A simple inversion technique in the single scattering regime has been developed to deduce cloud droplet size parameters by using the measurement of the radiance of near-forward scattered solar radiation as a function of angle. Compared with the numerical inversion technique that uses exact Mie scattering calculations, the new technique is much less time-consuming and hence should be usable in an on-line real time analysis. To test the effectiveness of the new technique, we use the results of polydispersed cloud size distribution calculated by Deirmendjian to retrieve the model size parameters. The agreement is excellent. We also generalize the theory to include the broadband source. A typical experimental example is given. Its comparison with time-consuming Mie scattering inversion technique again shows excellent agreement.

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