Abstract
Aircraft observations of solar radiative fluxes (including the downward diffuse component) made in cloud-free conditions in the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere, have been interpreted using simultaneous measurements of aerosol characteristics. Measured flux profiles have been compared with those derived from a two-stream model of radiative transfer which can incorporate both gaseous and aerosol effects. In one of the four cases examined, sufficient aerosol data were available to estimate the radiative properties of the aerosol which could then be included in the model calculations. The findings are shown to be broadly consistent with the observations when a realistic aerosol refractive index is used. The measurement of the downward diffuse radiation enabled the radiative properties of the aerosol to be calculated directly from the flux measurements. In particular, the average single-scattering albedo of aerosol within the boundary layer in continental air masses was estimated to be about 0.7.
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