Spectrally-invariant approximation within atmospheric radiative transfer

Alexander Marshak, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, Yuri Knyazikhin, Boston University, Earth and Environment, Boston, MA, United States and Tamas Varnai, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States

Contact First Author: Alexander Marshak; alexander.marshak@nasa.gov

Previously Published Material: Part of it was previously reported and published

Abstract ID#: 33510

 

English Abstract:
Certain algebraic combinations of single-scattering albedo and solar radiation reflected from cloudy atmospheres vary only weakly with wavelength. We identify the conditions under which the spectrally-invariant approximation can accurately describe the extinction and scattering properties of cloudy atmospheres. Validity of the assumptions and accuracy of the approximation has been tested with radiative transfer calculations using DISORT and SBDART. We discuss the physics behind this phenomenon, its mathematical basis, and possible applications to remote sensing of cloud microphysical properties. This retrieval approach is free from the plane-parallel homogeneous cloud layer assumption and, in general, will work for any three-dimensional cloud scene.
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