On the Scattering-Angle Dependence of the Spectral Consistency of Ice Cloud Optical Thickness Retrievals Based on Geostationary Satellite Observations

作者：Dongchen Li, Masanori Saito, Ping Yang, Norman G. Loeb, William L. Smith, Patrick Minnis · 发表于：IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1109/tgrs.2023.3331970 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Atmospheric aerosols and clouds、Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols、Atmospheric Ozone and Climate

Visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) methods have long been used for ice cloud property retrievals based on satellite observations. Both retrieval methods are sensitive to the assumed ice particle models, which can significantly impact the accuracy of the retrieved microphysical and radiative properties of ice clouds. The Two-Habit model (THM) is considered a suitable ice particle model for passive remote sensing of global ice clouds, as confirmed by spectral consistency in cloud optical thickness (COT), which refers to agreement between VIS-NIR and TIR COT retrievals. However, the ratio of COTs retrieved from these two methods using the THM varies with scattering angle, indicating the potential influence of atmospheric and cloud properties on the spectral consistency of the inferred COT. The present study investigates potential factors affecting the angular dependence of the COT ratio based on observations made by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) sensors on seventeenth Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-17). For optically thin clouds (COT<1) illuminated at a solar zenith angle (SZA)<20 degrees, the heterogeneous particle combination of mixed-phase clouds is the dominant factor that produces an angular-dependent negative bias in COT spectral consistency. At greater SZAs, cloud three-dimensional radiative effects are presumed to be a dominant factor. Negative biases in the cloud top temperature and sea surface temperature contribute...