Articles | Volume 18, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5299-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5299-2025
Research article
 | 
14 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 14 Oct 2025

Retrieving vertical profiles of cloud droplet effective radius using multispectral measurements from MODIS: examples and limitations

Andrew J. Buggee and Peter Pilewskie

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Cited articles

Albert, P., Bennartz, R., and Fischer, J.: Remote sensing of atmospheric water vapor from backscattered sunlight in cloudy atmospheres, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 18(6), 865–874, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2001)018<0865:RSOAWV>2.0.CO;2, 2001. 
Amarasinghe, N., Platnick, S., Meyer, K., and the GSFC Cloud Retrieval Product Team: Overview of the MODIS collection 6 cloud optical property (MOD06) retrieval look-up tables, NASA Doc., 22 pp., https://atmosphere-imager.gsfc.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/ModAtmo/C6_LUT_document_final.pdf, 2017. 
Anderson, G., Clough, S., Kneizys, F., Chetwynd, J., and Shettle, E.: AFGL atmospheric constituent profiles (0–120 km), Tech. Rep. AFGL-TR-86-0110, Air Force Geophys. Lab., Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Mass., 1986. 
Bennartz, R.: Global assessment of marine boundary layer cloud droplet number concentration from satellite, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 112, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007547, 2007. 
Bohren, C. F. and Clothiaux, E. E.: Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation, Wiley-VCH, Darmstadt, https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527618620, 2006. 
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Short summary
This research aimed to improve our understanding of cloud structure using spaceborne measurements. The study applied an optimal estimation method to determine how cloud droplet sizes change with height, using satellite data and coincident aircraft measurements for validation. It found that current space-borne spectrometers lack the accuracy to fully resolve this vertical structure, but upcoming instruments like CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Earth Observatory) Pathfinder will significantly enhance this capability.
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