The processed data for evaluating cloud optical parameterizations in RTTOV

This data set includes the observed and synthetic visible satellite images. "CM" and "E5" mean that the inputs to RTTOV were provided by the CMA-MESO forecasts and ERA5 data, respectively. "DM" and "MF" denote two radiative solvers in RTTOV, i.e., the Discrete Ordinate Method (DM) and the Method for Fast satellite image simulation (MF). "FY" and "HW" denote the visible bands for the FY-4B (FY) and Himawari-9 (HW) satellites, respectively.

Unzipping the files will generate four directories. Each directory includes two subdirectories named ref_obs and ref_sim. The ref_obs directory includes 32 files for the observed reflectance from 15 March 2024 to 15 April 2024. The ref_sim directory includes 13 subdirectories which were termed clwX_iceX-idgX. "clw=1" and "clw=2" mean that the cloud optical parameterization for liquid water cloud was set to the "OPAC" and "Deff" configurations. "ice=1", "ice=2", and "ice=3" mean that the cloud optical parameterization for ice cloud was set to the "SSEC", "Baran 2014", and "Baran 2018" configurations. The subdirectory "clear" means the cloud-free reflectance which was simulated by ignoring the cloud impacts.