Application of adaptive multi-frequency grids to three-dimensional astrophysical radiative transfer

We present a method to solve the three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer equation for astrophysical applications using adaptive photon transport grids. Contrary to earlier treatments, they are calculated for each frequency separately. Generated minimizing the first-order discretization error in the scattered radiation intensity, they provide global error control for solutions of radiative transfer problems on the grid. We discuss minimization of the grid point number in regions where the optical depth becomes large and show that the method allows for treating applications with optical depth of any value using the concept of penetration depth. The proposed grid generation algorithm is easy to implement, allows pre-calculation of the grids and storage in integer arrays, making a fast solution of the 3D radiative transfer equation possible. The grid generation algorithm is suitable for optimization in cases where simple radiation source distributions are given. Besides discussing application to simple density distribution commonly occurring in astrophysical objects, we illustrate the capabilities of the method by generating grids for an accretion disk around a young star.     

Multilayer modeling of radiative transfer by SLW and CW methods in non-isothermal gaseous medium

Non-isothermal gaseous medium is modeled using the multilayer approach, breaking the one-dimensional system into a series of isothermal layers. Spectral integration of the radiative transfer equation (RTE) is performed for the spectral line weighted-sum-of-gray-gases and cumulative wavenumber approaches to modeling the spectral nature of the gas radiation. An exact analytical solution of RTE is obtained for the layers with both black and gray walls. Predictions show high accuracy, even with surprisingly few layers.     

矩形介质内辐射换热的有限元法

利用有限单元法离散求解辐射传递方程和能量控制方程.分别计算了边界为黑体和灰体条件下矩形吸收、发射、各向同性散射介质内的平均入射强度和温度分布,并同蒙特卡罗法(M-C法)计算结果进行了比较.     

Comparison of the radiative transfer equations for constant and spatially varying refraction

The radiative transfer equation for scattering media with constant refraction index (RTE) and the radiative transfer equation for scattering media with spatially varying refraction index (RTEvri) are compared by using the principle of conservation of energy. It is shown that the RTEvri, not only accounts for the spatial variations of refraction index, but also contains a term that accounts for the divergence of the rays. The latter term is missing in the RTE. A corrected RTE is proposed.     

Optical properties of pigmented coatings taking into account particle interactions

A T-matrix approach is used to obtain the orientation-averaged scattering and absorption cross sections of randomly oriented particle clusters, and the average angular distribution of the radiation scattered by them. The coefficients involved in the expansion of the phase function are obtained from this T-matrix approach, and used in a multiple scattering formalism to characterize the angular distribution of the diffuse radiation propagating through a particulate coating perpendicularly illuminated with collimated visible radiation. Asymmetry between forward and backward propagating diffuse radiation intensities is taken into account by means of this multiple scattering approach, which is based on solving the radiative transfer equation for successive scattering order contributions. A four-flux model is applied to compute the reflectance in terms of wavelength of the incident radiation and particle concentration. An application of the formalism is carried out to predict the optical properties of titanium dioxide pigmented polymer coatings, in terms of the pigment volume fraction and the degree of aggregation.     

Infrared radiative transfer modelling in a 3D scattering cloudy atmosphere: Application to limb sounding measurements of cirrus

The Monte Carlo cloud scattering forward model (McClouds_FM) has been developed to simulate limb radiative transfer in the presence of cirrus clouds, for the purposes of simulating cloud contaminated measurements made by an infrared limb sounding instrument, e.g. the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). A reverse method three-dimensional Monte Carlo transfer model is combined with a line-by-line model for radiative transfer through the non-cloudy atmosphere to explicitly account for the effects of multiple scattering by the clouds. The ice cloud microphysics are characterised by a size distribution of randomly oriented ice crystals, with the single scattering properties of the distribution determined by accurate calculations accounting for non-spherical habit.A comparison of McClouds_FM simulations and real MIPAS spectra of cirrus shows good agreement. Of particular interest are several noticeable spectral features (i.e. H₂O absorption lines) in the data that are replicated in the simulations: these can only be explained by upwelling tropospheric radiation scattered into the line-of-sight by the cloud ice particles.     

An efficient diffusion approximation for 3D radiative transfer parameterization: application to cloudy atmospheres

The three-dimensional (3D) diffusion radiative transfer equation, which utilizes a four-term spherical harmonics expansion for the scattering phase function and intensity, has been efficiently solved by using the full multigrid numerical method. This approach can simulate the transfer of solar and thermal infrared radiation in inhomogeneous cloudy conditions with different boundary conditions and sharp boundary discontinuity. The correlated k-distribution method is used in this model for incorporation of the gaseous absorption in multiple-scattering atmospheres for the calculation of broadband fluxes and heating rates in the solar and infrared spectra. Comparison of the results computed from this approach with those computed from plane-parallel and 3D Monte Carlo models shows excellent agreement. This 3D radiative transfer approach is well suited for radiation parameterization involving 3D and inhomogeneous clouds in climate models.     

One-dimensional solar radiative transfer: Perturbation approach and its application to independent-pixel calculations for realistic cloud fields

The radiative transfer perturbation theory (RTPT), which has already been introduced in atmospheric radiative transfer several years ago, is applied to cloud related problems. The RTPT requires the solution of the radiative transfer equation in the forward and the adjoint mode. The basic principles of this technique are presented as well as its extensions to isotropic surface reflection and its conjunction with the Hermite interpolation. This set of methods is applied to different atmospheric conditions including realistic cloud scenes. The results are compared with the usual (forward) independent-pixel calculations with respect to errors of individual pixels and domain-averaged values. The RTPT turns out to be sufficiently accurate in the case the clouds’ internal vertical variations remain moderate. It is also shown that, depending on the specific radiative transfer problem, the RTPT can offer some advantages on computational speed. However, the limitations of the RTPT with regard to realistic clouds are addressed as well.     

激光腔靶耦合二维辐射输运数值模拟

间接驱动激光聚变过程中,黑腔内物质处于非局域热动平衡(non-LTE)状态,而且辐射传输具有非平衡、各向异性等特点。为了精确描述黑腔辐射场的演化及其与物质的相互作用,最新研制的激光聚变二维总体LARED集成程序,基于non-LTE的多群辐射输运建模,首次实现了激光黑腔靶实验的全过程数值模拟。数值结果表明,辐射输运计算较好地反映了黑腔辐射场均匀性变化,腔壁光斑区与非光斑区X光发射强度比与实验测量值接近,靶丸压缩形状与实验图像定性一致。     

Directional radiometry and radiative transfer: A new paradigm

Measurements with directional radiometers and calculations based on the radiative transfer equation (RTE) have been at the very heart of weather and climate modeling and terrestrial remote sensing. The quantification of the energy budget of the Earth's climate system requires exquisite measurements and computations of the incoming and outgoing electromagnetic energy, while global characterization of climate system's components relies heavily on theoretical inversions of observational data obtained with various passive and active instruments. The same basic problems involving electromagnetic energy transport and its use for diagnostic and characterization purposes are encountered in numerous other areas of science, biomedicine, and engineering. Yet both the discipline of directional radiometry and the radiative transfer theory (RTT) have traditionally been based on phenomenological concepts many of which turn out to be profound misconceptions. Contrary to the widespread belief, a collimated radiometer does not, in general, measure the flow of electromagnetic energy along its optical axis, while the specific intensity does not quantify the amount of electromagnetic energy transported in a given direction.The recently developed microphysical approach to radiative transfer and directional radiometry is explicitly based on the Maxwell equations and clarifies the physical nature of measurements with collimated radiometers and the actual content of the RTE. It reveals that the specific intensity has no fundamental physical meaning besides being a mathematical solution of the RTE, while the RTE itself is nothing more than an intermediate auxiliary equation. Only under special circumstances detailed in this review can the solution of the RTE be used to compute the time-averaged local Poynting vector as well as be measured by a collimated radiometer. These firmly established facts make the combination of the RTE and a collimated radiometer useful in a well-defined range of applications. However, outside the domain of validity of the RTT the practical usefulness of measurements with collimated radiometers remains uncertain, while the theoretical modeling of these measurements and the solution of the energy-budget problem require a more sophisticated approach than solving the RTE.     

DRESOR法对瞬态辐射传递问题的研究

用基于蒙特卡洛法(Monte Carlo Method,MCM)的DRESOR法(Distributions of Ratios of Energy Scattered by the medium Or Reflected by the boundary surface)求解入射辐射经过介质散射、壁面反射传递后辐射强度随时间变化的瞬态辐射传递方程(Transient RadiativeTransfer Equation,TRTE)问题。通过在系统内计算一单位瞬态入射辐射对介质的DRESOR数分布,就能计算任意时间内入射辐射在系统内时间响应特性,这样有效提高数值方法处理瞬态辐射问题的通用性。并且能够获得高方向分辨率的辐射强度随时间变化的结果,这是目前大多数数值处理方法比较难做到的,显示出了DRESOR法处理瞬态入射辐射问题的能力．     

激光腔靶耦合二维辐射输运数值模拟

:间接驱动激光聚变过程中,黑腔内物质处于非局域热动平衡(non-LTE)状态,而且辐射传输具有非平衡、各向异性等特点。为了精确描述黑腔辐射场的演化及其与物质的相互作用,最新研制的激光聚变二维总体LARED集成程序,基于non-LTE的多群辐射输运建模,首次实现了激光黑腔靶实验的全过程数值模拟。数值结果表明,辐射输运计算较好地反映了黑腔辐射场均匀性变化,腔壁光斑区与非光斑区X光发射强度比与实验测量值接近,靶丸压缩形状与实验图像定性一致。     

Radiative heat transfer between two concentric spheres separated by a two-phase mixture of non-gray gas and particles using the modified discrete-ordinates method

The radiative heat transfer between two concentric spheres separated by a two-phase mixture of non-gray gas and a cloud of particles is investigated by using the combined finite-volume and discrete-ordinates method, named modified discrete-ordinates method (MDOM), which integrates the radiative transfer equation (RTE) over a control volume and a control angle simultaneously like in the finite-volume method (FVM) and treats the angular derivative terms due to spherical geometry as the conventional discrete-ordinates method (DOM). The radiative properties involving non-gray gas and particle behavior are modeled by using the extended weighted sum of gray gases model (WSGGM) with particles. Mathematical formulation and final discretization equations for the RTE are introduced by considering the behavior of a two-phase mixture of non-gray gas and particles in a spherically symmetric concentric enclosure. The present approach is validated by comparing with the results of previous works including gray and non-gray radiative heat transfer. Finally, a detailed investigation of the radiative heat transfer with non-gray gases and/or a two-phase mixture is conducted to examine the dependence of the radiative heat transfer upon temperature ratio between inner and outer spherical enclosure, particle concentration, and particle temperature.     

Light Reflection and Transmission by layers with oriented spheroidal particles

On the basis of the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation (RTE), the influence of non-sphericity of oriented spheroidal particles on radiation intensity formation in a layer with a multiple scattering regime is considered. For solving the RTE with characteristics depending on the propagation direction of the radiation beam, an algorithm is developed based on the method of layer doubling. Calculations are presented of angle correlations for intensities of radiation in a layer with Fresnel reflection on the boundaries, and reflection and transmission coefficients.     

Radiative transfer through inhomogeneous turbid media: implementation of the adjoint perturbation approach at the first order

Recently, the advantages of application of the perturbation technique which is based on joint use of both the direct and adjoint solutions of the radiative transfer equation to solve and analyze some 1D problems of atmospheric physics has been demonstrated. In this paper this technique is applied to problems of radiative transfer through spatially inhomogeneous scattering and absorbing media. This technique is shown to allow one both to obtain the solution with reasonable accuracy and to get physical insight into the problem under consideration. The accuracy of the perturbation technique is demonstrated through comparison with results from the SHDOM simulation code for one problem of cloud optics.     

Microwave radiative transfer intercomparison study for 3-D dichroic media

Three different numerical methods capable of solving the radiative transfer of microwave radiation within 3-D dichroic media are compared. A case study, represented by an intense rain shaft populated by perfectly oriented oblate raindrops, is analysed in detail, including a discussion of the behaviour of all four Stokes components.Results demonstrate an acceptable agreement between all Monte Carlo methods. The method based on a discrete ordinates scheme agrees only qualitatively with the Monte Carlo outputs. Because of its lower computational cost the backward Monte Carlo technique based on importance sampling represents the most efficient way to face passive microwave radiative transfer problems related to optically thick 3-D structured clouds including non-spherical preferentially oriented hydrometeors.     

Cloud 3D effects on broadband heating rate profiles: I. Model simulation

Solar broadband heating directly drives the atmospheric and ocean circulations, and is largely determined by cloud spatial 3-diminesional (3D) structures. To study the cloud 3D effects on radiation, a 3D broadband Monte-Carlo radiative transfer model, along with an Independent Pixel/Column Approximation (IPA) method, is used to simulate radiation and heating rate of three typical cloud fields generated by cloud resolving models (CRM). A quantitative and statistical estimation of cloud 3D effects has been developed to investigate the impact of cloud 3D structures on both heating rate strength, STD_Bias, and vertical distribution, CorrCoef. The cloud 3D structures affect some clouds more in heating rate strength and others more in vertical distribution. It is crucial to use the combination of CorrCoef and STD_Bias for better quantitative evaluation of the 3D effects. Furthermore, there is no simple way to define a critical resolution (or average radius), within which the IPA heating rate profiles closely represent the true 3D heating rate profiles. The critical radius (or resolution) strongly depends on solar incident angle as well as cloud vertical distribution. Also, the critical radii for clear-sky columns are larger than for cloudy columns, although the corresponding STD_Bias for clear-sky columns are smaller than for cloudy columns. Analysis based on two different statistical average methods illustrates that the cloud 3D effects due to the dimensionality difference between the 3D clouds (circle average) and 2D clouds (line average) significantly impact on the heating rate profiles.     

MOL solution of DOM for transient radiative transfer in 3-D scattering media

A methodology based on the method of lines solution of discrete ordinates method for solution of the 3-D transient radiative transfer equation is introduced. The method is applied to the prediction of transient and steady state transmittances in a cubical enclosure containing purely scattering medium and validated against Monte Carlo solutions from the literature. The flexibility of the method for implementation of linear spatial differencing schemes, flux limiters and weighted essentially non-oscillatory methods is demonstrated. Van Leer flux limiter is found to provide stable, accurate and efficient solutions.     

二维稳态辐射传输方程的有限差分求解法

针对扩散光学层析在小动物成像中的应用问题并基于混浊介质空间光子三维散射的实际物理效应,提出的二维稳态辐射传输方程的有限差分数值求解新方法.在此基础上,研究了不同的空间剖分网格和角度离散密度对求解准确度的影响,并通过将所提方法与蒙特卡洛模拟进行比对,验证方法的正确性.研究表明：在均匀组织体内,当离散角度达到一定数量时,由辐射传输方程的有限差分解获得的透射面和侧面的光子密度对空间网格大小并不敏感,而在反射面上光子密度计算则需要较密的空间网格才能够达到一定准确度.本研究为发展基于辐射传输方程的扩散光学层析理论奠定了基础.