Comparison of High Spectral Resolution Infrared Cloud Top Pressure Algorithms using S-HIS Measurements

Cloud top pressure is an important parameter in determining the radiative impact of clouds on climate. In addition, atmospheric temperature and moister retrievals of cloudy scenes using high spectral resolution data require the cloud altitude be known. This paper will present a detailed analysis of high spectral resolution cloud top pressure retrievals using S-HIS data from THORPEX and TX2002 field experiments. The analysis will focus on CO2 slicing, MLEV (Minimum Local Emissivity Variance), and CO2 sorting cloud top retrieval algorithms. CO2 sorting is a new cloud top algorithm that will be used in conjunction with CO2 slicing. The paper will include validation using the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and the MAS (Modis Airborne Simulator). In the future we plan to apply the algorithms to satellite based high spectral resolution instruments.