Absorption and emission line shapes in the O_2 atmospheric bands: Theoretical model and limb viewing simulations

Abstract

A multiple scattering radiative transfer model has been developed to carry out a line by line calculation of the absorption and emission limb measurements that will be made by the High Resolution Doppler Imager to be flown on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. The multiple scattering model uses the doubling and adding methods to solve the radiative transfer equation, modified to take into account a spherical inhomogeneous atmosphere. Representative absorption and emission line shapes in the O(2)((1)Sigma(+)(g)-(3)Sigma(-)(g)) atmospheric bands (A, B, and gamma) and their variation with altitude are presented. The effects of solar zenith angle, aerosol loading, surface albedo, and cloud height on the line shapes are also discussed.