Eocene
Another method considered for producing the warm polar temperatures were polar stratospheric clouds. Polar stratospheric clouds are clouds that occur in the lower stratosphere at very low temperatures. Polar stratospheric clouds have a great impact on radiative forcing. Due to their minimal albedo properties and their optical thickness, polar stratospheric clouds act similar to a greenhouse gas and traps outgoing longwave radiation. Different types of polar stratospheric clouds occur in the atmosphere: polar stratospheric clouds that are created due to interactions with nitric or sulfuric acid and water (Type I) or polar stratospheric clouds that are created with only water ice (Type II).
Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment
GEWEX Cloud System Study (GCSS) task is to individualize modeling for different types of cloud systems. GCSS identifies 5 types of cloud systems:boundary layer, cirrus, extra tropical layer, precipitating convective, and polar. These cloud systems are generally too small to be rationalized in large scale climate modeling, this results in inadequate development of equations resulting in greater statistical uncertainty in results. In order to rationalize these process the study observes cloud systems at single fixed positions on earth in order to better estimate their parameters. These four areas are: Azores and Madeira Islands, Barbados, Equatorial Western Pacific, and Atlantic Tropics. The initial data collection is complete, methods developed for land and aircraft based observations can be compared with satellite observations to that better models of cloud system identification can be made at smaller scales.