CERES MODIS Cloud Product Retrievals for Edition 4-Part II: Comparisons to CloudSat and CALIPSO

Assessments of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Edition 4 (Ed4) cloud retrievals are critical for climate studies. Ed4 cloud parameters are evaluated using instruments in the A-Train Constellation. Cloud-Aerosol LiDAR with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) retrievals are compared with Ed4 retrievals from the AquaModerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) as a function of the CALIOP horizontal averaging (HA) scale. Regardless of the HA scale, MODIS daytime (nighttime) water cloud fraction (CF) is greater (less) than that from CALIOP. MODIS ice CF is less than CALIOP overall, with the largest differences in polar regions. Ed4 and CALIOP retrieve the same cloud phase in 70%-98% of simultaneous observations depending on the time of day, surface conditions, HA scales, and type of cloud vertical structure. Mean cloud top height (CTH) differences for single-layer water clouds over snow-/icefree surfaces are less than 100 m. Base altitude positive biases of 170-460 m may be impacted by CPR detection limitations. Average MODIS ice CTHs are underestimated by 70 m for some deep convective clouds and up to similar to 2.2 km for thin cirrus. Ice cloud base altitudes are typically underestimated (overestimated) during daytime (nighttime). MODIS and CALIOP cirrus optical depths over oceans are within 46% and 5% for daytime and nighttime observations, respectively. Ice water path differences depend on the CALIOP retrieval version and warrant further investigation. Except for daytime cirrus optical depth, Ed4 cloud property retrievals are at least as accurate as other long-term operational cloud property retrieval systems.

Automated summary

Cloud retrievals from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Edition 4 (Ed4) were compared with CALIOP and CPR retrievals, showing consistent cloud phase detection in 70%-98% of simultaneous observations. MODIS water cloud fraction was generally greater than CALIOP, while ice cloud fraction was lower. Differences in ice cloud base altitude may be influenced by radar detection limitations.