Footprint-scale cloud type mixtures and their impacts on Atmospheric Infrared Sounder cloud property retrievals

Guillaume, Alexandre; Kahn, Brian H.; Fetzer, Eric J.; Yue, Qing; Manipon, Gerald J.; Wilson, Brian D.; Hua, Hook

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019

Articles | Volume 12, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 8

Research article

|

14 Aug 2019

Research article |

| 14 Aug 2019

Footprint-scale cloud type mixtures and their impacts on Atmospheric Infrared Sounder cloud property retrievals

Alexandre Guillaume, Brian H. Kahn, Eric J. Fetzer, Qing Yue, Gerald J. Manipon, Brian D. Wilson, and Hook Hua

Data sets

AIRS-CloudSat cloud mask, radar reflectivities, and cloud classification matchups V3.2, Greenbelt, MD, USA, Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) E. Fetzer, B. Wilson, and G. Manipon https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/WVCC/DATA203

Short summary

A method is described to classify cloud mixtures of cloud top types, termed cloud scenes, using cloud type classification derived from the CloudSat radar. The scale dependence of the cloud scenes is quantified. The cloud scenes are used to assess the characteristics of spatially collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) thermodynamic-phase and ice cloud property retrievals within scenes of varying cloud type complexity.