Radiative transfer in the atmosphere-ocean system: the finite-element method.

The finite-element method has been applied to solving the radiative-transfer equation in a layered medium with a change in the refractive index, such as the atmosphere-ocean system. The physical processes that are included in the algorithm are multiple scattering, bottom-boundary bidirectional reflectivity, and refraction and reflection at the interface between the media with different refractive properties. The incident radiation is a parallel flux on the top boundary that is characteristic of illumination of the atmosphere by the Sun in the UV, visible, and near-IR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The necessary changes, compared with the case of a uniformly refracting layered medium, are described. An energy-conservation test has been performed on the model. The algorithm has also been validated through comparison with an equivalent backward Monte Carlo code and with data taken from the literature, and optimal agreement was shown. The results show that the model allows energy conservation independently of the adopted phase function, the number of grid points, and the relative refractive index. The radiative-transfer model can be applied to any other layered system with a change in the refractive index. The fortran code for this algorithm is documented and is available for applications.

Retrieval of aerosol profile variations from reflected radiation in the oxygen absorption a band.

Through a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind, aerosol kernel functions relate the variations in radiance measured by satellites to the variations in the aerosol extinction profile and thus permit profile retrieval from radiance measurements by inversion of the set of radiative transfer equations for various spectral intervals. Previously [Appl. Opt. 36, 1328 (1997)] the kernel functions were evaluated for the red and near-infrared spectral regions outside molecular absorption bands. Here they are computed within the oxygen A band with 20-cm(-1) spectral resolution. It is shown that, even with such a relatively low spectral resolution, the new set of kernels is able to provide better information on and improved accuracy of the retrieved profile.

Retrieval of aerosol profile variations in the visible and near infrared: theory and application of the single-scattering approach.

A linear relationship between the variations in radiance measured in the visible and near infrared by satellites and variations of aerosol-extinction profile has been derived, hence reducing the problem to that of solving a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The retrieved profiles, by the linear constrained-inversion method, have proved to be accurate in the lower atmosphere, even if simultaneous changes are taking place in the stratosphere. Variations in the stratosphere, however, are retrieved with a lesser degree of accuracy and only as long as no variations occur in the tropospheric haze.

Finite-element algorithm for radiative transfer in vertically inhomogeneous media: numerical scheme and applications.

The recently developed finite-element method for solution of the radiative transfer equation has been extended to compute the full azimuthal dependence of the radiance in a vertically inhomogeneous plane-parallel medium. The physical processes that are included in the algorithm are multiple scattering and bottom boundary bidirectional reflectivity. The incident radiation is a parallel flux on the top boundary that is characteristic for illumination of the atmosphere by the Sun in the UV, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The theoretical basis is presented together with a number of applications to realistic atmospheres. The method is shown to be accurate even with a low number of grid points for most of the considered situations. The FORTRAN code for this algorithm is developed and is available for applications.

Immunochemical identification of products of the mitochondrial cytochromoxidase gene expressed in E. coli cells.

Bacterial clones containing hybrid plasmids with mitochondrial DNA insertions were obtained. Among them, a clone synthesizing immunoreactive protein with molecular weight 45,000 was discovered by means of antibodies against mitochondrial cytochromoxidase. The synthesis of the protein depended on orientation of the mitochondrial DNA insertion in the hybrid plasmid. The size of the protein was in excess of the coding capacity of the insertion, which speaks of chimeric nature of the protein. Absorption of the protein by the immunoglobulin fraction containing antibodies against cytochromoxidase resulted in a loss of antibody binding to cytochromoxidase subunit III.