Optical depth measurements by shadow-band radiometers and their uncertainties.
Shadow-band radiometers in general, and especially the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer (MFRSR), are widely used for atmospheric optical depth measurements. The major programs running MFRSR networks in the United States include the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture UV-B Monitoring and Research Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Surface Radiation (SURFRAD) Network, and NASA Solar Irradiance Research Network (SIRN). We discuss a number of technical issues specific to shadow-band radiometers and their impact on the optical depth measurements. These problems include instrument tilt and misalignment, as well as some data processing artifacts. Techniques for data evaluation and automatic detection of some of these problems are described.
Alexandrov
Mikhail D
MD
Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025, USA. malexandrov@giss.nasa.gov
Kiedron
Peter
P
Michalsky
Joseph J
JJ
Hodges
Gary
G
Flynn
Connor J
CJ
Lacis
Andrew A
AA