impacts of clouds and aerosols on actinic

flux profile
A study using LibRadTran 2.0 package
Anin Puthukkudy
December 10, 2015
University of Maryland Baltimore County

problem

1. Compare the actinic prole without and with cloud cover. Study
the inuence of clouds on actinic prole.
2. Add an aerosol layer to the above run and study the actinic
prole for those runs.

introduction

The radiative transfer equation may be written as (Chandrasekhar,

1960; Thomas and Stamnes, 1999)
dI
= I + J
ext ds
where, I is the Incident radiance

J=
P(, )I( )d + (1 )B(T)
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(1)

(2)

background

actinic flux

Actinic Flux The spherically integrated radiation ux in the earths

atmosphere that originates from the sun, including the
direct beam and any scattered components. This
radiation is responsible for initiating the chemistry of
the atmosphere.

F =
I()d
(3)
2

F =

F =

I(, )sindd

(4)

I(, )sindd

(5)

F = F + F

(6)

importanve of actinic flux

eg: 2(NO2 + h + O2 NO + O3 )
The rate of production of O3 depends on the intensity of solar
radiation (300nm-400nm)
In atmosphere, ozone is the only absorbing gas in the near UV
spectrum. Scattering of radiations by the other gases (rayleigh
scattering) redistributes the much of the UV radiation.
Studies shows that the cloud droplets can actually increase the
actinic ux and the rate of the photochemical reactions in the
upper parts of the clouds.

solar spectrum

Figure: Solar Spectrum

libradtran

Radiative transfer simulations have been performed using the

radiative transfer software package libRadtran, which includes the
programme uvspec (Mayer and Kylling (2005) and
http://www.libradtran.org/). Aside other capabilities, libRadtran can
compute radiances, irradiances and actinic uxes in planetary
atmospheres. A wide variety of different atmospheric conditions and
scenarios, such as cloudy or aerosol-loaden atmospheres, can be
simulated.

how uvspec works?

input parameters

Figure: Input Parameters for LibRadTran for an atmosphere with aerosol and
clouds

benchmarks

Figure: Actinic ux ratio of cloudy sky over clear sky [P.Wang et. al 2015]

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benchmarks

Figure: Actinic ux as a function of height z [P.Wang et. al 2015]

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benchmarks

Figure: Actinic ux as a function of height z [D. Mateos et. al 2014]

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results from simulations

Figure: Actinic ux as a function of wavelength at z=20km [D. Mateos et. al

2014]

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results from simulations

Figure: Actinic ux as a function of wavelength at z=1km

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results from simulations

Figure: Actinic ux as a function of wavelength at z=4km

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results from simulations

Figure: CMF as a function of wavelength at z=4km

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results from simulations

Figure: CMF as a function of wavelength at different heights

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results from simulations

Figure: ACMF as a function of wavelength at z=4km

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further research

Figure: CMF as a function of wavelength for different SZA [D. Mateos et. al
2014]

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further research

Figure: Ratio of Direct over diffused radiation as a function of wavelength

for different SZA [D. Mateos et. al 2014]

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conclusion

summary

The actinic ux inside the cloud decreases from top of the cloud
to the bottom of the cloud
For clear-sky conditions, the most important factors determining
the shape and magnitude of the actinic ux proles are SZA,
surface albedo, aerosol optical thickness, and aerosol height
Aerosol above clouds enhance the actinic ux in some region
and it also inhibits the actinic ux in some regions
In general, the actinic ux correlates well with the irradiance on
the surface, but the relationship depends on wavelength,
surface albedo, solar zenith angle, and cloud conditions.

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references

1. Wang, P., M. Allaart, W. H. Knap, and P. Stammes (2015), Analysis

of actinic ux proles measured from an ozonesonde balloon,
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 15(8), 41314144.
2. The Impact of Aerosols on Solar Ultraviolet Radiation and
Photochemical Smog R. R. Dickerson, S. Kondragunta, G.
Stenchikov, K. L. Civerolo, B. G. Doddridge, and B. N. Holben
Science 31 October 1997: 278 (5339), 827-830.
[DOI:10.1126/science.278.5339.827]
3. Mateos, D., di Sarra, A., Bilbao, J., Meloni, D., Pace, G., de Miguel, A.
and Casasanta, G. (2015), Spectral attenuation of global and
diffuse UV irradiance and actinic ux by clouds. Q.J.R. Meteorol.
Soc., 141: 109113. doi:10.1002/qj.2341

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Questions?

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