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Results for “Radiative transfer equation”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 253 records · Page 14
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NASA NTRS1979

U-2 water vapor burden observations through the tropopause

A U-2 aircraft provided a platform for an infrared radiometer inferring water vapor burdens associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Flight altitudes were 16 to 23 km. The radiometer system, coupled with an algorithm to produce an inverse solution of the radiative transfer equation, resulted in an rms error of 20 percent in the inferred water vapor burden. A unique, bivariate solution including radiance and vertical temperature profiles produced an essentially real-time solution for the water vapor burden. Results of the July 1977 missions over the Canal Zone region between latitudes 7.5 degrees N and 11.0 degrees N are presented.

Kuhn, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Single and multiple scattering contributions to circumsolar radiation

The contributions to the angular distribution of the almucantar radiance in the forward direction due to multiple scattering are compared to those due to single scattering. The contributions have been calculated by a computer code employing the Gauss-Seidel iterative approach to the solution of the radiative transfer equation for a plane parallel atmosphere composed of air molecules, aerosol particles, and ozone. The code is similar to that of Dave (1972) except in the construction of the source matrix. In the near-forward direction the multiple scattering contributions are significant for optical depths of the order of 0.4. The shape of the angular distribution of almucantar radiance to 10 degrees is less sensitive to multiple scattering.

Box, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The phase-integral method for radiative transfer problems with highly-peaked phase functions

Complete solutions to the radiative transfer equation, including both azimuth and depth dependence, are provided by the discrete-ordinate method of Chandrasekhar, but these solutions are often limited because of large computer requirements. This paper presents a 'phase-integral' method which greatly reduces the number of discrete ordinates needed in the solution for highly peaked phase functions. A composite quadrature method is shown to be effective in further reducing the number of discrete ordinates required for highly anisotropic phase functions. Examples are given to indicate convergence requirements and expected accuracy in the complete solution for Henyey-Greenstein and cloud-type phase functions.

Fricke, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Remote sensing of the ozone profile in the lower stratosphere using UV and IR measurements from Nimbus-4

A method of combining the information from the infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) and the backscatter ultraviolet spectrometer (BUV) on board the Nimbus-4 satellite to derive the ozone profile from 10 mb to surface is described. The radiance in the IRIS 9-micron band can be related to the ozone profile by the radiative transfer equation. The IR intensity due to ozone is dependent on the pressure broadening of spectral lines, and an estimate of a weighted mean pressure of the ozone layer can be obtained from total ozone supplied by BUV long wave intensity measurements. With the aid of the Chapman function, a model of the ozone concentration profile described by three parameters is obtained. Given the ozone concentration at 10 mb one calculates several possible combinations of the three parameters that can produce the required total ozone, and the final choice of parameter is determined from IR measurements. An ozone profile calculated in this way reproduces well the gross features of balloon ozone sounding results. Meridional cross sections of ozone concentration have also been derived which are in reasonably good agreement with balloon-derived cross-section for the northern latitudes and tropics.

Prabhakara, C.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Effect of tropospheric aerosols upon atmospheric infrared cooling rates

The effect of tropospheric aerosols on atmospheric infrared cooling rates is investigated by the use of recent models of infrared gaseous absorption. A radiative model of the atmosphere that incorporates dust as an absorber and scatterer of infrared radiation is constructed by employing the exponential kernel approximation to the radiative transfer equation. Scattering effects are represented in terms of a single scattering albedo and an asymmetry factor. The model is applied to estimate the effect of an aerosol layer made of spherical quartz particles on the infrared cooling rate. Calculations performed for a reference wavelength of 0.55 microns show an increased greenhouse effect, where the net upward flux at the surface is reduced by 10% owing to the strongly enhanced downward emission. There is a substantial increase in the cooling rate near the surface, but the mean cooling rate throughout the lower troposphere was only 10%.

Harshvardhan, MR.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Diffuse reflectance of the ocean - The theory of its augmentation by chlorophyll a fluorescence at 685 nm

The radiative transfer equation is modified to include the effect of fluorescent substances and solved in the quasi-single scattering approximation for a homogeneous ocean containing fluorescent particles with wavelength independent quantum efficiency and a Gaussian shaped emission line. The results are applied to the in vivo fluorescence of chlorophyll a (in phytoplankton) in the ocean to determine if the observed quantum efficiencies are large enough to explain the enhancement of the ocean's diffuse reflectance near 685 nm in chlorophyll rich waters without resorting to anomalous dispersion. The computations indicate that the required efficiencies are sufficiently low to account completely for the enhanced reflectance. The validity of the theory is further demonstrated by deriving values for the upwelling irradiance attenuation coefficient at 685 nm which are in close agreement with the observations.

Gordon, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Identification of gaseous SO2 and new upper limits for other gases on Io

The identification of gaseous sulfur dioxide on Io by Voyager 1 is reported, and preliminary upper limits for other atmospheric gases are presented. Averaged spectra taken by the Voyager IRIS experiment in the range of 1,000 to 1,200/cm are interpreted as containing three fundamental sulfur dioxide bands, with intensities most nearly corresponding to an atmospheric model with a sulfur dioxide abundance of 0.2 cm atm. Upper limits for COS, CS2, SO3, H2S, CO2, O3, N2O, H2O, CH4, NH3 and HC1, not detected in the spectra, were calculated on the basis of the radiative transfer equation for temperatures of 130 and 250 K; a depletion of hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen is noted. It is suggested that a SO2 outgassing from a cooling sulfur extrusion is the major source of the observed atmospheric SO2.

Pearl, J.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Effect of surface roughness on the microwave emission from soils

The effect of surface roughness on the brightness temperature of a moist terrain has been studied through the modification of Fresnel reflection coefficient and using the radiative transfer equation. The modification involves introduction of a single parameter to characterize the roughness. It is shown that this parameter depends on both the surface height variance and the horizontal scale of the roughness. Model calculations are in good quantitative agreement with the observed dependence of the brightness temperature on the moisture content in the surface layer. Data from truck mounted and airborne radiometers are presented for comparison. The results indicate that the roughness effects are great for wet soils where the difference between smooth and rough surfaces can be as great as 50 K.

Choudhury, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Study of the atmospheric effects on the radiation detected by the sensor aboard orbiting platforms (ERTS/LANDSAT)

The author has identified the following significant results. Multispectral scanner data for Brasilia was corrected for atmospheric interference using the LOWTRAN-3 computer program and the analytical solution of the radiative transfer equation. This improved the contrast between two natural targets and the corrected images of two different dates were more similar than the original ones. Corrected images of MSS data for Ribeirao Preto gave a classification accuracy for sugar cane about 10% higher as compared to the original images.

Dejesusparada, N.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Lightman-Eardley instabilities and accretion disk thickening

After reviewing the role of Compton scattering in accretion disks around black holes, it is discussed whether Lightman-Eardley (LE) secular instabilities can trigger and maintain Pringle-Rees (PR) thermal instabilities. The radiative-transfer-equation and equation-of-state criteria for LE stability in alpha-viscosity-law disk models and dynamic viscosity criteria for more general situations is derived. On the basis of these considerations the LE instability is insufficient for inducing PR instabilities and hot thick inner regions important in accretion-disk models of compact hard X-ray sources. The density thinning due to radial velocity gradients in the accretion flow is suggested as a more likely and satisfactory mechanism.

Stoeger, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The Eddington limit and supercritical accretion. I - Time-independent calculations

Spherically symmetric, steady state accretion of an ionized hydrogen plasma onto a neutron star is considered for accretion rates which exceed a critical rate at which the Eddington limiting luminosity is produced. The coupled hydrodynamic and frequency integrated, radiative transfer equations are solved for accretion rates up to 10 times the nominal limit. Steady state solutions are presented that imply a multiplicity of different luminosity solutions for a single accretion rate in this 'supercritical' regime.

Burger, H. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Outer atmospheres of cool stars. VI - Models for Epsilon Eridani based on IUE spectra of C II, Mg II, Si II, and Si III

Observations of the ultraviolet line spectrum of the active chromosphere star, Epsilon Eridani, obtained with the IUE satellite have been analyzed. The coupled statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer equations for the prominent transitions of C II, Mg II, Si II, and Si III. A satisfactory fit to all of the line strengths can be achieved with a model similar to that recently proposed to explain bright points on the quiet sun. A surface pressure at the base of the transition region of 0.5 dynes/sq cm is derived, which is a factor of 3 higher than the quiet sun value, but a factor of 3 smaller than predicted by scaling laws, assuming a conductively heated stellar transition region. It is found that the surface fluxes of the C II 1334, 1335 and Si III 1892 emission lines are good diagnostics of pressure at the base of the transition region, but line ratio techniques using the 1892 line for estimating electron densities may be valid.

Simon, T.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of impure snow for diffuse shortwave radiation

Impurities enter a snowpack as a result of fallout of scavenging by falling snow crystals. Albedo and flux extinction coefficient of soot contaminated snowcovers were studied using a two stream approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The effect of soot was calculated by two methods: independent scattering by ice grains and impurities and average refractive index for ice grains. Both methods predict a qualitatively similar effect of soot; the albedo is decreased and the extinction coefficient is increased compared to that for pure snow in the visible region; the infrared properties are largely unaffected. Quantitatively, however, the effect of soot is more pronounced in the average refractive index method. Soot contamination provides a qualitative explanation for several snow observations.

Choudhury, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Small-angle approximation to the transfer of narrow laser beams in anisotropic scattering media

The broadening and the signal power detected of a laser beam traversing an anisotropic scattering medium were examined using the small-angle approximation to the radiative transfer equation in which photons suffering large-angle deflections are neglected. To obtain tractable answers, simple Gaussian and non-Gaussian functions for the scattering phase functions are assumed. Two other approximate approaches employed in the field to further simplify the small-angle approximation solutions are described, and the results obtained by one of them are compared with those obtained using small-angle approximation. An exact method for obtaining the contribution of each higher order scattering to the radiance field is examined but no results are presented.

Box, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Investigation of multiple scattering effects in aerosols

The results are presented of investigations on the various aspects of multiple scattering effects on visible and infrared laser beams transversing dense fog oil aerosols contained in a chamber (4' x 4' x 9'). The report briefly describes: (1) the experimental details and measurements; (2) analytical representation of the aerosol size distribution data by two analytical models (the regularized power law distribution and the inverse modified gamma distribution); (3) retrieval of aerosol size distributions from multispectral optical depth measurements by two methods (the two and three parameter fast table search methods and the nonlinear least squares method); (4) modeling of the effects of aerosol microphysical (coagulation and evaporation) and dynamical processes (gravitational settling) on the temporal behavior of aerosol size distribution, and hence on the extinction of four laser beams with wavelengths 0.44, 0.6328, 1.15, and 3.39 micrometers; and (5) the exact and approximate formulations for four methods for computing the effects of multiple scattering on the transmittance of laser beams in dense aerosols, all of which are based on the solution of the radiative transfer equation under the small angle approximation.

Deepak, A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Verification of reflectance models in turbid waters

Inherent optical parameters of very turbid waters were used to evaluate existing water reflectance models. Measured upwelling radiance spectra and Monte Carlo simulations of the radiative transfer equations were compared with results from models based upon two flow, quasi-single scattering, augmented isotropic scattering, and power series approximation. Each model was evaluated for three separate components of upwelling radiance: (1) direct sunlight; (2) diffuse skylight; and (3) internally reflected light. Limitations of existing water reflectance models as applied to turbid waters and possible applications to the extraction of water constituent information are discussed.

Tanis, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Introduction to ocean optics

The fundamental inherent and apparent optical properties of natural waves are reviewed and relationships between these properties, as related through the radiative transfer equation, are examined. Applications of ocean optics to geophysics, biological oceanography, and ocean remote sensing are discussed.

Gordon, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The albedo of snow for partially cloudy skies

The albedo of snow is defined as the ratio of reflected to incident solar energy, and it is an important parameter in the earth's radiation budget analysis and in the study of snowpack's thermal conditions. An approximate model for calculating the incident spectral flux for partially cloudy skies is presented. The input parameters for the calculation are atmospheric precipitable water, turbidity, ozone content, surface pressure, the optical thickness of clouds, and the grain size of snow crystals. The spectral snow reflectance model considers both specular surface reflection and volumetric multiple scattering. The surface reflection is calculated by using a crystal-shape-dependent bidirectional reflectance distribution function; the volumetric multiple scattering is calculated by using a crystal-size-dependent approximate solution in the radiative transfer equation. The model yields spectral and integrated solar flux and snow reflectance as a function of solar elevation and fractional cloud-cover. The illustrative insolation and albedo values were obtained from spectral reflectance and incident flux for representative parameters of Antarctic coastal regions. A simple relationship between grain size and the overcast albedo was obtained. For a set of grain size and shape, the albedo as a function of solar elevation and fractional cloud cover was tabulated.

Choudhury, B. J.↗