title: Extraterrestrial solar flux measurement limitations due to a Beer's law assumption and uncertainty in local time.
abstract: The dependence on bandwidth of the error in estimating both optical depth and extraterrestrial solar flux due to an assumption of Beer's law applicability across finite bandwidths is determined by a numerical integration of Beer's law across the bandwidth. It was found that for 0.1% accuracy, 100-A bandwidths suffice for central wavelengths of 0.45 microm or greater; the maximum width yielding 0.1% accuracy decreases rapidly for shorter wavelengths. The accuracy to which solar elevation angle must be known to yield 0.1% accuracy is also examined and found to be a noteworthy though noncritical effect.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Thomason
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Schotland
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reagan