Summary
During an expedition to the high Andes of Southern Peru in June–July 1977, measurements of direct solar radiation in four spectral bands (0.270–0.530–0.630–0.695–2.900 μ) were conducted at six sites in elevations ranging from sea level to 5645 m. These measurements were evaluated in Langley plots to determine total optical depths (τ) and irradiances at the top of the atmosphere. In addition, water vapor optical depths (τwv) were calculated from the mean radiosounding over Lima during the expedition, and Rayleigh (τray) and ozone (τoz) optical depths were obtained from published tabulations. Subtracting τray, τoz, and τwv from τ yielded estimates of aerosol optical depth τaer. The components τray and τoz decrease from the shorter towards the longer wavelength bands and from the lower towards the higher elevation sites; τaer also decreases towards the higher elevations. Particularly pronounced is the decrease of τaer and τ from the lowlands of the Pacific coast to the highlands of the interior, reflecting the effect of a persistent lower-tropospheric inversion and the contrast from the marine boundary layer to the clear atmosphere of the high Andes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angström, B., 1929: On the atmospheric transmission of sun radiation and on dust in the air.Geogr. Ann.,11, 156–166.
Bruegge, C. J., Halthore, R. N., Markham, B., Spanner, M., Wrigley, R., 1992: Aerosol optical depth retrievals over the Konza Prairie.JGR-Atmospheres,97 (D17), 18743–18758.
Fleagle, R. G., Businger, J. A., 1963:An Introduction to Atmospheric Physics, New York, London: Academic Press, 346 pp.
Fröhlich, C., Shaw, G. E., 1980: New determinations of Raleigh scattering in the terrestrial atmosphere.Appl. Opt.,19, 1773–1775.
Fraser, R. S., Kaufman, Y. J., 1985: The relative importance of scattering and absorption in remote sensing.IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens.,23, 624–633.
Georgi, J., 1956: Meteorologischer Universal-Stranlungmesser mit Solarimetersäule Moll-Gorczynski.Meteorol. Rdsch.,9, 89–92.
Hastenrath, S., 1978: Heat budget measurements on the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peruvian Andes.J. Glaciol.,20, 85–97.
Hastenrath, S., 1997: Measurements of diurnal heat exchange on the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peruvian Andes.Meteorol. Atmos. Phys.,62, 71–78.
Hastenrath, S., Patnaik, J. K., 1980: Radiation measurements at Lewis Glacier, Mount Kenya.J. Glacial.,25, 439–444.
Junge, C. E., 1955: The size distribution and aging of natural aerosols as determined from electrical and optical data on the atmosphere.J. Meteor.,12, 13–25.
Kaufman, Y. J., 1989: The atmospheric effect on remote sensing and its correction. In: Asrar G. (ed.)Theory and Applications of Optical Remote Sensing. Wiley, New York, pp. 336–428.
Kaufman, Y. J., 1993: Aerosol optical thickness and atmospheric path radiance.JGR-Atmospheres,98 (D2), 2677–2692.
King, M., Byrne, D., Herman, B., Reagan, J., 1978: Aerosol size distributions obtained by inversion of spectral optical depth measurements.J. Atmos. Sci.,35, 2153–2167.
Leckner, B., 1978: The spectral distribution of solar radiation at the earth's surface — elements of a model.Solar Energy,20(2), 143–151.
Lee, R. B., Gibson, M. A., Shivakumar, N., Wilson, R., Kyle, H. L., Mecherikunnel, A. T., 1991: Solar irradiance measurements: minimum through maximum solar activity.Metrologia,28, 265–268.
List, R. J., 1968:Smithsonian Meteorological Tables. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol 114, 6th revised edition. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 527 pp.
Martonchik, J. V., Diner, O. J., 1992: Retrieval of aerosol optical properties from multi-angle satellite imagery.IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing,30, 223–230.
Reagan, J. A., Thome, K. J., Herman, B. M., 1992. A simple instrument and technique for measuring columnar water vapor via near-IR differential solar transmission measurements.IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing,30, 825–831.
Shiobara, M., Hayashi, T., Masayuki, T. 1991. Aerosol monitoring using a scanning spectral radiometer in Sendai, Japan.J. Meteor. Soc. Japan,69, 57–70.
Valley, S. L., (ed.), 1965:Handbook of Geophysics and Space Environment. New York, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Sidney: McGraw-Hill, 620 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
With 4 Figures
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hastenrath, S. Measurements of solar radiation and estimation of optical depth in the high Andes of Peru. Meteorl. Atmos. Phys. 64, 51–59 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044129
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044129