Remote Sensing of Cloud-Aerosol Radiative Effects from Satellite Data: A Case Study over the South of Portugal

Abstract

The present work aims at characterizing cloud properties using combined measurements of multiwavelength passive radiometers onboard satellites. The determination of cloud properties in different regions subject to the presence of aerosols provides information on the possible alterations that these properties may suffer due to the presence of an aerosol layer. The analysis presented proposes to understand if the changes found are real, or an apparent effect due to an incomplete description of the atmospheric characterization, critical to the radiative transfer calculations. The study refers to the end of May 2006, when a strong desert dust event originated in the Sahara Desert reached the south of Portugal. In the same period several stratocumulus clouds were detected in the nearby Atlantic Ocean.