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Title: EFFECTIVE TRANSMISSION OF THERMAL RADIATION FROM NUCLEAR DETONATIONS IN REAL ATMOSPHERES. Air Force Surveys in Geophysics No. 144

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4715997

An analysis was made to provide as simple a technique as practicable for the prediction of thermal inputs to targets from nuclear weapons, consistent with a moderate degree of confidence, for use in the field with available meteorological data. A study was made of the geographical factors influencing the transmission of thermal radiation from nuclear weapons through cloudless atmospheres. Results are presented as the ratio of the irradiance received on a 2 pi detector in the presence of an attenuating atmosphere to the irradiance expected on the same detector in free space. The primary influencing factors considered are the scattering and absorbing properties of the atmosphere, reflection from the underlying surface, the temperaturetime characteristics of the source, and the source-detector geometry. The results are presented graphically, with contours of t (effective transmission) for each atmospheric model studied. Ground level visual ranges of 2, 10, and 50 nautical miles were incorporated into both wet and dry atmospheres, which in turn were terminated with a surface having albedos of either 0, 0.2, or 1.0. (auth)

Research Organization:
Air Force Cambridge Research Labs. Geophysics Research Directorate, Bedford, Mass.
NSA Number:
NSA-17-011298
OSTI ID:
4715997
Report Number(s):
AFCRL-62-456; AD-277005
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-63
Country of Publication:
Country unknown/Code not available
Language:
English