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Impact of updates to the HITRAN spectroscopic database on the modeling of clear‐sky infrared radiances
Author(s) -
Newman Stuart M.,
Taylor Jonathan P.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl015832
Subject(s) - hitran , remote sensing , radiative transfer , environmental science , sky , database , spectral line , line (geometry) , meteorology , computer science , physics , geology , optics , mathematics , astronomy , geometry
Recent versions of the HITRAN spectroscopic database are evaluated to assess the impact of the latest revisions to line parameters on the ability to model clear‐sky radiances. Observations made using the Met Office C‐130 aircraft with an infrared interferometer are compared with line‐by‐line radiative transfer simulations incorporating the HITRAN 96 and HITRAN 2000 databases. Substantial reductions in the differences between observed and calculated spectra are found when including the latest database in the model, largely due to refinements in water vapor parameters. Although the use of HITRAN 2000 is broadly successful in reproducing the observed spectra, a number of discrepancies remain in some spectral regions which may indicate further room for improvement in the database.