The primary thrust of this investigation is the development of radiative transfer codes for cumulus and stratocumulus cloud fields which simulate realistic 3-D cloudiness. To date almost all studies of inhomogeneous cloud fields reported in the literature have assumed cubic clouds arrayed in checkerboard patterns. However, real cumulus clouds can be approximated as parabolic ellipsoids in shape with the cloud surfaces approximated with a fractional Brownian (fractal) model. Furthermore, cloud fields are clustered rather than regularly distributed. The intent of this investigation is to model cloud field radiative properties with these realistic cloud properties. There are three components to this study: 1) Cloud will be modeled using realistic cloud 3-D parameters. 2) Radiative transfer models will be constructed to simulate real cumulus and stratocumulus cloud fields over 30 km x 30 km regions. 3) Cloud optical property retrievals will be made for selected cumulus and stratocumulus cloud fields using FIRE field Observations. The basic premise guiding this research effort is that effective cloud radiative parameterizations can be constructed as we gain a more complete understanding of the impact of brokenness upon the cloud radiative properties. This research is important for a fundamental understanding of climate and climate feedback processes.
