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.