Open AccessA Systematic Error in Plane-Parallel Radiative Transfer Calculations
Author(s) -
Chris A. McLinden,
A. E. Bourassa
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of the atmospheric sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.853
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1520-0469
pISSN - 0022-4928
DOI - 10.1175/2009jas3322.1
Subject(s) - radiance , radiative transfer , albedo (alchemy) , context (archaeology) , atmospheric radiative transfer codes , surface (topology) , plane (geometry) , computational physics , tangent , component (thermodynamics) , physics , systematic error , optics , geometry , geology , mathematics , art , paleontology , statistics , performance art , thermodynamics , art history
Systematic errors in plane-parallel radiative transfer calculations are examined in the context of limb radiance. Calculation of the multiple-scattering component of limb radiance using plane-parallel geometry can lead to a systematic overestimation that increases with surface albedo and tangent height. It is demonstrated that the cause of this is the overestimate of the surface-reflected radiance component. A simple yet effective correction is introduced that reduces these errors from 4%–8% to <2%. This error source may manifest itself in any application of radiative transfer calculations employing plane-parallel geometry.