Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering

This is the view from Whinlatter across to Helvellyn in the distance. The Sun is coming in from the top right so any light coming from the middle and left of the picture is secondary. We'd say that the green is being reflected from the fields but the air isn't reflecting light. We say that the gases in the atmosphere scatter light. The light hits molecules, is absorbed and is then re-radiated in all directions. There is more than one type of scattering. Rayleigh scattering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering is from particles much smaller than the wavelength. Blue is scattered most by molecules in the air. However, look at the mist below the ridge line in the distance. The water vapour looks white. That is because it is due to a different type of scattering called Mie scattering where light is scattered by particles about the same size as the wavelength. All wavelengths are scattered equally in the visible range and so the mist looks white.