Comparison of Two Statistical Approaches to a Solution of the Stochastic Radiative Transfer Equation

Abstract

The method of direct simulation of photon trajectories in a stochastic medium is compared with the method of closed equations suggested by G. A. Titov. A comparison is performed for the model of the stochastic medium in the form of a cloudy field of constant thickness comprising rectangular clouds whose boundaries are determined by a stationary Poisson flow of points. It is demonstrated that the difference between the calculated results can reach 20–30%; however, in some cases (for some sets of initial data) the difference is limited by 5% irrespective of the cloud cover index.