The Solar Radiation Field at Twilight Below 100 KM: A Spherical Model.

Abstract

Time dependent calculations of minor species distributions require as input the solar radiation field as a function of altitude and solar zenith angle. An isotropic spherical model of the radiation field has been developed to determine the solar radiation field in twilight. Comparison of the spherical model with a plane parallel model of the multiple scattering of radiation at twilight shows that: (1) for solar zenith angles less than 95 deg., plane parallel solutions are suitable if the initial deposition of solar energy is calculated for a spherical atmosphere; (2) for solar zenith angles greater than 95 deg., the plane parallel radiation field is several orders of magnitude smaller than that calculated with the spherical model; (3) at altitudes above 40 km, the spherical model predicts 10-20% less radiation than the radiation field calculated with the plane parallel model. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA122832

Entities

People

  • Donald E. Anderson Jr

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Absorption Cross Sections
  • Abstracts
  • Altitude
  • Atmosphere (Earth)
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Mie Scattering
  • Military Research
  • Photons
  • Radiation
  • Radiative Transfer
  • Scattering
  • Solar Energy
  • Solar Radiation
  • Stratosphere
  • Troposphere

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Solar Physics
  • Spectroscopy.