Numerical Method for the Solution of the Equation of Radiation Transfer. Reflection and Transmission Coefficients for an Optically Thin Plane-Parallel Layer

We study the problem of the choice of initial approximation for the reflection and transmission coefficients in numerical methods based on the principle of “interaction.” The disadvantages of the approximation of single scattering are demonstrated and the regularities of propagation of light in media with strongly anisotropic scattering are analyzed. Semianalytic expressions proposed for the evaluation of the initial approximation enable one to determine the characteristics of the light field in plane-parallel media with relative errors of about 10⁻⁵ within the framework of the algorithm of “adding” of layers. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 3, pp. 62–72, May–June, 2005.