A New Solar Irradiance Reference Spectrum
| Pilewskie, Peter | University of Colorado |
| Fontenla, Juan | LASP University of Colorado |
| Harder, Jerry | LASP University of Colorado |
Category: Radiation
The accuracy to which top-of-atmosphere incident total solar irradiance is known would suggest that it does not contribute to the uncertainty in the surface radiative budget. However, the spectral distribution of solar irradiance is much less well known than the integrated irradiance. Uncertainties in specific spectral bands may become important when interpreting surface and airborne measurements because of the spectral dependence of scattering and absorption processes in the atmosphere. Thus, the need for standard and accurate solar irradiance spectra is of critical importance for computational radiative transfer applications in climate research. We describe the development of a new solar reference spectrum for radiation and climate applications. Our approach is to provide a data product adaptable to broad range of applications which may include variable spectral resolutions, spectral range, and a number of other input parameters. We start with a very high spectral resolution solar irradiance spectrum synthesis that the Solar Radiation Physical Modeling (SRPM) project produces and incorporate data from the Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) flying on the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) over parts of the solar spectrum. We anticipate that these new spectra will be available in MODTRAN5 and later versions and fully adaptable to a wide variety of high and low resolution radiative transfer models.
This poster will be displayed at the ARM Science Team Meeting.
