Cloud Macro- and Microphysical Properties Derived from GOES Over the ARM SGP Domain

Cloud macrophysical properties such as fractional coverage and height zc, and microphysical parameters such as cloud liquid water path (LWP), effective droplet radius (re), and cloud phase, are key factors affecting both the radiation budget and the hydrological cycle. Satellite data have been used to complement surface observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program by providing additional spatial coverage and top-of-atmosphere (TOA) boundary conditions of these key parameters. Since 1994, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) has been used for deriving at each half-hour over the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) domain: cloud amounts, altitudes, temperatures, and optical depths τ as well as broadband shortwave (SW) albedo and outgoing longwave (LW) radiation (OLR) at the TOA (see Khaiyer et al. [2001] for summary). A new operational algorithm has been implemented to increase the number of value-added products to include cloud particle phase and effective size (re or effective ice diameter De) as well as LWP and ice water path (IWP). Similar analyses have been performed on the data from the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite as part of the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project. This larger suite of cloud properties will enhance our knowledge of cloud processes and further constrain the mesoscale and single column models using ARM data as a validation/initialization resource. This paper presents the results of applying this new algorithm to GOES-8 data taken during 1998 and 2000. The global VIRS results are compared to the GOES SGP results to provide appropriate context and to test consistency.