Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts

Details Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts

Feb 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010rpph...73b6801d&link_type=abstract

Reports on Progress in Physics, Volume 73, Issue 2, pp. 026801 (2010).

Physics

6

Scientific paper

The interplay of sunlight with clouds is a ubiquitous and often pleasant visual experience, but it conjures up major challenges for weather, climate, environmental science and beyond. Those engaged in the characterization of clouds (and the clear air nearby) by remote sensing methods are even more confronted. The problem comes, on the one hand, from the spatial complexity of real clouds and, on the other hand, from the dominance of multiple scattering in the radiation transport. The former ingredient contrasts sharply with the still popular representation of clouds as homogeneous plane-parallel slabs for the purposes of radiative transfer computations. In typical cloud scenes the opposite asymptotic transport regimes of diffusion and ballistic propagation coexist. We survey the three-dimensional (3D) atmospheric radiative transfer literature over the past 50 years and identify three concurrent and intertwining thrusts: first, how to assess the damage (bias) caused by 3D effects in the operational 1D radiative transfer models? Second, how to mitigate this damage? Finally, can we exploit 3D radiative transfer phenomena to innovate observation methods and technologies? We quickly realize that the smallest scale resolved computationally or observationally may be artificial but is nonetheless a key quantity that separates the 3D radiative transfer solutions into two broad and complementary classes: stochastic and deterministic. Both approaches draw on classic and contemporary statistical, mathematical and computational physics.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Solar radiation transport in the cloudy atmosphere: a 3D perspective on observations and climate impacts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1427382