Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Clouds from Space using Backscattering and Thermal Emission Techniques

Clouds play a crucial role in the remote sensing of the troposphere as they frequently obscure the radiation reflected or emitted from the surface. However they can be used to advantage to obtain concentration profile information with techniques such as cloud slicing. Treating clouds correctly is therefore an essential part of any retrieval of tropospheric data. The retrieval of cloud parameters from solar back scatter and thermal infrared radiation provides particular information about clouds. Chapter 5 describes the retrieval of the major cloud parameters and their validation, as well as dealing with modern trends and likely developments.