Study of Cloud Properties and their radiative effects implications to Climate System

Abstract

newline newlineAbstract newlineClouds cover more than 60% of the global surface, and the Earth s climate is strongly regulated newlineby the spatial and temporal variability of clouds. The influence of clouds on radiation is newlinesignificantly dependent on cloud characteristics, such as cloud type, cloud optical thickness, and newlinespatial distribution. Clouds are also considered a major source of uncertainty in future climate newlinechange projections. A precise accounting of the radiative feedbacks owing to cloud changes is newlinerequired to attain accurate prediction of cloud feedback. But a mere tuning of global models to newlinerepresent the global net cloud effects is not sufficient since feedback depends critically on cloud newlinecharacteristics, their location, and their environment. It is also found that the temporal and spatial newlinedistributions of various cloud types could vary with climate change. So it is essential to observe newlinethe cloud over a region continuously to identify the cloud type, frequency of occurrence, and newlinedistribution of cloud on a much finer scale because the formation and movement of cloud occur newlineon the scale of minutes to hours. newlineCurrently, the cloud microphysical and macro-physical properties are retrieved using both newlineground-based and satellite platforms, where satellite observations provide a clear picture of the newlineEarth, allowing to follow the cloud evolution over large areas. In contrast, ground-based newlineobservations can capture larger temporal variations in the cloud features than satellites. Thus, newlinesatellite and ground-based cloud remote sensing complement each other. But to study the newlineconstant evolution of the clouds, changes in their physical properties and effect on radiation, newlineobservations on a finer temporal scale are required, which is available only with ground-based newlineinstrumentation. newlineThe difference between the clear- sky and the cloudy sky radiation is defined as cloud-radiative newlineforcing. It can be investigated using ground-based observations, satellite remote sensing, newlinereanalysis data, and model simulations. Out of which, the accu