Radiative transfer in anisotropically scattering atmospheres: the finite element method

The finite element method (FEM) is applied to the solution of the radiative transfer equation (RTE), for plane parallel atmospheres, from the UV to the near infrared region. The method has been used to simulate the radiance that could be measured by an airborne or satellite borne radiometers. The numerical scheme is described and some results of the computations are shown. All the radiative transfer computations refer to realistic atmospheric profiles obtained from the Lowtran program.<
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