Analysis of ice water path retrieval errors over tropical ocean

Abstract

Retrieval of multi-layered cloud properties, especially ice water path (IWP), is one of the most perplexing problems in satellite cloud remote sensing. This paper develops a method for improving the IWP retrievals for ice-over-water overlapped cloud systems using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) data. A combined microwave, visible and infrared algorithm is used to identify overlapped clouds and estimate IWP separately from liquid water path. The retrieval error of IWP is then evaluated by comparing the IWP to that retrieved from single-layer ice clouds surrounding the observed overlapping systems. The major IWP retrieval errors of overlapped clouds are primarily controlled by the errors in estimating the visible optical depth. Optical depths are overestimated by about 10-40% due to the influence of the underlying cloud. For the ice-over-warm-water cloud systems (cloud water temperature Tw > 273 K), the globally averaged IWP retrieval error is about 10%. This cloud type accounts for about 15% of all high-cloud overlapping cases. Ice-over-super-cooled water clouds are the predominant overlapped cloud system, accounting for 55% of the cases. Their global averaged error is ∼17.2%. The largest IWP retrieval error results when ice clouds occur over extremely super-cooled water clouds (Tw ≤ 255 K). Overall, roughly 33% of the VIRS IWP retrievals are overestimated due to the effects of the liquid water clouds beneath the cirrus clouds. To improve the accuracy of the IWP retrievals, correction models are developed and applied to all three types of overlapped clouds. The preliminary results indicate that the correction models reduce part of the retrieval error.