Marine boundary layer (BL) clouds profoundly influence the global shortwave (SW) radiation budget through their effect on albedo, but a significant source of turbulent energy to the BL and the clouds themselves is longwave (LW) cloud top cooling. Cloudy regions can be thought of as radiating as blackbodies in the LW, with a net radiative flux of nearly zero inside the cloud itself and a signifi...

Global information of cloud ice water path (IWP) is urgently needed for testing of global climate models (GCMs) and other applications. Accurate quantification of the IWP is essential for characterizing the hydrological and radiation budget. For example, the reflection of shortwave radiation by ice clouds reduces the solar energy reaching the earth’s surface. Ice clouds can also trap the longwa...

The study of climate and climate change is hindered by a lack of information on the effect of clouds on the radiation balance of the earth, referred to as the cloud-radiative forcing. Quantitative estimates of the global distributions of cloud-radiative forcing have been obtained from the spaceborne Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) launched in 1984. For the April 1985 period, the global...

Stratiform anvils in the upper tropical troposphere were simulated to determine the sensitivities of their radiative properties to the presence of small ice crystals. Cloud evolution was modelled in a one-dimensional (vertical) framework incorporating an updraft, deposition, sublimation, sedimentation, nucleation, and radiation. The sensitivities of cloud radiative forcing, albedo, emissivity, ...

Stratiform anvils in the upper tropical troposphere were simulated to determine the sensitivities of their radiative properties to the presence of small ice crystals. Cloud evolution was modelled in a one-dimensional (vertical) framework incorporating an updraft, deposition, sublimation, sedimentation, nucleation, and radiation. The sensitivities of cloud radiative forcing, albedo, emissivity, ...

As part of a larger study of carbon dioxide and energy exchange, energy components in an open-canopied juniper–sagebrush ecosystem located in the semi-arid region of Eastern Oregon were measured with the eddy covariance technique. Daytime net radiation averaged 20–30% greater than the sum of sensible, latent and soil heat fluxes. On cloudless days several days after a rain event the imbalance w...