References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

1680-7324

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013

A decadal cirrus clouds climatology from ground-based and spaceborne lidars above the south of France (43.9° N–5.7° E)

Hoareau

¹ Keckhut

² Noel

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9494-0340

¹ Chepfer

¹ Baray

J.-L.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4711-6310

LMD, UMR8539, INSU-CNRS, UPMC, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France

LATMOS, UMR8190, INSU-CNRS, UVSQ, UPMC, 11 Boulevard d'Alembert, 78820 Guyancourt, France

LACy, UMR8105, 15 avenue René Cassin-BP 7151-97715 St-Denis Cedex 09, La Réunion, France

23 07 2013

13 14 6951 6963

2013

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This article is available from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6951/2013/acp-13-6951-2013.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/6951/2013/acp-13-6951-2013.pdf

This study provides an analysis of cirrus cloud properties at midlatitude in the southern part of France from ground-based and spaceborne lidars. A climatology of cirrus cloud properties and their evolution over more than 12 yr is presented and compared to other mid-latitude climatological studies. Cirrus clouds occur ~37% of the total observation time and remain quasi-constant across seasons with a variation within ~5% around the mean occurrence. Similar results are obtained from CALIOP and the ground-based lidar, with a mean difference in occurrence of ~5% between both instruments. From the ground-based lidar data, a slight decrease in occurrence of ~3% per decade is observed but found statistically insignificant. Based on a clustering analysis of cirrus cloud parameters, three distinct classes have been identified and investigations concerning their origin are discussed. Properties of these different classes are analysed, showing that thin cirrus in the upper troposphere represent ~50% of cloud cover detected in summer and fall, decreasing by 15–20% for other seasons.

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