Fluctuation in microphysical properties of Arctic Stratus was observed over different length scales. Liquid water content and effective radius data was implemented into a one-dimensional radiative transfer model and was processed for thin, medium, and thick clouds. Calculated standard deviations ... Show moreFluctuation in microphysical properties of Arctic Stratus was observed over different length scales. Liquid water content and effective radius data was implemented into a one-dimensional radiative transfer model and was processed for thin, medium, and thick clouds. Calculated standard deviations of modeled downwelling short-wave radiation show that variability increases as measurements are made at shorter spatial scales. There is also a greater sensitivity to changes in length scale as optical lengths increase from thinner to thicker clouds. The downwelling short-wave radiation, as measured with the RAF pyranometer, showed good agreement with the one-dimensional radiative transfer model. These results indicate that satellite measurements and global climate models may be missing smaller scale radiative effects that are climatically important. Show less
