A fast infrared radiative transfer model based on the adding–doubling method for hyperspectral remote-sensing applications

Abstract

A fast infrared radiative transfer (RT) model is developed on the basis of the adding–doubling principle, hereafter referred to as FIRTM-AD, to facilitate the forward RT simulations involved in hyperspectral remote-sensing applications under cloudy-sky conditions. A pre-computed look-up table (LUT) of the bidirectional reflection and transmission functions and emissivities of ice clouds in conjunction with efficient interpolation schemes is used in FIRTM-AD to alleviate the computational burden of the doubling process. FIRTM-AD is applicable to a variety of cloud conditions, including vertically inhomogeneous or multilayered clouds. In particular, this RT model is suitable for the computation of high-spectral-resolution radiance and brightness temperature (BT) spectra at both the top-of-atmosphere and surface, and thus is useful for satellite and ground-based hyperspectral sensors. In terms of computer CPU time, FIRTM-AD is approximately 100–250 times faster than the well-known discrete-ordinate (DISORT) RT model for the same conditions. The errors of FIRTM-AD, specified as root-mean-square (RMS) BT differences with respect to their DISORT counterparts, are generally smaller than 0.1 K.