Fast and accurate model of underwater scalar irradiance for stratified Case 2 waters

This paper is devoted to the derivation of a fast and accurate model of scalar irradiance for stratified Case 2 waters. Five strategies are formulated and employed in the new model, including (1) reallocating the sky radiance, (2) approximating the influence of the air-water interface, (3) constructing a look-up table of average cosine based on the single-scattering albedo and the backscatter fraction, (4) calculating the phase function of surrogate particles in Case 2 waters, and (5) using the average cosine as an index to cope with stratified waters. A comprehensive model-to-model comparison shows that the new model runs more than 1,400 times faster than the commercially-available Hydrolight model, while it limits the percentage error to 2.03% and the maximum error to less than 6.81%. This new model can be used interactively in models of the oceanic system, such as biogeochemical models or the heat budget part of global circulation models.