Remote sensing of cirrus optical and microphysical properties from ground-based infrared radiometric Measurements-part II: retrievals from CRYSTAL-FACE measurements

The ground-based infrared radiance measurements acquired on July 14, 20, and 28, 2002 during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) campaign have been used for simultaneously retrieving the optical thickness and effective particle size on the basis of the retrieval algorithm reported in the preceding counterpart of this paper. The corresponding ice water path is derived from the retrieved optical thickness and effective particle size. Specifically, the data used for the retrieval include: 1) the infrared radiance spectrum observed by an atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer at the surface; 2) the sky condition and cloud height determined from a sky imager and a micropulse lidar; and 3) the sounding data for the profiles of temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. For these three case studies, the retrieved cirrus optical thickness, effective particle size, and ice water path are in the range of 0.2-1.5, 18-42 μm, and 2-15 g /spl middot/ m/sup -2/, respectively. Furthermore, error analyses show that the retrieval uncertainties of the optical thickness and effective particle size are less than 15% if the uncertainty of water vapor vertical profile is within 5%. The retrieval errors are within 10% if the uncertainty of cloud temperature is within 7 K.