Quadrature effects on the accuracy of flux calculations in realistic atmospheres

Abstract We have investigated the accuracy of five different quadrature methods—equal steps in θ, equal steps in cos θ, Gaussian, double Gaussian and Gauss-Lobatto—on the accuracy of fluxes in realistic aerosol atmospheres, using the Gauss-Seidel method. In addition, a range of Gaussian quadrature stream numbers from two to 32 were compared. The atmospheric models considered are those recently presented by Lenoble, with the exception that we have used Henyey-Greenstein phase functions in place of Mie. Our results should be easily reproduceable by any other workers interested in similar realistic atmospheres. A table of Gauss-Lobatto weights and points is provided as an appendix.

Atmospheric radiative effects of an in-situ measured Saharan dust plume and the role of large particles

This work will present aerosol size distributions measured in a Saharan dust plume between 0.9 and 12 km altitude during the ACE-2 campaign 1997. The distributions contain a significant fraction of large particles of diameters from 4 to 30 μm. Radiative transfer calculations have been performed using these data as input. Shortwave, longwave as well as total atmospheric radiative effects (AREs) of the dust plume are investigated over ocean and desert within the scope of sensitivity studies considering varied input parameters like solar zenith angle, scaled total dust optical depth, tropospheric standard aerosol profiles and particle complex refractive index. The results indicate that the lar…

Modelling the optical properties of fresh biomass burning aerosol produced in a smoke chamber: results from the EFEU campaign

A better characterisation of the optical properties of biomass burning aerosol as a function of the burning conditions is required in order to quantify their effects on climate and atmospheric chemistry. Controlled laboratory combustion experiments with different fuel types were carried out at the combustion facility of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) as part of the "Impact of Vegetation Fires on the Composition and Circulation of the Atmosphere" (EFEU) project. The combustion conditions were monitored with concomitant CO<sub>2</sub> and CO measurements. The mass scattering efficiencies of 8.9±0.2 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup&gt…

Simulation of a biomass-burning plume: Comparison of model results with observations

[1] We have simulated the dynamical evolution of the plume from a prescribed biomass fire, using the active tracer high- resolution atmospheric model (ATHAM). Initialization parameters were set to reflect the conditions during the fire. The model results are compared with airborne remote-sensing and in situ measurements of the plume. ATHAM reproduces the injection height (250-600 m) and the horizontal extent of the plume (similar to4 km) with good accuracy. The aerosol mass concentrations are underestimated but still in the range of the observations. Remaining differences between the model results and the measurements are attributed to limited meteorological and fire emission information. A…

A numerical model of the cloud-topped planetary boundary-layer: Radiation, turbulence and spectral microphysics in marine stratus

A numerical model of the cloud-topped planetary boundary-layer is presented. The model is one-dimensional with special emphasis on a detailed description of cloud microphysical processes. Aerosols and cloud droplets are treated in a two-dimensional particle-distribution whereby the activation of aerosols is calculated explicitly by solving the droplet-growth equation at all relative humidities. Atmospheric radiation is determined with a δ-two-stream radiation scheme. Turbulent fluxes are parametrized as a function of the turbulent kinetic energy. Numerical results are presented which are obtained by utilizing measurements made over the North Sea. The interaction between radiation, turbulenc…

Reply to a comment by R. Brown on ‘a numerical model of the cloud‐topped planetary boundary‐layer: Radiation, turbulence and spectral microphysics in marine stratus’ (april A, 1996, 122, 635‐667)

Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs): II. Stabilization mechanisms

Abstract. Mechanisms by which subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) might contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause are not well understood. Recently Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) with optical depths around 10-4 have been detected in the western Indian ocean. These clouds cover thousands of square kilometers as 200-300 m thick distinct and homogeneous layer just below the tropical tropopause. In their condensed phase UTTCs contain only 1-5% of the total water, and essentially no nitric acid. A new cloud stabilization mechanism is required to explain this small fraction of the condensed water content in the clouds and their small vertical thickness. This work sugges…

Explicit Microphysical Simulations of Boundary Layer Clouds over the Sea and over Vegetated Land Surfaces

Actinic Radiation and Photolysis Processes in the Lower Troposphere: Effect of Clouds and Aerosols

Within the German Tropospheric Research Program (TFS) a series of projects were performed focussing on aspects of radiation transfer and the effects of UV-radiation on air chemistry. The individual projects covered laboratory investigations, instrument development for photolysis processes as well as field studies of actinic radiation and comparison to model calculations. One and three-dimensional models were tested against field campaign data. The results confirm the improvement of measurement technology achieved through deployment of new techniques like spectroradiometry that offer a wider range of investigations than was previously attainable using chemical actinometry or fixed wavelength…

Ground-based measured and calculated spectra of actinic flux density and downward UV irradiance in cloudless conditions and their sensitivity to aerosol microphysical properties

Ground-based spectral measurements of actinic flux density (300–660 nm wavelength) and downward UV irradiance (300–324 nm) under cloudless conditions have been compared with the results of one-dimensional radiative transfer calculations employing concurrent airborne vertical profile measurements of aerosol particle size distributions. Good agreement (within ±10%) between measured and calculated spectra was found. The remaining differences were explained by uncertainties inherent in the aerosol particle microphysical input data and the column ozone content. A respective sensitivity analysis of the calculated spectra, which was based on the observed variability of microphysical properties, ha…

Radiation in the Atmosphere - A Course in Theoretical Meteorology

This book presents the theory and applications of radiative transfer in the atmosphere. It is written for graduate students and researchers in the fields of meteorology and related sciences. The book begins with important basic definitions of the radiative transfer theory. It presents the hydrodynamic derivation of the radiative transfer equation and the principles of variance. The authors examine in detail various quasi-exact solutions of the radiative transfer equation and give a thorough treatment of the radiative perturbation theory. A rigorous treatment of Mie scattering is given, including Rayleigh scattering as a special case, and the important efficiency factors for extinction, scat…

A fast and efficient modified sectional method for simulating multicomponent collisional kinetics

A fast and efficient method for simulating the evolution of internally mixed multicomponent particle size distributions for aerosol coagulation and droplet coalescence is developed. The technique is based upon a bin-wise sectionalization of the particle mass domain and by imposing the condition of mass conservation for each component. The distribution of each species as a function of the total particle mass is represented in each mass bin as a two-parameter exponential function. Particles of a given mass are assumed to be internally homogeneously mixed. The method is shown to be numerically stable for a wide range of time steps. The numerical solution is compared with both analytical result…

Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) : I. Cloud morphology and occurrence

Abstract. Subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) may contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause. The higher and colder SVCs and the larger their ice crystals, the more likely they represent the last efficient point of contact of the gas phase with the ice phase and, hence, the last dehydrating step, before the air enters the stratosphere. The first simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of SVCs were taken during the APE-THESEO campaign in the western Indian ocean in February/March 1999. The observed clouds, termed Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs), belong to the geometrically and optically thinnest large-scale clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. Individual UT…

Spectral surface albedo over Morocco and its impact on radiative forcing of Saharan dust

In May–June 2006, airborne and ground-based solar (0.3–2.2 μm) and thermal infrared (4–42 μm) radiation measurements have been performed in Morocco within the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM). Upwelling and downwelling solar irradiances have been measured using the Spectral Modular Airborne Radiation Measurement System (SMART)-Albedometer. With these data, the areal spectral surface albedo for typical surface types in southeastern Morocco was derived from airborne measurements for the first time. The results are compared to the surface albedo retrieved from collocated satellite measurements, and partly considerable deviations are observed. Using measured surface and atmospheric prope…

Measurement-based J(NO2) sensitivity in a cloudless atmosphere under low aerosol loading and high solar zenith angle conditions

Abstract The comparison between measured and simulated photodissociation frequencies of NO 2 , J( NO 2 ) , in a cloudless atmosphere in a recent paper by Fruh et al., 2000 (Journal of Geophysical Research 105, 9843–9857) revealed an overestimation of J(NO2) near ground level by model calculations compared with measurements and an underestimation in the upper part of the aerosol layer. A possible reason for the disagreement is the changing sun position during the vertical ascent. To resolve this problem we carried out a sensitivity study varying the solar zenith angle of 74° by 1.4° (which corresponds to the change of sun position during the vertical flight patterns). This results in a consi…

Dehydration potential of ultrathin clouds at the tropical tropopause

[1] We report on the first simultaneous in situ and remote measurements of subvisible cirrus in the uppermost tropical troposphere. The observed cirrus, called UTTCs ( ultrathin tropical tropopause clouds), are the geometrically (200-300 m) and optically (t approximate to 10(-4)) thinnest large-scale clouds ever sampled (approximate to10(5) km(2)). UTTCs consist of only a few ice particles per liter with mean radius approximate to5 mum, containing only 1-5 % of the total water. Yet, brief adiabatic cooling events only 1-2 K below mean ambient temperature destabilize UTTCs, leading to large sedimenting particles (r approximate to 25 mm). Due to their extreme altitude above 17 km and low part…

Three-dimensional solar radiation effects on the actinic flux field in a biomass-burning plume

[1] Three-dimensional (3-D) solar radiative transfer models describe radiative transfer under inhomogeneous atmospheric conditions more accurately than the commonly used one-dimensional (1-D) radiative transfer models that assume horizontal homogeneity of the atmosphere. Here results of 3-D radiative transfer simulations for a biomass-burning plume are presented and compared with local one-dimensional (l-1-D) simulations, i.e., 1-D simulations in every column of the model domain. The spatial distribution of the aerosol particles was derived from a 3-D atmospheric transport simulation. We studied the impact of 3-D radiative effects on the actinic flux within the plume center. The differences…

Actinic Flux and Net Flux Calculations in Radiative Transfer—A Comparative Study of Computational Efficiency

Abstract The accuracy and speed of three well-known computational techniques (DISORT, the δ–four-stream approximation, and the two-stream approximation), and the matrix inversion method, which is less well known, have been investigated. Results are presented for both broadband actinic and net fluxes over a range of parameters including solar zenith cosine, relative humidity, and altitude for two different surface/aerosol systems: terrestrial and oceanic. The matrix inversion method can only calculate actinic fluxes; therefore, this is the main focus of this paper. Investigations into the comparative accuracy of the four techniques for the oceanic model with and without a cloud layer include…

The effects of different radiation parametrizations on cloud evolution

With the use of the microphysical stratus model (MISTRA), investigations into the effects of variations in the radiative-transfer parametrizations on cloud development have been undertaken. Two radiative-transfer schemes were coupled with the microphysical-thermodynamical section of MISTRA, one based on the exponential sumfitting method and the other based on the correlated k-distribution method of determining gaseous absorption properties. Model runs were initiated with parameter values in accordance with measurements made over the North Sea and comparisons made between model runs where only the radiation schemes were altered. Results indicated that differences between the two schemes had …

Solar radiative effects of a Saharan dust plume observed during SAMUM assuming spheroidal model particles

The solar optical properties of Saharan mineral dust observed during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) were explored based on measured size-number distributions and chemical composition. The size-resolved complex refractive index of the dust was derived with real parts of 1.51–1.55 and imaginary parts of 0.0008–0.006 at 550 nm wavelength. At this spectral range a single scattering albedo ω o and an asymmetry parameter g of about 0.8 were derived. These values were largely determined by the presence of coarse particles. Backscatter coefficients and lidar ratios calculated with Mie theory (spherical particles) were not found to be in agreement with independently measured lidar data.…

Comments on “Four-Stream Spherical Harmonic Expansion Approximation for Solar Radiative Transfer”

Comments on : four-stream spherical harmonic expansion approximation for solar radiative transfer.