Abstract
The albedo of a Rayleigh atmosphere was calculated using Chandrasekhar's theory on the scattered light (1950) and the solar energy spectrum outside the earth's atmosphere obtained by F. S. JOHNSON (1954). The albedos of a Rayleigh atmosphere in several solar spectral regions, i. e. the ultraviolet-(λ ≤ 4000 Å), Visible(4000 Å < λ ≤7500Å ), infrared(λ > 7500 Å) and total wave length-regions, and their latitudinal variations at the equinox and at the summer (winter)solstice was calculated. The main results obtained are as follows:
The calculated albedos of a Rayleigh atmosphere of the earth as a whole are 6.6% in case without clouds and 5.4% in case with, a mean amount of clouds and they are respectively smaller than the corresponding values obtained by S. FRITZ based on the observed values, i. e.8%(without clouds) and 6.4% (with a mean amount of clouds). At the equinox, the albedos in the above several -spectral regions in every latitude have the minima at the equator, increasing with latitude, and their latitudinal variations are similar in both hemispheres. At the summer (winter) solstice, they have the minima at about 23 degrees of the north (south) latitude but their latitudinal variations in the northern (southern) hemisphere are smaller than at the equinox; but in the southern (northern) hemisphere, they are larger than at the equinox. Seeing them in the above spectral regions respectively, the shorter the wave length, the larger is the latitudinal variation, but in the ultraviolet region it is not so large as we expect, since there is a strong absorption by oxygen and ozone in that region. The same features hold in both cases without clouds and with a mean amount of clouds.
