Articles | Volume 16, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-933-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-933-2016
Research article
 | 
26 Jan 2016
Research article |  | 26 Jan 2016

Investigation of the adiabatic assumption for estimating cloud micro- and macrophysical properties from satellite and ground observations

D. Merk, H. Deneke, B. Pospichal, and P. Seifert

Related authors

Detection of convective initiation using Meteosat SEVIRI: implementation in and verification with the tracking and nowcasting algorithm Cb-TRAM
D. Merk and T. Zinner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1903–1918, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1903-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1903-2013, 2013

Related subject area

Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
The correlation between Arctic sea ice, cloud phase and radiation using A-Train satellites
Grégory V. Cesana, Olivia Pierpaoli, Matteo Ottaviani, Linh Vu, Zhonghai Jin, and Israel Silber
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7899–7909, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7899-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7899-2024, 2024
Short summary
Technical note: Retrieval of the supercooled liquid fraction in mixed-phase clouds from Himawari-8 observations
Ziming Wang, Husi Letu, Huazhe Shang, and Luca Bugliaro
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7559–7574, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7559-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7559-2024, 2024
Short summary
Characterisation of low-base and mid-base clouds and their thermodynamic phase over the Southern Ocean and Arctic marine regions
Barbara Dietel, Odran Sourdeval, and Corinna Hoose
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7359–7383, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7359-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7359-2024, 2024
Short summary
A survey of radiative and physical properties of North Atlantic mesoscale cloud morphologies from multiple identification methodologies
Ryan Eastman, Isabel L. McCoy, Hauke Schulz, and Robert Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6613–6634, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6613-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Extensive coverage of ultrathin tropical tropopause layer cirrus clouds revealed by balloon-borne lidar observations
Thomas Lesigne, François Ravetta, Aurélien Podglajen, Vincent Mariage, and Jacques Pelon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5935–5952, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5935-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5935-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Ackerman, A. S., Toon, O. B., Taylor, J. P., Johnson, D. W., Hobbs, P. V., and Ferek, R. J.: Effects of Aerosols on Cloud Albedo: Evaluation of Twomey's Parameterization of Cloud Susceptibility Using Measurements of Ship Tracks, J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 2684–2695, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2000)057<2684:EOAOCA>2.0.CO;2, 2000.
Ahmad, I., Mielonen, T., Grosvenor, D., Portin, H., Arola, A., Mikkonen, S., Kühn, T., Leskinen, A., Juotsensaari, J., Komppula, M., Lehtinen, K., Laaksonen, A., and Romakkaniemi, S.: Long-term measurements of cloud droplet concentrations and aerosol-cloud interactions in continental boundary layer clouds, Tellus B, 65, 20138, https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v65i0.20138, 2013.
Albrecht, B. A., Fairall, C. W., Thomson, D. W., White, A. B., Snider, J. B., and Schubert, W. H.: Surface-based remote sensing of the observed and the Adiabatic liquid water content of stratocumulus clouds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 17, 89–92, https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i001p00089, 1990.
Baker, M. B., Blyth, A. M., Carruthers, D. J., Choularton, T. W., Fullarton, G., Gay, M. J., Latham, J., Mill, C. S., Smith, M. H., Stromberg, I. M., Caughey, S. J., and Conway, B. J.: Field studies of the effect of entrainment upon the structure of clouds at Great Dun Fell, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 108, 899–916, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710845810, 1982.
Battan, L. J.: Radar observation of the atmosphere, University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Download
Short summary
A 2-year data set is analyzed to evaluate the consistency and limitations of current ground-based and satellite-retrieved cloud property data sets. We demonstrate that neither the assumption of a completely adiabatic cloud nor the assumption of a constant sub-adiabatic factor is fulfilled. As cloud adiabaticity is required to estimate the cloud droplet number concentration, but is not available from passive satellite observations, we need an independent method to estimate the adiabatic factor.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint