As we know, China is the largest developing country and the United State (US) is one of the most developed countries of
the world. Due to significant differences of the developmental levels between China and the US, different pollutants
emissions may be performed. It is found that aerosol optical depth (AOD) over China is much higher than that over
America. Since China and the US locate in westerly wind belts, it is feasible to examine the relationship between
different AOD and cloud parameters over land and offshore area of the two countries. In this paper, cloud effective
radius (CER), liquid water path (LWP) and AOD derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) and circulations supplied by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 2000 to 2013 are employed to explore the
relationships between AOD and CER under different LWP levels. Results indicate that there is a clear negative
relationship between AOD and CER in different LWP levels over the offshore area contrary to the insignificant
relationship over land or the open sea. It suggests that aerosol indirect effects are more obvious over the offshore area.
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