Analyzing Cloud Water Characteristics in Relation to Anthropogenic Aerosols Using Airborne Microwave Data Collected During the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX)

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

This project is an extension of the PI's earlier NSF INDOEX project (Curry and Liu: Application of airborne passive microwave measurements for INDOEX, ATM-9910640). Because Airborne Imaging Microwave Radiometer (AIMR) was originally designed for sea ice observations in the polar region, their first task was to assess the suitability of using AIMR for cloud retrievals in the "hot" environment of INDOEX. Their study showed that the data are of good quality and retrieved values of cloud liquid water path are within the expected range. Therefore, they concluded that these data can be used to conduct research on INDOEX related science issues. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the cloud water characteristics in relation to anthropogenic aerosols using AIMR and other ancillary data collected during 1999 INDOEX field experiment. This project supports INDOEX primary scientific objectives by providing information on horizontal distributions of liquid water path and characteristic cloud particle size (together with using airborne visible measurements) for low-level clouds, to aid in the interpretation of the indirect effect of aerosols on the radiative fluxes. This work is important because it will contribute to enhanced understanding of the influence of aerosols on climate change.