Application of the exact solution for scattering by an infinite cylinder to the estimation of scattering by a finite cylinder.

A new algorithm for cylindrical Bessel functions that is similar to the one for spherical Bessel functions allows us to compute scattering functions for infinitely long cylinders covering sizes ka = 2πa/λ up to 8000 through the use of only an eight-digit single-precision machine computation. The scattering function and complex extinction coefficient of a finite cylinder that is seen near perpendicular incidence are derived from those of an infinitely long cylinder by the use of Huygens's principle. The result, which contains no arbitrary normalization factor, agrees quite well with analog microwave measurements of both extinction and scattering for such cylinders, even for an aspect ratio p = l/(2a) as low as 2. Rainbows produced by cylinders are similar to those for spherical drops but are brighter and have a lower contrast.