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The optical properties and longwave radiative forcing in the lateral boundary of cirrus cloud
Author(s) -
Li Rui,
Cai Hongke,
Fu Yunfei,
Wang Yu,
Min Qilong,
Guo Jingchao,
Dong Xue
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl059432
Subject(s) - cirrus , lidar , longwave , radiative transfer , radiative forcing , cloud forcing , optical depth , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , boundary layer , backscatter (email) , cloud feedback , shortwave , effective radius , ice cloud , ice crystals , aerosol , remote sensing , geology , meteorology , physics , optics , climate model , climate change , galaxy , oceanography , computer science , wireless , thermodynamics , climate sensitivity , telecommunications , quantum mechanics
Through observations from the Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization onboard the Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation, we detected a common feature of narrow and subvisible lateral boundary layer in cirrus cloud. In this layer the lidar backscatter, the depolarization ratio, the ice water content, the effective radius of ice particles, and the cloud optical depth all decrease sharply toward the cloud edge. In general, the width of this layer (6.4 ± 3.1 km over land) decreases with increasing ambient temperature. The estimated longwave radiative forcing associated with the layer is about 10 W/m 2 . Due to its extremely small optical depth (less than 0.3), such lateral boundary layer may be missed by conventional satellite passive optical sensors. As a consequence, the mentioned radiative forcing has not been credited with its deserved share in the Earth's radiative energy budget.