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Design and verification of a cloud field optical simulatorA concept and an apparatus designed to investigate the reflected and transmitted distributions of light from optically thick clouds is presented. The Cloud Field Optical Simulator (CFOS) is a laboratory device which utilizes an array of incandescent lamps as a source, simulated clouds made from cotton or styrofoam as targets, and an array of silicon photodiodes as detectors. The device allows virtually any source-target-detector geometry to be examined. Similitude between real clouds and their CFOS cotton or styrofoam counterparts is established by relying on a linear relationship between optical depth and the ratio of reflected to transmitted light for a semiinfinite layer. Comparisons of principal plane radiances observed by the CFOS with Monte Carlo computations for a water cloud at 0.7 micron show excellent agreement. Initial applications of the CFOS are discussed.
Document ID
19830058668
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Davis, J. M.
(Colorado State Univ. Fort Collins, CO, United States)
Cox, S. K.
(Colorado State Univ. Fort Collins, CO, United States)
Mckee, T. B.
(Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1983
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology
Volume: 22
ISSN: 0733-3021
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Accession Number
83A39886
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-58
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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