Reading notes-6

The Reference Forward Model (RFM) is a general purpose line-by-line radiative transfer model, currently supported by the UK National Centre for Earth Observation. This paper outlines the algorithms used by the RFM, focusing on standard calculations of terrestrial atmospheric infrared spectra followed by a brief summary of some additional capabilities and extensions to microwave wavelengths and extraterrestrial atmospheres.

At its most basic level- the ‘line-by-line’ component -it calculates moldecular absorption cross-sections by applying the Voigt lineshape to all transitions up to ±25cm-1 from line-centre. Alternatively, absorptions can be directly interpolated from various forms of tabulated data.

These cross-sections are then used to construct infrared radiance or transmittance spectra for ray paths through homogeneous cells, plane-parallel or circular atmospheres.

At a higher level, the RFM can apply instrumental convolutions to simulate measurements from Fourier transform spectrometers. It can also calculate Jacobian spectra and so act as a stand-alone forward model within a retrieval scheme.

The RFM is designed for robustness, flexibility and ease-of-use(particularly by the non-expert), and no claims are made for superior accuracy, or indeed novelty, compared to other line-by-line codes. Its main limitations at present are a lack of scattering and simplified modelling of surface reflectance and line-mixing.

The aim of this paper is to outline some the basic algorithms used within the RFM at a level of detail allowing it to be compared with other models and to help in the interpretation of results. The source code is, in any case, available and clearly commend and more technical details are available on-line in the Software User’s Manual which can be found on the RFM web-site.

The main part of this paper describes the four basic structural components of the RFM which, in sequence, are
1.Defining the Calculation
2.Ray-tracing, including calculation of Curtis-Godson integrals
3.Calculation of absorption coefficients(including the line-by-line component)
4.Radiative transfer

The RFM is a general purpose radiative transfer model that has been widely used for 20 years. In that time it has continued to evolve and, inevitably, this paper just summarises its current state.

参考自“The Reference FOrward Model”，RFM是一个辐射传输模型，这篇文章对RFM的反演算法进行了描述，并介绍了RFM的特点。