12.815 | Fall 2006 | Graduate

Atmospheric Radiation

Calendar

Calendar Legend

(P): Lecture taught by Prof. Ronald Prinn
(M): Lecture taught by Dr. Robert McClatchey

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
1

Course Overview and Role of Radiation in Climate System (P and M)

  • Global Energy Budget
  • Chemical Composition and Radiative Effects
  • Thermal Structure of the Atmosphere

2

Physics of Radiation (P)

  • Thermodynamic Concepts
  • Energy Levels in Molecules

3

Molecular Spectroscopy (P)

  • Absorbtion and Emission Rules
  • Spectra (Rotational, Vibrational, Electronic)
  • Line Shapes

4

Equation of Radiative Transfer (M)

Derivation - Special Cases

5

Equation of Radiative Transfer (cont.) (M)

Fluxes and Simple Solutions - Radiative Equilibrium Approximation (Exercise 1)

6

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (M)

The HITRAN Data Base and Applications (Exercise 2)

Exercise 1 due
7

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)

Band Models (Weak Line, Strong Line, Random, Regular, k Distribution)

Exercise 2 due
8

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)

MODTRAN - R.M. (Exercise 3)

9

Scattering of Radiation by Molecules and Particles (1 Class Period) (M)

  • Single Scattering
  • Size Distributions
  • Mie Scattering (Exercise 4)

Exercise 3 due
10

Multiple Scattering (1 Class Period) (M)

Discrete Ordinates (Exercise 5)

Exercise 4 due
11

Remote Sensing (4 Class Periods) (cont.) (M)

  • Scattered Sunlight (Observations from Ground, from Satellite)
  • Retrieval of Gases, Particulate Information, Surface Properties

Exercise 5 due
12

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)

  • Thermal Emission
  • Weighting Functions
  • Temperature and Water Vapor Retrieval
  • Limb Scanning

13

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)

Application of MODTRAN to Remote Sensing (Exercise 6)

14

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)

Miscellaneous Topics and Summary (Microwave Remote Sensing, Active Remote Sensing - LIDAR and RADAR)

Exercise 6 due five days after Lec #14