Developments in three-dimensional cloud radiation over the past few decades are assessed and distilled into this contributed volume. Chapters are authored by subject-matter experts who address a broad audience of graduate students, researchers, and anyone interested in cloud- radiation processes in the solar and infrared spectral regions. After two introductory chapters and a section on the fundamental physics and computational techniques, the volume extensively treats two main application areas: the impact of clouds on the Earth's radiation budget, which is an essential aspect of climate modeling; and remote observation of clouds, especially with the advanced sensors on current and future satellite missions.

Inhalt

Preliminaries.- Scales, Tools and Reminiscences.- Observing Clouds and Their Optical Properties.- Fundamentals.- A Primer in 3D Radiative Transfer.- Numerical Methods.- Approximation Methods in Atmospheric 3D Radiative Transfer Part 1: Resolved Variability and Phenomenology.- Climate.- Approximation Methods in Atmospheric 3D Radiative Transfer Part 2: Unresolved Variability and Climate Applications.- 3D Radiative Transfer in Stochastic Media.- Effective Cloud Properties for Large-Scale Models.- Broadband Irradiances and Heating Rates for Cloudy Atmospheres.- Longwave Radiative Transfer in Inhomogeneous Cloud Layers.- Remote Sensing.- 3D Radiative Transfer in Satellite Remote Sensing of Cloud Properties.- Horizontal Fluxes and Radiative Smoothing.- Photon Paths and Cloud Heterogeneity: An Observational Strategy to Assess Effects of 3D Geometry on Radiative Transfer.- 3D Radiative Transfer in Vegetation Canopies and Cloud-Vegetation Interaction.