Estimation of Errors in Two-Stream Approximations of the Solar Radiative Transfer Equation for Cloudy-Sky Conditions

Abstract Solar flux densities and heating rates predicted by a broadband, multilayer δ-Eddington two-stream approximation are compared to estimates from a Monte Carlo model that uses detailed descriptions of cloud particle phase functions and facilitates locally nonzero net horizontal flux densities. Results are presented as domain averages for 256-km sections of cloudy atmospheres inferred from A-Train satellite data: 32 632 …