Fig. 2

Scatter plots and linear regressions of natural logarithm of effective radius against natural logarithm of aerosol optical depth. Data points are from a CAM5_orb and b CAM5_det simulations at CERES footprints over the globe (See Methods for details on sampling at CERES footprints), with LWP between 20 and 25 g m⁻². Results for the other LWP bins show the same characteristics. The differences between CAM5_orb and CAM5_det are caused by the cloud clearing and the aerosol detection threshold procedures. For better visualization of the scatter plots, AOD and R_e on every fifth CERES footprint along the satellite orbit are plotted. The correlation and regression coefficients are computed based on all data samples. The correlation and regression coefficients represent the S_Re for this LWP bin for all samples and polluted (AOD > 0.1) samples