Solving the atmospheric scattering optical transfer function using the multi-coupled single scattering method

The atmospheric scattering optical transfer function （OTF） is solved by applying the multi-coupled single scattering （MCSS） method to the three-dimensional radiative transfer equation （RTE） under the periodic ground condition. This approach is a direct hit to the atmospheric scattering OTF using the same original context of modulation transfer function （MTF） measurement, i.e., images of sinusoidal grating at different spatial frequencies. Both the amplitude and phase shift of the OTF at various zenith and azimuth angles can be obtained at an arbitrary spatial frequency.     

粗糙面上粒子层矢量辐射传输方程的二阶迭代解法

为了探究典型粗糙面上随机粒子层中能量传输的多次散射机制,提出了一种基于矢量辐射传输方程的建模二阶计算方法.该建模方法将建模场景(粗糙面上粒子层)在高度维(Z轴)划分为多个传输散射层,基于矢量辐射传输理论中的一阶迭代散射解,利用典型粗糙面的半经验半解析方法,求解出整个场景的二阶迭代散射解.同时,研究粒子层能量在粒子与粒子间的多次散射机制,以及粒子与地表粗糙面间的多次散射机制.数值结果表明,该二阶迭代解法相较于矢量辐射传输方程的一阶迭代散射解,能够更完整地探究互作用的散射特性,且可从能量传输角度解译建模场景中物体间的相干作用,从而可用于植被地物环境下的多次散射机制的解析以及散射系数变化趋势的预估.     

Spectral element method for vector radiative transfer equation

A spectral element method (SEM) is developed to solve polarized radiative transfer in multidimensional participating medium. The angular discretization is based on the discrete-ordinates approach, and the spatial discretization is conducted by spectral element approach. Chebyshev polynomial is used to build basis function on each element. Four various test problems are taken as examples to verify the performance of the SEM. The effectiveness of the SEM is demonstrated. The h and the p convergence characteristics of the SEM are studied. The convergence rate of p-refinement follows the exponential decay trend and is superior to that of h-refinement. The accuracy and efficiency of the higher order approximation in the SEM is well demonstrated for the solution of the VRTE. The predicted angular distribution of brightness temperature and Stokes vector by the SEM agree very well with the benchmark solutions in references. Numerical results show that the SEM is accurate, flexible and effective to solve multidimensional polarized radiative transfer problems.     

Time shift and superposition method for solving transient radiative transfer equation

Due to the long-time transient response of pulse irradiation, the computational time required for solving transient radiative transfer (TRT) is often very long, especially for the case in which the boundary is subjected to continuous pulse train and the geometry is complicated. In addition, sometimes, before actual experiments are carried out, a suitable pulse shape or type often needs to be selected by numerical simulation and comparison. Because the numerical solution of TRT needs to be repeated many times, the selection processes is very time-consuming. In this paper, by considering that the TRT equation and its initial and boundary conditions are linear, a time shift and superposition method is developed for solving TRT equation in non-emitting media, in which only the transient response of a short square pulse needs to be solved, and the solution of TRT under any pulse shape can be constructed by time shift and then superposition using the basis solution of the short square pulse. Three numerical examples are studied to illustrate the peformance of the superposition method in solving TRT problems. The results show that the superposition is effective, accurate and very suitable for solving TRT in the medium subjected to a series of pulse train.     

Three-dimensional vector radiative transfer in a semi-infinite, Rayleigh scattering medium exposed to spatially varying polarized radiation: generalized reflection matrix

Three-dimensional vector radiative transfer in a semi-infinite medium exposed to spatially varying, polarized radiation is studied. The problem is to determine the generalized reflection matrix for a multiple scattering medium characterized by a 4×4 scattering matrix. A double integral transform is used to convert the three-dimensional vector radiative transfer equation to a one-dimensional form, and a modified Ambarzumian's method is then applied to derive a nonlinear integral equation for the generalized reflection matrix. The spatially varying backscattered radiation for an arbitrarily polarized incident beam can be found from the generalized reflection matrix. For Rayleigh scattering and normal incidence and emergence, the generalized reflection matrix is shown to have five non-zero elements. Benchmark results for these five elements are presented and compared to asymptotic results. When the incident radiation is polarized, the vector approach used in this study correctly predicts three-dimensional behavior, while the scalar approach does not. When the incident radiation is unpolarized, both the vector and scalar approaches predict a two-dimensional distribution of the intensity, but the error in the scalar prediction can be as high as 20%.     

Three-dimensional vector radiative transfer in a semi-infinite, Rayleigh scattering medium exposed to a polarized laser beam: spatially varying reflection matrix

Three-dimensional vector radiative transfer in a semi-infinite, Rayleigh scattering medium exposed to a polarized, Gaussian laser beam directed perpendicular to the surface is studied. The focus of this investigation is the 4×4, spatially varying reflection matrix that can be used to determine the normally backscattered radiation when the polarization of the incident radiation is specified. An inverse integral transform is used to construct the spatially varying reflection matrix from the generalized reflection matrix found in a previous study. The elements of this matrix depend on location specified by optical radius and azimuthal angle. The azimuthal variation is found by performing part of the inverse transform analytically, while the radial variation is described by five functions that are calculated numerically via an inverse Hankel transform. Benchmark numerical results for these five functions are presented, and the effects of beam radius and particle concentration are discussed. Expressions that describe the behavior of the reflection functions at small and large optical radii are developed, and comparisons are made to the one-dimensional and scalar situations. The scalar approximation fails to predict the three-dimensional effects produced by the polarized beam, and even when the incident radiation is unpolarized, the error in the scalar reflection function can be as high as 20%.     

Reverse electric field Monte Carlo simulation for vector radiative transfer in the atmosphere

In this paper, a reverse electric field Monte Carlo （REMC） method is proposed to study the vector radiation transfer in the atmosphere. The REMC is based on tracing the multiply scattered electric field to simulate the vector transmitted radiance. The reflected intensities with different total optical depth values are obtained, which accord well with the results in the previous research. Stokes vector and the degree of polarization are numerically investigated. The simulation result shows that when the solar zenith angle is determined, the zenith angle of detector has two points, of which the degree of polarization does not change with the ground albedo and the optical depth. The two points change regularly with the solar zenith angle. Moreover, our REMC method can be applied to the vector radiative transfer in the atmosphere-ocean system.     

Finite element method for the two-dimensional atmospheric radiative transfer

The finite element method is applied to the solution of the two-dimensional atmospheric radiative transfer. The analysis is mainly focussed on the derivation of the cell or element equation. The Galerkin method and several hybrid methods using the integral and finite difference form of the radiative transfer equation are employed to obtain the cell equation. The assembled system of equations relating the radiances at the lower and upper boundary of the domain is solved by a direct method.     

Discrete-ordinate radiative transfer in a stratified medium with first-order rotational Raman scattering

Rotational Raman scattering (RRS) by air molecules in the Earth's atmosphere is predominantly responsible for the Ring effect: Fraunhofer and absorption-feature filling-in observed in UV/visible backscatter spectra. Accurate determination of RRS effects requires detailed radiative transfer (RT) treatment. In this paper, we demonstrate that the discrete-ordinate RT equations may be solved analytically in a multi-layer multiple scattering atmosphere in the presence of RRS treated as a first-order perturbation. Based on this solution, we develop a generic pseudo-spherical RT model LIDORT-RRS for the determination of backscatter radiances with RRS included; the model will generate output at arbitrary viewing geometry and optical thickness. Model comparisons with measured RRS filling-in effects from OMI observations show very good agreement. We examine telluric RRS filling-in effects for satellite-view backscatter radiances in a spectral range covering the ozone Huggins absorption bands. The model is also used to investigate calcium H and K Fraunhofer filling-in through cloud layers in the atmosphere.     

地表双向反射对天基矢量辐射探测的影响分析

矢量辐射传输方程定量描述了辐射在地表-大气耦合介质中的传输过程,是定量遥感的基础.在处理辐射和离散介质相互作用时,如何处理多次散射、辐射偏振效应和耦合地表模型是研究的重点,直接影响定量化遥感反演的精度.文中基于逐次散射近似法求解了矢量辐射传输方程,求解过程中耦合典型地表的非偏双向反射（BRDF）模型和偏振双面反射（BPDF）模型.采用相对误差因子定量分析了地表双向反射效应和大气偏振效应对天基矢量辐射的影响.为进一步研究地表-大气耦合介质系统的偏振特性及地表大气参数的定量遥感反演提供理论支持. 关键词： 矢量辐射传输方程 逐次散射近似 定量遥感 偏振遥感     

Infrared radiative transfer modelling in a 3D scattering cloudy atmosphere: Application to limb sounding measurements of cirrus

The Monte Carlo cloud scattering forward model (McClouds_FM) has been developed to simulate limb radiative transfer in the presence of cirrus clouds, for the purposes of simulating cloud contaminated measurements made by an infrared limb sounding instrument, e.g. the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). A reverse method three-dimensional Monte Carlo transfer model is combined with a line-by-line model for radiative transfer through the non-cloudy atmosphere to explicitly account for the effects of multiple scattering by the clouds. The ice cloud microphysics are characterised by a size distribution of randomly oriented ice crystals, with the single scattering properties of the distribution determined by accurate calculations accounting for non-spherical habit.A comparison of McClouds_FM simulations and real MIPAS spectra of cirrus shows good agreement. Of particular interest are several noticeable spectral features (i.e. H₂O absorption lines) in the data that are replicated in the simulations: these can only be explained by upwelling tropospheric radiation scattered into the line-of-sight by the cloud ice particles.     

A general integration method for radiative transfer in 3-D non-homogeneous cylindrical media with anisotropic scattering

A general set of integral equations is presented to solve 3-D radiative heat transfer problems in emitting, absorbing and linear anisotropic scattering finite hollow or solid cylinders with non-homogeneous media. By tracing a ray to compute the intensity,it is much easier to handle the spatial change properties including extinction coefficient. Both the continuous change property and step-change property are dealt with without difficulties. The solid angle integration in getting the incident radiation and heat fluxes is represented by the bounding surface integration. In order to avoid the singularity problem near the bounding surface, the surface integrations are transformed to new modified integral equations by mathematical methods. By doing so, we get more flexible general integral equations applicable to all cases (3-D solid cylinders, 3-D hollow cylinders, finite cylinders or infinite cylinders). This scheme has been verified by comparing the results with published data in the literature. It is believed that this method will be useful in combined radiation and convection heat transfer problems.     

Variational method for solving radiative transfer problems

The variational principle is used to solve two problems of radiative transfer. The first one is the temperature distribution and radiative heat flux for a plane layer of ceramic material. While the second is the calculation of the integral blankness degree of a sphere filled with dust of an arc steel-melting furnace. Numerical results obtained shows good agreement with the published data.     

An approximate analytical solution of the radiative transfer equation in hydrometeors accounting for scattering effects

An iterative method for the radiative transfer equation solution is suggested for the scattering hydrometeors. The method allows to find the layer scattering indicatrix. The method is shown to be more general as compared with the four-flux theory or the perturbation method and differs strongly from these ones because even in the case of the first iteration it gives the results which are very close to ones obtained by numerical methods for all rain scattering angles.     

A Monte Carlo method for 3D thermal infrared radiative transfer

A 3D Monte Carlo model for specific application to the broadband thermal radiative transfer has been developed in which the emissivities for gases and cloud particles are parameterized by using a single cubic element as the building block in 3D space. For spectral integration in the thermal infrared, the correlated k-distribution method has been used for the sorting of gaseous absorption lines in multiple-scattering atmospheres involving 3D clouds. To check the Monte-Carlo simulation, we compare a variety of 1D broadband atmospheric fluxes and heating rates to those computed from the conventional plane-parallel (PP) model and demonstrate excellent agreement between the two. Comparisons of the Monte Carlo results for broadband thermal cooling rates in 3D clouds to those computed from the delta-diffusion approximation for 3D radiative transfer and the independent pixel-by-pixel approximation are subsequently carried out to understand the relative merits of these approaches.     

大气折射对可见光波段辐射传输特性的影响

折射是影响辐射传输的重要因素. 为分析大气折射对辐射传输的影响, 基于Monte Carlo方法, 给出了考虑大气折射的矢量辐射传输模型, 实现了均匀气层和耦合面处光子随机运动过程的模拟, 实现了直射光及漫射光Stokes矢量、偏振度和辐射通量等参数的计算. 在考虑和不考虑大气折射两种条件下, 验证了模型的准确性; 在纯瑞利散射条件下, 讨论了大气折射对不同方向漫射光Stokes矢量的影响; 在不同太阳天顶角、大气廓线、气溶胶及含云大气条件下, 分析了大气折射对辐射传输过程的影响. 结果表明: 大气折射对漫射光Stokes矢量的影响主要体现在天顶角70°–110°区间, 且随着太阳入射角增大, 其影响更为显著; 不同大气廓线情形下, 大气折射对Stokes矢量的影响不一致, 其原因是不同大气廓线对应的折射率廓线存在差异. 含云及含气溶胶大气条件下, 大气折射对辐射传输的影响变弱, 沙尘型及海盐型气溶胶条件下, 折射对辐射传输的影响强于可溶型气溶胶情形; 不同形状气溶胶条件下, 大气折射对辐射传输的影响也存在显著差异; 不同云高条件下, 大气折射对漫射光Stokes矢量的影响无显著差异, 但随着云光学厚度增大, 大气折射的影响减弱.     

Discrete-ordinates solution for uncoupled multi-wavelength radiative transfer problems

The discrete-ordinates method is used to solve uncoupled multi-wavelength radiative transfer problems in multi-region plane-parallel media. We present a generalized analytical discrete-ordinates formulation that includes internal sources, as well as reflecting and emitting boundaries, incident distribution of radiation on each surface and a beam incident on one surface, as boundary conditions. Four problems were selected to show the results that can be generated through this formulation.     

Curved ray tracing method for one-dimensional radiative transfer in the linear-anisotropic scattering medium with graded index

The curved ray tracing method (CRT) is extended to radiative transfer in the linear-anisotropic scattering medium with graded index from non-scattering medium. In this paper, the CRT is presented to solve one-dimensional radiative transfer in the linear-anisotropic scattering gray medium with a linear refractive index and two black boundaries. The predicted temperature distributions and radiative heat flux at radiative equilibrium are determined by the proposed method, and numerical results are compared with the data in references. The results show that the CRT has a good accuracy for radiative transfer in the linear-anisotropic scattering medium with graded index and the dimensionless emissive power and dimensionless radiative heat flux depend on the dimensionless refractive index gradient. It can also be seen that the dimensionless refractive index gradient has important effects on the temperature discontinuity at the boundaries.     

Analysis of the characteristics of time-resolved signals for transient radiative transfer in scattering participating media

Transient radiative transfer (TRT) in one-dimensional (1-D) homogeneous and inhomogeneous media with ultra-short pulse laser irradiated is investigated by means of the finite volume method (FVM) in the present research. Comparing with the steady radiative transfer (SRT), the extra time-resolved information can be obtained in TRT. Meanwhile, the propagation speed of short-pulse laser and the geometric thickness of the media should be considered in the simulation of TRT problem besides the optical thickness. A new nondimensional number ζ=ct_p/L is presented. For the homogeneous media, the temporal signals would overlap one another with different combinations of the pulse duration and the thickness of the media with the same ζ. Furthermore, in two-layer media, the influence of the scattering albedo, optical thickness and the geometric thickness of the participating media on ‘dual-peak’ are studied thoroughly. The improved expression of the ‘local minimum’ in the ‘dual-peak’ and the interface location of the multi-layer media are provided.