Multiple scattering effect of water clouds on spaceborne oceanic lidar signals

•The lidar signals of seawater under different water cloud conditions are simulated and analyzed by using a MC spaceborne lidar emulator.•The multiple scattering effect of water clouds on spaceborne oceanic lidar signals is quantitatively analyzed. The relationship among signal intensity ratio, cloud base height and the cloud optical depth are given.•The influence mechanism of water clouds on spaceborne oceanic lidar signals is discussed through studying the forward transmission characteristics of laser beam and the laser energy distributions at different depths.