Abstract:The vertical distributions of ice clouds top properties in summer of 2017 were analyzed by using the Advanced Himawari Imager(AHI)/Himawari-8 (HW8) cloud products. Nine research areas were selected based on different terrain and land-sea aspects. Results show that ice clouds occur most frequently in the Tibetan Plateau and the South Asian monsoon region. There is a steep gradient of ice clouds occurrence frequency extending from southern to northern China. The vertical distributions of ice clouds top are highly dependent on latitude, in addition to the important roles of terrain, land-sea thermal contrast,and monsoons. In the Tibetan Plateau, the frequency of ice clouds top is maximum at 6 to 9 km,and in the monsoon region, ice clouds are widely distributed from 6 to 15 km. There is a significant difference of temperature of the ice clouds top between the north and the south. The Tibet Plateau and the monsoon region are consistent with the above studies, and the eastern part of China is lower than other research areas. The radius of ice cloud particles shows a trend of increasing first and then decreasing with height. The radius of ice cloud particles is the largest relative to other research areas over the ocean area. The double-peak structure of ice cloud optical thickness exists in western China, in other relatively flat areas, there is only one single peak.