Changes in the Earth’s radiation budget are driven by changes in the balance between the thermal emission from the top of the atmosphere and the net sunlight absorbed. The shortwave radiation entering the climate system depends on the Sun’s irradiance and the Earth’s reflectance. Often, studies replace the net sunlight by proxy measures of solar irradiance, which is an oversimplification used i...

New selective coating materials are developed and used in advanced solar collector and absorber designs with improved efficiency. Cobalt and Copper sulfides nanoparticles are high interest for absorbers of solar thermal collectors due to their optical properties and high absorptance in the solar wavelength range (> 96%). In the present work, Cobalt and Copper sulfides nanoparticles were synthes...

We determine the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the active layer of PbSe nanocrystal (NC) back-contact Schottky solar cells by combining external quantum efficiency (EQE) and total reflectance measurements with an optical model of the device stack. The model is parametrized with the complex index of refraction of each layer in the stack as calculated from ellipsometry data. Good agreement...

Introduction: Lunar swirls are high albedo curvilinear features that do not follow local topography, and appear optically immature compared to their surroundings. They are located at the lunar magnetic anomalies, however not all anomalies have identified swirls [1] [2]. One of the theories that explain the origin of the swirls suggests that swirls are areas of retarded surface weathering due to...

The concept of canopy spectral invariants states that simple algebraic combinations of leaf and canopy spectral transmittance and reflectance become wavelength independent and determine a small set of canopy structure specific variables. This set of structural variables specify the spectral response of a vegetation canopy to the incident solar radiation and allow for a simple and accurate param...

In this work, PbSe and PbTe sensitized TiO2 solar cells were fabricated. PbSe and PbTe nanostructure was deposited on the TiO2 surface via a drop cast method. The fabricated surfaces were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Also the optical properties of the layers were studied by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) spectra. The morphology of the surfaces was obtained by scanning elec...

A stochastic radiative transfer equation for the mean l( → X), cosine of polar angle of direction → X d( → X2 → X0), Dirac delta function field and its solution for the case of discontinuous vegetation canopies is discussed in this article. The equation set v(→r ), indicator function Fdir(k), extraterrestrial solar radiance at the top of satisfies the law of energy conservation and is amenable ...

[1] We have studied the effects of 4 keV He ion irradiation on olivine while measuring, in situ, changes in the near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and in the chemical composition of the surface. The observed changes in reflectance are reddening and the attenuation of the Fe-3d absorption bands in the NIR. Spectral reddening of irradiated olivine powder (<45 mm) correlates with the amount of metall...