An investigation of the dependence of atmospheric radiative transfer on aerosol size distribution
The effect of aerosol particle size distribution on the transfer of solar and infrared radiation in the Atmosphere is investigated by calculating radiances using LOWTRAN 7. We show that measurable changes occur in downward direct and scattered solar radiance for a background rural aerosol as the mode radius and standard deviation are changed. Aerosols with particles primarily larger than 0.5 [mu]m have fairly uniform effects at visible wavelengths, while aerosols with particles mainly smaller than 0.1 [mu]m scatter more sunlight as the wavelength becomes shorter. The largest sensitivity to changes in particle size occur in the downward scattered solar, indicating that this parameter would be most likely to provide an indication of aerosol size distribution and optical properties. Upward scattered sunlight is increased only slightly by background amounts of boundary layer aerosol. Increased absorption by aerosol particles had only a small effect on the downward direct solar radiance, but produced a large relative change in downward scattered solar radiance. The presence of background amounts of boundary layer aerosol had no measurable effect on infrared fluxes.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 7178310
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-112135; ON: DE93003333
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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