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Observational Constraints on Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors

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Book cover Shallow Clouds, Water Vapor, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI ((SSSI,volume 65))

Abstract

Cloud profiling from active lidar and radar in the A-train satellite constellation has significantly advanced our understanding of clouds and their role in the climate system. Nevertheless, the response of clouds to a warming climate remains one of the largest uncertainties in predicting climate change and for the development of adaptions to change. Both observation of long-term changes and observational constraints on the processes responsible for those changes are necessary. We review recent progress in our understanding of the cloud feedback problem. Capabilities and advantages of active sensors for observing clouds are discussed, along with the importance of active sensors for deriving constraints on cloud feedbacks as an essential component of a global climate observing system.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Sandrine Bony, Steve Klein, Robert Pincus, Bjorn Stevens, and Rob Wood for valuable comments and technical discussions. We acknowledge the assistance of Jason Tackett, who generated Fig. 1. This paper additionally benefited from discussions at the Workshop on ‘‘Shallow clouds and water vapor, circulation and climate sensitivity’’ at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) and we would like to thank the two reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions, which allowed us to significantly improve this paper. This work has been supported by NASA and CNES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MS/475, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, 23681, USA

    David Winker

  2. LMD/IPSL, CNRS, UPMC, University of Paris 06, 75252, Paris, France

    Helene Chepfer

  3. Laboratoire d’Aérologie, CNRS, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Vincent Noel

  4. Science Systems and Applications, Inc (SSAI), Hampton, VA, 23666, USA

    Xia Cai

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  1. David Winker
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  2. Helene Chepfer
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  3. Vincent Noel
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  4. Xia Cai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Winker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Robert Pincus

  2. Atmospheric Sciences, NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Sciences, HAMPTON, Virginia, USA

    David Winker

  3. Institute Pierre Simon Laplace, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique , Paris, France

    Sandrine Bony

  4. Max Planck Institute for Meteorology , Hamburg, Germany

    Bjorn Stevens

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Winker, D., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., Cai, X. (2017). Observational Constraints on Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors. In: Pincus, R., Winker, D., Bony, S., Stevens, B. (eds) Shallow Clouds, Water Vapor, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity. Space Sciences Series of ISSI, vol 65. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77273-8_14

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