The Earth's Energy balance inferred from A-Train observations

In a time where we are looking to further our understanding of our current and future climate, it is important to be able to study all parts of our atmosphere. This is now possible with satellite observations, and with the launch of CloudSat and CALIPSO in 2006, we now have a way to view the vertical distribution of cloud and aerosol properties. Using data from CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS we are able to more accurately detect all clouds, calculate liquid and ice microphysical properties, and construct a high-resolution vertical profile of radiative fluxes and atmospheric heating rates globally. This research will highlight cloud properties and their resulting impacts on global and regional radiation budgets using CloudSat's new 2B-FLXHR-LIDAR product. Specifically, the analysis will discuss the radiative impacts of low-level stratocumulus and high thin sub-visible cirrus clouds. Estimates of both outgoing radiation into space, as well as incoming radiation at the Earth's surface will then be used to examine the average Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) for 2007. Good correlation in both outgoing shortwave and longwave radiation against collocated CERES and ISCCP fluxes provide initial verification of these results.