The joint ACP/AMT special issue on "Observations and modeling of aerosol and clouds properties for climate studies" brings together publications on characterization of aerosol and cloud properties and their impact on climate. This special issue is motivated by presentations and discussions that took place during the Workshop on "Observations and modeling of aerosol and clouds properties for climate studies" held in Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 12–14 of September, 2011 (http://www-loa.univ-lille1.fr/workshop/). The workshop gathered more than 130 scientists already involved in decades of collaboration and generated a number of insightful discussions on the community accomplishments and outlined the most appealing dynamics for near future remote-sensing activities. The advances and challenges of accessing aerosol and cloud effects on climate dynamics were discussed. It also included coordination between the international space-based observations of the atmosphere activities and evaluation of satellite products with the help of modelers, ground-based remote-sensing and in situ measurement scientists.

We encourage submissions describing the studies presented at the workshop and also coming from the relevant broader community.

Main topics are the following:
– achievements in characterization of aerosols, clouds and Earth’s atmosphere;
– inversions, new ideas and algorithms to derive detailed aerosol and cloud properties: passive and active remote sensing, characterization from satellite, ground-based, airborne and in situ;
– modeling of aerosols, clouds and their climate effects;
– progress expected from future satellite missions.