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<p><span id="page8516"/>Reflection of solar radiation by tropical low-level clouds has an important cooling effect on climate and leads to decreases in surface temperatures. Still, the effect of pollution on ubiquitous tropical continental low-level clouds and the investigation of the related impact on atmospheric cooling rates are poorly constrained by in situ observations and modeling, in particular during the West African summer monsoon season. Here, we present comprehensive in situ measurements of microphysical properties of low-level clouds over tropical West Africa, measured with the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) aircraft Falcon 20 during the DACCIWA (Dynamics–Aerosol–Chemistry–Cloud Interactions in West Africa) campaign in June and July 2016. Clouds below 1800 <span class="inline-formula">m</span> altitude, identified as boundary layer clouds, were classified according to their carbon monoxide (<span class="inline-formula">CO</span>) pollution level into pristine and less polluted clouds (<span class="inline-formula">CO</span> <span class="inline-formula">&lt;</span> 135 <span class="inline-formula">ppbv</span>) and polluted low-level clouds (<span class="inline-formula">CO</span> <span class="inline-formula">&gt;</span> 155 <span class="inline-formula">ppbv</span>) as confirmed by the linear <span class="inline-formula">CO</span> to accumulation aerosol number concentration correlation. Whereas slightly enhanced aerosol background levels from biomass burning were measured across the entire area, clouds with substantially enhanced aerosol levels were measured in the outflow of major coastal cities, as well as over rural conurbations in the hinterlands. Here we investigate the impact of pollution on cloud droplet number concentration and size during the West African monsoon season. Our results show that the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) measured in the size range from 3 to 50 <span class="inline-formula">µm</span> around noon increases by 26 % in the elevated aerosol outflow of coastal cities and conurbations with elevated aerosol loadings from median CDNC of 240 <span class="inline-formula">cm⁻³</span> (52 to 501 <span class="inline-formula">cm⁻³</span> interquartile range) to 324 <span class="inline-formula">cm⁻³</span> (60 to 740 <span class="inline-formula">cm⁻³</span> interquartile range). Higher CDNC resulted in a 17 % decrease in effective cloud droplet diameter from a median <span class="inline-formula"><i>d</i>_eff</span> of 14.8 <span class="inline-formula">µm</span> to a <span class="inline-formula"><i>d</i>_eff</span> of 12.4 <span class="inline-formula">µm</span> in polluted clouds.</p> <p>Radiative transfer simulations show a non-negligible influence of higher droplet number concentrations and smaller particle sizes on the diurnally averaged (noon) net radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere of <span class="inline-formula">−</span>3.9 <span class="inline-formula">W m⁻²</span> (<span class="inline-formula">−</span>16.3 <span class="inline-formula">W m⁻²</span>) of polluted with respect to less polluted clouds and lead to a change in instantaneous heating rates of <span class="inline-formula">−</span>22.8 <span class="inline-formula">K d⁻¹</span> (<span class="inline-formula">−</span>17.7 <span class="inline-formula">K d⁻¹</span>) at the top of clouds. Thus, the atmospheric cooling by low-level clouds increases only slightly in the polluted case due to the already elevated background aerosol concentrations. Additionally, the occurrence of mid- and high-level cloud layers atop buffer this effect further, so that the net radiative forcing and instantaneous heating rate of low-level clouds turn out to be less sensitive towards projected future increases in anthropogenic pollution in West Africa.</p>