Cirrus optical depth and lidar ratio retrieval from combined CALIPSO-CloudSat observations using ocean surface echo

Ocean surface observations from the CloudSat radar and the spaceborne lidar aboard the Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) platform are combined in the Synergized Optical Depth of Aerosol (SODA) algorithm and used to retrieve the optical depth of semitransparent single-layered cirrus clouds. In the operational CALIPSO data analysis, lidar-derived optical depths are typically estimated using a correction factor for multiple scattering effects and a single global mean lidar ratio. By combining the SODA approach with observations from the CALIPSO Imaging Infrared Radiometer, accurate values for both of these parameters can be derived directly from the measurements. Application of this approach yields a multiple scattering factor of 0.61 ± 0.15 sr, which is essentially identical to the value used operationally. However, the standard lidar ratio used in the CALIPSO daytime operational analysis is found to be biased low by around 25%. As a consequence, the lidar-derived optical depths retrieved from the daytime operational analyses are more than 30% smaller than those derived using SODA. The lidar ratio for semitransparent cirrus is found to be rather stable over ocean (33 ± 5 sr) with slight variations as a function of temperature and latitude. The geographic distribution shows a moderate decrease of average lidar ratio values over Indonesia during daytime, which may be attributed to a larger occurrence of high-altitude cirrus layers in this convectively active area.