Open AccessTheoretical cloud radiation studies in support of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Final report, October 1990--October 1993
Author(s) -
W. J. Wiscombe,
Robert F. Cahalan,
Anthony B. Davis,
Alexander Marshak,
William L. Ridgway
Publication year - 1994
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/656489
Subject(s) - cloud computing , radiative transfer , meteorology , environmental science , fractal , monte carlo method , radiation , grid , computer science , remote sensing , statistical physics , geography , physics , mathematics , statistics , optics , mathematical analysis , geodesy , operating system
The ARM research project has as its ultimate goal the improvement of theoretical understanding of radiation processes in real clouds. The strategy is to use remote and in situ cloud observations to inform fractal models that elegantly capture the enormous spatial heterogeneity of real clouds. The project was motivated by the great importance assigned to the cloud-radiation problem in understanding climate, and by the recognition that GCM predictions of grid-box-average liquid/ice water are insufficient to assign cloud radiative properties. The project was designed to have the following logical progression: analyze cloud observations, using statistical methods developed in turbulence theory, non-linear dynamics, and the study of multifractals; based on these analyses, develop models, mainly with a multi-fractal origin, for the spatial distribution of cloud water; and study the radiative properties of these model clouds using the Monte Carlo method