Statistical approaches to error identification for plane‐parallel retrievals of optical and microphysical properties of three‐dimensional clouds: Bayesian inference

This paper addresses the effects of three‐dimensional (3‐D) radiative transfer on the retrieval of optical depth for inhomogeneous stratiform liquid water clouds from passive satellite imagery. A nonparametric Bayesian classifier is developed to identify locations in a scene where plane‐parallel retrievals fail to meet the requirements of a criterion that dictates a specified level of accuracy. Receiver operating characteristics are introduced …