QUADRATURE EFFECTS ON THE ACCURACY OF FLUX CALCULATIONS IN REALISTIC ATMOSPHERES

We have investigated the accuracy of five different quadrature methods-equal steps in theta, equal steps in cos theta, Gaussian, double Gaussian and Gauss-Lobatto-on the accuracy of fluxes in realistic aerosol atmospheres, using the Gauss-Seidel method. In addition, a range of Gaussian quadrature stream numbers from two to 32 were compared. The atmospheric models considered are those recently presented by Lenoble, with the exception that we have used Henyey-Greenstein phase functions in place of Mie. Our results should be easily reproduceable by any other workers interested in similar realistic atmospheres. A table of Gauss-Lobatto weights and points is provided as an appendix.