Abstract
Abstract This study examines the validity and limitations associated with retrieval of cloud optical depth τ and effective droplet size re in the Arctic from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) channels 2 (0.725–1.10 μm), 3 (3.55–3.93 μm), and 4 (10.3–11.3 μm). The error in re is found to be normally less than 10%, but the uncertainty in τ can be more than 50% for a 10% uncertainty in the satellite-measured radiance. Model simulations show that the satellite-retrieved cloud optical depth τsat is overestimated by up to 20% if the vertical cloud inhomogeneity is ignored and is underestimated by more than 50% if overlap of cirrus and liquid water clouds is ignored. Under partially cloudy conditions, τsat is larger than that derived from surface-measured downward solar irradiance (τsurf) by 40%–130%, depending on cloud-cover fraction. Here, τsat derived from NOAA-14 AVHRR data agrees well with τsurf derived from surface measurements of solar irradiance at the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Oce...
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