Characterizing Cloud Effects on Temperature, Water Vapor, and Radiation Using the Collocated AIRS/CloudSat/MODIS Data Records

This study investigates the relationships between radiative, cloud, and water vapor characteristics of the atmosphere from the AIRS instrument within cloud classifications by CloudSat. One year of matched AIRS-CloudSat data are analyzed at the monthly scales in the Eastern and Western Pacific, as well as along a Pacific cross section between California and Hawaii. First, water vapor observations from AIRS are sorted into different cloud regimes. Second, regional differences in statistical distributions of cloud types, cloud frequency of occurrence, and atmospheric states are analyzed. Stratocumulus clouds are found to be the dominant cloud type in all regions, and the AIRS sampling rate in stratocumulus is higher than for other boundary layer cloud types. Detailed radiative transfer calculations are carried out for stratocumulus cloud scenes for one year. Collocated MODIS/Aqua cloud optical depth and particle size measurements are used in the Fu and Liou broadband radiative transfer calculation together with CloudSat cloud-scenario, AIRS water vapor and temperature distributions, and sea surface temperature. Surface and top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes and heating rate profiles in the cloudy atmosphere are obtained. The correlations of these cloud radiative characteristics and atmospheric states are examined for marine stratocumulus clouds.