DART model simulates, simultaneously in several wavelengths of the optical domain (e.g., visible and thermal infrared), the radiative budget and remotely sensed images of any Earth scene (natural / urban with /without relief), for any sun direction, any atmosphere, any view direction and any sensor FTM.
The approaches used to simulate radiative transfer differ on 2 levels: mathematical method of resolution and mode of representation of the propagation medium.
For the models known as homogeneous (Idso and of Wit, 1970; Ross, 1981; Verhoef, 1984; Myneni et al., 1989), the landscape is represented by a constant horizontal distribution of absorbing and scattering elements (sheets, branches, etc...).
DART simulates radiative transfer in the "Earth-Atmosphere" system, for any wavelength in the optical domain (shortwaves : visible, thermal infrared,...).
The difficulty in studying continental surfaces arises from the complexity of the energetic and physiologic processes involved and also from the different time and space scales concerned.