Mauna Loa Apparent Transmisison
ATMOSPHERIC TRANSMISSION OF DIRECT SOLAR RADIATION AT MAUNA LOA, HAWAII

 

[MLO Apparent Transmission Graph]

The "apparent" transmission, or transmission ratio (Ellis & Pueschel, Science, 1971), is derived from broadband (0.3 to 2.8um) direct solar irradiance observations at the Mauna Loa Observatory (19.533 ° N, 155.578 ° W, elev. 3.4 km) in Hawaii. Data are for clear-sky mornings between solar elevations of 11.3 and 30 degrees. The plotted points are monthly averages and the plotted curve results from a 6 month lowess statistical smoother. Get the monthly mean values (excluding last 12 months).

Data retrieved from this page after January 28, 2012 have been reedited back to at least 2005 with stricter clear-sky criteria than had been applied in that period. While the reedited data show some significant changes in a few scattered months, there is no overall change in the mean level or previously analyzed variability in the transmission record.


Solomon, S., J. S. Daniel, R. R. Neely III, J. P. Vernier, E. G. Dutton, and L. W. Thomason, 2011: The Persistently Variable “Background” Stratospheric Aerosol Layer and Global Climate Change. Science, Published online 21 July, Science Express, 2011,DOI:10.1126/science.1206027]

Ellis, H. T. and Pueschel, R. F. 1971. Solar radiation: absence of air pollution trends at Mauna Loa, Science, 172, 845-846.

Dutton, E. G., J. J. DeLuisi, and A. P. Austring, 1985. Interpretation of Mauna Loa Atmospheric Transmission Relative to Aerosols, Using Photometric Precipitable Water Amounts. J. Atmos. Chem., 3, 53-68.

Dutton, E.G., 1992. A Coherence Between the QBO and the Amplitude of the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Transmission Annual Cycle. International J. Climatology 12, 383-396.

Dutton, E.G., P. Reddy, S. Ryan, and J.J. DeLuisi, 1994. Features and effects of aerosol optical depth observed at Mauna Loa, Hawaii: 1982-1992. J. Geophys. Res. 99, 8295- 8306.

Dutton, E.G. and B.A. Bodhaine, 2001: Solar irradiance anomalies caused by clear-sky transmission variations above Mauna Loa 1957-1999. J. Clim., 14, 3255-3262.

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