Observing Aerosol Radiative Processes from Passive and Active Instruments

Improved understanding of the radiative effects of aerosols in climate requires the synergistic use of a broad range of different types of observations and models. This presentation will highlight recent studies that use multiple instruments (passive and active) to improve our understanding of both the direct and indirect radiative effects of aerosols. Measurements of aerosols, clouds and radiation from MODIS, CALIPSO, HSRL and CERES will be presented with special focus on aerosols in the vicinity of clouds, arguably amongst the most poorly understood and observationally challenging areas in aerosol science.