Simultaneous retrievals of cloud optical depth and droplet concentration from solar irradiance and microwave liquid water path

A 20-month time series of continuous observations of microwave radiation and solar irradiance was used to estimate the cloud optical depth and droplet number concentration at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, Tasmania, (40 degrees 41'S, 144 degrees 41'E). The data were selected by wind directions. When the air was from "baseline" origin, i.e., it had travelled over long oceanic distances and was mostly devoid of anthropogenic influences, the retrieved droplet concentration and optical depth were lower than when the air was from "nonbaseline" i.e., continental origin. Therefore the observed variation in cloud microphysical properties reflects the difference between the natural background conditions over the Southern Ocean and continental conditions with elevated droplet counts. Under baseline conditions the retrieved cloud optical depth exhibits a weak but perceptible seasonal cycle that has been previously observed from satellite data with a minimum in the austral winter, and a maximum in the austral summer. The results demonstrate that routine retrievals of cloud microphysical properties are possible using only a pyranometer sind a microwave liquid water radiometer.