Atmospheric Heating Rates Due to Solar Radiation for Several Aerosol-Laden Cloudy and Cloud-Free Models

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
From calculations of solar flux by direct numerical solution of the spherical harmonics approximation of the equation of transfer, heating rate profiles have been obtained for model atmospheres ranging from one with gaseous absorption only to one with additional heavy concentration of partly absorbing aersols with a tropospheric cloud of water drops. These calculations show that aersols can have a significant effect on the vertical distribution of absorbed solar energy, which is sensitive to the value of the ground reflectivity and solar zenith angle.