Broadband Water Vapor Transmission Functions for Atmospheric IR Flux Computations

Abstract

Transmission functions associated with water vapor molecular line and e-type absorption in the IR spectral regions are presented in the form of simple analytical functions and small tables, from which atmospheric IR fluxes and cooling rates can be easily computed. For typical clear atmospheres ranging from the tropics to the subarctic region, the difference with respect to line-by-line calculations is <0.15°C day?1 in the cooling rate and ?1% in fluxes.