Residual analysis of surface spectral radiances between instrument observations and line-by-line calculations

Conference · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:83163

Clough, S A; Brown, P D ^[1]; Miller, N E; Liljegren, J C; Shippert, T R ^[2]

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1. Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

The evaluation and improvement of radiative transfer calculations are essential to attain improved performance of general circulation models (GCMs) for climate change applications. The focus of the study described here is a critical assessment of a radiative transfer experiment conducted under the Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM). The three principal components of the study are (1) ground-based measurement of the spectral radiances, (2)characterization of the atmospheric state associated with the radiating column, and (3) evaluation of the line-by-line radiative transfer model. The experiment will be continuous (once per hour) and will be conducted over an extended period of time (up to 10 years), important requirements for climate change applications. With respect to global coverage, the first experiment is being conducted in the Southern Great Plains of the United States, with subsequent sites planned for climatologically diverse locations. The initial focus of the experiment is on longwave radiative transfer for clear sky; we plan to extend the approach to include the shortwave and atmospheres with clouds and aerosols. Evaluation of the present radiation modeling capability is best achieved by using statistical analyses of the residuals between observed and calculated spectral radiances. Spectral radiances are calculated using the Line by Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM) in conjunction with the HITRAN92 line parameter database. Radiance residuals provide a direct indication of all three components of the experiment by physical process. In the context of the present study, an example of a physical process is the radiance from spectral lines in a specific vibration-rotation band of water vapor.

• Research Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-90ER61064
• OSTI ID: 83163
• Report Number(s): CONF-940277--; ON: DE95009951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CLOUDS
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER
RADIOMETRIC ANALYSIS
SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE
WATER VAPOR