Application of the multigrid method in a deterministic solution scheme for the three-dimensional radiative transfer equation

An improved solution scheme is developed for the three-dimensional radiative transfer equation (RTE) in inhomogeneous cloudy atmospheres. This solution scheme is deterministic (explicit) and utilizes spherical harmonics series expansion and the finite-volume method for discretization of the RTE. The first-order upwind finite difference is modified to take into account bidirectional flow of radiance in spherical harmonics space, and an iterative solution method is applied. The multigrid method, which is generally employed to achieve rapid convergence in iterative calculation, is incorporated into the solution scheme. The present study suggests that the restriction and prolongation procedure for the multigrid method must be also modified to account for bidirectional flow, and proposes an efficient bidirectional restriction/prolongation procedure that does not increase the computational effort for coarser grids, resulting in a type of wavelet low-pass filter. Several calculation examples for various atmosphere models indicate that the proposed solution scheme is effective for rapid convergence and suitable for obtaining adequate radiation fields in inhomogeneous cloudy atmospheres, although a comparison with the Monte Carlo method suggests that the radiances obtained by this solution scheme at certain angles tends to be smoother. -- Highlights: • We develop a deterministic solution scheme for the 3-D radiative transfer. • The multigrid method is incorporated into an iterative solution scheme. • The multigrid method needs to be modified for the incorporation. • An ingenious procedure for the restriction and prolongation is proposed. • The scheme results in rapid convergence and obtains adequate radiation fields