Equations for Estimating the Similarity Parameter from Radiation Measurements within Weakly Absorbing Optically Thick Clouds

摘要

Series expansions are derived for estimating the similarity parameter, which is a combination of the single-scattering albedo and asymmetry factor, from radiance measurements deep in the interior of a weakly absorbing cloud. One expansion requires the measurements of the radiance in only the zenith and nadir directions while a second uses the downward and upward irradiances. Numerical calculations show the estimates for the similarity parameter are very insensitive to different values of the asymmetry factor. Keywords: Inverse problems; Remote sensing; Inverse transfer; Optical properties. (Author)