Cloud Phase Recognition Based on Oxygen A Band and CO2 1.6 µm Band

Abstract

The accurate recognition of the cloud phase has a great influence on the retrieval of the cloud top height. In order to improve the accuracy of obtaining the cloud top height with OCO-2, we proposed a cloud phase recognition algorithm based on the threshold of parameter α; α is defined as the reflectivity ratio of the region with weak continuous absorption of the oxygen A band to the region with weak continuous absorption of the CO2 1.6 µm band. The α under different solar zenith angles and different ground albedos was calculated. The results show the following: under the same surface albedo and solar zenith angle, α was large for ice clouds and small for water clouds. Under the same surface albedo, the greater the solar zenith angle, the smaller the α of the ice cloud, and the larger the α of the water cloud. Under the same solar zenith angle, the greater the surface albedo, the smaller the α; when the solar zenith angle was less than 70°, α can be used to effectively distinguish between the ice cloud and water cloud. This study used OCO-2 data of a single orbit over ocean to verify the feasibility of the algorithm through comparison with the CALIOP cloud phase product, which provided a basis for OCO-2 cloud top height estimation.