The Retrieval of Stratus Cloud Droplet Effective Radius with Cloud Radars

Abstract

In situ samples of cloud droplets by aircraft in Oklahoma in 1997, the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA)/First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE)-Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) in 1998, and various other locations around the world were used to evaluate a ground-based remote sensing technique for retrieving profiles of cloud droplet effective radius. The technique is based on vertically pointing measurements from highsensitivity millimeter-wavelength radar and produces height-resolved estimates of cloud particle effective radius.