Definitions
Droplet size distribution. The number distribution of water droplets as a function of droplet size.
Cloud optical depth. A unitless measure of the column integrated radiative extinction of a cloud.
Water content. The liquid or ice water content of an atmospheric volume.
Water path. The vertical integral of the cloud water content.
Droplet number concentration. The number of droplets within an atmospheric volume.
Droplet effective radius. A characteristic droplet size defined as the third moment of the droplet size distribution divided by the second moment.
Radar. Radio detection and ranging.
Lidar. Light detection and ranging.
Polarization. A property of electromagnetic radiation that describes the orientation and phase of its oscillations.
Brightness temperature. The blackbody temperature that is inferred from a measured spectral intensity.
Introduction
This entry reviews common remote sensing methods to infer cloud properties. Knowledge of cloud properties is of primary...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Austin, R. T., and Stephens, G. L., 2001. Retrieval of stratus cloud microphysical parameters using millimeter-wave radar and visible optical depth in preparation for CloudSat 1. Algorithm formulation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(D22), 28233–28242.
Baran, A., Havemann, S., Francis, P., and Watts, P., 2003. A consistent set of single-scattering properties for cirrus cloud: tests using radiance measurements from a dual-viewing multi-wavelength satellite-based instrument. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 79, 549–567.
Bréon, F.-M., and Doutriaux-Boucher, M., 2005. A comparison of cloud droplet radii measured from space. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 43(8), 1796–1805.
Bréon, F., and Goloub, P., 1998. Cloud droplet effective radius from spaceborne polarization measurements. Geophysical Research Letters, 25(11), 1879–1882.
Delanoe, J., and Hogan, R. J., 2008. A variational scheme for retrieving ice cloud properties from combined radar, lidar, and infrared radiometer. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, D07204, doi:10.1029/2007JD009000.
Dong, X., and Mace, G. G., 2003. Profiles of low-level stratus cloud microphysics deduced from ground-based measurements. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 20, 42–53.
Greenwald, T. J., 2009. A 2 year comparison of AMSR-E and MODIS cloud liquid water path observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L20805.
Heidinger, A. K., and Pavolonis, M. J., 2009. Gazing at cirrus clouds for 25 years through a split window. Part I: methodology. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 48, 1100–1116.
Hilburn, K. A., and Wentz, F. J., 2008. Intercalibrated passive microwave rain products from the unified microwave ocean retrieval algorithm (UMORA). Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 47, 778–794.
Inoue, T., 1985. On the temperature and effective emissivity determination of semi-transparent cirrus clouds by bispectral measurements in the 10 micron window region. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, 63, 88–99.
Matrosov, S. Y., Uttal, T., and Hazen, D. A., 2004. Evaluation of radar reflectivity–based estimates of water content in stratiform marine clouds. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 43, 405–419.
Nakajima, T., and King, M. D., 1990. Determination of the optical thickness and effective particle radius of clouds from reflected solar radiation measurements. Part I: theory. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 47, 1878–1893.
Platnick, S., King, M. D., Ackerman, S. A., Menzel, W. P., Baum, B. A., Riedi, J. C., and Frey, R. A., 2003. The MODIS cloud products: algorithms and examples from Terra. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 41, 459–473.
Prabhakara, C., Fraser, R. S., Dalu, G., Wu, M. C., Curran, R. J., and Styles, T., 1988. Thin cirrus clouds: seasonal distribution over oceans deduced from nimbus-4 IRIS. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 27, 379–399.
Stephens, G., 1978. Radiation profiles in extended water clouds. II: parameterization schemes. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 35, 2123–2132.
Acknowledgments
This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the NASA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lebsock, M., Cooper, S. (2014). Cloud Properties. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-36698-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-36699-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences