Retrieval results for optically thin clouds in the trades

ASTER satellite observations at 15 m pixel resolution are used to extract the signal of optically thin clouds during the EUREC4A field campaign (https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-18). The signal of optically thin clouds is derived as a residual from the all-sky minus the simulated clear-sky (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4842675) and minus the known cloudy signal according to following a common cloud masking scheme. The paper describing the method, dataset, and results is intended for publication in the journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP) under Mieslinger et al., 2021.

The dataset includes basic information of the relevant input variables to clear-sky radiative transfer simulations as well as the resulting probability density function over reflectance values and for discrete flag values (clear-sky, optically thin clouds, clouds) given an ASTER observation. This data builds the basis for any derived quantities such as the area fraction or the expected reflectance corresponding to a certain flag value.