Planning for the utilization of the PCDS in studying the interaction of clouds (ISCCP-C data) and the Earth radiation budget (ERBE data)

The Pilot Climate Data System (PCDS) affords an opportunity to analyze data from different but highly complementary data sets. Two of these highly complementary data sets supported by the PCDS are the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). Both data set sponsors are aware of the utility of one data set to the other, and both projects utilize gridded data on a 2.5 deg by 2.5 deg grid. The ISCCP data have been collected since July 1983, and the NOAA-9 data for ERBE have been collected for more than a year. Therefore, there is a good chance to use these temporally overlapping data sets to investigate hypothesized relationships. Changes in cloudiness affect both cloud albedo feedback (shortwave) and the greenhouse effect (longwave). The relative importance of the effects of clouds on albedo versus outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) in determining the radiation balance has long been a matter of controversy. Now, however, changes in cloud amount as observed by the ISCCPO can be correlated to corresponding changes in the albedo and changes in the OLR from ERBE. Monthly means can be utilized in all instances.