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.

Assesses and distills decades of development in three-dimensional cloud radiation Includes a section on the fundamental physics and computational techniques Focuses closely on the impact of clouds on the Earth's radiation budget - an essential aspect of climate modeling - and remote observation of clouds This multiauthor work is the only book of its kind that treats this important topic of atmospheric physics at the graduate student level Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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.