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Satellite‐Based Estimation of Cloud Top Radiative Cooling Rate for Marine Stratocumulus
Author(s) -
Zheng Youtong,
Rosenfeld Daniel,
Zhu Yannian,
Li Zhanqing
Publication year - 2019
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 - 10.1029/2019gl082094
Subject(s) - marine stratocumulus , environmental science , satellite , depth sounding , cloud top , troposphere , cloud computing , radiative transfer , cloud cover , southern hemisphere , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , remote sensing , climatology , geology , computer science , geography , physics , oceanography , quantum mechanics , operating system , astronomy
Abstract Cloud top radiative cooling rate (CTRC) is the leading term in the energy budget of a marine boundary layer capped by stratocumulus. It plays a significant role in the formation, evolution, and maintenance of the stratocumulus cloud system. This study demonstrates the feasibility of estimating the CTRC, with high accuracy, from passive satellite data only. The estimation relies on a radiative transfer model with inputs from satellite‐retrieved cloud parameters in combination with reanalysis sounding that is revised, in a physically coherent way, by satellite data. The satellite‐based estimates CTRC agree with ground‐based ones to within ~10%. The high accuracy largely benefits from the good capability of satellite data in constraining parameters of most influence to the CTRC such as free‐tropospheric sounding, cloud top temperature, and cloud optical depth. Applying this technique, we generate a climatology of CTRC during summer over the Southern Hemisphere tropical and subtropical oceans.