The Radiative Characteristics of Cirrus and Marine Stratus from High Altitude Aircraft Observations

Experimental observations of cirrus and marine stratus clouds have been obtained with remote sensing instrumentation on board a high altitude research aircraft. The principal instruments have been an active cloud top lidar system and a cross track scanning radiometer with selected spectral channels in the visible and infrared. The relative thermal emittance and visible albedo of cirrus have been derived from the lidar and radiometer observations. The distribution of height structure for marine stratus has been measured and related to the distribution of visible reflectivity.