Impact of LOWTRAN 6 layering on radiance calculations

Measurements of 8 to 12 micrometers near-horizon sky radiances and meteorological parameters over the ocean near San Diego, California were used to evaluate the sky radiance algorithm of LOWTRAN 6. Discrepancies in measured and calculated sky radiances previously attributed to the neglect of multiple scattering effects of aerosols can be overcome by introducing additional low-level layers in the calculations of LOWTRAN 6. A comparison between radiance calculations using the single scattering, additive-layer approach and those using a multiple scattering version of LOWTRAN raises questions about the applicability of the multiple scattering approach in the far infrared region.