Opacity of the Earth's atmosphere

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the need for a reliable tabulation of the Earth's atmosphere opacity across wavelengths from 100nm to 1 micron, particularly at zenith distance zero. Users recommend tools such as LOWTRAN, MODTRAN, and HITRAN for this purpose. A specific version of LOWTRAN, 7.16, is mentioned, although there is a noted lack of clarity regarding the column representations in its output data. The discussion highlights the importance of understanding atmospheric opacity for various applications.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of atmospheric science concepts
  • Familiarity with LOWTRAN 7.16 software
  • Knowledge of wavelength measurement in nanometers
  • Basic skills in interpreting scientific data tables
NEXT STEPS
  • Research LOWTRAN and its applications in atmospheric studies
  • Explore MODTRAN for advanced atmospheric modeling
  • Investigate HITRAN for high-resolution transmission data
  • Learn about the significance of zenith distance in atmospheric opacity measurements
USEFUL FOR

Atmospheric scientists, environmental researchers, and anyone involved in modeling or analyzing the Earth's atmospheric properties will benefit from this discussion.

natski
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Hi all,

Does anyone know of a reliable tabulation of the opacity of the Earth's atmosphere (for example at zenith distance zero) as a function of wavelength from 100nm to 1 micron? Obviously the opacity varies with different conditions but something like a US Standard Atmosphere model would suffice for my needs.

Thanks in advance,

Natski
 
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Have you looked at LOWTRAN/MODTRAN/HITRAN?

http://www.stormingmedia.us/73/7334/A733412.html
http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/software/lowtran/

Or is something like this good enough:

http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/~wpb/spectroscopy/figures/trans.gif
http://epsilon.nought.de/tutorials/processing/img2.gif
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ah yes this looks very useful, thanks. Looking at http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/software/lowtran/lowtran7.16 as an example, there does not seem to be a key as to what the columns actually mean. Do you know what each column represents here?

Natski
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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