Global monitoring and retrievals of atmospheric aerosols and clouds

Abstract

A knowledge of aerosol and cloud radiative properties and their variation in space and time is especially crucial to understanding the radiative forcing in all climate related studies. Global monitoring of aerosol and cloud radiative effects relies on advanced Earth Observing Systems. Key advances include simultaneous observation of radiation budget and aerosol/cloud properties, additional information on particle size. phase, and vertical layer structure. Comprehensive radiation models are used to develop retrieval algorithms. An overview of the science and techniques in atmospheric aerosols and clouds remote sensing and retrieval is presented, citing high-quality multispectral imagery and nadir propagating lidar measurements as examples.