FUTBOLIN: Multi-level multiple scattering

Scattering

Scattering is a general physical process where some forms of radiation, such as light, sound, or moving particles, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by one or more localized non-uniformities in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of...

 radiative transfer model for the calculation of line-by-line atmospheric emission/transmission spectra in planetary atmospheres. It has been developed by Javier Martin-Torres (AS&M. Inc, NASA/Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA; Now at Centro de Astrobiología, CAB (INTA-CSIC), Madrid, SPAIN). It allows generating high-resolution synthetic spectra in the 0.3-1000 micrometre

Micrometre

A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...

 spectral range.

The code can handle spherical or plane-parallel atmospheres. It reads spectral lines in HITRAN or GEISA format and can handle CO₂

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 line mixing and continuum absorption from H₂O, O₂

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

, N₂

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

 and CO₂. It also takes into account the Non Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) effects on the rotational, electronic and vibrational populations of the atmospheric species and allows to specify any combinations of clouds, coverage and spectral albedo. It has been used to model the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

's atmosphere, and the atmospheres of Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

, and Titan

Titan (moon)

Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....

.

The code can calculate reflection

Reflectivity

In optics and photometry, reflectivity is the fraction of incident radiation reflected by a surface. In general it must be treated as a directional property that is a function of the reflected direction, the incident direction, and the incident wavelength...

, transmission

Transmittance

In optics and spectroscopy, transmittance is the fraction of incident light at a specified wavelength that passes through a sample. A related term is absorptance, or absorption factor, which is the fraction of radiation absorbed by a sample at a specified wavelength...

, absorption, infrared cooling rate, and flux spectra.