Polar cloud layers have a substantial impact on the surface net radiation. This net radiation effect can be significant even when the cloud layers are optically thin (and consist of liquid droplets), and has been identified as the source of past widespread melting events. Better understanding of the processes that ultimately lead and support cloud layer persistence can validate and potentially improve the performance of climate models in the polar regions, particularly in Antarctica, where there is a paucity of detailed observations. The recent 1-year-long U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) West Antarctic Radiation Experiment (AWARE) field campaign at McMurdo Station has provided a hitherto unmatched multiple-instrument set of ground-based Antarctic cloud measurements. In this study, unprecedented cloud layer properties extracted from multiple-instrument measurements as part of the AWARE campaign at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (e.g., Doppler velocity, liquid-cloud base height, liquid water path), are characterized based on the governing synoptic regimes, which are classified by using self-organizing map (SOM) analysis. The cloud layer influence on the net surface radiation in these synoptic regimes is examined and evaluated.