Articles | Volume 15, issue 11
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6271–6281, 2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6271-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6271–6281, 2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6271-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
09 Jun 2015
Research article
| 09 Jun 2015
Meridionally tilted ice cloud structures in the tropical upper troposphere as seen by CloudSat
J. Gong et al.
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Jie Gong, Dong L. Wu, and Patrick Eriksson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5369–5387, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5369-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5369-2021, 2021
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Launched from the International Space Station, the IceCube radiometer orbited the Earth for 15 months and collected the first spaceborne radiance measurements at 874–883 GHz. This channel is uniquely important to fill in the sensitivity gap between operational visible–infrared and microwave remote sensing for atmospheric cloud ice and snow. This paper delivers the IceCube Level 1 radiance data processing algorithm and provides a data quality evaluation and discussion on its scientific merit.
Jie Gong, Xiping Zeng, Dong L. Wu, S. Joseph Munchak, Xiaowen Li, Stefan Kneifel, Davide Ori, Liang Liao, and Donifan Barahona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12633–12653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, 2020
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This work provides a novel way of using polarized passive microwave measurements to study the interlinked cloud–convection–precipitation processes. The magnitude of differences between polarized radiances is found linked to ice microphysics (shape, size, orientation and density), mesoscale dynamic and thermodynamic structures, and surface precipitation. We conclude that passive sensors with multiple polarized channel pairs may serve as cheaper and useful substitutes for spaceborne radar sensors.
Jie Gong and Dong L. Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2741–2757, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2741-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2741-2017, 2017
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Under certain temperature or aerodynamic conditions, ice crystals prefer to orient along certain directions. The preferred orientation direction of non-spherical ice particles would result in a difference in the satellite remote sensing using different polarized channels. This paper studies this polarization difference using the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager, where we can infer the dominant ice particle orientation and shape factors from passive remote sensing measures.
J. Gong and D. L. Wu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1873–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1873-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1873-2014, 2014
Ákos Horváth, James L. Carr, Dong L. Wu, Julia Bruckert, Gholam Ali Hoshyaripour, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-253, 2022
Preprint under review for ACP
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We estimate plume heights for the April 2021 La Soufriere daytime eruptions using GOES-17 near-limb side views and GOES-16–MODIS stereo views. These geometric heights are then compared with brightness temperature-based radiometric height estimates to characterize the biases of the latter. We also show that the side view method can be applied to infrared imagery and thus night time eruptions, albeit with larger uncertainty.
Jie Gong, Dong L. Wu, and Patrick Eriksson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5369–5387, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5369-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5369-2021, 2021
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Launched from the International Space Station, the IceCube radiometer orbited the Earth for 15 months and collected the first spaceborne radiance measurements at 874–883 GHz. This channel is uniquely important to fill in the sensitivity gap between operational visible–infrared and microwave remote sensing for atmospheric cloud ice and snow. This paper delivers the IceCube Level 1 radiance data processing algorithm and provides a data quality evaluation and discussion on its scientific merit.
Ákos Horváth, James L. Carr, Olga A. Girina, Dong L. Wu, Alexey A. Bril, Alexey A. Mazurov, Dmitry V. Melnikov, Gholam Ali Hoshyaripour, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12189–12206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12189-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12189-2021, 2021
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We give a detailed description of a new technique to estimate the height of volcanic eruption columns from near-limb geostationary imagery. Such oblique angle observations offer spectacular side views of eruption columns protruding from the Earth ellipsoid and thereby facilitate a height-by-angle estimation method. Due to its purely geometric nature, the new technique is unaffected by the limitations of traditional brightness-temperature-based height retrievals.
Ákos Horváth, Olga A. Girina, James L. Carr, Dong L. Wu, Alexey A. Bril, Alexey A. Mazurov, Dmitry V. Melnikov, Gholam Ali Hoshyaripour, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12207–12226, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12207-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12207-2021, 2021
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We demonstrate the side view plume height estimation technique described in Part 1 on seven volcanic eruptions from 2019 and 2020, including the 2019 Raikoke eruption. We explore the strengths and limitations of the new technique in comparison to height estimation from brightness temperatures, stereo observations, and ground-based video footage.
Seidai Nara, Tomohiro O. Sato, Takayoshi Yamada, Tamaki Fujinawa, Kota Kuribayashi, Takeshi Manabe, Lucien Froidevaux, Nathaniel J. Livesey, Kaley A. Walker, Jian Xu, Franz Schreier, Yvan J. Orsolini, Varavut Limpasuvan, Nario Kuno, and Yasuko Kasai
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6837–6852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6837-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6837-2020, 2020
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In the atmosphere, more than 80 % of chlorine compounds are anthropogenic. Hydrogen chloride (HCl), the main stratospheric chlorine reservoir, is useful to estimate the total budget of the atmospheric chlorine compounds. We report, for the first time, the HCl vertical distribution from the middle troposphere to the lower thermosphere using a high-sensitivity SMILES measurement; the data quality is quantified by comparisons with other measurements and via theoretical error analysis.
Jie Gong, Xiping Zeng, Dong L. Wu, S. Joseph Munchak, Xiaowen Li, Stefan Kneifel, Davide Ori, Liang Liao, and Donifan Barahona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12633–12653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, 2020
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This work provides a novel way of using polarized passive microwave measurements to study the interlinked cloud–convection–precipitation processes. The magnitude of differences between polarized radiances is found linked to ice microphysics (shape, size, orientation and density), mesoscale dynamic and thermodynamic structures, and surface precipitation. We conclude that passive sensors with multiple polarized channel pairs may serve as cheaper and useful substitutes for spaceborne radar sensors.
Clark J. Weaver, Pawan K. Bhartia, Dong L. Wu, Gordon J. Labow, and David E. Haffner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5715–5723, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5715-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5715-2020, 2020
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Currently, we do not know whether clouds will accelerate or moderate climate. We look to the past and ask whether cloudiness has changed over the last 4 decades. Using a suite of nine satellite instruments, we need to ensure that the first satellite, which was launched in 1980 and died in 1991, observed the same measurement as the eight other satellite instruments used in the record. If the instruments were measuring length and observing a 1.00 m long stick, they would all see 0.99 to 1.01 m.
Guoyong Wen, Alexander Marshak, Si-Chee Tsay, Jay Herman, Ukkyo Jeong, Nader Abuhassan, Robert Swap, and Dong Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10477–10491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10477-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10477-2020, 2020
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We combine the ground-based observations and radiative transfer model to quantify the impact of the 2017 solar eclipse on surface shortwave irradiation reduction. We find that the eclipse caused local reductions of time-averaged surface flux of about 379 W m-2 (50 %) and 329 W m-2 (46 %) during the ~ 3 h course of the eclipse at the Casper and Columbia sites, respectively. We estimate that the Moon’s shadow caused a reduction of approximately 7 %–8 % in global average surface broadband SW radiation.
Jie Gong and Dong L. Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2741–2757, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2741-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2741-2017, 2017
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Under certain temperature or aerodynamic conditions, ice crystals prefer to orient along certain directions. The preferred orientation direction of non-spherical ice particles would result in a difference in the satellite remote sensing using different polarized channels. This paper studies this polarization difference using the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager, where we can infer the dominant ice particle orientation and shape factors from passive remote sensing measures.
Manisha Ganeshan and Dong L. Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13173–13184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13173-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13173-2016, 2016
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The amplified Arctic warming has seen a rapid decline in sea ice with serious implications for global climate. The loss of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere is considered important for the recovery of the diminishing sea ice. Yet there is little observational evidence regarding the efficiency of this process. In our study, we explore and quantify the ability of the open ocean to lose heat through sensible heat fluxes. It is found to depend on the prevailing cloud and wind regime.
Christine Smith-Johnsen, Yvan Orsolini, Frode Stordal, Varavut Limpasuvan, and Kristell Pérot
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-758, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-758, 2016
Preprint withdrawn
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Mesospheric ozone enhancements during sudden stratospheric warmings in the northern hemisphere have been reported in the literature. In the southern hemisphere, only one warming event has occurred, and this paper is the first to explain the mesospheric ozone enhancement during this event in 2002, using both a whole atmosphere chemistry climate model and satellite observations from GOMOS.
N. H. Stray, Y. J. Orsolini, P. J. Espy, V. Limpasuvan, and R. E. Hibbins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4997–5005, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4997-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4997-2015, 2015
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Planetary wave activity measured in the mesosphere to lower thermosphere is shown to increase drastically after strong stratospheric polar cap wind reversals associated with sudden stratospheric warmings. In addition, a moderate but significant correlation was found between planetary wave enhancement in the mesosphere to lower thermosphere and all stratospheric polar cap wind reversals, irrespective of the strength of the reversal.
J. Gong and D. L. Wu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1873–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1873-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1873-2014, 2014
T. Flury, D. L. Wu, and W. G. Read
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4563–4575, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4563-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4563-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
The formation and composition of the Mount Everest plume in winter
New insights on the prevalence of drizzle in marine stratocumulus clouds based on a machine learning algorithm applied to radar Doppler spectra
Addressing the difficulties in quantifying droplet number response to aerosol from satellite observations
Optically thin clouds in the trades
Stability-dependent increases in liquid water with droplet number in the Arctic
Lightning activity in northern Europe during a stormy winter: disruptions of weather patterns originating in global climate phenomena
A climatology of open and closed mesoscale cellular convection over the Southern Ocean derived from Himawari-8 observations
An evaluation of liquid cloud droplet effective radius derived from MODIS, airborne remote sensing and in situ measurements from CAMP2Ex
Methodology to determine the coupling of continental clouds with surface and boundary layer height under cloudy conditions from lidar and meteorological data
Albedo susceptibility of northeastern Pacific stratocumulus: the role of covarying meteorological conditions
Opportunistic experiments to constrain aerosol effective radiative forcing
Environmental effects on aerosol–cloud interaction in non-precipitating marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds over the eastern North Atlantic
A Lagrangian Analysis of Pockets of Open Cells over the Southeast Pacific
Hemispheric contrasts in ice formation in stratiform mixed-phase clouds: disentangling the role of aerosol and dynamics with ground-based remote sensing
Microphysical process of precipitating hydrometeors from warm-front mid-level stratiform clouds revealed by ground-based lidar observations
Overview: Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modelling towards an improved understanding of cloud and precipitation processes
A climatology of trade-wind cumulus cold pools and their link to mesoscale cloud organization
Global evidence of aerosol-induced invigoration in marine cumulus clouds
Impacts of the Saharan air layer on the physical properties of the Atlantic tropical cyclone cloud systems: 2003–2019
Two-year statistics of columnar-ice production in stratiform clouds over Hyytiälä, Finland: environmental conditions and the relevance to secondary ice production
Changes in cirrus cloud properties and occurrence over Europe during the COVID-19-caused air traffic reduction
A new conceptual model for adiabatic fog
Deciphering organization of GOES-16 green cumulus through the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) lens
Satellite retrieval of cloud base height and geometric thickness of low-level cloud based on CALIPSO
Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections
Contrasting ice formation in Arctic clouds: surface-coupled vs. surface-decoupled clouds
Evaluation of the CMIP6 marine subtropical stratocumulus cloud albedo and its controlling factors
Identifying meteorological influences on marine low-cloud mesoscale morphology using satellite classifications
Lidar observations of cirrus clouds in Palau (7°33′ N, 134°48′ E)
Observing the timescales of aerosol–cloud interactions in snapshot satellite images
Potential impact of aerosols on convective clouds revealed by Himawari-8 observations over different terrain types in eastern China
How frequent is natural cloud seeding from ice cloud layers ( < −35 °C) over Switzerland?
Processes contributing to cloud dissipation and formation events on the North Slope of Alaska
Characterisation and surface radiative impact of Arctic low clouds from the IAOOS field experiment
A-Train estimates of the sensitivity of the cloud-to-rainwater ratio to cloud size, relative humidity, and aerosols
Ice injected into the tropopause by deep convection – Part 2: Over the Maritime Continent
3D radiative heating of tropical upper tropospheric cloud systems derived from synergistic A-Train observations and machine learning
The potential of increasing man-made air pollution to reduce rainfall over southern West Africa
The dual-field-of-view polarization lidar technique: a new concept in monitoring aerosol effects in liquid-water clouds – theoretical framework
The dual-field-of-view polarization lidar technique: a new concept in monitoring aerosol effects in liquid-water clouds – case studies
Constraining the Twomey effect from satellite observations: issues and perspectives
Microphysical properties of three types of snow clouds: implication for satellite snowfall retrievals
Properties of ice cloud over Beijing from surface Ka-band radar observations during 2014–2017
Linkage among ice crystal microphysics, mesoscale dynamics, and cloud and precipitation structures revealed by collocated microwave radiometer and multifrequency radar observations
Possible mechanisms of summer cirrus clouds over the Tibetan Plateau
Mid-level clouds are frequent above the southeast Atlantic stratocumulus clouds
Towards the connection between snow microphysics and melting layer: insights from multifrequency and dual-polarization radar observations during BAECC
Cloud phase characteristics over Southeast Asia from A-Train satellite observations
Cloud regimes over the Amazon Basin: perspectives from the GoAmazon2014/5 campaign
Microphysics and dynamics of snowfall associated with a warm conveyor belt over Korea
Edward E. Hindman and Scott Lindstrom
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7995–8008, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7995-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7995-2022, 2022
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Winds buffeting the Mt. Everest massif often produce plumes. This systematic study identified plumes from daily observations of real-time, on-line images from a geosynchronous meteorological satellite. The corresponding meteorological data were used with a cloud-forming model to show the plumes were composed, depending on the temperature, of droplets, crystals or both. They were not composed of resuspended snow, which is a common belief. We estimated the plumes may produce significant snowfall.
Zeen Zhu, Pavlos Kollias, Edward Luke, and Fan Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7405–7416, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7405-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7405-2022, 2022
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Drizzle (small rain droplets) is an important component of warm clouds; however, its existence is poorly understood. In this study, we capitalized on a machine-learning algorithm to develop a drizzle detection method. We applied this algorithm to investigate drizzle occurrence and found out that drizzle is far more ubiquitous than previously thought. This study demonstrates the ubiquitous nature of drizzle in clouds and will improve understanding of the associated microphysical process.
Hailing Jia, Johannes Quaas, Edward Gryspeerdt, Christoph Böhm, and Odran Sourdeval
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7353–7372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, 2022
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Aerosol–cloud interaction is the most uncertain component of the anthropogenic forcing of the climate. By combining satellite and reanalysis data, we show that the strength of the Twomey effect (S) increases remarkably with vertical velocity. Both the confounding effect of aerosol–precipitation interaction and the lack of vertical co-location between aerosol and cloud are found to overestimate S, whereas the retrieval biases in aerosol and cloud appear to underestimate S.
Theresa Mieslinger, Bjorn Stevens, Tobias Kölling, Manfred Brath, Martin Wirth, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6879–6898, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, 2022
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The trades are home to a plethora of small cumulus clouds that are often barely visible to the human eye and difficult to detect with active and passive remote sensing methods. With the help of a new method and by means of high-resolution data we can detect small and particularly thin clouds. We find that optically thin clouds are a common phenomenon in the trades, covering a large area and influencing the radiative effect of clouds if they are undetected and contaminate the cloud-free signal.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5743–5756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, 2022
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Clouds are important to the Arctic surface energy budget, but the impact of aerosols on their properties is largely uncertain. This work shows that the response of liquid water path to cloud droplet number increases is strongly dependent on lower tropospheric stability (LTS), with weaker cooling effects in polluted clouds and at high LTS. LTS is projected to decrease in a warmer Arctic, reducing the cooling effect of aerosols and producing a positive, aerosol-dependent cloud feedback.
Ivana Kolmašová, Ondřej Santolík, and Kateřina Rosická
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3379–3389, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3379-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3379-2022, 2022
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The 2014–2015 winter brought an enormous number of lightning strokes to northern Europe, about 4 times more than their long-term median over the last decade. This unusual production of lightning, concentrated above the ocean and along the western coastal areas, was probably due to a combination of large-scale climatic events like El Niño and the North Atlantic Oscillation, causing increased sea surface temperatures and updraft strengths, which acted as additional thundercloud-charging drivers.
Francisco Lang, Luis Ackermann, Yi Huang, Son C. H. Truong, Steven T. Siems, and Michael J. Manton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2135–2152, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2135-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2135-2022, 2022
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Marine low-level clouds cover vast areas of the Southern Ocean, and they are essential to the Earth system energy balance. We use 3 years of satellite observations to group low-level clouds by their spatial structure using a pattern-recognizing program. We studied two primary cloud type patterns, i.e. open and closed clouds. Open clouds are uniformly distributed over the storm track, while closed clouds are most predominant in the southeastern Indian Ocean. Closed clouds exhibit a daily cycle.
Dongwei Fu, Larry Di Girolamo, Robert M. Rauber, Greg M. McFarquhar, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Jesse Loveridge, Yulan Hong, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Brian Cairns, Mikhail D. Alexandrov, Paul Lawson, Sarah Woods, Simone Tanelli, Ousmane O. Sy, Sebastian Schmidt, Chris A. Hostetler, and Amy Jo Scarino
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-73, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-73, 2022
Revised manuscript accepted for ACP
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Satellite-retrieved cloud microphysics is widely used in climate research because of their central role in water and energy cycles. Here we provide the first detailed investigation on retrieved cloud drop sizes from in situ and various satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques applied to real cumulus cloud fields. We conclude that the most widely used passive remote sensing technique used in climate research produces high biases of 6 to 8 µm (60–80 %) caused by 3D radiative effects.
Tianning Su, Youtong Zheng, and Zhanqing Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1453–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1453-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1453-2022, 2022
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To enrich our understanding of coupling of continental clouds, we developed a novel methodology to determine cloud coupling state from a lidar and a suite of surface meteorological instruments. This method is built upon advancement in our understanding of fundamental boundary layer processes and clouds. As the first remote sensing method for determining the coupling state of low clouds over land, this methodology paves a solid ground for further investigating the coupled land–atmosphere system.
Jianhao Zhang, Xiaoli Zhou, Tom Goren, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 861–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022, 2022
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Oceanic liquid-form clouds are effective sunlight reflectors. Their brightness is highly sensitive to changes in the amount of aerosol particles in the atmosphere and the state of the atmosphere they reside in. This study quantifies this sensitivity using long-term satellite observations and finds an overall cloud brightening (a cooling effect) potential and an essential role of the covarying meteorological conditions in governing this sensitivity for northeastern Pacific stratocumulus.
Matthew W. Christensen, Andrew Gettelman, Jan Cermak, Guy Dagan, Michael Diamond, Alyson Douglas, Graham Feingold, Franziska Glassmeier, Tom Goren, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Edward Gryspeerdt, Ralph Kahn, Zhanqing Li, Po-Lun Ma, Florent Malavelle, Isabel L. McCoy, Daniel T. McCoy, Greg McFarquhar, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sandip Pal, Anna Possner, Adam Povey, Johannes Quaas, Daniel Rosenfeld, Anja Schmidt, Roland Schrödner, Armin Sorooshian, Philip Stier, Velle Toll, Duncan Watson-Parris, Robert Wood, Mingxi Yang, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 641–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, 2022
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Trace gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) are released from a variety of point sources around the globe. Examples include volcanoes, industrial chimneys, forest fires, and ship stacks. These sources provide opportunistic experiments with which to quantify the role of aerosols in modifying cloud properties. We review the current state of understanding on the influence of aerosol on climate built from the wide range of natural and anthropogenic laboratories investigated in recent decades.
Xiaojian Zheng, Baike Xi, Xiquan Dong, Peng Wu, Timothy Logan, and Yuan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 335–354, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-335-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-335-2022, 2022
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This study uses ground-based observations to investigate the physical processes in the aerosol–cloud interactions in non-precipitating marine boundary layer clouds, over the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Results show that the cloud responses to the aerosols are diminished with limited water vapor supply, while they are enhanced with increasing water vapor availability. The clouds are found to be most sensitive to the aerosols under sufficient water vapor and strong boundary layer turbulence.
Kevin M. Smalley, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ryan Eastman, Mark Smalley, and Mikael Witte
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-1001, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-1001, 2021
Revised manuscript accepted for ACP
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We use geostationary satellite observations to track pockets of open-cell stratocumulus (POCs) and analyze how precipitation, cloud microphysics, and the environment change. Precipitation becomes more intense, corresponding to increasing effective radius and decreasing number concentrations, while the environment remains relatively unchanged. This implies changes in Cloud Microphysics are more important than the environment to POC development.
Martin Radenz, Johannes Bühl, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Boris Barja González, Rodanthi-Elisabeth Mamouri, Félix Zamorano, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17969–17994, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, 2021
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This study brings together long-term ground-based remote-sensing observations of mixed-phase clouds at three key locations of aerosol–cloud interactions in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes. The findings contribute several new aspects on the nature of the excess of supercooled liquid clouds in the Southern Hemisphere, such as a long-term lidar-based estimate of ice-nucleating particle profiles as well as the effects of boundary layer coupling and gravity waves on ice formation.
Yang Yi, Fan Yi, Fuchao Liu, Yunpeng Zhang, Changming Yu, and Yun He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17649–17664, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17649-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17649-2021, 2021
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Our lidar observations reveal the complete microphysical process of hydrometeors falling from mid-level stratiform clouds. We find that the surface rainfall begins as supercooled mixed-phase hydrometeors fall out of a liquid parent cloud base. We find also that the collision–coalescence growth of precipitating raindrops and subsequent spontaneous breakup always occur around 0.6 km altitude during surface rainfalls. Our findings provide new insights into stratiform precipitation formation.
Silke Trömel, Clemens Simmer, Ulrich Blahak, Armin Blanke, Sabine Doktorowski, Florian Ewald, Michael Frech, Mathias Gergely, Martin Hagen, Tijana Janjic, Heike Kalesse-Los, Stefan Kneifel, Christoph Knote, Jana Mendrok, Manuel Moser, Gregor Köcher, Kai Mühlbauer, Alexander Myagkov, Velibor Pejcic, Patric Seifert, Prabhakar Shrestha, Audrey Teisseire, Leonie von Terzi, Eleni Tetoni, Teresa Vogl, Christiane Voigt, Yuefei Zeng, Tobias Zinner, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17291–17314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, 2021
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The article introduces the ACP readership to ongoing research in Germany on cloud- and precipitation-related process information inherent in polarimetric radar measurements, outlines pathways to inform atmospheric models with radar-based information, and points to remaining challenges towards an improved fusion of radar polarimetry and atmospheric modelling.
Raphaela Vogel, Heike Konow, Hauke Schulz, and Paquita Zuidema
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16609–16630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16609-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16609-2021, 2021
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The shallow cumulus clouds that populate the trade-wind regions can produce substantial amounts of rain. Before reaching the surface, part of the rain can evaporate and form pools of cold air that spread at the surface as density currents. We use 10 years of data from Barbados to show that such cold pools occur on 3 out of 4 d, that cold-pool periods are 90 % cloudier relative to the average winter conditions, and that they are connected to specific patterns of mesoscale cloud organization.
Alyson Douglas and Tristan L'Ecuyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15103–15114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15103-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15103-2021, 2021
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When aerosols enter the atmosphere, they interact with the clouds above in what we term aerosol–cloud interactions and lead to a series of reactions which delay the onset of rain. This delay may lead to increased rain rates, or invigoration, when the cloud eventually rains. We show that aerosol leads to invigoration in certain environments. The strength of the invigoration depends on how large the cloud is, which suggests that it is highly tied to the organization of the cloud system.
Hao Luo and Yong Han
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15171–15184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15171-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15171-2021, 2021
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The various feedbacks of Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) to the Saharan air layer (SAL) are determined by the combined effects of dry air masses, the dust aerosols as ice nuclei, and dynamic, thermodynamic, and moisture conditions. The specific influence mechanisms of SAL on the three intensities of TCs (tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane) are different. The conclusions are beneficial to our recognition of the physical process and evolution of TCs in the Atlantic region.
Haoran Li, Ottmar Möhler, Tuukka Petäjä, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14671–14686, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14671-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14671-2021, 2021
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In natural clouds, ice-nucleating particles are expected to be rare above –10 °C. In the current paper, we found that the formation of ice columns is frequent in stratiform clouds and is associated with increased precipitation intensity and liquid water path. In single-layer shallow clouds, the production of ice columns was attributed to secondary ice production, despite the rime-splintering process not being expected to take place in such clouds.
Qiang Li and Silke Groß
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14573–14590, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14573-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14573-2021, 2021
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Aircraft emit exhaust gases and particles directly into the atmosphere, which may contribute to climate change. We present a significant reduction in the occurrence rate and particle linear depolarization ratio of cirrus clouds based on the analysis of measurements with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite during COVID-19 when air traffic was significantly reduced. The findings imply that these clouds formed with less influence from aviation.
Felipe Toledo, Martial Haeffelin, Eivind Wærsted, and Jean-Charles Dupont
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13099–13117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13099-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13099-2021, 2021
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The article presents a new conceptual model to describe the temporal evolution of continental fog layers, developed based on 7 years of fog measurements performed at the SIRTA observatory, France. This new paradigm relates the visibility reduction caused by fog to its vertical thickness and liquid water path and provides diagnostic variables that could substantially improve the reliability of fog dissipation nowcasting at a local scale, based on real-time profiling observation.
Tom Dror, Mickaël D. Chekroun, Orit Altaratz, and Ilan Koren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12261–12272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12261-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12261-2021, 2021
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A part of continental shallow convective cumulus (Cu) was shown to share properties such as organization and formation over vegetated areas, thus named green Cu. Mechanisms behind the formed patterns are not understood. We use different metrics and an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) to decompose the dataset and quantify organization factors (cloud streets and gravity waves). We show that clouds form a highly organized grid structure over hundreds of kilometers at the field lifetime.
Xin Lu, Feiyue Mao, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yannian Zhu, Zengxin Pan, and Wei Gong
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11979–12003, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, 2021
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In this paper, a novel method for retrieving cloud base height and geometric thickness is developed and applied to produce a global climatology of boundary layer clouds with a high accuracy. The retrieval is based on the 333 m resolution low-level cloud distribution as obtained from the CALIPSO lidar data. The main part of the study describes the variability of cloud vertical geometrical properties in space, season, and time of the day. Resultant new insights are presented.
Rohit Chakraborty, Arindam Chakraborty, Ghouse Basha, and Madineni Venkat Ratnam
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11161–11177, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11161-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11161-2021, 2021
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In this study, urbanization-induced surface warming has been found to trigger prominent changes in upper-troposphere–lower-stratosphere regions leading to stronger and more frequent lightning extremes over India. Consequently, the implementation of this hypothesis in global climate models reveals that lightning frequency and intensity values across India will rise by ~10–25 % and 15–50 %, respectively, by 2100 at the current urbanization rate, which should be alarming for present policymakers.
Hannes J. Griesche, Kevin Ohneiser, Patric Seifert, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10357–10374, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10357-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10357-2021, 2021
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Heterogeneous ice formation in Arctic mixed-phase clouds under consideration of their surface-coupling state is investigated. Cloud phase and macrophysical properties were determined by means of lidar and cloud radar measurements, the coupling state, and cloud minimum temperature by radiosonde profiles. Above −15 °C cloud minimum temperature, surface-coupled clouds are more likely to contain ice by a factor of 2–6. By means of a literature survey, causes of the observed effects are discussed.
Bida Jian, Jiming Li, Guoyin Wang, Yuxin Zhao, Yarong Li, Jing Wang, Min Zhang, and Jianping Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9809–9828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9809-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9809-2021, 2021
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We evaluate the performance of the AMIP6 model in simulating cloud albedo over marine subtropical regions and the impacts of different aerosol types and meteorological factors on the cloud albedo based on multiple satellite datasets and reanalysis data. The results show that AMIP6 demonstrates moderate improvement over AMIP5 in simulating the monthly variation in cloud albedo, and changes in different aerosol types and meteorological factors can explain ~65 % of the changes in the cloud albedo.
Johannes Mohrmann, Robert Wood, Tianle Yuan, Hua Song, Ryan Eastman, and Lazaros Oreopoulos
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9629–9642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9629-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9629-2021, 2021
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Observations of marine-boundary-layer conditions are composited by cloud type, based on a new classification dataset. It is found that two cloud types, representing regions of clustered and suppressed low-level clouds, occur in very similar large-scale conditions but are distinguished from each other by considering low-level circulation and surface wind fields, validating prior results from modeling.
Francesco Cairo, Mauro De Muro, Marcel Snels, Luca Di Liberto, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Ajil Kottayil, Andrea Scoccione, and Stefano Ghisu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7947–7961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, 2021
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A lidar was used in Palau from February–March 2016. Clouds were observed peaking at 3 km below the high cold-point tropopause (CPT). Their occurrence was linked with cold anomalies, while in warm cases, cirrus clouds were restricted to 5 km below the CPT. Thin subvisible cirrus (SVC) near the CPT had distinctive characteristics. They were linked to wave-induced cold anomalies. Back trajectories are mostly compatible with convective outflow, while some distinctive SVC may originate in situ.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Tom Goren, and Tristan W. P. Smith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6093–6109, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, 2021
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Cloud responses to aerosol are time-sensitive, but this development is rarely observed. This study uses isolated aerosol perturbations from ships to measure this development and shows that macrophysical (width, cloud fraction, detectability) and microphysical (droplet number) properties of ship tracks vary strongly with time since emission, background cloud and meteorological state. This temporal development should be considered when constraining aerosol–cloud interactions with observations.
Tianmeng Chen, Zhanqing Li, Ralph A. Kahn, Chuanfeng Zhao, Daniel Rosenfeld, Jianping Guo, Wenchao Han, and Dandan Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6199–6220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6199-2021, 2021
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A convective cloud identification process is developed using geostationary satellite data from Himawari-8.
Convective cloud fraction is generally larger before noon and smaller in the afternoon under polluted conditions, but megacities and complex topography can influence the pattern.
A robust relationship between convective cloud and aerosol loading is found. This pattern varies with terrain height and is modulated by varying thermodynamic, dynamical, and humidity conditions during the day.
Ulrike Proske, Verena Bessenbacher, Zane Dedekind, Ulrike Lohmann, and David Neubauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5195–5216, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5195-2021, 2021
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Ice crystals falling out of one cloud can initiate freezing in a second cloud below. We estimate the occurrence frequency of this natural cloud seeding over Switzerland from satellite data and sublimation calculations. We find that such situations with an ice cloud above another cloud are frequent and that the falling crystals survive the fall between two clouds in a significant number of cases, suggesting that natural cloud seeding is an important phenomenon over Switzerland.
Joseph Sedlar, Adele Igel, and Hagen Telg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4149–4167, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021, 2021
Julia Maillard, François Ravetta, Jean-Christophe Raut, Vincent Mariage, and Jacques Pelon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4079–4101, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4079-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4079-2021, 2021
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Clouds remain a major source of uncertainty in understanding the Arctic climate, due in part to the lack of measurements over the sea ice. In this paper, we exploit a series of lidar profiles acquired from autonomous drifting buoys deployed in the Arctic Ocean and derive a statistic of low cloud frequency and macrophysical properties. We also show that clouds contribute to warm the surface in the shoulder seasons but not significantly from May to September.
Kevin M. Smalley and Anita D. Rapp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2765–2779, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021, 2021
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We use satellite observations of shallow cumulus clouds to investigate the influence of cloud size on the ratio of cloud water path to rainwater (WRR) in different environments. For a fixed temperature and relative humidity, WRR increases with cloud size, but it varies little with aerosols. These results imply that increasing WRR with rising temperature relates not only to deeper clouds but also to more frequent larger clouds.
Iris-Amata Dion, Cyrille Dallet, Philippe Ricaud, Fabien Carminati, Thibaut Dauhut, and Peter Haynes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2191–2210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2191-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2191-2021, 2021
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Ice in the tropopause has a strong radiative effect on climate. The amount of ice injected (∆IWC) up to the tropical tropopause layer has been shown to be the highest over the Maritime Continent (MC), a region that includes Indonesia. ∆IWC is studied over islands and sea of the MC. Space-borne observations of ice, precipitation and lightning are used to estimate ∆IWC and are compared to ∆IWC estimated from the ERA5 reanalyses. It is shown that Java is the area of the greatest ∆IWC over the MC.
Claudia J. Stubenrauch, Giacomo Caria, Sofia E. Protopapadaki, and Friederike Hemmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1015–1034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1015-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1015-2021, 2021
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Tropical anvils formed by convective outflow play a crucial role in modulating the Earth’s energy budget and heat transport. To explore the relation between these anvils and convection, we built 3D radiative heating fields, based on machine learning employed on cloud and atmospheric properties from IR sounder and meteorological reanalyses, trained on lidar–radar retrievals. The 15-year time series reveals colder convective systems during warm periods, affecting the atmospheric heating structure.
Gregor Pante, Peter Knippertz, Andreas H. Fink, and Anke Kniffka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 35–55, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-35-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-35-2021, 2021
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Seasonal rainfall amounts along the densely populated West African Guinea coast have been decreasing during the past 35 years, with recently accelerating trends. We find strong indications that this is in part related to increasing human air pollution in the region. Given the fast increase in emissions, the political implications of this work are significant. Reducing air pollution locally and regionally would mitigate an imminent health crisis and socio-economic damage from reduced rainfall.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, David Donovan, Aleksey Malinka, Jörg Schmidt, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15247–15263, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15247-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15247-2020, 2020
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A novel lidar method to study cloud microphysical properties (of liquid water clouds) and to study aerosol–cloud interaction (ACI) is developed and presented in this paper. In Part 1, the theoretical framework including an error analysis is given together with an overview of the aerosol information that the same lidar system can obtain. The ACI concept based on aerosol and cloud information is also explained. Applications of the proposed approach to lidar measurements are presented in Part 2.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, David Donovan, Aleksey Malinka, Patric Seifert, Robert Wiesen, Martin Radenz, Zhenping Yin, Johannes Bühl, Jörg Schmidt, Boris Barja, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15265–15284, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15265-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15265-2020, 2020
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Part 2 presents the application of the dual-FOV polarization lidar technique introduced in Part 1. A lidar system was upgraded with a second polarization telescope, and it was deployed at the southernmost tip of South America. A comparison with alternative remote sensing techniques and the evaluation of the aerosol–cloud–wind relation in a convective boundary layer in pristine marine conditions are presented in two case studies, demonstrating the potential of the approach for ACI studies.
Johannes Quaas, Antti Arola, Brian Cairns, Matthew Christensen, Hartwig Deneke, Annica M. L. Ekman, Graham Feingold, Ann Fridlind, Edward Gryspeerdt, Otto Hasekamp, Zhanqing Li, Antti Lipponen, Po-Lun Ma, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Athanasios Nenes, Joyce E. Penner, Daniel Rosenfeld, Roland Schrödner, Kenneth Sinclair, Odran Sourdeval, Philip Stier, Matthias Tesche, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15079–15099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, 2020
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Anthropogenic pollution particles – aerosols – serve as cloud condensation nuclei and thus increase cloud droplet concentration and the clouds' reflection of sunlight (a cooling effect on climate). This Twomey effect is poorly constrained by models and requires satellite data for better quantification. The review summarizes the challenges in properly doing so and outlines avenues for progress towards a better use of aerosol retrievals and better retrievals of droplet concentrations.
Hwayoung Jeoung, Guosheng Liu, Kwonil Kim, Gyuwon Lee, and Eun-Kyoung Seo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14491–14507, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14491-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14491-2020, 2020
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Radar and radiometer observations were used to study cloud liquid and snowfall in three types of snow clouds. While near-surface and shallow clouds have an area fraction of 90 %, deep clouds contribute half of the total snowfall volume. Deeper clouds have heavier snowfall, although cloud liquid is equally abundant in all three cloud types. The skills of a GMI Bayesian algorithm are examined. Snowfall in deep clouds may be reasonably retrieved, but it is challenging for near-surface clouds.
Juan Huo, Yufang Tian, Xue Wu, Congzheng Han, Bo Liu, Yongheng Bi, Shu Duan, and Daren Lyu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14377–14392, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14377-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14377-2020, 2020
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A detailed analysis of ice cloud physical properties is presented based on 4 years of surface Ka-band radar measurements in Beijing, where the summer oceanic monsoon from the ocean and winter continental monsoon prevail alternately. More than 6000 ice cloud clusters were studied to investigate their physical properties, such as height, horizontal extent, temperature dependence and origination type, which can serve as a reference for parameterization and characterization in global climate models.
Jie Gong, Xiping Zeng, Dong L. Wu, S. Joseph Munchak, Xiaowen Li, Stefan Kneifel, Davide Ori, Liang Liao, and Donifan Barahona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12633–12653, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12633-2020, 2020
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This work provides a novel way of using polarized passive microwave measurements to study the interlinked cloud–convection–precipitation processes. The magnitude of differences between polarized radiances is found linked to ice microphysics (shape, size, orientation and density), mesoscale dynamic and thermodynamic structures, and surface precipitation. We conclude that passive sensors with multiple polarized channel pairs may serve as cheaper and useful substitutes for spaceborne radar sensors.
Feng Zhang, Qiu-Run Yu, Jia-Li Mao, Chen Dan, Yanyu Wang, Qianshan He, Tiantao Cheng, Chunhong Chen, Dongwei Liu, and Yanping Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11799–11808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11799-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11799-2020, 2020
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In this work, we make the three main contributions. (1) We reveal the remarkable differences in the geographical distributions of cirrus over the Tibetan Plateau regarding the cloud top height. (2) The orography, gravity wave, and deep convection determine the formation of cirrus with a cloud top below 9, at 9–12, and above 12 km, respectively. (3) It is the first time the contributions of the Tibetan Plateau to the presence of cirrus on a regional scale are discussed.
Adeyemi A. Adebiyi, Paquita Zuidema, Ian Chang, Sharon P. Burton, and Brian Cairns
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11025–11043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11025-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11025-2020, 2020
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Over the southeast Atlantic, interactions between the low-level clouds and the overlying smoke aerosols have previously been highlighted, but no study has yet focused on the presence of the mid-level clouds that complicate the aerosol–cloud interactions. Here we show that these optically thin super-cooled mid-level clouds are relatively common, and they frequently occur at the top of the smoke layer between August and October with significant radiative impacts on the low-level clouds.
Haoran Li, Jussi Tiira, Annakaisa von Lerber, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9547–9562, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9547-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9547-2020, 2020
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A method for classifying rimed and unrimed snow based on X- and Ka-band Doppler radar measurements is developed and applied to synergetic radar observations collected during BAECC 2014. The results show that the radar-observed melting layer properties are highly related to the precipitation intensity. The previously reported bright band sagging is mainly connected to the increase in precipitation intensity, while riming plays a secondary role.
Yulan Hong and Larry Di Girolamo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8267–8291, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8267-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8267-2020, 2020
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Cloud phase plays a crucial role in Earth radiation budget but is not well understood. Using A-Train satellite observations, this study provides climatological studies of cloud phase characteristics over Southeast Asia on multiple meteorological scales. Results show that ice, liquid, and ice over liquid clouds display distinct spatial heterogeneity and spectral radiance features. The intraseasonal and interannual behaviors of cloud phases are useful to track the MJO and ENSO.
Scott E. Giangrande, Dié Wang, and David B. Mechem
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7489–7507, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7489-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7489-2020, 2020
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The Amazon basin experiences prolific and diverse cloud conditions that are strongly influenced by (and influence via feedbacks) seasonal shifts in the local conditions and larger-scale atmospheric circulations. The primary atmospheric regimes observed during a heavily instrumented 2-year Amazon deployment are classified. We assess the potential atmospheric controls on convective clouds, precipitation, and the propensity for these regimes to promote extremes in precipitation.
Josué Gehring, Annika Oertel, Étienne Vignon, Nicolas Jullien, Nikola Besic, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7373–7392, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7373-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7373-2020, 2020
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In this study, we analyse how large-scale meteorological conditions influenced the local enhancement of snowfall during an intense precipitation event in Korea. We used atmospheric models, weather radars and snowflake images. We found out that a rising airstream in the warm sector of the low pressure system associated to this event influenced the evolution of snowfall. This study highlights the importance of interactions between large and local scales in this intense precipitation event.
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Short summary
Upper-tropospheric ice clouds (anvil and cirrus cloud ouflows extending from deep convection) have small-scale (~1km horizontal) structures that are organized and systematically tilt poleward in the tropics, as revealed by CloudSat ice water path (IWP) and Aura MLS Radiance (TB) measurements. These tilted cloud structures cover regions over hundreds of kilometers, contributing up to 20% of IWP uncertainty if not accounted for in remote sensing from space.
Upper-tropospheric ice clouds (anvil and cirrus cloud ouflows extending from deep convection)...
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