Radiant Intensity of Light Scattered from Clouds

A Monte Carlo method that accurately allows for the numerous small angle scattering events is used to calculate the reflected and transmitted radiance and flux of visible radiation that has interacted with cumulus clouds. The variation of these quantities with solar zenith angle, optical thickness of the cloud, and surface albedo is studied. When the surface albedo is zero, the reflected radiance has a relative maximum at the horizon (except for very thick clouds and incident beam near zenith). When the incident beam is near the horizon, there is a strong maximum in the reflected radiance on the solar horizon and a pronounced minimum near the zenith. There is a relative maximum in the transmitted radiance around the direction of the incident beam until the cloud becomes thick in that direction. In most instances, the variations are greatly decreased when the surface albedo is unity.