Previous studies of early satellite climatologies of Arctic cloud properties and surface radiative fluxes showed large descrepancies between surface and satellite observations. In this paper the issue is revisited in light of new or reprocessed data sets. Recent progress in satellite retrievals is described, and a comparison of cloud parameters derived from the TOVS Polar Pathfinder Project, the AVHRR Polar Pathfinder Project, and the ISCCP D1 cloud product is presented. Satellite-derived cloud parameters and surface radiative fluxes are compared to surface observations from the Russian North Pole drifting stations and several field experiments, including Leadex, Cearex, the Arctic Ocean Section, and SHEBA