Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 1999
This study concerns the multiple scattering of light in random granular systems and the analysis of the image formed by the light scattered by a random medium. We developed an imagery method with high grey level resolution for visualization and analysis of the intensity profile in the backscattering spot image. We further present statistical models for the radiative transfer in granular media only involving the photon mean path length, the asymmetry factor and the absorption probability of photons. A renormalization of the photon trajectory in the medium gives a photon transport equation for anisotropic scattering and leads to an analytical expression for the intensity profile in the backscattering spot. We finally compare the results from imagery experiments with the predictions from numerical simulations and statistical models.