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Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Clouds from Space using Backscattering and Thermal Emission Techniques

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The Remote Sensing of Tropospheric Composition from Space

Part of the book series: Physics of Earth and Space Environments ((EARTH))

Abstract

Clouds play a crucial role in the remote sensing of the troposphere as they frequently obscure the radiation reflected or emitted from the surface. However they can be used to advantage to obtain concentration profile information with techniques such as cloud slicing. Treating clouds correctly is therefore an essential part of any retrieval of tropospheric data. The retrieval of cloud parameters from solar back scatter and thermal infrared radiation provides particular information about clouds. Chapter 5 describes the retrieval of the major cloud parameters and their validation, as well as dealing with modern trends and likely developments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the members of their research groups for the support, advice, and preparation of figures used this work. The support of ACCENT and editors of this book is much appreciated. The use of ESA, NASA and ARM SGP radar data is acknowledged with many thanks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Alexander A. Kokhanovsky

  2. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Steven Platnick

  3. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Michael D. King

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  1. Alexander A. Kokhanovsky
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  2. Steven Platnick
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Umweltphysik (IUP), Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    John P. Burrows

  2. P & PMB Consultants, Berne Avenue 6, Newcastle, ST5 2QJ, United Kingdom

    Peter Borrell

  3. Inst. Umweltphysik, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Ulrich Platt

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Kokhanovsky, A.A., Platnick, S., King, M.D. (2011). Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Clouds from Space using Backscattering and Thermal Emission Techniques. In: Burrows, J., Borrell, P., Platt, U. (eds) The Remote Sensing of Tropospheric Composition from Space. Physics of Earth and Space Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14791-3_5

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