Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types

Coddington, Odele; Pilewskie, Peter; Schmidt, K. Sebastian; McBride, Patrick J.; Vukicevic, Tomislava

doi:10.3390/atmos4010048

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Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types

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Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, 3665 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80305, USA

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Colorado Boulder, 311 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 613, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

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Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Atmosphere 2013, 4(1), 48-71; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos4010048

Received: 19 December 2012 / Revised: 7 March 2013 / Accepted: 13 March 2013 / Published: 19 March 2013

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Studies of Atmospheric Aerosol and Clouds Using Remote Sensing Techniques)

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Abstract

This paper presents an approach using the GEneralized Nonlinear Retrieval Analysis (GENRA) tool and general inverse theory diagnostics including the maximum likelihood solution and the Shannon information content to investigate the performance of a new spectral technique for the retrieval of cloud optical properties from surface based transmittance measurements. The cumulative retrieval information over broad ranges in cloud optical thickness (τ), droplet effective radius (r_e), and overhead sun angles is quantified under two conditions known to impact transmitted radiation; the variability in land surface albedo and atmospheric water vapor content. Our conclusions are: (1) the retrieved cloud properties are more sensitive to the natural variability in land surface albedo than to water vapor content; (2) the new spectral technique is more accurate (but still imprecise) than a standard approach, in particular for τ between 5 and 60 and r_e less than approximately 20 μm; and (3) the retrieved cloud properties are dependent on sun angle for clouds of from 5 to 10 and r_e < 10 μm, with maximum sensitivity obtained for an overhead sun. View Full-Text

Keywords: radiation: transmission and scattering; remote sensing; clouds and aerosols; Shannon information content

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MDPI and ACS Style

Coddington, O.; Pilewskie, P.; Schmidt, K.S.; McBride, P.J.; Vukicevic, T. Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types. Atmosphere 2013, 4, 48-71. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos4010048

AMA Style

Coddington O, Pilewskie P, Schmidt KS, McBride PJ, Vukicevic T. Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types. Atmosphere. 2013; 4(1):48-71. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos4010048

Chicago/Turabian Style

Coddington, Odele, Peter Pilewskie, K. S. Schmidt, Patrick J. McBride, and Tomislava Vukicevic. 2013. "Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types" Atmosphere 4, no. 1: 48-71. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos4010048

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Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types

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