Characterizing Albedo and Precipitation Susceptibility of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds Using MAGIC Data

Description

It is well known that clouds are sensitive to the background aerosol state as is illustrated by aerosol indirect affects which can change cloud albedo and precipitation processes. This results in important climate implications since clouds play a vital role in the Earth’s radiation budget. Therefore, diagnosing cloud, precipitation, and vertical motion properties from measurements is key to understanding the processes that ultimately must be captured in cloud parameterizations. In this study, we use cloud properties derived from MAGIC data to characterize the albedo and precipitation susceptibility of marine boundary layer clouds. We compare cloud susceptibility between the summer and winter months, which exhibit different meteorological conditions. From this, we analyze cloud microphysics and vertical motion to identify correlations that may govern cloud susceptibility. In addition, we partition large-scale meteorological conditions and background aerosol states to seek further correlation to cloud susceptibility. Statistics are generated for albedo and precipitation susceptibility as a function of these seasonal and meteorological conditions.