MEASUREMENT ERRORS IN CIRRUS CLOUD MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES

The limited accuracy of current cloud microphysics sensors used in cir rus cloud studies imposes limitations on the use of the data to examin e the cloud's broadband radiative behaviour, an important element of t he global energy balance. We review the limitations of the instruments , PMS probes, most widely used for measuring the microphysical structu re of cirrus clouds and show the effect of these limitations on descri ptions of the cloud radiative properties. The analysis is applied to m easurements made as part of the European Cloud and Radiation Experimen t (EUCREX) to determine mid-latitude cirrus microphysical and radiativ e properties.