Perturbation Correction to the Two-Stream Model Applied to the Earth’s Atmosphere

Abstract

In the interior of a clear, cloudless, and optically thin atmosphere (τ0 ≤ 0.8) the predictions of even the most accurate two-stream models can significantly deviate from exact calculations. A perturbation correction to the differential form of a particularly simple two-stream model (delta-function model) has been deduced in terms of error corrections to inversions for the single scattering albedo and the asymmetry factor. This corrected differential form was developed and validated for the visible region of the wavelength spectrum in the case of a cloudless vertically inhomogeneous plane-parallel terrestrial atmosphere.