The vertical optical thickness between the top and bottom of a cloud. Cloud optical depths are relatively independent of wavelength throughout the visible spectrum, but rise rapidly in the infrared due to absorption by water, and many clouds approximate blackbodies in the thermal infrared. In the visible portion of the spectrum, the cloud optical depth is almost entirely due to scattering by droplets or crystals, and ranges through orders of magnitude from low values less than 0. 1 for thin cirrus to over 1000 for a large cumulonimbus. Cloud optical depths depend directly on the cloud thickness, the liquid or ice water content, and the size distribution of the water droplets or ice crystals.