Strategic Planning for PACE Cloud Product Validation: Comparing LWP Retrievals of MODIS Aqua, VIIRS, AMSR-2, and ARM Ground-Based Observations

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is poised to facilitate the continuous production of research-quality, long-term data records for cloud observations. In the anticipation of upcoming PACE cloud product validations, this study employs Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua (MYD08, CLDPROP_MODIS_Aqua) Liquid Water Path (LWP) observations as a surrogate for PACE LWP observations. We conduct a comparative analysis with Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) (CLDPROP_VIIRS_SNPP) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-2) (RSS_AMSR2) LWP data. Moreover, we incorporate ground-based observations from four Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites with LWP observations (MWRRET) in the analysis, in an effort to validate and assess the future PACE LWP observations against these ground-based references. This study, supported by invaluable community input aims to provide insights into effective cloud product validation – an essential step in preparing for PACE's contribution to cloud observation datasets.