Parameterizing Grid-Averaged Longwave Fluxes for Inhomogeneous Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

This paper examines the relative impacts on grid-averaged longwave flux transmittance (emittance) for marine boundary layer (MBL) cloud fields arising from horizontal variability of optical depth τ and cloud sides. First, using fields of Landsat-inferred τ and a Monte Carlo photon transport algorithm, it is demonstrated that mean all-sky transmittances for 3D variable MBL clouds can be computed accurately by the conventional method of linearly …