Prerequisites
Physical Chemistry (5.61), Advanced Calculus for Engineers (18.075), or permission of instructor.
Grading
Based on grades from 6 exercises (weighted by degree of difficulty).
Required Textbook
Liou, Kuo-Nan. An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation. 2nd ed. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2002. ISBN: 0124514510.
Reference Textbook
Goody, R., and Y. Yung. Atmospheric Radiation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN: 0195102916.
Calendar
Calendar Legends
(P): Lecture taught by Prof. Ronald Prinn
(M): Lecture taught by Dr. Robert McClatchey
Course calendar.
| LEC # |
TOPICS |
KEY DATES |
| 1 |
Course Overview and Role of Radiation in Climate System (P and M)
- Global Energy Budget
- Chemical Composition and Radiative Effects
- Thermal Structure of the Atmosphere
|
|
| 2 |
Physics of Radiation (P)
- Thermodynamic Concepts
- Energy Levels in Molecules
|
|
| 3 |
Molecular Spectroscopy (P)
- Absorbtion and Emission Rules
- Spectra (Rotational, Vibrational, Electronic)
- Line Shapes
|
|
| 4 |
Equation of Radiative Transfer (M)
Derivation - Special Cases
|
|
| 5 |
Equation of Radiative Transfer (cont.) (M)
Fluxes and Simple Solutions - Radiative Equilibrium Approximation (Exercise 1)
|
|
| 6 |
Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (M)
The HITRAN Data Base and Applications (Exercise 2)
|
Exercise 1 due |
| 7 |
Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)
Band Models (Weak Line, Strong Line, Random, Regular, k Distribution)
|
Exercise 2 due |
| 8 |
Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)
MODTRAN - R.M. (Exercise 3)
|
|
| 9 |
Scattering of Radiation by Molecules and Particles (1 Class Period) (M)
- Single Scattering
- Size Distributions
- Mie Scattering (Exercise 4)
|
Exercise 3 due |
| 10 |
Multiple Scattering (1 Class Period) (M)
Discrete Ordinates (Exercise 5)
|
Exercise 4 due |
| 11 |
Remote Sensing (4 Class Periods) (cont.) (M)
- Scattered Sunlight (Observations from Ground, from Satellite)
- Retrieval of Gases, Particulate Information, Surface Properties
|
Exercise 5 due |
| 12 |
Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)
- Thermal Emission
- Weighting Functions
- Temperature and Water Vapor Retrieval
- Limb Scanning
|
|
| 13 |
Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)
Application of MODTRAN to Remote Sensing (Exercise 6)
|
|
| 14 |
Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)
Miscellaneous Topics and Summary (Microwave Remote Sensing, Active Remote Sensing - LIDAR and RADAR)
|
Exercise 6 due five days after Lec #14 |