Coupling sky images with radiative transfer models: a new method to estimate
cloud optical depth

Mejia, Felipe A.; Kurtz, Ben; Murray, Keenan; Hinkelman, Laura M.; Sengupta, Manajit; Xie, Yu; Kleissl, Jan

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4151-2016

Articles | Volume 9, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4151-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4151-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 8

Research article

|

30 Aug 2016

Research article |

| 30 Aug 2016

Coupling sky images with radiative transfer models: a new method to estimate cloud optical depth

Felipe A. Mejia, Ben Kurtz, Keenan Murray, Laura M. Hinkelman, Manajit Sengupta, Yu Xie, and Jan Kleissl

Data sets

UCSD Sky Imager Cloud Position Study B. Urquhart https://www.arm.gov/campaigns/sgp2013sicps

Short summary

A method for retrieving cloud optical depth using a sky imager is presented. The method is applied to images taken at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site and validated against measurements from a microwave radiometer (MWR), output from the Min method for overcast skies, and τ_c retrieved by Beer's law from direct normal irradiance (DNI) measurements.