Scattered and reflected light intensities above the atmosphere.

Area of Science:

• Atmospheric physics
• Radiative transfer
• Remote sensing

Background:

• Accurate prediction of sunlight's angular distribution is crucial for satellite-based Earth observation.
• Understanding atmospheric scattering and ground reflection impacts sensor data quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a computational method for predicting the angular distribution of upwelling sunlight.
• To assess the method's accuracy across different atmospheric models and wavelengths.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Monte Carlo simulations for radiation escaping a plane-parallel atmosphere.
• Integrated reflected intensities for Earth's sunlit atmosphere visible to spacecraft.
• Modeled maritime and continental atmospheres, including aerosols, Rayleigh scattering, and ozone absorption.

Main Results:

• Calculations were performed for five wavelengths (370-780 nm).
• Results were compared with Ames Research Center's OSO-3 satellite earth albedo experiment data.
• Good agreement was found between calculated and measured values.

Conclusions:

• The developed calculational method provides reasonable estimates of radiation angular distribution.
• The method is effective for various atmospheric conditions and aids in near-Earth spacecraft radiation assessment.