DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00267.1
Scopus记录号: 2-s2.0-84862727533
论文题名: Reconciling simulated and observed views of clouds: MODIS, ISCCP, and the limits of instrument simulators
作者: Pincus R. ; Platnick S. ; Ackerman S.A. ; Hemler R.S. ; Patrick Hofmann R.J.
刊名: Journal of Climate
ISSN: 8948755
出版年: 2012
卷: 25, 期: 13 起始页码: 4699
结束页码: 4720
语种: 英语
Scopus关键词: Cloud climatology
; Cloud properties
; Cloud top pressure
; Cloudy pixels
; Data sets
; Diagnostic tools
; Global models
; Instrument Simulator
; International satellite cloud climatology projects
; Limited information
; Model errors
; Model evaluation
; Model representation
; Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer
; Optical thickness
; Satellite instruments
; Satellite observations
; Climate models
; Climatology
; Clouds
; Instruments
; Pixels
; Radiometers
; Remote sensing
; Satellite imagery
; Simulators
; climate modeling
; cloud
; cloud cover
; MODIS
; optical property
; remote sensing
英文摘要: The properties of clouds that may be observed by satellite instruments, such as optical thickness and cloud-top pressure, are only loosely related to the way clouds are represented in models of the atmosphere. One way to bridge this gap is through "instrument simulators," diagnostic tools that map the model representation to synthetic observations so that differences can be interpreted as model error. But simulators may themselves be restricted by limited information or by internal assumptions. This paper considers the extent to which instrument simulators are able to capture essential differences between the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), two similar but independent estimates of cloud properties. The authors review the measurements and algorithms underlying these two cloud climatologies, introduce a MODIS simulator, and detail datasets developed for comparison with global models using ISCCP and MODIS simulators. In nature MODIS observes less midlevel cloudiness than ISCCP, consistent with the different methods used to determine cloud-top pressure; aspects of this difference are reproduced by the simulators. Differences in observed distributions of optical thickness, however, are not captured. The largest differences can be traced to different approaches to partly cloudy pixels, which MODIS excludes and ISCCP treats as homogeneous. These cover roughly 15% of the planet and account for most of the optically thinnest clouds. Instrument simulators cannot reproduce these differences because there is no way to synthesize partly cloudy pixels. Nonetheless, MODIS and ISCCP observations are consistent for all but the optically thinnest clouds, and models can be robustly evaluated using instrument simulators by integrating over the robust subset of observations. © 2012 American Meteorological Society. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/52319
Appears in Collections: 气候变化事实与影响
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作者单位: University of Colorado, NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Physical Sciences Division, Boulder, CO, United States; Earth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, United States; University of Colorado, NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Physical Sciences Division, Boulder, CO, United States
Recommended Citation:
Pincus R.,Platnick S.,Ackerman S.A.,et al. Reconciling simulated and observed views of clouds: MODIS, ISCCP, and the limits of instrument simulators[J]. Journal of Climate,2012-01-01,25(13)