The Influence of Cloud Layer and Aerosol on Absorption of Solar Radiation

Clouds is the major contributor to modulating the energy balance of the earth atmosphere system, thereby it plays a key role in the weather, climate and globe changes. Studies on the interaction of clouds with radiation are important. In the investigations, a recent debate about the anomalous absorption of solar radiation in the cloudy atmosphere aroused widely interest. The problem relating to this is the basic knowledge of absorption in cloud and cloudy atmosphere is still inadequate. In this paper, a radiative transfer code-- DISORT is employed to calculate the absorptivity of cloudy atmosphere. After taking account of the affection of the molecular scattering, absorption and emission, the aerosol absorption and scattering and the cloud partical absorption and scattering, the impact of the cloud on radiation at different solar spectrum bands, solar zenith angles, cloud heights and underlying surfaces are considered. Some radiative properties of cloudy atmosphere in the solar radiation wave bands are shown.