Preface [to special section on Symposium on Clouds and Radiation]

Abstract

PrefaceClouds strongly influence the earth's energy budget. They control the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the climate system and, in particular, by the earth's surface. Through their effect on thermal emission, they also control the loss of energy to space. Not only do clouds strongly influence the radiation field, they appear to be strongly influenced by it. The interaction of clouds with the radiation field depends both on their microphysical structure, such as droplet size, phase, and shape, and on their macrophysical properties, such as areal extent, vertical distribution, and geometrical configuration. These properties, in turn, depend on the thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere. The determination of the relationships between the physical properties of the atmosphere, of clouds, and of the radiation field holds the key to the remote sensing of cloud properties and to the ultimate assessment of the response of the climate system to various perturbations such as the effects of increasing atmospheric concentrations of trace gases.The highly interactive relationship between clouds, radiation, and dynamics suggests that these components of the climate system be studied together. In pursuit of this ob-