Premium
Radiative effects of global MODIS cloud regimes
Author(s) -
Oreopoulos Lazaros,
Cho Nayeong,
Lee Dongmin,
Kato Seiji
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2015jd024502
Subject(s) - radiative transfer , shortwave , longwave , radiative flux , atmospheric sciences , moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer , environmental science , irradiance , atmospheric radiative transfer codes , radiative cooling , cloud computing , atmosphere (unit) , meteorology , climatology , remote sensing , physics , geography , computer science , geology , satellite , quantum mechanics , astronomy , operating system
We update previously published Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) global cloud regimes (CRs) using the latest MODIS cloud retrievals in the Collection 6 data set. We implement a slightly different derivation method, investigate the composition of the regimes, and then proceed to examine several aspects of CR radiative appearance with the aid of various radiative flux data sets. Our results clearly show that the CRs are radiatively distinct in terms of shortwave, longwave, and their combined (total) cloud radiative effect. We show that we can clearly distinguish regimes based on whether they radiatively cool or warm the atmosphere, and thanks to radiative heating profiles, to discern the vertical distribution of cooling and warming. Terra and Aqua comparisons provide information about the degree to which morning and afternoon occurrences of regimes affect the symmetry of CR radiative contribution. We examine how the radiative discrepancies among multiple irradiance data sets suffering from imperfect spatiotemporal matching depend on CR and whether they are therefore related to the complexity of cloud structure, its interpretation by different observational systems, and its subsequent representation in radiative transfer calculations.