The Spectral Radiance Experiment (SPECTRE): Project Description and Sample Results
Abstract The fundamental climatic role of radiative processes has spurred the development of increasingly sophisticated models of radiative transfer in the earth-atmosphere system. Since the basic physics of radiative transfer is rather well known, this was thought to be an exercise in refinement. Therefore, it came as a great surprise when large differences (30–70 W m−2) were found among longwave infrared fluxes predicted by over 30 radiation models for identical atmospheres during the intercomparison of radiation codes used in climate models (ICRCCM) exercise in the mid-1980s. No amount of further calculation could explain these and other intermodel differences; thus, it became clear that what was needed was a set of accurate atmospheric spectral radiation data measured simultaneously with the important radiative properties of the atmosphere like temperature and humidity. To obtain this dataset, the ICRCCM participants charged the authors to develop an experimental field program. So, the authors develop...