| AGU | American Geophysical Union |
| AOD | aerosol optical depth |
| AVHRR | Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer |
| BECCS | bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration |
| BPC | Bipartisan Policy Center |
| CALIOP | Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization |
| CALIPSO | Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation |
| CARMA | Cloud Aerosol Research in the Marine Atmosphere experiment |
| CBD | Convention on Biological Diversity |
| CCN | cloud condensation nuclei |
| CCS | carbon capture and sequestration |
| CDN | cloud droplet number |
| CDR | carbon dioxide removal |
| CERES | Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System |
| CIFEX | Cloud Indirect Forcing Experiment |
| CIRPAS | Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies |
| CLRTAP | Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution |
| CMIP5 | Coupled Model Intercomparison Project |
| CN | condensation nuclei |
| CRM | cloud-resolving model |
| DACS | direct air capture and sequestration |
| DECS | Drizzle and Entrainment Cloud Study |
| DHS | U.S. Department of Homeland Security |
| DIC | dissolved inorganic carbon |
| DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
| DYCOMS II | Second Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus experiment |
| ENMOD | Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques |
| ENSO | El Niño–Southern Oscillation |
| EOP | Executive Office of the President |
| E-PEACE | Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment |
| ERF | effective radiative forcing |
| GCAM | Global Change Assessment Model |
| GCM | general circulation model |
| GeoMIP | Geoengineering Modeling Intercomparison Project |
| GHG | greenhouse gas |
| IASS | Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies |
| ICSU | International Council for Science |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| IPSL-CM5a | Institut Pierre Simon Laplace Climate Model |
| ISS | International Space Station |
| JPSS | Joint Polar Satellite System |
| LES | large eddy simulation |
| LWC | liquid water content |
| LWP | liquid water path |
| MAGIC | Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds |
| MASE | Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment |
| MAST | Monterey Area Ship Track experiment |
| MCB | marine cloud brightening |
| MESSAGE | Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impact |
| MIROC-ESM-CHEM | Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate—Earth System Model—Chemistry |
| MISR | Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer |
| MODIS | Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer |
| MPI-ESM | Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth System Model |
| MSU | microwave sounding unit |
| Mtoe | million tons oil equivalent |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act |
| NH | Northern Hemisphere |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NorESM | Norwegian Earth System Model |
| NPP | NPOESS (National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System) Preparatory Project |
| OMPS | Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite |
| ONR | Office of Naval Research |
| OSIRIS | Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging System |
| OSTP | Office of Science and Technology Policy |
| PACE | Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and ocean Ecosystem |
| PDO | Pacific Decadal Oscillation |
| POC | pocket of open cells |
| PSAC | President’s Science Advisory Committee |
| ReMIND | Regional Model of Investments and Development |
| SAAM | Stratospheric Aerosol Albedo Modification |
| SAGE | Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment |
| SH | Southern Hemisphere |
| SMAP | soil moisture active and passive |
| SOLEDAD | Stratocumulus Observation of Los Angeles Emission Derived Aerosol-Droplets |
| SPICE | Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering |
| SRM | solar radiation management or sunlight reflection methods |
| SRMGI | Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative |
| TOA | top of atmosphere |
| UNFCCC | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
| USGS | U.S. Geological Survey |
| UV-B | Ultraviolet-B |
| VIIRS | Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite |
| VOCALS-REx | VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment. |