Radiation and Optics in the Atmosphere
This chapter describes the fundamentals of radiation transport in general and in the Earthʼs atmosphere. The role of atmospheric aerosol and clouds are discussed and the connections between radiation and climate are described. Finally, natural optical phe
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Radiation and 19. Radiation and Optics in the Atmosphere
This chapter describes the fundamentals of radiation transport in general and in the Earth’s atmosphere. The role of atmospheric aerosol and clouds are discussed and the connections between radiation and climate are described. Finally, natural optical phenomena of the atmosphere are discussed.
19.1 Radiation Transport in the Earth’s Atmosphere..................... 1166 19.1.1 Basic Quantities Related to Radiation Transport ................. 1166 19.1.2 Absorption Processes ................... 1166 19.1.3 Rayleigh Scattering...................... 1166 19.1.4 Raman Scattering ........................ 1167 19.1.5 Mie Scattering............................. 1168 19.2 The Radiation Transport Equation .......... 1169 19.2.1 Sink Terms (Extinction)................. 1169 19.2.2 Source Terms (Scattering and Thermal Emission). 1169 19.2.3 Simplification of the Radiation Transport Equation ...................... 1170 19.2.4 Light Attenuation in the Atmosphere ...................... 1171
19.3 Aerosols and Clouds .............................. 1172 19.4 Radiation and Climate .......................... 1174 19.5 Applied Radiation Transport: Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Properties ......... 1176 19.5.1 Trace Gases ................................ 1176 19.5.2 The Fundamentals of DOAS ........... 1176 19.5.3 Variations of DOAS ....................... 1178 19.5.4 Atmospheric Aerosols................... 1179 19.5.5 Determination of the Distribution of Solar Photon Path Lengths ........ 1181 19.6 Optical Phenomena in the Atmosphere... 1182 19.6.1 Characteristics of Light Scattering by Molecules and Particles .............................. 1182 19.6.2 Mirages...................................... 1185 19.6.3 Clear Sky: Blue Color and Polarization .......... 1186 19.6.4 Rainbows ................................... 1187 19.6.5 Coronas, Iridescence and Glories ... 1189 19.6.6 Halos ......................................... 1191 19.6.7 The Color of the Sun and Sky ........ 1193 19.6.8 Clouds and Visibility .................... 1195 19.6.9 Miscellaneous ............................. 1196 References .................................................. 1197
There are a multitude of processes in which electromagnetic radiation interacts with the atmosphere:
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Absorption, i. e. radiation is removed from the radiation field and converted into some other form of energy, e.g. heat. Absorption can be due to molecules in the atmosphere (such as ozone, oxygen, or water vapor) or aerosols (such as soot), absorption of solar energy in the atmosphere is an important process in the climate system of the Earth. Elastic scattering, which – seen from an individual photon – changes its direction of propagation, but not its energy (and hence wavelength or ‘color’). Scattering can be due to molecules (Rayleigh scattering) or aerosol particles (Mie scattering) present in the air. Inelastic scattering where, as for elastic scattering, the direction of a photon is changed but
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