https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.L03525
The redirection of a light beam due to interactions with molecules (Rayleigh and Raman @S05487@) and aerosols (@M03919@). Scattered light received at any point in the atmosphere (sometimes called sky radiation) is a very important component of the total radiation received from the sun; it is dependent on the solar zenith @A00346@, elevation @A00176@ concentration etc.
See also:
elastic scattering (in spectrochemistry)