Direct Observations of Excess Solar Absorption by Clouds

Aircraft measurements of solar flux in the cloudy tropical atmosphere reveal that solar absorption by clouds is anomalously large when compared to theoretical estimates. The ratio of cloud forcing at an altitude of 20 kilometers to that at the surface is 1.58 rather than 1.0, as predicted by models....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1995-03, Vol.267 (5204), p.1626-1629
Main Authors: Pilewskie, Peter, Francisco P. J. Valero
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aircraft
Albedo
Altitude
Atmospherics
Clouds
Clouds (Meteorology)
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental aspects
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Flight altitude
Geographic regions
Meteorology
Radiative transfer. Solar radiation
Solar flux
Solar radiation
Sorption
Space flight
Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
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Summary:Aircraft measurements of solar flux in the cloudy tropical atmosphere reveal that solar absorption by clouds is anomalously large when compared to theoretical estimates. The ratio of cloud forcing at an altitude of 20 kilometers to that at the surface is 1.58 rather than 1.0, as predicted by models. These results were derived from a cloud radiation experiment in which identical instrumentation was deployed on coordinated stacked aircraft. These findings indicate a significant difference between measurements and theory and imply that the interaction between clouds and solar radiation is poorly understood.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.267.5204.1626