Optimised frequency grids for infrared radiative transfer simulations in cloudy conditions

This paper shows that radiometer channel radiances for cloudy atmospheric conditions can be simulated with an optimised frequency grid derived under clear-sky conditions. A new clear-sky optimised grid is derived for AVHRR channel 5(12μm,833cm−1). For HIRS channel 11 (7.33μm,1364cm−1) and AVHRR channel 5, radiative transfer simulations using an optimised frequency grid are compared with simulations using a reference grid, where the optimised grid has roughly 100-1000 times less frequencies than the full grid. The root mean square error between the optimised and the reference simulation is found to be less than 0.3 K for both comparisons, with the magnitude of the bias less than 0.03 K. The simulations have been carried out with the radiative transfer model Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS), version 2, using a backward Monte Carlo module for the treatment of clouds. With this module, the optimised simulations are more than 10 times faster than the reference simulations. Although the number of photons is the same, the smaller number of frequencies reduces the overhead for preparing the optical properties for each frequency. With deterministic scattering solvers, the relative decrease in runtime would be even more. The results allow for new radiative transfer applications, such as the development of new retrievals, because it becomes much quicker to carry out a large number of simulations. The conclusions are applicable to any downlooking infrared radiometer.

► We perform radiative transfer simulations for HIRS and AVHRR. ► We use an optimised frequency grid derived with clear-sky simulations. ► We apply the optimised frequency grid to cloudy simulations. ► We compare channel radiances calculated with the optimised and the full grid. ► We find that the bias between the radiances is very small.