Non-gray radiative transfer

The normal-mode-expansion technique is used to establish the solution of the Milne problem basic to a generalized equation of radiative transfer. The non-gray model used includes the effects of absorption, scattering and losses due to photo-electric ionizations and collisions of the second kind. Accurate numerical results are presented for such physical quantities as the extrapolation distance, the integrated Planck function and the angular distribution of the exit intensity for selected values of the basic parameters.     

The Iterative-DRESOR method to solve radiative transfer in a plane-parallel, anisotropic scattering medium with specular-diffuse boundaries

Using the intensity with high directional resolution obtained by the Basic-DRESOR method as an initial guess, which is substituted into the integrated radiative transfer equation (IRTE), an iterative algorithm is proposed, called the Iterative-DRESOR method. This method can reduce the error levels of the intensity from several percent using the Basic-DRESOR method to a level of less than 1.0×10⁻⁶ with acceptable computation costs. The method is also validated against the exact heat flux in literature in some cases. It further clarifies some uncertain results for the reflectance in a pure, linearly anisotropic scattering medium with specular-diffuse boundaries. The directional distributions of intensity are obviously influenced by the reflecting modes of the boundary, especially in the zone near the boundary. The reflecting mode of an emitting boundary has little effect on the transmittance or reflectance. The reflecting mode of a non-emitting boundary also has little effect on the transmittance, but it obviously influences the reflectance. The difference between the reflectance for specular and diffuse boundaries increases at first, and then decreases, as the optical thickness of the medium increases. The difference will decrease as the scattering albedo of the medium increases, and it is negligible when the medium is pure scattering. The effect of the scattering phase function of the medium on the difference can also not be ignored. The Iterative-DRESOR method is expected to strengthen the capability of the Monte Carlo method to produce accurate results and to validate the results of other methods to solve RTE.     

Transient radiation and conduction heat transfer inside a plane-parallel participating gray medium with boundaries having different reflecting characteristics

A hybrid ray-tracing method is developed for the solution to the radiative transfer in a plane-parallel participating medium having one specular surface and another diffuse surface. By this method, radiative transfer coefficients (RTCs) for specular–diffuse (S–D) surfaces are deduced. The medium surfaces are considered to be semitransparent. The effects of convection–radiation parameter, conduction–radiation parameter and refractive index on transient coupled heat transfer are investigated. Results show that the temperature curves of the medium having S–D surfaces is higher than those of the medium having S–S surfaces (two specular surfaces); the total heat flux at steady state for the S–D surfaces is lower than that for the S–S surfaces.     

Stochastic radiative transfer in a finite plane-parallel medium with general boundary conditions

The time-independent radiative transfer problem in a scattering and absorbing planar random medium with general boundary conditions and internal energy source is considered. The medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids, with the mixing statistics described as a two-state homogeneous Markov process. The problem is solved in terms of the solution of the corresponding free-source problem with simple boundary conditions which is solved using Pomraning-Eddington approximation in the deterministic case. A formalism, developed to treat radiative transfer in statistical mixtures, is used to obtain the ensemble-averaged solution. The average partial heat fluxes are calculated in terms of the albedoes of the source-free problem. Results are obtained for isotropic and anisotropic scattering for specular and diffused reflecting boundaries.     

Vector Green's function algorithm for radiative transfer in plane-parallel atmosphere

Green's function is a widely used approach for boundary value problems. In problems related to radiative transfer, Green's function has been found to be useful in land, ocean and atmosphere remote sensing. It is also a key element in higher order perturbation theory. This paper presents an explicit expression of the Green's function, in terms of the source and radiation field variables, for a plane-parallel atmosphere with either vacuum boundaries or a reflecting (BRDF) surface. Full polarization state is considered but the algorithm has been developed in such way that it can be easily reduced to solve scalar radiative transfer problems, which makes it possible to implement a single set of code for computing both the scalar and the vector Green's function.     

Matrix Riccati equation formulation for radiative transfer in a plane-parallel geometry

In this paper, we formulate the radiative transfer problem as an initial value problem via a pair of nonlinear matrix differential equations (matrix Riccati equations or MREs) which describe the reflection (R) and transmission (T) matrices of the specific intensities in a plane-parallel geometry. One first computes R and T matrices of some small but finite layer thickness (equivalent optical thickness τ∼0.01 and then repetitively applies the doubling method to the reflection and transmission matrices R(τ)and T(τ) until reaching the desired layer thickness. The initial matrices R(τ₀)and T(τ₀) can be computed quite accurately by either of the following methods: multiple-order, multiple-scattering approximation, iterative method or fourth-order Runge-Kutta techniques. In addition, the reflection coefficient matrix of a semi-infinite medium satisfies an algebraic matrix equation which can be solved repetitively by a matrix method. MREs offer an alternative way of solving plane-parallel radiative transport problems. This method requires only elementary matrix operations (addition, multiplication and inversion). For vector and/or beam-wave radiative transfer problems, large matrices are required to describe the physics adequately, and the MRE method provides a significant reduction in computer memory and computation time.     

Direct solution of the radiative transfer equation for plane-parallel atmospheres

A method is described for solving the monochromatic radiative transfer equation for the case of inhomogeneous, plane-parallel scattering and absorbing atmospheres illuminated by external as well as internal sources. The solution procedure, which is based on a series expansion of the radiation intensity with respect to the angular and spatial coordinates, is analytical in nature and can thus be implemented on small computing facilites. Test calculations were performed for isotropic and Rayleigh scattering atmospheres of various optical thicknesses and single scattering albedos. The results coincide well with data from other methods given in the literature.     

Radiative transfer in an isotropically scattering two-region slab with reflecting boundaries

The problem of radiative heat transfer in an absorbing, emitting, isotropically scattering two-layer slab with diffusely and specularly reflecting boundaries is solved by the F_N method and results are presented for the transmissivity and reflectivity of the slab.     

Pure-triplet scattering for radiative transfer in binary discrete random finite media with reflective boundaries and internal source of radiation

The stochastic solution of the monoenergetic radiative transfer equation in a finite slab random medium with pure-triplet anisotropic scattering is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids labelled by 1 and 2. The extinction function, the scattering kernel, and the internal source of radiation are treated as discrete random variables, which obey the same statistics. The theoretical model used here for stochastic media transport assumes Markovian processes and exponential chord length statistics. The boundaries of the medium under consideration are considered to have specular and diffuse reflectivities with an internal source of radiation inside the medium. The ensemble-average partial heat fluxes are obtained in terms of the average albedos of the corresponding source-free problem, whose solution is obtained by using the Pomraning–Eddington approximation. Numerical results are calculated for the average forward and backward partial heat fluxes for different values of the single scattering albedo with variation of the parameters that characterize the random medium. Compared to the results obtained by Adams et al. in the case of isotropic scattering based on the Monte Carlo technique, it can be demonstrated that we have good comparable data.     

Pure-triplet scattering for radiative transfer in binary discrete random finite media with reflective boundaries and internal source of radiation

The stochastic solution of the monoenergetic radiative transfer equation in a finite slab random medium with pure-triplet anisotropic scattering is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids labelled by 1 and 2. The extinction function, the scattering kernel, and the internal source of radiation are treated as discrete random variables, which obey the same statistics. The theoretical model used here for stochastic media transport assumes Markovian processes and exponential chord length statistics. The boundaries of the medium under consideration are considered to have specular and diffuse reflectivities with an internal source of radiation inside the medium. The ensemble-average partial heat fluxes are obtained in terms of the average albedos of the corresponding source-free problem, whose solution is obtained by using the Pomraning-Eddington approximation. Numerical results are calculated for the average forward and backward partial heat fluxes for different values of the single scattering albedo with variation of the parameters that characterize the random medium. Compared to the results obtained by Adams et al. in the case of isotropic scattering based on the Monte Carlo technique, it can be demonstrated that we have good comparable data.     

Numerical solutions of matrix Riccati equations for radiative transfer in a plane-parallel geometry

Abstract

In this paper, we conduct numerical experiments with matrix Riccati equations (MREs) which describe the reflection (R) and transmission (T) matrices of the specific intensities in a layer containing randomly distributed scattering particles. The theoretical formulation of MREs is discussed in our previous paper where we show that R and T for a thick layer can be efficiently computed by successively doubling R and T matrices for a thin layer (with small optical thickness τ_Δ). We can compute R(τ_Δ) and T(τ_Δ) very accurately using either a fourth-order Runge–Kutta scheme or the fourth-order iterative solution. The differences between these results and those computed by the eigenmode expansion technique (EMET) are very small (<0.1%). Although the MRE formulation cannot be extended to handle the inhomogeneous term (source term) in the differential equation, we show that the force term can be reformulated as an equivalent boundary condition which is consistent with MRE methods. MRE methods offer an alternative way of solving plane-parallel radiative transport problems. For large problems that do not fit into computer memory, the MRE method provides a significant reduction in computer memory and computational time.     

A solution of radiative transfer in isotropic plane-parallel atmosphere by integrating Milne equation

In this paper we solve the inversion problem of the radiative transfer process in the isotropic plane-parallel atmosphere by iterative integrations of the Milne integral equation. As a result, we obtain the scattering function in the form of a cubic polynomial in optical thickness. The author has already solved the same problem by iterative integrations of Chandrasekhar's integral equation. In the Milne integral equation, both the cosines of the viewing angles and the optical thickness are integral variables, while in Chandrasekhar's integral equation the cosines of the viewing angles are variables but the optical thickness is not. We derive several series of exponential-like functions as intermediate derivations. Their convergences are evaluated by the author's previous work in the solution of Chandrasekhar's integral equation. The truncated scattering function up to the third order in optical thickness thus obtained is identical to that obtained from Chandrasekhar's integral equation, though their apparent forms are different. Chandrasekhar pointed out that the solution of Chandrasekhar's integral equation does not have a uniqueness of solution. The Milne equation, in contrast, has been proven to have a unique solution. We discuss the uniqueness of the solution by these two methods.     

Nonaxisymmetric radiative transfer in inhomogeneous cylindrical media with anisotropic scattering

In this paper, the control volume finite element method (CVFEM) is applied for the first time to solve nonaxisymmetric radiative transfer in inhomogeneous, emitting, absorbing and anisotropic scattering cylindrical media. Mathematical formulations as well as numerical implementation are given and the final discretized equations are based on similar meshes used for convective and conductive heat transfer in computational fluid dynamic analysis. In order to test the efficiency of the developed method, four nonaxisymmetric problems have been examined. Also, the grid dependence and the false scattering of the CVFEM are investigated and compared with the finite volume method and the discrete ordinates interpolation method.     

Fluctuation theory for radiative transfer in random media

We consider the effect of small scale random fluctuations of the constitutive coefficients on boundary measurements of solutions to radiative transfer equations. As the correlation length of the random oscillations tends to zero, the transport solution is well approximated by a deterministic, averaged, solution. In this paper, we analyze the random fluctuations to the averaged solution, which may be interpreted as a central limit correction to homogenization.With the inverse transport problem in mind, we characterize the random structure of the singular components of the transport measurement operator. In regimes of moderate scattering, such components provide stable reconstructions of the constitutive parameters in the transport equation. We show that the random fluctuations strongly depend on the decorrelation properties of the random medium.     

Markov chain formalism for vector radiative transfer in a plane-parallel atmosphere overlying a polarizing surface

We report on a way of building bidirectional surface reflectivity into the Markov chain formalism for polarized radiative transfer through a vertically inhomogeneous atmosphere. Numerical results are compared to those obtained by the Monte Carlo method, showing the accuracy of the Markov chain method when 90 streams are used to compute the radiation from a Rayleigh-plus-aerosol atmosphere that overlies a surface with a bidirectional reflection function consisting of both depolarizing and polarizing parts.     

Simultaneous radiative and conductive heat transfer in non-gray media

Steady-state energy transfer through non-gray radiating and conducting media enclosed by black walls of unequal temperature is studied. A rectangular Milne-Eddington type relation is used to describe the frequency dependence of the absorption coefficient. Temperature distributions and total heat transfer results are presented for materials which absorb radiation (a) of low frequency, (b) of high frequency, (c) within a finite band width, and (d) of all frequencies (gray). The influence of optical thickness (τ₀) and conduction to a radiation interaction parameter (N) are examined and the results for non-gray materials are compared with those for a gray analysis. Exact results are compared with those determined by using the optically-thin and the optically-thick approximations, as well as with those evaluated for purely conductive and purely radiative transfer.     

Three-dimensional radiative transfer in an anisotropically scattering, plane-parallel medium: generalized reflection and transmission functions

The problem of spatially varying, collimated radiation incident on an anisotropically scattering, plane-parallel medium is considered. A very general phase function is allowed. An integral transform is used to reduce the three-dimensional radiative transport equation to a one-dimensional form, and a modified Ambarzumian's method is applied to derive nonlinear integral and integro-differential equations for the generalized reflection and transmission functions. The integration is over the polar and azimuthal angles—this formulation is referred to as the double-integral formulation. The integral equations are used to illustrate symmetry relationships and to obtain single- and double-scattering approximations. The generalized reflection and transmission functions are important in the construction of the solutions to many multidimensional problems. Coupled integral equations for the interior and emergent intensities are developed and, for the case of two identical homogeneous layers, used to formulate a doubling procedure. Results for an isotropic and Rayleigh scattering medium are presented to illustrate the computational characteristics of the formulation.     

Inverse Monte Carlo solutions for radiative transfer in inhomogeneous media

The inverse Monte Carlo method is used to construct solutions for three radiative transfer inverse problems in which the single scatter albedo, ω, varies within the medium and the scattering is isotropic. The first problem concerns a half space whose single scatter albedo varies exponentially according to ω = ω₀e^?τ/s, where τ is the optical depth, s is known and we seek ω₀; the second problem concerns a two-region slab for which we seek ω for each region. The procedure is also used to construct an approximate solution for a finite, plane-parallel medium whose single scatter albedo varies exponentially by considering the medium to be composed of five regions, each with constant single scatter albedo.     

Difference-equation methods for the solution of radiative transfer problems in media with discontinuities

Difference-equation methods are developed for solving the equation of transfer in media with discontinuities in their physical properties. These should prove useful in calculating the radiation field in dynamical atmospheres having shocks. Two examples with thermal or scattering source functions, for which exact solutions can be obtained, are used to evaluate the accuracy of the techniques, which prove quite satisfactory.