this paper, several methods for the retrieval of the refractive indices are used in three different examples modelling different shapes and particle size distributions. The error associated with each method is discussed and analysed. It is finally demonstrated that those inverse methods using a genetic algorithm provide optimal estimations relative to other techniques that, although faster, are less accurate. The obtained results suggest that phytoplankton models can be improved using this kind of algorithms and a suitable shape.