Abstract

Estimates of the radiative effects of tropospheric aerosol layers require analysis of complex and to some extent indirect measurements. Each step in the measurement and analysis procedure contributes uncertainty to the final estimated values. The magnitudes of the resulting uncertainties in reflectivity, transmissivity, and absorptivity for a specific realistic experiment are estimated as functions of solar altitude and mean optical properties in the aerosol layer, assuming uniformity in the layer and sphericity of the particles. These values are typically ∼2–8% for a narrow wavelength interval in the visible.

© 1982 Optical Society of America

Experimental validation of the solar aureole technique for determining aerosol size distributions

A. Deepak, G. P. Box, and M. A. Box
Appl. Opt. 21(12) 2236-2243 (1982)

Radiative flux measurements in the troposphere

Francisco P. J. Valero, Warren J. Y. Gore, and Lawrence P. M. Giver
Appl. Opt. 21(5) 831-838 (1982)

Potential of lidar backscatter data to estimate solar aerosol radiative forcing

Manfred Wendisch, Detlef Müller, Ina Mattis, and Albert Ansmann
Appl. Opt. 45(4) 770-783 (2006)

Aerosol optical depth determination from ground based irradiance ratios

Norman T. O’Neill, Alain Royer, and John R. Miller
Appl. Opt. 28(15) 3092-3098 (1989)

Orbiting lidar simulations. 1: Aerosol and cloud measurements by an independent-wavelength technique

P. B. Russell, B. M. Morley, J. M. Livingston, G. W. Grams, and E. M. Patterson
Appl. Opt. 21(9) 1541-1553 (1982)