A new parameterization for the determination of solar flux absorbed at the surface from satellite measurements

Abstract

An earlier parameterization that relates the outgoing solar flux at the top of the atmosphere to the flux absorbed at the surface is modified and extended to allow for variations in atmospheric properties that were not considered in the original parameterization. Changes to the parameterization have also been introduced as a result of better treatment of water vapor absorption in the detailed radiative transfer calculations. Corrections are introduced that account for the height of the surface (surface pressure), ozone amount, aerosol type and amount, and cloud height and cloud type. Finally, the results are compared with the measurements of the net solar flux measured from two instrumented towers. -from Authors