Remote sensing of clouds and aerosols is of central importance when studying processes and changes in the climate system. The new spaceborne generation of active sensors (e.g. EarthCare), passive multi-angular polarimeters (e.g. PACE/SPEX, PACE/HARP-2, 3MI, CO2M, MAP) together with single-viewing instruments (e.g. hyperspectral Sentinel 5P/5/4, OLCI and SLSTR on Sentinel 3) will take the characterisation of aerosols and clouds to a new level. This will significantly improve our understanding of physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere, particularly aerosol-cloud interactions, and climate and radiation studies. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges and unsolved problems in remote sensing algorithms and their applications.
The aim of this session is to discuss current developments, challenges and opportunities in the characterisation of aerosols and clouds, in the study of aerosol-cloud interactions and their long-term effects, using ground-based, airborne and spaceborne active and passive remote sensing systems. We invite submissions of theoretical, methodological and empirical studies to advance the field of aerosol/cloud remote sensing, and to improve our understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions and their effect on the climate.
Andrew Sayer