Physical and mathematical foundations for the inversion of satellite radiance measurements to infer cloud properties using the reflected sunlight are first presented, followed by an overview of the macrostructure and microphysical properties of ubiquitous cirrus clouds containing nonspherical ice particles in the earth’s atmosphere and their importance in climate research. Subsequently, we present the detection and inversion of cirrus cloud optical and microphysical properties in a horizontal plane from the imaging channels in the visible and infrared wavelengths on board NOAA, NASA (Terra and Aqua), and the future NPOESS satellites based on the residual minimization approach. To obtain the 3D and inhomogeneous structure, we introduce the vertical profile of cirrus clouds determined from the Doppler millimeter-wave radar backscattering returns in combination with satellite inversion results on the basis of the radiative transfer principle and approximation. Finally, future possibility of mapping the 3D and inhomogeneous cirrus clouds employing a combination of the reflected 1.38 ?m line spectrum and polarization measurements is presented.
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