THE DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR ENERGY REFLECTED FROM THE EARTH BY A SCATTERING ATMOSPHERE,

By our using a computer to perform certain numerical integrations, a model for the distribution of earth reflected sunlight albedo energy has been developed. Unlike many treatments of this problem which assume that albedo energy is reflected from a diffuse surface, in this study it is scattered by an atmosphere. This atmosphere is assumed to be homogeneous and to scatter isotropically. By proper selection of the optical thickness, it was possible to develop a scattering model which was characterized by an average albedo of 0.34. Locally, however, the albedo was not constant. A comparison of the scattering model with satellite data, showed that the model followed the general trend of the data with regard to the limb-brightening effect. This trend is not followed by the diffuse reflector model. Because the scattering model is no more complex than the diffuse model, and because it does have some physical basis, it could be of value in the thermal design of low-flying satellites. Author