6.1
Satellite Observations of Cloud Ice Properties (Invited Presentation)
Steven A. Ackerman, CIMSS/Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; and K. F. Evans
The largest uncertainties in General Circulation Model (GCM) parameterizations are the treatment of clouds and the hydrological cycle and the representation of surface processes. A key to improving climate prediction is, therefore, the improved treatment of these processes in these models. The rudimentary nature of our knowledge of the amount of ice in the atmosphere is demonstrated by our inability to accurately answer the following fundamental questions:
How much ice exists in the atmosphere?
Is ice mass greater above the continents than above the oceans?
What is the zonal distribution of ice as a function of season?
What is the temporal and geographic variation in ice mass for convective cirrus anvils?
How does the mean ice particle size vary with IWP for various weather systems?
This paper summarizes the approaches to remote sensing of cirrus clouds using satellite observations. The presentation will review what has been done, what is being done, what will soon be done and then address what needs to be done.
.Session 6, Retrievals and Cloud Products
Thursday, 23 September 2004, 8:30 AM-9:30 AM
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