pyLRT - A simple python interface for LibRadTran

Edward Gryspeerdt - Space and Atmospheric Physics Group Imperial College London, 2020

A simple python interface/wrapper for LibRadTran.

Note that you will need to download LibRadTran separately from http://www.libradtran.org/doku.php

Features

• A simple class for managing a set of options for UVSPEC
• Can parse UVSPEC output into an xarray
• Parses verbose output (so easy to use pre-calculated optical properties)
• Includes a set of examples (for a set of atmospheric radiation lectures)

Setup

Run python setup.py install

To make use of the function get_lrt_folder(), place the path to your libradtran folder in the file ~/.pylrtrc

Usage

from pyLRT import RadTran, get_lrt_folder

LIBRADTRAN_FOLDER = get_lrt_folder()

slrt = RadTran(LIBRADTRAN_FOLDER)
slrt.options['rte_solver'] = 'disort'
slrt.options['source'] = 'solar'
slrt.options['wavelength'] = '200 2600'

output = slrt.run(verbose=True)

For more advanced examples, please see the examples directory.

Example plots

The impact of a cloud layer on top of atmosphere radiance, together with the Planck function at a selection of temperatures

Atmospheric absorption as a function of component and wavelength, created using the verbose output from LibRadTran