Cloud Phase Considerations

Cloud phase (whether a cloud is composed of ice crystals, liquid droplets, or a mixture of both) is a determining factor in how a cloud influences both solar and terrestrial radiation. Our prior work has shown that persistent liquid containing clouds (LCCs) in the Arctic trap a significant amount of terrestrial radiation that would have otherwise escaped to space, leading to increased melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet (relative ice-only clouds). Global climate models have a difficult time reproducing the observed frequency of LCCs, having far too few and thus not trapping sufficient terrestrial radiation relative to the observed quantities. We continue to use NASA Satellite measurements to provide observational constraints and benchmarks for when and where LCCs occur in the polar regions that can be used to improve future climate models.