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The radiative effect of aerosols in the earth's atmosphereA modified two-flux approximation is employed to compute the transfer of radiation in a finite, inhomogeneous, turbid atmosphere. A perturbation technique is developed to allow the treatment of nongray gaseous absorption with multiple scattering. The perturbation method, which employs a backscatter factor as a parameter, can be used with anisotropic particle scattering as well as Rayleigh scattering. This method is used to study the effect of aerosols on radiative solar heating and infrared cooling as well as the radiative-convective temperature distribution in the earth's atmosphere. It is found that the effect of aerosols in the infrared cannot be neglected; while in the visible, the effect can be of the same order as that due to absorption by water vapor. For a high surface albedo (greater than 0.30) heating of the earth-atmosphere system results due to the presence of aerosols. The aerosols also reduce the amount of convection needed to maintain a stable atmosphere. For the case of a dense haze a temperature inversion is found to exist close to the ground.
Document ID
19740059989
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wang, W.-C.
(NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York, N.Y., United States)
Domoto, G. A.
(Columbia University New York, N.Y., United States)
Date Acquired
August 7, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1974
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Applied Meteorology
Volume: 13
Subject Category
Meteorology
Accession Number
74A42739
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGL-33-008-012
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-33-008-191
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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