Parameterization of key optical and radiative characteristics of homogeneous layers of mixed phase clouds

Abstract

Key optical characteristics of radiation scattering in clouds (mean cosine of the scattering phase function, averaged factors and indices of scattering efficiency, and single-scattering albedo) and integral characteristics of homogeneous cloud layers (cloud-layer albedo and transmission factor) have been calculated with the use of the earlier suggested model of the microstructure of mixed phase clouds, where ice crystals and water droplets are homogeneously mixed over the volume, for individual wavelengths in the range from 0.6 to 10.6 μm. An approach is elaborated for statistically valid parameterization of the above characteristics versus the mean temperature of a mixed layer only under the availability of reliable information about the temperature dependence of the characteristic sizes of particles of different fractions and their concentrations in the cloud.