SBDART: A Research and Teaching Software Tool for Plane-Parallel Radiative Transfer in the Earth's Atmosphere

TLDR

SBDART is a software tool that computes plane‑parallel radiative transfer in clear and cloudy conditions within the Earth's atmosphere and at the surface. It is designed to support case studies and sensitivity analyses. The code incorporates all key processes affecting UV, visible, and IR radiation, combining a sophisticated discrete‑ordinate radiative transfer module, low‑resolution atmospheric transmission models, and Mie scattering results for water droplets and ice crystals. It is well suited for atmospheric radiative energy balance and remote sensing studies, available via a web interface for small or teaching applications and via anonymous FTP for large sensitivity studies.

Abstract

SBDART is a software tool that computes plane-parallel radiative transfer in clear and cloudy conditions within the earth's atmosphere and at the surface. All important processes that affect the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation fields are included. The code is a marriage of a sophisticated discrete ordinate radiative transfer module, low-resolution atmospheric transmission models, and Mie scattering results for light scattering by water droplets and ice crystals. The code is well suited for a wide variety of atmospheric radiative energy balance and remote sensing studies. It is designed so that it can be used for case studies as well as sensitivity analysis. For small sets of computations or teaching applications it is available on the World Wide Web with a user-friendly interface. For sensitivity studies requiring many computations it is available by anonymous FTP as a well organized and documented FORTRAN 77 source code.