How do you calculate light attenuation by wavelength at a given air mass coefficient?

Question

I am trying to get a good view of light wavelength distribution as a function of viewing angle, with a specific interest as $z \approx 90^\circ$ near the horizon (sunrise/sunset). Air mass coefficient values by viewing angle are well known and reasonably approximated, but what I cannot find is how wavelengths attenuate by air mass (for example, sunsets are red because blue is mostly adsorbed at the horizon).

AM0 defines the spectral irradiance without atmosphere (ie, in space) and it looks like this:

(image source: Altermatt Lecture: The Solar Spectrum)

Question: How can I calculate the graph at "AM20" which is near the horizon using known AM0 data?

Given the AM0 spectra irradiance by wavelength (ie, from the ASTM G173-03 Reference Spectra), how can you approximate the resulting relative irradiance (or attenuation) as a function of wavelength and air mass coefficient? Mathematically, I'm looking for something that approximates this:

$ P^\prime(\lambda) = f(P(\lambda), AM) $

where:

• $ f() $ calculates the net irradiance adjusted for a given air mass coefficient. (Different wavelengths are adsorbed differently.)
• $ P(\lambda) $ is the irradiance in units of $ \frac{W}{m^2\cdot \lambda} $ (Wm-2nm-1) with an air mass coefficient of 0 (AM0) based on known values.
• $ P^\prime(\lambda) $ is the irradiance in units of $ \frac{W}{m^2\cdot \lambda} $ (Wm-2nm-1) after attenuating based on an arbitrary air mass coefficient.
• $ AM $ is the air mass coefficient for which we want to adjust.

(NB: I'm new to this topic, if this is the wrong place for such a question, then please point me at the right SE community so I can move the post. Thanks!)

Answer 1

This paper covers that topic in detail:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287807359_Infrared_and_Skin_Friend_or_Foe

Here is a 6am vs noon graph from the paper:

"Fig. 8. Early morning (6 am) relative irradiance of the sun is higher in the visible and NIR spectrum compared to midday exposure (noon). Calculations were made using the Simple Model ofthe Atmospheric Radiative Transfer of Sunshine (SMARTS), 2.9.5 model, available from NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and obtained in July 2015 at http://www.nrel.gov/rredc/smarts/about.html ."