Surface Solar Radiation Flux and Cloud Radiative Forcing for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP): A Satellite, Surface Observations, and Radiative Transfer Model Study

Abstract This study presents surface solar radiation flux and cloud radiative forcing results obtained by using a combination of satellite and surface observations interpreted by means of a simple plane-parallel radiative transfer model called 2001. This model, a revised version of a model initially introduced by Gautier et al., relates calibrated radiance observations from space to incoming surface solar flux. After a description of the model, an evaluation is presented by comparison with a more complex model that the authors have developed, the Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model (SBDART) based on the discrete ordinate model of Stamnes et al. This evaluation demonstrates this model’s accuracy for instantaneous surface flux when used to retrieve daily (and monthly) surface solar flux. Limitations related to its lack of treatment of the bidirectional reflectance properties of clouds are also discussed and quantified by comparison with SBDART for instantaneous surface solar flux retri...

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