A41N:
Cloud Observations and Uncertainties I


Session ID#: 11009

Session Description:
Clouds play a significant role in Earth’s hydrological cycle and radiation budget. Representation of clouds in climate models remains as one of the largest uncertainties in predictions of future climate. Long-term cloud retrievals with accurate uncertainty estimates are necessary for improving cloud parameterizations within climate models. 

Cloud properties can be retrieved using space- or ground-based remote sensors or directly from in situ aircraft probes. Studies have shown large differences of cloud properties among various methods, raising questions about the assumptions behind them and/or their representativeness. The uncertainties could come from the measurements themselves and retrieval algorithms applied downstream to them. To advance our understanding of clouds and their processes, it is crucial to understand and quantify the uncertainties associated with measurements and retrievals.

This session invites papers on cloud property 1) measurements or retrievals, 2) uncertainty analyses, and 3) implementation of realistic uncertainties on the measurements and retrievals.

Primary Convener:  Chuanfeng Zhao, Beijing Normal University, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing, China
Conveners:  Xiquan Dong, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States, Derek J Posselt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States and Jonathan H. Jiang, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
Chairs:  Derek J Posselt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States and Jonathan H. Jiang, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Jonathan H. Jiang, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • GC - Global Environmental Change
Index Terms:

0320 Cloud physics and chemistry [ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE]
0321 Cloud/radiation interaction [ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE]
1640 Remote sensing [GLOBAL CHANGE]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Gregory Thompson, Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA), Boulder, United States
Ping Yang, Texas A & M University, College Station, United States, Kuo-Nan Liou, University of California Los Angeles, Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Bryan A Baum, Retired, Madison, United States, Steven E Platnick, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, Kerry Meyer, Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, Greenbelt, MD, United States and Michael D King, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
George Duffy1, Stephen W Nesbitt1 and Greg M McFarquhar2, (1)University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Atmospheric Sciences, Urbana, IL, United States, (2)University of Oklahoma, Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and School of Meteorology, Norman, OK, United States
Chuanfeng Zhao, Beijing Normal University, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing, China
Brian H Kahn, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Andrew Gettelman, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States
Tao Wang1, Eric J Fetzer2, Sun Wong2 and Qing Yue3, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech, Pasadena, United States, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Edwin Sumargo, University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, La Jolla, United States and Daniel R Cayan, University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States
Maximilian Maahn and Ulrich Loehnert, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany