Current strategies using satellite data limit the accuracy of space-based estimates of how aerosols brighten clouds
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-current-strategies-satellite-limit-accuracy.html
Although models still have easily identified weaknesses in representing critical processes affecting susceptibility, the team found that a lot of the discrepancies between models and satellite estimates could be explained by limitations in the procedure and the information content used in the satellite retrieval, especially in clean (low aerosol) environments.
This study identified the components of common satellite aerosol retrieval procedures that can contribute to errors in satellite estimates of susceptibilities. The study showed that discrepancies are reduced when similar procedures are used to examine models and real-world data in the presence of noise and the kind of information available from satellites compared to evaluations that ignored the compromises currently used to estimate susceptibility from space.