High spatial resolution shortwave cloud remote sensing during CAMP2Ex: initial retrievals from Landsat 8 and Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) multiangle total radiance observations

The airborne component of the CAMP2Ex field campaign, conducted in late summer 2019, included objectives for understanding and evaluating the use of remotely sensed cloud parameters. Due to significant cloud heterogeneity in the CAMP2Ex region (horizontal and vertical), the use of high spatial resolution and multiangle retrievals are necessary to evaluate retrieval fidelity. Here, we present initial result on Landsat 8 OLI cloud optical retrievals (~30 m spatial resolution) in the CAMP2Ex region as well as multiangle total radiance retrievals from the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) polarimeter (similar resolution as Landsat 8) that was flown on the NASA P3 aircraft during the campaign. Geosynchronous imagery and retrievals from AHI are being used to help understand the cloud temporal structure for the scenes under study. Both the Landsat and RSP retrievals make use of a cloud retrieval algorithm that is consistent with the current production suite of NASA cloud property products CLDPROP (cloud-top and optical properties) designed to bridge the imager observational records of EOS MODIS and SNPP/JPSS VIIRS, as well as the new generation GEO imagers.