A 1D microphysical cloud model for Earth, and Earth-like exoplanets: Liquid water and water ice clouds in the convective troposphere

► We develop a new water cloud model for Earth and Earth-like exoplanets to be used in 1D atmosphere codes. ► Two cloud layers are modeled: low level liquid water (cumulus) and high level water ice clouds (cirrus). ► The free parameters of the model are: cloud fractions, relative humidity, aerosol number density, and precipitation efficiency. ► Our cloud model reproduces the observed global energy budget of Earth. ► We find that the climate is most sensitive to the low level cloud fraction and to the precipitation efficiency.