Cloud property estimates from zenith spectral measurements of scattered sunlight between 0.9 and 1.7 μm

Abstract

A theoretical approach is used to quantify the information available to retrieve cloud physical properties from data taken by a ground-based spectrometer measuring scattered sunlight in the near-infrared wavelength region. Three wavelength regions between 0.9 and 1.7 μm, each containing water vapor, liquid, and ice absorption features, are examined using a differential optical absorption spectroscopy optimal estimation retrieval technique. Cloud properties that can be retrieved include path-integrated liquid water path and path-integrated ice water path (PLWP and PIWP), cloud liquid and ice temperatures, and the second moment of the photon path distribution. The accuracy of these cloud prope..