Calculations of the variability of ice cloud radiative properties at selected solar wavelengths

Abstract

This study shows that there is surprising little difference in values of reflectance, absorptance, and transmittance for many of the intermediate-size particle spectra. Parrticle size distributions with mode radii ranging from approximately 50 to 300 microAm, irrespective of particle shape and nearly independent of the choice of size distribution representation, give relatively similar flux values. The very small particle sizes, however, have significantly larger values of reflectance and transmittance with corresponding smaller values of absorptance than do the larger particle sizes. The very large particle modes produce very small values of reflectance and transmittance along with very large values of absorptance. Such variations are particularly noticeable when plotted as a function of wavelength.