Solar Energy, Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 575-587, 1983 O0381092X]83/Igo0575-13503.

0010
Printed in Great Britain. © 1983Pergamon Press Ltd.

CIRCUMSOLAR RADIATION CALCULATED FOR

VARIOUS ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS

EDITH THOMALLA,PETER KOPKE, HEINZ MULLER and HEINRICH QUENZEL

University of Munich, Meteorologisches Institut, D-8000Miinchen 2, Federal Republic of Germany

(Received 19 December 1981; revision accepted 9 July 1982)

Abstract--The circumsolar radiance and irradiance is discussed taking into account all relevant optical parameters.
The decrease of the radiance from the limb of the sun to an angular distance of 10° from the sun's center is mainly
determined by the optical depth of the atmosphere and the size distribution of scattering particles. Thin cirrus
clouds have the strongest effect. In this case the radiance at 0.5° angular distance may reach about 2 per cent of the
radiance of the direct sun. In the case of aerosol scattering alone, the radiance at 0.5° does not reach more than 0.1
per cent. Therefore a field of view larger than the angular size of the sun only gives rise to a significantincrease in
the total (solar plus circumsolar) irradiance if a thin cirrus layer is present.

1. INTRODUCTION culations were made for only a few wavelengths, taking

The direct solar radiation is attenuated on its path
through the atmosphere. However, a part of the scat-
tered energy reaches the surface as diffuse radiation. In
this paper the circumsolar radiation is discussed.
Because radiation is mostly scattered forwards, the cir-
cumsolar radiation decreases strongly with increasing
distance from the sun. The intensity distribution of the
circumsolar radiation is controlled essentially by the
optical depth of the atmosphere due to aerosol particles
or thin cirrus clouds and by the physico-chemical pro-
perties of the particles and ice crystals, e.g. 'size dis-
tribution and refractive index.
The energy of the circumsolar radiation is of interest
for several different reasons:
--The common pyrheliometers used to measure the
direct solar radiation have a field of view of about 6°.
Thus, not only the direct solar radiation but also a part of
the circumsolar radiation contributes to the measuring
signal. Therefore, some error is inevitable in pyr-
heliometer measurements. This leads e.g. to wrong
extinction data or to a wrong prediction of the energy
supply for solar power plants which utilize the direct
solar radiation only.
--The receiver aperture of a solar tower power plant is
somewhat larger than the image of the sun so that a part
of the circumsolar radiation enters the receiver. Exten-
sion of the receiver aperture causes on the one hand an
increase of the incoming energy, but on the other hand
an increase of the receiver's outgoing thermal radiation.
For optimizing the receiver aperture, the angular dis-
tribution of the circumsolar radiation is of prime im-
portance.
--The surrounding area of the receiver aperture in the
case of focussing systems is irradiated by the circum-
solar radiation. This irradiation may be very intense so
that a high thermal load of the material occurs. On the
other hand there are proposals to use the circumsolar
radiation by installing photovoltaic cells around the
receiver aperture.
Calculations of the circumsolar radiation have been
carried out by several authors[l--4]. All these cal-
into account of absorption of radiation by atmospheric
aerosols and gases, because they were mainly intended
to be used for the estimation of pyrheliometer
measurement errors. We do not know of any calculations
with integration over the whole solar spectral region
which is necessary for the evaluation of the energy of
the circumsolar radiation.
Measurements of the circumsolar radiation have been
performed by some authors[l,4,5]. Their published
results are not sufficient to allow a systematic con-
sideration of the variations of the circumsolar radiation
due to aerosol types, cirrus clouds and the optical depth.
Such systematic investigations can be performed better
by calculations of the circumsolar radiation, as done in
this paper, where all relevant atmospheric parameters are
taken into account. By the method of computer modeling
the effect of a single parameter can be treated separately,
which is an advantage over the method of extracting the
effects from measurements in the atmosphere, where
several parameters usually change simultaneously.
In our investigations we consider the irradiance on an
area normal to the propagation direction of the radiation.
The energy which actually reaches the receiver is gained
by integrating the irradiance over the time and the
receiver area, considering the specific optical design of
the receiving device. We do not treat this question in our
paper. Hence our results can be applied to various
receiver designs.
2. METHOD
The irradiance E which falls on an area normal to the
propagation direction of the direct solar radiation can be
calculated from the extraterrestrial irradiance of the sun
E,x, taking into account the spectral absorption and
scattering processes in the atmosphere (see Nomencla-
ture for a complete list of symbols). The spectral cir-
cumsolar irradiance which results from scattering in the
near forward direction is the integral of the spectral
radiance L~ over the solid angle which corresponds to
the field of view. The spectral radiances can be deter-
mined from the solution of the radiative transfer equa-

SE Vol. 30, No. 6--F 575

576 E. THOMALLAet al.
tion. The contribution of multiply scattered photons is
small in the near forward scattering direction. To
demonstrate the multiple scattering contribution to the
circumular radiation, we consider this effect for one
aerosol type. We use a program for spectral multiple
scattering calculations from Quenzel[6]. Assuming the
sun as a point source, the solution of the radiative
transfer equation for single scattering is:
LA(O, m) : E ~ . e -~'°~-M. (fm~(O)+ L~(O))' _1
o'x
m (e . . . . . e ~.M)
M-m
The spectral extraterrestrial irradiance E,xA is attenuated
by the ozone absorption given by the absorption
coefficient O'oh times the relative air mass M of the
direction to the sun. (The symbol m denotes the relative
air mass of the viewing direction.) The scattering by air
molecules is described by the Rayleigh scattering func-
tion fmAO). The scattering function of the aerosol parti-
cles, f, AO), is calculated by Mie-Theory and depends on
their size distribution and refractive index. In the case of
cirrus clouds, we add their scattering function f~(O) in
eqn (1). The extinction coefficient ~r~ is the sum of the
extinction coefficients of air molecules, ¢,,~, that of the
aerosol particles, ~,~, and of the absorption coefficients
of H20, CO2 and 02. If we assume a thin cirrus layer, the
cirrus extinction coefficient ¢ ~ is added.
In the case of small scattering angles one has to take
into account that the sun is not a point source (as
assumed in eqn 1), but an area source. Therefore we
integrate eqn (1) over the radius R of the sun's disc:
LAO, m) = E~a .e ~o~ ._R. FAr)" (/',,,AO)
+ fpa(O))dr
1 m
¢~ M _ m ( e ~'"-e~ M).
Now the spectral radiance LAO, m) depends on O instead
of O because the radiance from a point on the sky at the
distance 0 from the sun's center results from scattering
processes under different scattering angles 0 between
that point and all points on the sun. We model the limb
darkening by a factor FAr), which is given by the ratio
of the radiance emerging from a circular ring with radius
r from the sun's center to the radiance of the total sun.
As the optical thickness of the atmosphere differs for
points above and below the sun when they share the
same angle 0 we have calculated LAO, m) for the correct
values of the relative air mass m.
To get the radiance of the total solar spectrum, eqn (2)
is integrated over the wavelength:
L(O, m) = fo ~ Lx(O,'m) dA.
The integration is performed from 0.2#m through
3.95 #m at 66 wavelengths. The circumsolar irradiance of
the scattered radiation alone, Esc(0), results from the
integration of the radiance L(O, m) over the correspond-
ing solid angle:
E~c(O) =
fO° L(O', m). sin O' dO'. (4)
The irradiance from the attenuated direct sun over the
total solar spectrum is given by
E~. = fo~ E~x~ • e -('~+~°)" ~ dA. (5)
(1)
The total irradiance E(O) is the sum of eqns (4) and (5):
E(O) = E~un+ Esc(O). (6)
This irradiance E(O) is the quantity which gives the
energy amount of the solar aureole up to an angular
distance 0 from the center of the sun. It has to be
pointed out that the total irradiance E(O) is higher than
the irradiance Eso, from the attenuated direct sun alone,
because of the contribution of Esc(O), the irradiance
from scattering, even where O= R, that is when only the
radiation over the disc of the sun E(O = R) is seen.
3. MODEL ATMOSPHERES
For a systematic consideration of the variability of the
circumsolar radiance and irradiance we take into account
all relevant atmospheric parameters.
The extraterrestrial irradiance E~xA of the sun is taken
from Neckel and Labs[7]. The ozone absorption is cal-
culated with absorption coefficients from Diitsch[8] and
with an ozone mass of 0.64 g cm 2 ( ~ 0.3 cm NTP). This
is a mean representative value for the mediterranian
area[9]. The solar limb darkening which is modeled by
the factor Fx(r) in eqn (3) is calculated from coefficients
given by Pierce and Slaughter[10, 11]. The absorption by
(2) CO2 is calculated with the coefficients from Lowtran
4[12], the absorption by H20 from Moskalenko[13, 14],
for a water vapor mass of 2 g cm 2, which is an average
value for the mediterranean area[15]. The extinction
coefficient of the air molecules, ~r,,~ is taken from Fr6h-
lich and Shaw[21], based on a baronmetric pressure of
p = 1013.2 rob. The variation of the water vapor mass
(1--4gcm-2[15]), of the ozone mass (0A-0.9gcm 2[9])
and of the barometric pressure is considered.
The variation of the solar and the scattered irradiance
depends mainly on the aerosol type, the aerosol optical
depth and---of course--on the elevation of the sun. We
have chosen a realistic variation of these parameters for
our calculations.
In addition we consider the influence of cirrus clouds.
They are relevant to all questions of solar energy
because they occur very often, because they can hardly
be recognized and because they have a strong effect on
(3) the amount of forward scattering.
We do our investigations for a rather high sun, at
h = 60°, which is representative for the hours around
noon in the mediterranian area and for low sun, h = 20°,
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmosphericconditions
to get an idea about the situation during the rest of the
day.
The optical properties of different aerosol polydisper-
sions depend on their size distribution and the refractive
index of the particles. These parameters are determined
by the origin, transport and ageing processes of the
polydispersion under consideration. We calculate the
scattering function fp~(O) for four aerosol models. In
Fig. 1 the surface distribution dS(r)[dlog r with the
particle surface S is plotted vs the particle radius r. The
surface distribution is an adequate representation of the
optical efficiency of the aerosol particles. Three models
from Whitby[16] represent typical continental back-
ground aerosol (B), urban average (U, an anth-
ropogenically influenced aerosol type) and marine sur-
face background (M) which includes seaspray. Model D
results from measurements in desert regions[17]. The
different scattering properties of these aerosol size dis-
tributions in the forward scattering region are mainly
determined by the different proportions of large particles
(more than 2/~m radius). No values of the refractive
index of the four aerosol models are reported by Pat-
terson and Gilette[17] or Whitby[16]. But the scattering
function is not sensitive to the refractive index at small
scattering angles ( < 10°). Therefore we can choose the
same average value of n = 1.50-0.02i for the calculation
of all scattering functions.
The aerosol load of the atmosphere is expressed by the
spectral aerosol optical depth rp~. We use three different
values of ~px at A = 0.55/~m: ~o.s5 = 0.05 for a fairly
clear atmosphere, ~'po.s5= 0.2 as a representative average
value and ~'po.ss= 0.4 for a turbid atmosphere. We use a
cirrus model from Wendling et al.[18], which shows the
optical properties of typical cirrus clouds [19]. The opti-
cal depth rcoss of the cirrus layer is varied from 0.3 to
1.0.
lo 6.
/U
I0
I o oj
.oos .bl .65 .i
porticte
Fig. 1. Surface distribution dS(r)ld log r of the four aerosol models U (urban average), B (continental back-
ground), M (marine surface) and D (desert region). The units of the ordinate are arbitrary, the aerosol loadingof
the four models is not comparable.
577
4. RESULTS
The results of our investigations are presented in two
stages:
(A) The radiance L(O,m) of the scattered radiation
(eqn 3) is the relevant physical quantity for the con-
sideration of the scattered radiation. Therefore we dis-
cuss in part A of this section our results in detail.
Beyond that, the radiance L is the proper quantity to
calculate the thermal load for each point of the material
around the receiver of a solar power plant (area density
of incoming radiant power).
(B) The irradiance E(O) (eqn 6) is the integral of the
radiance L(O,m) over the solid angle and gives the
amount of energy from the solar aureole. The results are
mainly of interest for the calculation of optimum
receiver apertures, and for the correction of pyr-
heliometer measurements.
A. Radiance of the circumsolar radiation
In Figs. 2--6 the radiance L(O, m) is plotted over the
angular distance 0 to the center of the sun for the
relative air mass m = M (all points at the sky which
share the elevation of the sun, the almucantar). The
curves range from 0=0.1 ° up to 0= 10°. Figures 2-5
present the radiances for the different aerosol types and
optical depths and for the two different elevation angles
of the sun. The relative air mass (which depends on the
sun's elevation) and the aerosol optical depth determine
the height of the L(O,M)-curves, while the aerosol size
distribution determines the angular distribution. The
radiance curves of an aerosol type with a greater pro-
portion of large particles show a stronger decrease than
those of aerosol types with a lower proportion of large
particles. As a result the curves in Fig. 3 (model M, see
Fig. 1) have the steepest slope from the limb of the sun
up to 10°, the curves in Fig. 2 (model U) the shallowest.
,
.5 i 5 ~0 (0 1(30
radfus in #rn
578
10 ~.
5.1 0 ~-
2.1 0~
~_
o3- -_-_---_-_---
~- 5 . 1 0 2-
oc 2-I __
:6
lo ?-
Cl
5-~ ok £
OF
,El
2.10 l_ 1 I
--~
.I .2
Fig. 2. Radiance L(O,M) at h = 600 ( - - ) and h = 20° (---) for aerosol model U, in each case with three different
values of rp.
These two aerosol types represent limiting cases which
occur in the atmosphere, model M with a high proportion
of large particles, model U with a high proportion of small
particles. The radiances resulting from most of the realistic
aerosol size distributions lie between these limits.
In Figs. 5(a, b) (model B) the influence of multiple
scattering is also shown. It can be seen that the con-
tribution of multiple scattering to the radiance is small in
the forward scattering region. At the limb of the sun it
varies from about 2 to 7 per cent of the single scattered
radiation, at 0 = 10° it can reach about 7-20 per cent.
Figures 6(a, b) demonstrate the influence of a cirrus
layer on the circumsolar radiance. Two cases are con-
sidered, a clear atmosphere (aerosol optical depth ~-, = 0)
and a mean value of ~-p---0.2. The cirrus optical depth is
varied from 0.3 to 1.0. The absolute values of the radi-
ances at 0 = 0.1 ° are about three orders of magnitude
higher than in the case of aerosol scattering alone. The
curves are also much steeper and reach, at about 0 = 3°,
values as low as in the aerosol cases (Figs. 2-5). That
means the ice crystals are scattering the radiation mainly
at scattering angles smaller than 3°, while from 3 to 10°
the influence of aerosol particles is of the same order of
magnitude as that of the cirrus clouds. Hence, a homo-
geneous cirrus layer with an optical depth of about 0.3
can hardly be recognized but may lead to a drastic
increase of the radiance in the vicinity of the sun.
To allow a quantitative comparison of the different
atmospheric conditions as they are presented in the
figures we have listed in Tables l(a, b) the ratio of the
E. TUOMALLAet al.
T p = .4
". -.
- xx x
".
; l I I 7
.5 I. 2. 5. 10.
O in degree
radiance L(O, M) to the mean radiance Ls,, of the sun's
disc (i.e. E(O = R), divided by the solid angle of the sun).
In the case of aerosol scattering alone, this ratio hardly
reaches 0.1 per cent, but there are values up to and
beyond 2 per cent in the case of a thin cirrus layer.
We compared our calculations with measurements
from Grether et a/.[5] who have measured the circum-
solar radiation with a high resolution scanning telescope
in a dry area. They present measurements from the limb
of the sun up to 3° distance from the center of the sun,
on a fairly clear and on fairly turbid day. In Figs. 4 and
6(a) we added the measured radiances as points. The
measured radiances lie between our results in the case of
desert aerosol and with cirrus layers. Calculations which
would match the measured data more closely we cannot
make, because there is insufficient information about the
atmospheric conditions and also not enough about the
measurement design in Grether's article. Probably the
measurements were made when there was a very thin
cirrus layer. But we can say that our calculations cover a
large range of variations of the circumsolar radiance as
they may occur in the atmosphere.
We did not consider in our results the influence of the
variation of the water vapor and ozone mass or the
influence of the variation of the barometric pressure
which determines the Rayleigh extinction coefficient o',..
Water vapor and ozone mass act only by absorption and
so do not influence the shape of the radiance curves. The
variation of the optical depth of the atmosphere due to
water vapor or ozone is small compared with the varia-
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmospheric conditions 579

5.~ ok

/'Up =.4
2-10 4 ___~ . . . . . . .

I 0~ "''"'\ ~\\

. / -... \ \\
"\xN~%\\ \k

£ 2" 1 0 % "~ \%\

(D~ \ %%
J 10 ~. "',, '!!~
B % ,%
g
s. loa
, ", '~,
'+,

s.,oL

E',
210 L l 1 , ,
.[ .2 .5 I. 2.5. I~0.
In degree
8
Fig. 3. Radiance L(O,M) at h = 60° ( ~ ) and h = 20° (- - -) for aerosol model U, in each case with three different
values of rp.

Table l(a). Meanradianceofthesun, L~..,andradianceL(O,M)(columns(l))inWm-Zsr rfordifferentmodels,solar

elevation h and aerosol optical depth ~-p and the quotient (L(O,M)/L~..) per mille (columns (2)).

aerosol I h
model I ~p Lsu n

Wm-2sr -I
(i)

(1)
L(O,M) in Wm-2sr ~I

0.5 °
(2) (I)
1.0 °
(2)
(2)

(I)
5.0"
(L(O,M)/Lsun)'1000

(2)
i0.0"
(1) (2)

U 50" 0.05 1.4 107 1.8 102 0.01 1.5 102 0.01 0.5 102 0.004 0.4 102 0.002
0.2 1.3 107 5.9 102 0.05 4.9 102 0.04 1.6 102 0.01 1.0 102 0.01
0.4 I.i 107 9.6 102 0.09 7.9 102 0.07 2.6 102 0.02 1.5 102 0.01
20" 0.05 i.i 107 3.2 102 0.03 2.6 102 0.02 0.9 102 0.01 0.6 102 0.01
0.2 8.2 106 8.4 102 0.10 7.1 102 0.09 2.4 102 0.03 1.4 102 0.02
0.4 5.7 106 I.i 103 0.18 B.9 102 0.16 3.0 102 0.05 1.7 102 0.03
B 60" 0.05 1.4 107 7.0 102 0.05 5.5 102 0.04 I.I 102 0.01 0.4 102 0.003
0.2 1.3 107 2.4 103 0.19 1.8 103 0.]5 3.5 102 0.03 1.3 102 0.01
0.4 1.0 107 3.8 103 0.37 3.0 103 0.29 5.8 102 0.06 2.0 102 0.02
20"! 0.05 ! i.I 107 1.2 103 0.12 9.8 102 0.09 2.0 102 0.02 0.8 102 0.01
0.2 7.6 106 3.3 103 0.44 2.6 103 0.35 5.3 102 0.07 1.9 102 0.02
0.4 4.8 106 3.9 103 0.82 3.2 103 0.66 6.6 102 0.14 2.3 102 0.05
M 60" 0.05 1.4 107 2.8 103 0.20 1.6 103 0.ii 1.6 102 0.01 0.5 102 0.003
0.2 1.2 107 9.6 103 0.79 5.5 103 0.45 15.3 102 0.04 1.4 102 0.01
0.0 9.8 106 1.5 104 1.57 8.9 103 0.90 8.5 102 0.09 2.2 102 0.02
20 ° 0.05 1.0 107 5.0 103 0.48 2.9 103 0.28 3.0 102 0.03 0.9 102 0.01
0.2 7.0 106 1.3 104 1.91 7.8 103 I.I] 7.7 102 0. Ii 2.0 102 0.03
0.4 4.1 106 1.5 104 3.79 9.0 103 2.21 8.9 102 0.22 2.3 102 0.06
D 160" 0.05 1.4 107 8.7 102 0.06 3.4 102 0.02 0.9 102 0.01 0.5 102 0.00~
0.2 1.3 107 3.0 103 0.24 1.2 103 0.09 3.0 102 0.02 1.6 102 0.01
0.4 1.0 107 &.8 109 0.46 1.9 103 0.18 4,8 102 0.05 2.5 102 0.02
~0" 0.05 i.i 107 1.6 103 0.15 6.3 102 0.06 1.7 102 0.02 1.0 102 0.01
0.2 7.5 106 4.3 103 0.58 1.7 103 0.23 4.3 102 0.06 2.3 102 0.03
0.4 4.8 106 5.3 103 1.10 2.1 103 0.44 5.2 102 0.ii 2.7 102 0.06
580 E. THOMALLAet aL

Table l(b). Radiance Ls.. and L(O,M) (columns (1)) in Wm-2 sr-1 dependingon the cirrus(%) and aerosol (%) optical
depth and the solar elevation h and the quotient (L(0, M)lLsu~) per mille (columns (2)).

h ~p ~c Lsun (I) L(O,M) in Wm-2,r -I (2) (L(O,M)IL,un)'IO00

Wm-2sr -I 0.5 ° 1.0" 5.0" I0.0"

(1) (2) (1) (2) (1) (2) (I) (2)
60" 0.0 0.3 I.i 107 8.3 104 7.21 1.7 104 1.49 1.4 102 0.01 0.4 102 0.003
0.5 9.5 106 i.I 105 11.48 2.3 104 2.41 1.8 102 0.02 0.5 102 0.015
1.0 6.0 106 1.2 105 20.67 2.5 104 4.28 2.0 102 0.03 0.5 102 0.018
0.2 0.3 9.5 106 7.1 104 7.47 I. 6 204 i. 65 3.7 102 0.04 1.2 102 0.01
0.5 7.9 106 9.3 I04 11.76 2 . 0 104 2.56 3.5 10 2 0.04 i.I 102 0.01
1.0 4.9 106 1.O 105 21.0 2.2 iO4 4.48 2.8 102 0.06 O. 8 1020. 02
20 " 0.0 0.3 5.9 106 1.0 lO5 16.90 2.0 104 3.42 1.6 lO2 0.03 0.5 102 0.01
0.5 3.7 106 9.2 lO4 25.24 1.7 104 4.70 1.5 lO2 0.04 0.4 102 O.O1
1.0 i.i 106 4.3 lO4 41.16 8.8 103 8.37 0.7 102 0.06 0,2 102 0.02
0.2 0.3 3.7 106 6.6 104 17.63 1.4 104 3.85 3.3 lO20. 09 1.0 lO20. 03
0.5 2.3 lO6 6.0 lO4 26.36 1.3 104 5.52 2 . 2 10 2 0 . 1 0 0.7 lO2 0.03
1.0 6.5 105 2.8 104 42.61 5.8 103 8.79 o. 7 lO 2 O . l l 0.2 lO2 0.03

tion of the optical depth by aerosols and cirrus clouds.
The absorption of the direct solar radiation by water
vapor varies between 12 and 14 per cent[20]. Our cal-
culations were made for a water vapor mass of 2 gcm -2
and so they represent the mean of the variations that
occur. The absorption of the direct sun by ozone is about
3-4 per cent and changes also very little with the varia-
tion of the ozone mass [20]. The variation of a,~ due to
the barometric pressure need not be considered because
the contribution of air molecules to the scattered radia-
tion is about two orders of magnitude smaller than that
of aerosol particles. The extinction of the direct solar
radiation by air molecules varies with the barometric
pressure by certainly less than 1 per cent.

I0~

5' I 0~ ,,~!~x

q~E 0:~ , ,, ~
"x "x "
I[: %%,, ~'~!"xx X

~" 03 "" o "" " ' -

\ \.,\ x x

2.10 2

5.101- .=,
I
OI
=I
E,
.--I
2.101_ l l --, I l
., .2 ,. ,o.
O in degree
Fig. 4. As Fig. 2, but for aerosol model D. The single points are taken from measurement results[5], (O) clear day,
( x ) turbid day.
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmospheric conditions 581

0 c-

54 o 3

2 . 1 0 3-

m 10~ ,\ x,,
x\ xx
• ---='- ......... ~ Tp=.05 x xx
c: . xxx \xx
5.1 02- ".\ xx x ',\
'~ • ,, \
_.1 x xk kk
:,, \ \
C:
.o 2. I 0 i

102- n,-' ,,

5.101--
?
Cq

*:
\ \

',
"a',
,o',

2.1 01 t I -F t I 1 I
.1 .2 .5 I. 2. 5. 10.
g in degree
Fig. 5(a). Radiance L(O,M) at h = 60° for aerosol model B and with three different values of ~-p.The additional
dashed lines over each curve show the radiances when multiple scattering is taken into account.

5-10 °1
2.10 ~
• \\

, ,o3_ ..%
5"102 ~ x \ ~ \ ',.,,

,,_.1 \ \ \x \ \k \\\\\
\\

.2
lo

1o 2- ~F
m I
~t

lot
5.101 z:,
i
"6,
i

--I
2- 101-
.1' . .5. . . 1. . 2. 5. 1'0 .
6 in degree

Fig. 5(b). Radiance L(0, M) at h = 200 for aerosol model B and with three different values of ~-p( ). The additional
dashed lines ( - - - ) over each solid curve show the radiances when multiple scattering is taken into account.
582 E. TFIOIdALLAet al.

2.10 b-

I 0 b-

5 . 1 o s-

x\
%

2 . ] 0 5-

I0~

5 . 1 0 ~-

E
2 . 1 0 ~-

.E

10 ~

J o
x
5 . ~ o -~
C
0

c~

o
ii
2 . ~ o ~-

] o ~- o

5.1 o -2

\
2 . 1 o -2 \ \\
\

\ \
10 2- IX?I \,
CP \
DI
r
5.10 ! .El

%
Z,
.~_',
--f
2.10 t r - - 1 i f i i "1
.~ ,2 .5 1. 2. 5. 10.
(9 in degree,

Fig. 6(a). Radiance L(& M) at h = 60 ° for a thin cirrus layer with two different values of ~'c both with and without
additional aerosol loading: z~ = 0.2 ( - - - ) and rp ----0 ( ). The single points are measurements from Grether [5],
(O) clear day, ( x ) turbid day.
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmospheric conditions 583

2.~o~

~o 6-

5. ~o s- xx x

/-'--3-,.... ",
rc:l' ~'~

2-1 0 s-

\
o s-
,\
5.~ o~-

2.10 ~- !
c

0 A-
._J

x
c x
o 5.10 3- xx
x\
\
\\
\

2. ~o 3-

I0 ~

\
5.~o 2-

2.10 2-

1 0 2-

5.~o t rrt
Cl

£;
,
2.~ ot
131
,

E'
_p
~oL ! I | I
.I .2 .5 i. 5.
O in degree

Fig. 6(b). Radiance L(O,M) at h = 20° for a thin cirrus layer with two ditterent values of rc both with and without.
additional aerosol loading: ¢p = 0.2 ( - - - ) and ¢o = 0 ( - - ) .
 U B M D

I000- O.05
J

0.2 / t
J
J
BOO. 0.4
7~-~ 1 S
0.05 J

3'
E
600-
_+
E ......... 0.2 .m
,.]
/ o

LIJ

400-
.....

//

200- ~
(u

0 40 l l
'
O" 2* '
4" 6' ° 8' ° 1'0" '
O* 2" ' '
6" B
' ° 1'0" 0° '
2" 4o
' 6' ° B o 1;0 ° 0o '
2' ° 40 6 ° 8 ° 1tO +
0 in degree
Fig. 7. Irradiance E(O) from the limb of the sun up to 10° for the four aerosol models. For each model curves
are shown for three different values of ~'p, and with h = 60 ° ( ) or with h = 200 ( - - - ) .
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmospheric conditions 585

B. Circumsolar irradiance 1000-

In Figs. 7 and 8 the total irradiance (EP) (see Section 2) is
presented. The curves are plotted from the limb of the sun m

(that means from O= R) up to 10° angular distance to the

center of the sun. It is shown how much the irradiance of
the sun's disc, E(O = R), is influenced by the different
~00- 0.3 /
atmosphere parameters and how much the irradiance E(O)
increases with increasing angular distance to the sun's
center, that means how much additional energy one can

/
?
receive from the circumsolar radiation. The irradiance of • 600-
the sun's disc E(0 = R) (this is the first point of each curve) .E
1.0
depends mainly on the elevation of the sun and the optical g
depth of the atmosphere. But the increase in the irradiance hJ

E(O) with the angular distance from the sun depends 400-
mainly on the type of the aerosol size distribution.
t
However, in cases where only aerosol scattering takes !
t

place, the irradiance of the scattered radiation Esc(O) is j~

0.5
. . . . . . . . . . .

several orders of magnitude smaller than E(O=R).

200- /
Therefore, the increase of the total irradiance E(O) from
0 = R to 0 = 10° is less than 10 per cent in most of the cases
1.0 f
we have presented (compare Table 2a). This percentage
increase may be higher for greater values of the optical
depth, but in these cases the attenuation of the direct sun is 0 , r
O* 2" 4" 6" B" 10"
i , i = i , ,

so great that the absolute increase is still very small.
In the case of cirrus clouds, however, there is a
remarkable growth of the circumsolar irradiance up to
about 3°. The value of E(3 °) is about 20-30 per cent
higher than E(O = R) even for high sun (see Table 2b). So if
the direct sun is rather strongly attenuated (E(O = R) is
about 500 Wm-2), and if a thin cirrus layer is present, the
irradiance up to an angle of 3° can be one third higher than
the irradiance from the direct sun.
S. CONCLUSION
Our calculations show the variation of the circumsolar
0° 2 ° 4" 6 ° 8~ I0 °
e In degree
Fig. 8. Irradiance E(O) in the case of a thin cirrus layer,
E(0)-curves for three values of ~'c are shown in the left graph
with an aerosol optical depth of ~-p= 0.2, and in the right graph
with ~-p= 0, and with h = 600 ( - - ) or with h = 20° (---).
radiance and irradiance taking into account all relevant
optical parameters: extinction and scattering of the solar
radiation by molecules, aerosol particles and thin cirrus
clouds, absorption by gases, and different elevation
angles of the sun. The results of measurements[5] lie

Table 2(a). Irradiance E(O = R) of the solar disc and irradiance E(0), (columns (1)) in Wm-2 for different aerosol
models, solar elevation h and aerosol optical depth ~'p,and the increase of E(O) compared to E(O = R) in per cent
(columns (2)).
aerosol E(X) (I) E(O) in Nm "2 (2) (E(8)-E(R))/E(R) in "/.

model Wm TM 5" 10"

(i) (2) (i) (2)

60 ° 0.05 985 987 0.2 990 O. 5

0.2 872 878 O. 7 887 1.7
0.4 746 756 1.3 769 3.1
20" 0.05 338 741 0.5 747 1.2
0.2 555 563 1.6 576 3.9
0.4 389 401 2.9 416 6.9
60 ° 0.05 929 984 O. 6 989 1.0
0.2 851 869 2. I 883 3.7
0.4 707 736 4. I 758 7.3
20" 0.05 725 735 1.4 744 2.6
0.2 514 540 5.1 561 9.3
0.4 328 360 9.8 385 17.6
60" 0.05 972 984 1.2 990 1.8
0.2 826 866 4.6 884 6.8
0.4 668 729 9.1 757 13.4
20" 0.05 711 732 2.9 743 4.5
0.2 473 528 11.5 554 17.1
0.4 275 338 22.7 367 33.6
60" 0.05 979 983 0.4 988 0.9
0.2 852 864 1.4 879 3.1
0.4 7O8 728 2.7 751 6.1
20" ; 0.05 724 731 0.9 740 2.2
0.2 511 529 3.4 551 7.7
0.4 32S ~4~ 6,.~ 37~ 14.5
586 E. THOMALLAet al.

Table 2(b). Irradiance E(O R) and E(O)(columns (1)) in Wm 2, depending on the cirrus (~%)and aerosol (~-p)optical
=

depth and the solar elevation h and the increase of E(O) compared to E(O = R) in per cent (columns (2)).
J

h ~: rp r(a) (1) E(O) in Wm -2 (2) (E(~)-E(R))/E(R) in %

0.5" I" 5" 10"

!~n-2 (1) (2) (1) (2) (1) (2) (1) (2)
60" 0.3 816 5.5 836 8.0 897 15.9 902 16.5
0.5 0.0395640774 ¢[ 796 8.7 722 12.8 803 25.5 809 26.4
1.0 458 15.9 487 23.3 578 46.3 584 47.9
0.3 0.2 64L. t,.2676 5.5 694 8.3 757 18.1 770 20.2
0.5 530;., 576 8.8 599 13.1 676 27.6 688 30.0
1.0 326,. 379 16.0 404 23.7 485 48.5 494 51.4
20" 0.3 0.0 3960. ~;.,,445 ]2.8 469 18.7 541 37.1 547 38.5
0.5 241 288 19.5 308 27.9 374 55.4 379 57.5
1.0 68 [ 90 32.2 I00 47.1 131 93.0 133 96.2
0.3 0.2 248 280 12.9 296 19.4 352 42.3 364 47.0
0.5 151 180 19.6 195 29.2 243 61.4 251 66.5
1.0 42 56 32.5 63 48.2 84 98.3 86 104.1

within the range of our calculations but they represent only
two special atmospheric situations. Our calculations,
however, cover the whole range of the atmospheric
variability. So they can be used as basic data to guide
measurements for solar power plant designs and for the
rectification of pyrheliometers.
We have shown how the different aerosol types
influence the shape of the radiance curves ("sun shape")
and the absolute values of the radiances. But in all
aerosol cases the radiance of the scattered radiation does
not reach more than about 1 per mille of the radiance of
the direct sun. In the case of a thin cirrus layer, however,
the maximum value of the circumsolar radiance can
reach about 3 per cent of the mean radiance of the direct
sun. Therefore the increase of the irradiance with an
increasing field of view is rather small in the case of
aerosol turbidity alone. But even a thin cirrus layer with
an optical depth of only about 0.3 leads to an increase of
the irradiance of about 20 per cent up to an angular
distance of 30 from the center of the sun. These results
are of particular interest in situations of rather high
extinction of the direct solar beam (E(O=R) about
500 Wm 2), because one can receive an extra irradiance
of about 170 Wm 2 from the circumsolar radiation which
is 1/3 of the direct solar irradiance.
NOMENCLATURE
E,x[Wm 21 irradiance of the extraterrestrial sun at the top
of the atmosphere, on an area normal to the
propagation direction (radiant flux density
of the extraterrestrial sun)
Es~[Wm 2] irradiance from the sun's disc, attenuated by
atmospheric absorption and scattering, on
an area normal to the propagation direction
E,dWm ~] irradiance due to scattering alone, on an area
normal to the propagation direction
E[Wm 2] irradiance at the ground on an area normal to
the propagation direction; E(O) =
Es,o + Esc(o)
F factor for solar limb darkening
fm scattering function of air molecules
•fv scattering function of aerosol particles
fc scattering function of ice crystals (cirrus
clouds)
h elevation angle of the sun
L[Wm-2 sr-I] radiance due to single scattering
Ls,,[Wm 2sr i] mean radiance of the sun's disc
M relative air mass of the sun, l/sin h
m relative air mass of a point on the sky
g = 0.265°, angular radius of the sun
,~[#m] wavelength, when used as a subscript to a
quantity, it converts the quantity to a spec-
tral quantity.
a extinction coefficient as sum of all optically
acting atmospheric constituents
O'm extinction coefficient of air molecules
% extinction coefficient of aerosol particles
o-c extinction coefficient of cirrus clouds
o'0 extinction coefficient of ozone
,9 scattering angle related to a single point on the
sun's disc
0 angular distance of a point on the sky from the
center of the sun
rp aerosol optical depth
rc cirrus optical depth
REFERENCES
I. R. Eiden, Calculations and measurements of the spectral
radiance of the solar aureole. Tellus 20, 380-398 (1968).
2. C. Fr6hlich and H. Quenzd, Observation and measurement
of atmospheric pollution. Special Environmental Report No.
3, WMO-No. 368 (1974).
3. H. Grassl, Calculated circumsolar radiation as a function of
aerosol type, field of view, wavelength and optical depth.
Appl. Opt. 10, 2542-2543 (1971).
4. A. E. Green, A. Deepak and B. J. Lipofsky, Interpretation of
the sun's aureole based on atmospheric aerosol models.
Appl. Opt. 10, 1263-1279 (1971).
5. D. F. Grether, A. Hunt and M. Wahlig, Results from circum-
solar radiation measurements. In Sharing the Sun, Solar
Technology in the Seventies, Vol. 1, pp. 363-368 (1976).
6. H. Quenzel, Computation of luminance and color distribution
in the sky. In Daylight Illumination-Color-Contrast Tables
[or Full[orm Objects (Edited by M. Nagel). Academic Press,
New York (1978).
7. H. Neckel and D. Labs, Improved data of solar spectral
irradiance from 0.33 to 1.25 #m, Solar Phys. 52, 17%189
(1981).
8. H. U. Diitsch, Absorptionskoeffizienten des Ozons (Edited by
F. Baur), S. 555, Meteor. Taschenbuch, Leipzig (1970).
9. R. Gebhardt, R. Boikov and J. London, Stratospheric ozone:
A comparison of observed and computed models. Beitr.
Phys. Atm. 43, 20%227 (1979).
 Circumsolar radiation calculated for various atmospheric conditions 587

10. A. K. Pierce and C. D. Slaughter, Solar limb darkening I,
Solar Phys. 51, 25-41 (1977).
11. A. K. Pierce and C. D. Slaughter, Solar limb darkening in the
interval 74(14-24018 A, II. Solar Phys. 52, 179-189 (1977).
12. J. E. A. Selby, F. X. Kneizys, J. H. Chetwynd and R. A.
McClatchey, Atmospheric transmittance/radiance: Computer
Code LOWTRAN 4, AFGL-TR-78-0053, Environ. Res. Pap.
No. 626 (1978).
13. P. Koepke and H. Quenzel, Water vapor: Spectral trans-
mission at wavelengths between 0.1 and 1/~m. AppL Opt. 17,
2114-2118 (1978).
14. N. L. Moskalenko, The spectral transmission function in the
bands of the water vapor, 03, N20 and N2 atmospheric
components. Inv. Atm. Ocean. Phys. 5, 1179-1190 (Eng. Edt.
(1969).
15. R. G. Barry and R. J. Chorley, Atmosphere, Weather and
Climate. Buther and Turner, London (1971).
16. K. Whitby, The physical properties of sulfur aerosols. Atm.
Environ. 17, 135-159 (1978).
17. E. M. Patterson and D. A. Gilette, Commonalities in
measured size distributions for aerosols having a soil-derived
component. J. Geoph. Res. 82, 2074--2082 (1977).
18. P. Wendting, R. Wendling and H. K. Weickmann, Scattering
of solar radiation by hexagonal ice crystals. Appl. Opt. 18,
2663-2671 (1979).
19. H. Jakobowitz, A method for computing the transfer of solar
radiation through clouds of hexagonal ice crystals. 3". Quant.
Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer 11,691 (1971).
20. H. Miiller, E. Karg, P. K6pke and H. Quenzel, Studie zur
Einstrahlungsanalyse im Rahmen des Projektes 'GAST,
Phase 2A', Schlul3bericht, Met. Inst. Univ. Miinchen (1981).
21. C. Fr6hlich and G. E. Shaw, New determination of Rayleigh
scattering in the terrestrial atmosphere. Appl. Opt. 19, 1773-
1775 (1980).

Zusammeatasstmg--Die circumsolare Strahldichte und Bestrahlungsst/irke wird hinsichtlich aller relevanten optis-
chen Parameter diskutiert. Die Abnahme der Strahldichte vom Sonnenrand bis zu 10° Winkelabstand zur
Sonnenmitte h~ingt iiberwiegend yon der optischen Dicke der Atmosph~ire und der Gr6Benverteilung der streuen-
den Teilchen ab. Den stfirksten Einltu6 auf die circumsolare Strahldichte haben diinne Cirren. Hier kann die
Strahldichte in 0.5° Abstand zur Sonne 2 Prozent der Strahldichte der direkten Sonne erreichen. Im Fall reiner
Aerosolstreuung dagegen erreicht die Strahldichte bei 0.5° nicht mehr als 0.1 Prozent der direkten Sonne. Beshalb
fiihrt ein t3ffnungswinkel, der mehr als den Raumwinkel der Sonne einschlieflt, nur im Fall einer diinnen
Cirrusschicht zu einem deutlichen Anwachsen der gesamten (solaren plus circumsolaren) Bestrahlungsstiirke.