Comparison between numerical models for radiative transfer simulation in the atmosphere–ocean system

An extensive comparison between radiative transfer codes in the atmosphere–ocean system is proposed and performed. The full angular radiance distribution at several optical depths in atmosphere and water is intercompared on a set of idealized problems designed to study codes’ accuracy in modeling separate, specific system features. In-water profiles of upwelling nadir radiance, upwelling and downwelling irradiance are intercompared for a realistic case extracted from an experimental data set. Two models are involved: the FEM numerical algorithm, based on the finite element method, and the P HO-TRAN 3D backward Monte Carlo code. The results show an optimal agreement between the codes under any condition. Codes’ relative differences are always lower than the estimated statistical error on the P HO-TRAN results.