Global survey of the relationships of cloud albedo and liquid water path with droplet size using ISCCP

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Journal of Climate

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1998)011<1516:GSOTRO>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:659005

Han, Q; Chou, J; Welch, R M ^[1]; Rossow, W B ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States). Global Hydrology and Climate Center
2. NASA/Goddard Inst. for Space Studies, New York, NY (United States)

The most common approach used to model the aerosol indirect effect on clouds holds the cloud liquid water path constant. In this case, increasing aerosol concentration increases cloud droplet concentration, decreases cloud droplet size, and increases cloud albedo. The expected decrease in cloud droplet size associated with larger aerosol concentrations has been found to be larger over land than over water and larger in the Northern that in the Southern Hemisphere, but the corresponding cloud albedo increase has not been found. Many previous studies have shown that cloud liquid water path varies with changing cloud droplet size, which may alter the behavior of clouds when aerosols change. This study examines the relationship between geographic and seasonal variations of cloud effective droplet size and cloud albedo, as well as cloud liquid water path, in low-level clouds using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data. The results show that cloud albedo increases with decreasing droplet size for most clouds over continental areas and for all optically thicker clouds, but that cloud albedo decreases with decreasing droplet size for optically thinner clouds over most oceans and the tropical rain forest regions. For almost all clouds, the liquid water path increases with increasing cloud droplet size.

• Sponsoring Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FC03-90ER61010
• OSTI ID: 659005
• Journal Information: Journal of Climate, Journal Name: Journal of Climate Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 11; ISSN JLCLEL; ISSN 0894-8755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOLS
ALBEDO
CLIMATE MODELS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CLOUDS
CONDENSATION NUCLEI
I CODES
SEASONAL VARIATIONS