Project: The project will be an application of radiation transfer to a problem of interest to you. The project will be a combination of library research and of numerical simulation. Due date for title and abstract is March 17, an outline is due April 7, and the finished paper is due May 2nd. DRI has a well-equipped Atmospheric Science library. Use the expected writing style for Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences in preparing the final paper. See also Uncover, a web server for references.
Philosophy: Use theory and computations to obtain a solution for a problem in radiation transfer. Then follow through with a discussion of the results. It is generally best to choose a problem that you completely understand and can thoroughly analyze rather than choosing an extremely complex problem that requires use of numerical code that produces output hard to digest. Use this opportunity to learn something of interest to you. It is certainly ok that the topic you choose relates to your research at DRI.
Ideas for project topics. You are free to make other choices as well. We need to agree on the suitability of your topic so as soon as you find one, let me know. See also related radiation transfer sites.
1. Short wave properties of contrails.
2. Long wave properties of contrails.
3. Short or long wave transfer in cirrus clouds.
4. Cloud top cooling in marine stratus????
5. Phase function of spherical and non-spherical particles and consequences for radiation transfer.
6. Radar backscattering cross section for spherical and nonspherical particles: Comparison of Mie theory, discrete dipole approximation, and Tmatrix models.
7. Infrared remote sensing of atmospheric temperature.
8. Short wave cloud absorption anomaly: Is it real, or is it due to broken clouds.
9. Use of MODTRAN and FASCODE to simulate short range infrared transmission.
10. Atmospheric effects on transfer of lightning signals to ground and airborn sensors.
11. Use of FASCODE to invert spectral infrared transmission measurements to determine some gas concentration.
12. Comparison of ground and satellite based remote sensing of clouds by spectral long wave measurements.
13. Horizontal radiation transfer in inhomogeneous clouds (short wave or long wave).
14. Effects of particle orientation on radiation transfer in clouds.
15. Effects of ground cover (snow, soil) on daytime surface temperature and atmospheric heating rates.
Return to the course description, syllabus for ATMS 749.