A simulator for the CLARA-A2 cloud climate data record and its application to assess EC-Earth polar cloudiness.

This paper describes a new satellite simulator for the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) cLoud, Albedo and RAdiation dataset (CLARA), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-based, version 2 (CLARA-A2) Climate Data Record (CDR). This simulator takes into account the variable skill in cloud detection in the CLARA-A2 CDR by using a different approach to other similar satellite simulators to emulate the ability to detect clouds. In particular, the paper describes three methods to filter out clouds from climate models undetectable by observations. The first method, compared to the simulators in Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulator Package (COSP), relies on one global visible cloud optical depth at 550nm (τ_c) threshold to delineate cloudy and cloud-free conditions. Method two and three apply long/lat -gridded values separated by day and nighttime conditions. Method two uses gridded varying τ_c as opposed to method one that uses just a single τ_c threshold, and method three uses a cloud Probability of Detection (POD) depending on the model τ_c. Method two and three replicate the relative ease or difficulty for cloud retrievals depending on the region and illumination by increasing the cloud sensitivity where the cloud retrievals are relatively straightforward, such as over mid-latitude oceans, and by decreasing the sensitivity where cloud retrievals are notoriously tricky, such as over the Arctic region during the polar night. Method three has the added advantage that it indirectly takes into account that cloud retrievals in some areas are more likely than others to miss some clouds. This situation is common in cold regions where even thick clouds may be inseparable from cold, snow-covered surfaces and also in areas with an abundance of broken and small scale cumulus clouds such as the atmospheric subsidence regions over the ocean. The simulator, together with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) simulator of COSP, is used to assess Arctic clouds in the EC-Earth climate model compared to the CLARA-A2 and ISCCP-H CDRs. Compared to CLARA-A2, EC-Earth is shown to underestimate cloudiness in the Arctic generally. However, compared to ISCCP and its simulator, the opposite conclusion is reached. Previous studies have found that the CLARA-A2 CDR performs well in the Arctic during the summer months, and this paper shows that the simulated cloud mask of CLARA-A2 using method three is more representative of the CDR than method one used in COSP, using a global τ_c threshold to simulate clouds. Therefore, the conclusion that EC-Earth underpredicts clouds in the Arctic is the more likely one. The simulator substantially improves the simulation of the CLARA-A2 detected clouds, especially in the polar regions, by accounting for the variable cloud detection skill over the year. The approach to cloud simulation based on the POD of clouds depending on their cloud optical depth, location, and illumination is the preferred one as it reduces cloudiness over a range of cloud optical depths. Climate model comparisons with satellite-derived information can be significantly improved by this approach, mainly by reducing the risk of misinterpreting problems with satellite retrievals as cloudiness features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]