Comparison of Daytime Low-Level Cloud Properties Derived from GOES and ARM SGP

The daytime single-layered low-level cloud properties retrieved by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) are compared with ground-based observations and retrievals over the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility (SCF) from June 1998 through December 2006. The GOES retrievals are made via the Visible-Infrared Solar-infrared Split-window technique (VISST). Collocated pairs of GOES and ARM cloud properties are produced and comparisons are made for monthly means, diurnal means, and one-to-one for GOES and ARM collocated pairs. The parameters of interest are cloud temperature (T_eff for GOES and T_top for ARM), height (H_eff and H_top), cloud-droplet effective radius (r_e), optical depth (τ), and liquid water path (LWP). GOES retrieved T_eff, τ, and LWP have excellent agreement with ARM retrievals. Results also show that GOES retrieved mean r_e, τ and LWP values increase with increased solar zenith angle (SZA).