Inference of Cirrus Cloud Properties Using ARM Data

The properties of cirrus clouds are inferred over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site of the Southern Great Plaines. The background (clear-sky) optical thickness is first determined by matching the calculated radiance to measured radiance using the gamma-fitting technique developed by Smith et al. (1993). Next, we generate a look-up table of cloud optical thickness and particle effective size. We do this by inserting an ice cloud layer, and varying the optical thickness and particle effective size. We can then infer the cloud properties over our site by comparing the measured Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) data with the look-up library.