Lecture 8.
Terrestrial infrared radiative processes.
Part 1: Line-by-line (LBL) method for solving IR radiative transfer.
1. Fundamentals of the thermal IR radiative transfer.
2. Line-by-line computations of radiative transfer in IR.
Required reading:
L02: 4.2.1-4.2.3
Additional reading:
LBLRTM code http://rtweb.aer.com/
Clough, S.A., et al. Atmospheric radiative transfer modeling: a summary of the AER
codes. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy &Radiative Transfer 91 (2005) 233–244.
1. Fundamentals of the thermal IR radiative transfer.
Recall the equation of radiative transfer (see Lecture 3) for upward and downward
intensities in the plane-parallel atmosphere
dI ( ; ; )
I ( ; ; ) J ( ; ; ) [3.25a]
d
dI ( ; ; )
I ( ; ; ) J ( ; ; ) [3.25b]
d
and its solutions (see Lecture 3):
*
I ( ; ; ) I ( * ; ; ) exp( )
*
1 [3.26a]
exp( ) J ( ; ; ) d
I ( ; ; ) I (0; ; ) exp( )
1 [3.26b]
exp( ) J ( ; ; )d
0
1
Infrared radiative transfer in the absorbing/emitting atmosphere:
For a non-scattering medium in the local thermodynamical equilibrium, the source
function is given by the Plank’s function B (T ) (see Lecture 4) and
e, a, ka, ,
where e and a are the volume extinction and absorption coefficients, and ka, is the
mass absorption coefficient.
Assuming that the thermal infrared radiation from the earth’s atmosphere is independent
on the azimuthal angle , the equation of infrared radiative transfer (in the
wavenumber domain) for the monochromatic upward and downward intensities can
be expressed as:
dI ( ; )
I ( ; ) B (T ) [8.1a]
d
dI ( ; )
I ( ; ) B (T ) [8.1b]
d
and the solutions as
*
I ( ; ) I ( *; ) exp( )
* [8.2a]
1
exp( ) B (T ( ))d
I ( ; ) I (0; ) exp( )
[8.2b]
1
exp( ) B (T ( ))d
0
2
To solve Eqs.[8.2a, b] for the entire atmosphere with total optical depth , two
boundary conditions are required:
Surface: it can be assumed to be a blackbody with the surface temperature Ts. Otherwise,
the spectral surface emissivity () is introduced.
I (* , ) B (Ts ) B (Ts (* )) B (* )
Top of the atmosphere (TOA), = 0: no downward thermal emission
I (0, ) 0
Using the above boundary conditions, the solutions (Eqs. 8.2a, b) for monochromatic
upward and downward intensities are
*
I ( ; ) B ( ) exp(
*
)
[8.3a]
1
*
exp( ) B ( )d
1
I ( ; )
exp(
0
) B ( )d [8.3b]
The solutions for monochromatic upward and downward intensities can be also
expressed in terms of monochromatic transmittance.
By definition, the monochromatic transmittance is
T ( ; ) exp( )
and the differential form is
dT ( ; ) 1
exp( )
d
3
Thus the formal solutions for monochromatic upward and downward intensities
given by Eq.[8.3a,b] in terms of transmittance are:
I ( ; ) B ( * )T ( * ; )
*
dT ( ; ) [8.4a]
B ( ) d
d
dT ( ; )
I ( ; ) B ( )
d [8.4b]
0
d
NOTE: Eq.(8.4 a, b) can be also written in terms of the weighing function which is
defined as
dT ( ' , )
W ( , ' , ) [8.5]
d
Let’s re-write the solutions of the radiative transfer equation for upward and downward
radiances in the altitude coordinate z
z
ka , gasdz [8.6]
z
Thus transmission between z and z’ along the path at is
z
1
T ( z , z, ) exp(
z
ka , gasdz) [8.7]
and
dT ( z, z , ) k a , gas 1
z
dz
exp(
z
k a , gasdz ) [8.8]
Thus
1 z
I ( z , ) I (0, ) exp
k
0
a , gasdz
[8.9a]
1 1
z z
0
exp
z
ka , gasdzB (T ( z))ka , gasdz
1
1z
I ( z, ) exp ka , gasdzB (T ( z))ka , gasdz
[8.9b]
z z
4
2. Line-by-line (LBL) computations of radiative transfer in IR.
The LBL method is considered to be an “exact” computation of radiative transfer in the
gaseous absorbing/emitting inhomogeneous atmosphere and it accounts for all (known)
gas absorption lines in the wavenumber range from 0 to about 23,000 cm-1.
Strategy to perform LBL calculations (i.e., to solve Eq.[8.3a,b]) for the plane-
parallel atmosphere:
For a given wavenumber
For the j-th atmospheric layer:(homogeneous; temperature Tj, pressure pj, length Zj)
For n-th gas:
Absorption coefficient ka,j,n is
L L
k a , , j , n k a , , j , n,l S n,l (T j ) f , n,l (T j , p j )
l 1 l 1
where l = 1, ..L in the number of absorbing lines of n-th gas
at a selected ; S,n,l and f,n,l are the intensity and profile
of the l-th line, respectively.
Optical depth ,j,n, of the n-th gas of the j-th layer
, j ,n ka, ,n, j un, j
where un,j is the slant path for the n-gas in the j-th layer
(i.e., the amount of the n-th gas in the j-th layer).
Repeating above calculations for all gases n=1, ..., N, we find the
optical depth of the j-th layer
N
, j , j ,n
n 1
Repeating above calculations for all layers j=1, ..., J, we find optical depth of each
layer.
Using calculated optical depth of each layer, we find the monochromatic upward and
downward intensities from Eq.[8.3a,b].
5
NOTE: Similar strategy is used to solve Eq.[8.4a,b] via monochromatic transmission
function. For the n-th gas
, j , n
T , j , n exp( )
and, using the multiplication law of transmittance, we have the transmittance of the j-th
layer of N absorbing gases
T , j T ,1T , 2 ...T , N
Multiplication law of transmittance states that when several gases absorb, the
monochromatic transmittance is a product of the monochromatic transmittances of
individual gases:
T ,1, 2...N T ,1T , 2 ...T , N [8.10]
For many practical applications, one needs to know not monochromatic intensity
(or flux) but intensity (or flux) averaged over a given wavenumber interval.
Spectral intensity = intensity averaged over a very narrow interval (that B is almost
constant but the interval is large enough to consist of several absorption lines).
Narrow-band intensity= intensity averaged over a narrow band which includes a lot of
lines;
Broad-band intensity= intensity averaged over a broad band (e.g., over a whole
longwave region)
We can define the spectral transmission function for a band of a width as
1 1 1
T (u )
T ( )d exp( )d exp(k u)d
a, [8.11]
and spectral absorptance is defined as
1 1
A 1 T (u )
(1 exp( ))d (1 exp(k u))d
[8.12]
6
NOTE: Spectral intensify requires the calculations of spectral transmission which
requires the calculations of monochromatic optical depth which are done with LBL
computations.
LBL spectral resolution:
Because LBL computes each line of absorbing gases in a non-homogeneous
atmopshere, the adequate selection of an integration step (i.e., interval d is required
to calculate the spectral transmittance in the interval (d
Because P decreases exponentially with altitude, the line half-width and hence the
integration step should be smaller at higher altitudes in the atmosphere.
Because of these variable resolutions, the absorptions coefficients of two consequent
layers must be merged – it is done by interpolating the coarser-resolution of lower
layers into the finer-resolution of the higher-level => spectral absorptance for a given
slant path is computed with the finest spectral resolution.
Continuum
Absorption lines may have long wings (e.g., depending on a line half-width). To simplify
calculations, the wings of a line are cut at a given distance from the line center Thus the
absorption coefficient of the line may be expressed as
ka , Sf kac, [8.13]
where ka,c gives the absorption fraction in the wings (called continuum absorption).
CKD (Clough, Kneizys, and Davies) continuum model:
includes continuum absorption due to water vapor, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and
ozone. The water vapor continuum is based upon a water vapor monomer line shape
formalism applied to all spectral regions from the microwave to the shortwave.
The absorption coefficient for the water vapor continuum is the sum of the self-
and foreign (air)-broadening components:
7
air
k ac, self [ pw ( p pw )] [8.14]
self
where pw and p denote the water vapor partial pressure and the air (ambient) pressure (in
atm), respectively, and self and air are the self- and air-broadening coefficients for
water vapor.
In the 8-12 m region, the self-broadening coefficient is parameterized as (Roberts et al.,
1976):
self ( , Tr ) a b exp( ) [8.15]
where Tr = 296 K, a=4.18, b=5578, and b=7.87x10-3 (for self in cm2 g-1 atm-1).
And air /self = 0.002 at Tr = 296 K.
Moreover, self depends on as:
self ( , T ) self ( , Tr ) exp(c(Tr / T 1))
where c=6.08
NOTE: There are two competing effects on absorption of the water vapor continuum: the
absorption coefficient increases as the temperature decreases, but colder atmospheric
conditions have less water vapor.
Examples of LBL numerical codes: LBLRTM and FASTCODE
LBLRTM was developed at the ATMOSPHERIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL
RESEARCH INC. (available to the scientific community)
http://rtweb.aer.com/
General info:
A radiance algorithm has been used to treat the vertically inhomogeneous atmospheres
resulting in substantially improved accuracy, and the model is directly applicable to
longwave cooling rate calculations. A layered atmosphere is used with each layer
assumed to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium with respect to absorption in the layer.
The spectral lines are optimally sampled at each layer using an algorithm that effectively
provides optimal sampling over the line. An accelerated approximation to the Voigt line
8
shape using a linear combination of precalculated functions is applied to all lines at all
layers. The line shape calculation extends to 25 cm-1 from line center for all lines, and
continua consistent with the adopted line shape definition are provided for self and
foreign water vapor broadening and for carbon dioxide (CKD continua are used).
FASCODE (FAST Atmospheric Signature CODE)
http://www.kirtland.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=7913
H.J.P. Smith, D.J. Dube, M.E. Gardner, S.A. Clough, F.X. Kneizys, and L.S. Rothman,
FASCODE- Fast Atmospheric Signature Code (Spectral Transmittance and Radiance),
Air Force Geophysics Laboratory Technical Report AFGL-TR-78-0081, Hanscom AFB,
MA, 1978.
General Info:
The Fast Atmospheric Signature Code is a first principles, line-by-line atmospheric
radiance and transmittance code. FASCODE is the standard benchmark for atmospheric
background codes based on band model approaches to radiation transport. It is applicable
from the visible to long wavelength infrared. It is generally used to calculate atmospheric
radiance and path transmission at low altitudes, but can be used for non-equilibrium high
altitude calculations if supplied with the appropriate vibrational level temperatures.
Recent upgrades to FASCODE include vectorization of routines to increase the
computational speed, parameterization of dimension statements to allow for easy changes
in the size of arrays, configuration for use on a variety of computer platforms, and
formulation of improvements to the atmospheric path geometry. New features (under
development) include the capability to calculate spectra over a much wider spectral
range, approximately a factor of four, and the option for output that is formatted to be
compatible with inputs needed for multiple-scattering programs such as CHARTS and
DISORT.
