Cloud Properties by Cloud Types over Regions Based on the CERES CldTypHist data product

Abstract:

The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project will provide a future Cloud Type Histogram (CldTypHist) data product, which will categorize clouds into pressure level and optical depth bins, in similar manner as ISCCP. This Edition 4 product will replace the CERES Edition 3 ISCCP-like products. The major improvements between these two products are the new geostationary (GEO) 4-channel cloud retrievals, which are consistent with the MODIS, and provide both day and nighttime retrievals. The cloud retrievals include the standard ISCCP parameters of, cloud fraction, effective cloud pressure, temperature, optical depth and LWP/IWP. CERES also includes particle sizes, cloud emissivity, and cloud top parameters. The GEO cloud properties will be retrieved hourly, whereas for Edition 3 the properties were retrieved every 3-hours. The CldTypHist product will provide users 1° latitude by 1° longitude gridded monthly day/night 1-hourly cloud properties as a function of cloud type. The Terra (10:30 AM) and Aqua (1:30PM) MODIS cloud properties will supersede the GEO when available. Monthly means will also be computed from monthly hourly cloud-type means. It is anticipated that when 15 years of CldTypHist product are processed, that the regional cloud type parameters will provide new insight on the impact of clouds on the Earth’s radiation budget and improve cloud parameterizations for climate modelers.

This study will examine cloud property variations, between day and night, between land and ocean, among the five ocean basins, the five continents, ITCZ, Tibet, and Arctic. Also studied would be the correlation between skin temperature and cloud type amounts, and the correlations between cloud temperature and cloud optical depth over these regions.