Cloud radiative characteristic parameter calculation for space-based remote sensing sensors

Cloud coverage is a significant clutter source impacting on space-based infrared remote sensing sensors. In most existing literature, cloud coverage was simply assumed to be homogeneous with Lambertian surface. However, real-world clouds are inhomogeneous. In this work, we focus on the reflection and transmission of solar radiation from inhomogeneous cloud coverage. The paper use Mie scattering theory and radiative transfer theory to calculate bidirectional distribution functions of reflection and transmission. The spectral distributions of transmission and reflection functions within spectral band from 0.4μm to 14μm for stratocumulus cloud are calculated. Results are compared with that of two-stream approximation, demonstrating the effectiveness and accuracy.