Quantifying cloud adjustments and the radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite observations of warm marine clouds

Douglas, Alyson; L'Ecuyer, Tristan

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020

Articles | Volume 20, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 10

Research article

|

28 May 2020

Research article |

| 28 May 2020

Quantifying cloud adjustments and the radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite observations of warm marine clouds

Alyson Douglas and Tristan L'Ecuyer

Data sets

CloudSat Database NASA http://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu

NASA Earth Data NASA https://earthdata.nasa.gov/

SPRINTARS Model Forecasts T. Takemura https://sprintars.riam.kyushu-u.ac.jp/

Short summary

Aerosols, or small, suspended droplets in the atmosphere, are released from anthropogenic activity and interact with warm clouds, leading to changes in the clouds' brightness and size. Our study evaluates how aerosols alter warm clouds and their ability to cool the Earth's surface. We find aerosols make clouds brighter and grow larger in the atmosphere; however, the cooling effect due to whiter, brighter clouds is 5 times the cooling due to an increased extent.