Articles | Volume 18, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10715-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10715-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Jul 2018
Research article |
| 26 Jul 2018
| 26 Jul 2018
Ice cloud microphysical trends observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
Brian H. Kahn
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Hanii Takahashi
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering,
University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Graeme L. Stephens
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Julien Delanoë
LATMOS/IPSL, UVSQ-CNRS-UPMC, 11 Boulevard D'Alembert, 78280 Guyancourt, France
Gerald Manipon
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Evan M. Manning
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Andrew J. Heymsfield
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA
Related authors
Brian Kahn, Cameron Bertossa, Xiuhong Chen, Brian Drouin, Erin Hokanson, Xianglei Huang, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Kyle Mattingly, Aronne Merrelli, Tim Michaels, Nate Miller, Federico Donat, Tiziano Maestri, and Michele Martinazzo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2463, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2463, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
A cloud detection mask algorithm is developed for the upcoming Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) satellite mission to be launched by NASA in May 2024. The cloud mask is compared to "truth" and is capable of detecting over 90 % of all clouds globally tested with simulated data, and about 87 % of all clouds in the Arctic region.
Mark T. Richardson, Brian H. Kahn, and Peter Kalmus
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7699–7717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Convection over land often triggers hours after a satellite last passed overhead and measured the state of the atmosphere, and during those hours the atmosphere can change greatly. Here we show that it is possible to reconstruct most of those changes by using weather forecast winds to predict where warm and moist air parcels will travel. The results can be used to better predict where precipitation is likely to happen in the hours after satellite measurements.
Qing Yue, Eric J. Fetzer, Likun Wang, Brian H. Kahn, Nadia Smith, John M. Blaisdell, Kerry G. Meyer, Mathias Schreier, Bjorn Lambrigtsen, and Irina Tkatcheva
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2099–2123, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2099-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2099-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The self-consistency and continuity of cloud retrievals from infrared sounders and imagers aboard Aqua and SNPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) are examined at the pixel scale. Cloud products are found to be consistent with each other. Differences between sounder products are mainly due to cloud clearing and the treatment of clouds in scenes with unsuccessful atmospheric retrievals. The impact of algorithm and instrument differences is clearly seen in the imager cloud retrievals.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Philip G. Brodrick, Matthew D. Lebsock, Mark Richardson, and Robert O. Green
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2827–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere vary dramatically over space and time. Mapping this variability can provide insights into atmospheric processes that help us understand atmospheric processes in the Earth system. Here we use a new measurement strategy based on imaging spectroscopy to map atmospheric water vapor concentrations at very small spatial scales. Experiments demonstrate the accuracy of this technique and some initial results from an airborne remote sensing experiment.
Macey W. Sandford, David R. Thompson, Robert O. Green, Brian H. Kahn, Raffaele Vitulli, Steve Chien, Amruta Yelamanchili, and Winston Olson-Duvall
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 7047–7057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate an onboard cloud-screening approach to significantly reduce the amount of cloud-contaminated data transmitted from orbit. We have produced location-specific models that improve performance by taking into account the unique cloud statistics in different latitudes. We have shown that screening clouds based on their location or surface type will improve the ability for a cloud-screening tool to improve the volume of usable science data.
Alexandre Guillaume, Brian H. Kahn, Eric J. Fetzer, Qing Yue, Gerald J. Manipon, Brian D. Wilson, and Hook Hua
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4361–4377, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A method is described to classify cloud mixtures of cloud top types, termed cloud scenes, using cloud type classification derived from the CloudSat radar. The scale dependence of the cloud scenes is quantified. The cloud scenes are used to assess the characteristics of spatially collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) thermodynamic-phase and ice cloud property retrievals within scenes of varying cloud type complexity.
Daniel T. McCoy, Paul R. Field, Gregory S. Elsaesser, Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo, Brian H. Kahn, Mark D. Zelinka, Chihiro Kodama, Thorsten Mauritsen, Benoit Vanniere, Malcolm Roberts, Pier L. Vidale, David Saint-Martin, Aurore Voldoire, Rein Haarsma, Adrian Hill, Ben Shipway, and Jonathan Wilkinson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1147–1172, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The largest single source of uncertainty in the climate sensitivity predicted by global climate models is how much low-altitude clouds change as the climate warms. Models predict that the amount of liquid within and the brightness of low-altitude clouds increase in the extratropics with warming. We show that increased fluxes of moisture into extratropical storms in the midlatitudes explain the majority of the observed trend and the modeled increase in liquid water within these storms.
Jesse Dorrestijn, Brian H. Kahn, João Teixeira, and Fredrick W. Irion
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2717–2733, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite observations are used to quantify the scale-dependent variance of temperature and water vapor in the atmosphere. The scale dependence is much more variable than previously thought, using a new methodology based on individual satellite swaths. A break in the scale dependence is found to vary from less than 100 to greater than 1000 km. These new variance scaling results are of high importance for improving climate GCM subgrid parameterizations.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Robert O. Green, Steve A. Chien, Elizabeth M. Middleton, and Daniel Q. Tran
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1019–1030, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The distribution of ice and liquid particles in clouds (i.e., their thermodynamic phase) has a large impact on Earth's climate. We report a global high spatial resolution survey of cloud phase based on a decade of data from the Hyperion orbital imaging spectrometer. Seasonal and latitudinal trends corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). Most variance observed at climate model grid scales of 100 km is explained by spatial structure at finer spatial resolutions.
Fredrick W. Irion, Brian H. Kahn, Mathias M. Schreier, Eric J. Fetzer, Evan Fishbein, Dejian Fu, Peter Kalmus, R. Chris Wilson, Sun Wong, and Qing Yue
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 971–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a new algorithm for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) that uses its thermal infrared spectra directly rather than using “cloud-clearing.” By additionally modelling clouds within an AIRS field-of-view, we retrieve temperature and water vapor profiles on the AIRS ~13.5 km horizontal footprint (at nadir) rather than the ~45 km footprint of cloud-cleared spectra. Initial validation is presented, and avenues for future development are discussed.
Brian H. Kahn, Georgios Matheou, Qing Yue, Thomas Fauchez, Eric J. Fetzer, Matthew Lebsock, João Martins, Mathias M. Schreier, Kentaroh Suzuki, and João Teixeira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9451–9468, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The global-scale patterns of subtropical marine boundary layer clouds are investigated with coincident NASA A-train satellite and reanalysis data. This study is novel in that all data are used at the finest spatial and temporal resolution possible. Our results are consistent with surface-based data and suggest that the combination of satellite and reanalysis data sets have potential to add to the global context of our understanding of the subtropical cumulus-dominated marine boundary layer.
L. Wu, H. Su, R. G. Fovell, T. J. Dunkerton, Z. Wang, and B. H. Kahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 14041–14053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, 2015
M. M. Schreier, B. H. Kahn, K. Sušelj, J. Karlsson, S. C. Ou, Q. Yue, and S. L. Nasiri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3573–3587, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, 2014
B. H. Kahn, F. W. Irion, V. T. Dang, E. M. Manning, S. L. Nasiri, C. M. Naud, J. M. Blaisdell, M. M. Schreier, Q. Yue, K. W. Bowman, E. J. Fetzer, G. C. Hulley, K. N. Liou, D. Lubin, S. C. Ou, J. Susskind, Y. Takano, B. Tian, and J. R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 399–426, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, 2014
Andrew DeLaFrance, Lynn A. McMurdie, Angela K. Rowe, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8087–8106, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8087-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Numerical modeling simulations are used to investigate ice crystal growth and decay processes within a banded region of enhanced precipitation rates during a prominent winter storm. We identify robust primary ice growth in the upper portion of the cloud but decay exceeding 70 % during fallout through a subsaturated layer. The ice fall characteristics and decay rate are sensitive to the ambient cloud properties, which has implications for radar-based measurements and precipitation accumulations.
Guillaume Feger, Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, Thibaut Dauhut, Julien Delanoë, and Pierre Coutris
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7447–7465, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7447-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7447-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Saharan air at the trade wind layer, cold pools, and dry upper troposphere has these three main factors inhibiting the cyclogenesis of the Pierre Henri mesoscale convective system. The findings were obtained through observations made during two flights of the Clouds-Atmospheric Dynamics-Dust Interactions in West Africa (CADDIWA) campaign and a convection-permitting simulation run with the Meso-NH model. They provide new insights into the complex dynamics of cyclogenesis in the Cabo Verde region and challenge the existing model of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL).
Aymeric Dziduch, Guillaume Mioche, Quentin Coopman, Clément Bazantay, Julien Delanoë, and Olivier Jourdan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2698, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2698, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Low-level clouds play a central role in the Arctic climate, modulating the surface energy budget with competing warming and cooling effects. In this study, radar-lidar satellite products are used to investigate the geographical and seasonal variations of different cloud types observed over eight years. Oceanic regions are characterized by high occurrences of low-level mixed-phase clouds, which are influenced by atmospheric stability conditions, surface temperatures and cold air outbreaks.
Théophane Costabloz, Frédéric Burnet, Christine Lac, Pauline Martinet, Julien Delanoë, Susana Jorquera, and Maroua Fathalli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6539–6573, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6539-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6539-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study documents vertical profiles of liquid water content (LWC) in fogs from in situ measurements collected during the SOFOG3D field campaign in 2019–2020. The analysis of 140 vertical profiles reveals a reverse trend in LWC, maximum values at ground decreasing with height, during stable conditions in optically thin fogs, evolving towards quasi-adiabatic characteristics when fogs become thick. These results offer new perspectives for better constraining fog numerical simulations.
Sandrine Bony, Basile Poujol, Brett McKim, Nicolas Rochetin, Marie Lothon, Julia Windmiller, Nicolas Maury, Clarisse Dufaux, Louis Jaffeux, Patrick Chazette, and Julien Delanoë
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2839, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2839, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Space photographs of the Earth show that clouds form diverse, common but poorly understood cloud patterns. The analysis of observations gathered from research aircraft over the tropical ocean shows that the merging of thermals and clouds in the first kilometer of the atmosphere plays a key role in controlling the size, depth and spacing of clouds. This reveals a fundamental process through which clouds interact with each other and with their environment.
Andrew DeLaFrance, Lynn A. McMurdie, Angela K. Rowe, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11191–11206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11191-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11191-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a numerical model, the process whereby falling ice crystals accumulate supercooled liquid water droplets is investigated to elucidate its effects on radar-based measurements and surface precipitation. We demonstrate that this process accounted for 55% of the precipitation during a wintertime storm and is uniquely discernable from other ice crystal growth processes in Doppler velocity measurements. These results have implications for measurements from airborne and spaceborne platforms.
Manfred Wendisch, Susanne Crewell, André Ehrlich, Andreas Herber, Benjamin Kirbus, Christof Lüpkes, Mario Mech, Steven J. Abel, Elisa F. Akansu, Felix Ament, Clémantyne Aubry, Sebastian Becker, Stephan Borrmann, Heiko Bozem, Marlen Brückner, Hans-Christian Clemen, Sandro Dahlke, Georgios Dekoutsidis, Julien Delanoë, Elena De La Torre Castro, Henning Dorff, Regis Dupuy, Oliver Eppers, Florian Ewald, Geet George, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Sarah Grawe, Silke Groß, Jörg Hartmann, Silvia Henning, Lutz Hirsch, Evelyn Jäkel, Philipp Joppe, Olivier Jourdan, Zsofia Jurányi, Michail Karalis, Mona Kellermann, Marcus Klingebiel, Michael Lonardi, Johannes Lucke, Anna E. Luebke, Maximilian Maahn, Nina Maherndl, Marion Maturilli, Bernhard Mayer, Johanna Mayer, Stephan Mertes, Janosch Michaelis, Michel Michalkov, Guillaume Mioche, Manuel Moser, Hanno Müller, Roel Neggers, Davide Ori, Daria Paul, Fiona M. Paulus, Christian Pilz, Felix Pithan, Mira Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Maximilian Ringel, Nils Risse, Gregory C. Roberts, Sophie Rosenburg, Johannes Röttenbacher, Janna Rückert, Michael Schäfer, Jonas Schaefer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Jörg Schmidt, Sebastian Schmidt, Johannes Schneider, Sabrina Schnitt, Anja Schwarz, Holger Siebert, Harald Sodemann, Tim Sperzel, Gunnar Spreen, Bjorn Stevens, Frank Stratmann, Gunilla Svensson, Christian Tatzelt, Thomas Tuch, Timo Vihma, Christiane Voigt, Lea Volkmer, Andreas Walbröl, Anna Weber, Birgit Wehner, Bruno Wetzel, Martin Wirth, and Tobias Zinner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8865–8892, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8865-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8865-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe. Warm-air intrusions (WAIs) into the Arctic may play an important role in explaining this phenomenon. Cold-air outbreaks (CAOs) out of the Arctic may link the Arctic climate changes to mid-latitude weather. In our article, we describe how to observe air mass transformations during CAOs and WAIs using three research aircraft instrumented with state-of-the-art remote-sensing and in situ measurement devices.
Clémantyne Aubry, Julien Delanoë, Silke Groß, Florian Ewald, Frédéric Tridon, Olivier Jourdan, and Guillaume Mioche
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3863–3881, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3863-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Radar–lidar synergy is used to retrieve ice, supercooled water and mixed-phase cloud properties, making the most of the radar sensitivity to ice crystals and the lidar sensitivity to supercooled droplets. A first analysis of the output of the algorithm run on the satellite data is compared with in situ data during an airborne Arctic field campaign, giving a mean percent error of 49 % for liquid water content and 75 % for ice water content.
Karina McCusker, Anthony J. Baran, Chris Westbrook, Stuart Fox, Patrick Eriksson, Richard Cotton, Julien Delanoë, and Florian Ewald
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3533–3552, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Polarised radiative transfer simulations are performed using an atmospheric model based on in situ measurements. These are compared to large polarisation measurements to explore whether such measurements can provide information on cloud ice, e.g. particle shape and orientation. We find that using oriented particle models with shapes based on imagery generally allows for accurate simulations. However, results are sensitive to shape assumptions such as the choice of single crystals or aggregates.
Cheikh Dione, Martial Haeffelin, Frédéric Burnet, Christine Lac, Guylaine Canut, Julien Delanoë, Jean-Charles Dupont, Susana Jorquera, Pauline Martinet, Jean-François Ribaud, and Felipe Toledo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15711–15731, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15711-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15711-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper documents the role of thermodynamics and turbulence in the fog life cycle over southwestern France. It is based on a unique dataset collected during the SOFOG3D field campaign in autumn and winter 2019–2020. The paper gives a threshold for turbulence driving the different phases of the fog life cycle and the role of advection in the night-time dissipation of fog. The results can be operationalised to nowcast fog and improve short-range forecasts in numerical weather prediction models.
Leonie Villiger, Marina Dütsch, Sandrine Bony, Marie Lothon, Stephan Pfahl, Heini Wernli, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Patrick Chazette, Pierre Coutris, Julien Delanoë, Cyrille Flamant, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Martin Werner, and Franziska Aemisegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14643–14672, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14643-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14643-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates three numerical simulations performed with an isotope-enabled weather forecast model and investigates the coupling between shallow trade-wind cumulus clouds and atmospheric circulations on different scales. We show that the simulations reproduce key characteristics of shallow trade-wind clouds as observed during the field experiment EUREC4A and that the spatial distribution of stable-water-vapour isotopes is shaped by the overturning circulation associated with these clouds.
Brian Kahn, Cameron Bertossa, Xiuhong Chen, Brian Drouin, Erin Hokanson, Xianglei Huang, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Kyle Mattingly, Aronne Merrelli, Tim Michaels, Nate Miller, Federico Donat, Tiziano Maestri, and Michele Martinazzo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2463, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2463, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
A cloud detection mask algorithm is developed for the upcoming Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) satellite mission to be launched by NASA in May 2024. The cloud mask is compared to "truth" and is capable of detecting over 90 % of all clouds globally tested with simulated data, and about 87 % of all clouds in the Arctic region.
Wan Wu, Xu Liu, Liqiao Lei, Xiaozhen Xiong, Qiguang Yang, Qing Yue, Daniel K. Zhou, and Allen M. Larar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4807–4832, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4807-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4807-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new operational physical retrieval algorithm that is used to retrieve atmospheric properties for each single field-of-view measurement of hyper-spectral IR sounders. The physical scheme includes a cloud-scattering calculation in its forward-simulation part. The data product generated using this algorithm has an advantage over traditional IR sounder data production algorithms in terms of improved spatial resolution and minimized error due to cloud contamination.
Mark T. Richardson, Brian H. Kahn, and Peter Kalmus
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7699–7717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Convection over land often triggers hours after a satellite last passed overhead and measured the state of the atmosphere, and during those hours the atmosphere can change greatly. Here we show that it is possible to reconstruct most of those changes by using weather forecast winds to predict where warm and moist air parcels will travel. The results can be used to better predict where precipitation is likely to happen in the hours after satellite measurements.
Abdanour Irbah, Julien Delanoë, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, David P. Donovan, Pavlos Kollias, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Shannon Mason, Robin J. Hogan, and Aleksandra Tatarevic
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2795–2820, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2795-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2795-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) and ATmospheric LIDar (ATLID) aboard the EarthCARE satellite are used to probe the Earth's atmosphere by measuring cloud and aerosol profiles. ATLID is sensitive to aerosols and small cloud particles and CPR to large ice particles, snowflakes and raindrops. It is the synergy of the measurements of these two instruments that allows a better classification of the atmospheric targets and the description of the associated products, which are the subject of this paper.
Armin Blanke, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Manuel Moser, and Silke Trömel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2089–2106, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2089-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2089-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present an evaluation of current retrieval techniques in the ice phase applied to polarimetric radar measurements with collocated in situ observations of aircraft conducted over the Olympic Mountains, Washington State, during winter 2015. Radar estimates of ice properties agreed most with aircraft observations in regions with pronounced radar signatures, but uncertainties were identified that indicate issues of some retrievals, particularly in warmer temperature regimes.
Pragya Vishwakarma, Julien Delanoë, Susana Jorquera, Pauline Martinet, Frederic Burnet, Alistair Bell, and Jean-Charles Dupont
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1211–1237, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud observations are necessary to characterize the cloud properties at local and global scales. The observations must be translated to cloud geophysical parameters. This paper presents the estimation of liquid water content (LWC) using radar and microwave radiometer (MWR) measurements. Liquid water path from MWR scales LWC and retrieves the scaling factor (ln a). The retrievals are compared with in situ observations. A climatology of ln a is built to estimate LWC using only radar information.
Étienne Vignon, Lea Raillard, Christophe Genthon, Massimo Del Guasta, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12857–12872, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine and resembles to a certain extent the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this study, we use innovative humidity measurements at Concordia Station to study the formation of ice fogs at temperatures <−40°C. We provide observational evidence that ice fogs can form through the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosols, a common nucleation pathway for cirrus clouds.
Alistair Bell, Pauline Martinet, Olivier Caumont, Frédéric Burnet, Julien Delanoë, Susana Jorquera, Yann Seity, and Vinciane Unger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5415–5438, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5415-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5415-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud radars and microwave radiometers offer the potential to improve fog forecasts when assimilated into a high-resolution model. As this process can be complex, a retrieval of model variables is sometimes made as a first step. In this work, results from a 1D-Var algorithm for the retrieval of temperature, humidity and cloud liquid water content are presented. The algorithm is applied first to a synthetic dataset and then to a dataset of real measurements from a recent field campaign.
Meryl Wimmer, Gwendal Rivière, Philippe Arbogast, Jean-Marcel Piriou, Julien Delanoë, Carole Labadie, Quitterie Cazenave, and Jacques Pelon
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 863–882, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-863-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-863-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The effect of deep convection representation on the jet stream above the cold front of an extratropical cyclone is investigated in the global numerical weather prediction model ARPEGE. Two simulations using different deep convection schemes are compared with (re)analysis datasets and NAWDEX airborne observations. A deeper jet stream is observed with the less active scheme. The diabatic origin of this difference is interpreted by backward Lagrangian trajectories and potential vorticity budgets.
Sandrine Bony, Marie Lothon, Julien Delanoë, Pierre Coutris, Jean-Claude Etienne, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Thierry André, Hubert Bellec, Alexandre Baron, Jean-François Bourdinot, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Aurélien Bourdon, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Christophe Caudoux, Patrick Chazette, Michel Cluzeau, Céline Cornet, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Dominique Duchanoy, Cyrille Flamant, Benjamin Fildier, Christophe Gourbeyre, Laurent Guiraud, Tetyana Jiang, Claude Lainard, Christophe Le Gac, Christian Lendroit, Julien Lernould, Thierry Perrin, Frédéric Pouvesle, Pascal Richard, Nicolas Rochetin, Kevin Salaün, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Guillaume Seurat, Bjorn Stevens, Julien Totems, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Gilles Vergez, Jessica Vial, Leonie Villiger, and Raphaela Vogel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2021–2064, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2021-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2021-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The French ATR42 research aircraft participated in the EUREC4A international field campaign that took place in 2020 over the tropical Atlantic, east of Barbados. We present the extensive instrumentation of the aircraft, the research flights and the different measurements. We show that the ATR measurements of humidity, wind, aerosols and cloudiness in the lower atmosphere are robust and consistent with each other. They will make it possible to advance understanding of cloud–climate interactions.
Qing Yue, Eric J. Fetzer, Likun Wang, Brian H. Kahn, Nadia Smith, John M. Blaisdell, Kerry G. Meyer, Mathias Schreier, Bjorn Lambrigtsen, and Irina Tkatcheva
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2099–2123, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2099-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2099-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The self-consistency and continuity of cloud retrievals from infrared sounders and imagers aboard Aqua and SNPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) are examined at the pixel scale. Cloud products are found to be consistent with each other. Differences between sounder products are mainly due to cloud clearing and the treatment of clouds in scenes with unsuccessful atmospheric retrievals. The impact of algorithm and instrument differences is clearly seen in the imager cloud retrievals.
Kamil Mroz, Alessandro Battaglia, Cuong Nguyen, Andrew Heymsfield, Alain Protat, and Mengistu Wolde
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7243–7254, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A method for estimating microphysical properties of ice clouds based on radar measurements is presented. The algorithm exploits the information provided by differences in the radar response at different frequency bands in relation to changes in the snow morphology. The inversion scheme is based on a statistical relation between the radar simulations and the properties of snow calculated from in-cloud sampling.
Gwendal Rivière, Meryl Wimmer, Philippe Arbogast, Jean-Marcel Piriou, Julien Delanoë, Carole Labadie, Quitterie Cazenave, and Jacques Pelon
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 1011–1031, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1011-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1011-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Inacurracies in representing processes occurring at spatial scales smaller than the grid scales of the weather forecast models are important sources of forecast errors. This is the case of deep convection representation in models with 10 km grid spacing. We performed simulations of a real extratropical cyclone using a model with different representations of deep convection. These forecasts lead to different behaviors in the ascending air masses of the cyclone and the jet stream aloft.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, Julien Delanoë, Stuart Fox, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5029–5047, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5029-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5029-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we show how solar radiance observations can be used to validate and further constrain ice cloud microphysics retrieved from the synergy of radar–lidar measurements. Since most radar–lidar retrievals rely on a global assumption about the ice particle shape, ice water content and particle size biases are to be expected in individual cloud regimes. In this work, we identify and correct these biases by reconciling simulated and measured solar radiation reflected from these clouds.
Alistair Bell, Pauline Martinet, Olivier Caumont, Benoît Vié, Julien Delanoë, Jean-Charles Dupont, and Mary Borderies
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4929–4946, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4929-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4929-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents work towards making retrievals on the liquid water content in fog and low clouds. Future retrievals will rely on a radar simulator and high-resolution forecast. In this work, real observations are used to assess the errors associated with the simulator and forecast. A selection method to reduce errors associated with the forecast is proposed. It is concluded that the distribution of errors matches the requirements for future retrievals.
Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Marie Lothon, Jean-Claude Etienne, Pascal Richard, Sandrine Bony, Julien Lernoult, Hubert Bellec, Gilles Vergez, Thierry Perrin, Julien Delanoë, Tetyana Jiang, Frédéric Pouvesle, Claude Lainard, Michel Cluzeau, Laurent Guiraud, Patrice Medina, and Theotime Charoy
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3379–3398, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3379-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3379-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
During the EUREC4A field experiment that took place over the tropical Atlantic Ocean east of Barbados, the French ATR 42 environment research aircraft of SAFIRE aimed to characterize the shallow cloud properties near cloud base and the turbulent structure of the subcloud layer. The high-frequency measurements of wind, temperature and humidity as well as their translation in terms of turbulent fluctuations, turbulent moments and characteristic length scales of turbulence are presented.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Philip G. Brodrick, Matthew D. Lebsock, Mark Richardson, and Robert O. Green
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2827–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere vary dramatically over space and time. Mapping this variability can provide insights into atmospheric processes that help us understand atmospheric processes in the Earth system. Here we use a new measurement strategy based on imaging spectroscopy to map atmospheric water vapor concentrations at very small spatial scales. Experiments demonstrate the accuracy of this technique and some initial results from an airborne remote sensing experiment.
David L. A. Flack, Gwendal Rivière, Ionela Musat, Romain Roehrig, Sandrine Bony, Julien Delanoë, Quitterie Cazenave, and Jacques Pelon
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 233–253, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-233-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-233-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The representation of an extratropical cyclone in simulations of two climate models is studied by comparing them to observations of the international field campaign NAWDEX. We show that the current resolution used to run climate model projections (more than 100 km) is not enough to represent the life cycle accurately, but the use of 50 km resolution is good enough. Despite these encouraging results, cloud properties (partitioning liquid and solid) are found to be far from the observations.
Nicolas Blanchard, Florian Pantillon, Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, and Julien Delanoë
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 37–53, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-37-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-37-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Rare aircraft observations in the warm conveyor belt outflow associated with an extratropical cyclone are complemented with convection-permitting simulations. They reveal a complex tropopause structure with two jet stream cores, from which one is reinforced by bands of negative potential vorticity. They show that negative potential vorticity takes its origin in mid-level convection, which indirectly accelerates the jet stream and, thus, may influence the downstream large-scale circulation.
Frédéric Szczap, Alaa Alkasem, Guillaume Mioche, Valery Shcherbakov, Céline Cornet, Julien Delanoë, Yahya Gour, Olivier Jourdan, Sandra Banson, and Edouard Bray
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 199–221, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-199-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Spaceborne lidar and radar are suitable tools to investigate cloud vertical properties on a global scale. This paper presents the McRALI code that provides simulations of lidar and radar signals from the EarthCARE mission. Regarding radar signals, cloud heterogeneity induces a severe bias in velocity estimates. Regarding lidar signals, multiple scattering is not negligible. Our results also give some insight into the reliability of lidar signal modeling using independent column approximation.
Macey W. Sandford, David R. Thompson, Robert O. Green, Brian H. Kahn, Raffaele Vitulli, Steve Chien, Amruta Yelamanchili, and Winston Olson-Duvall
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 7047–7057, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7047-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate an onboard cloud-screening approach to significantly reduce the amount of cloud-contaminated data transmitted from orbit. We have produced location-specific models that improve performance by taking into account the unique cloud statistics in different latitudes. We have shown that screening clouds based on their location or surface type will improve the ability for a cloud-screening tool to improve the volume of usable science data.
Felipe Toledo, Julien Delanoë, Martial Haeffelin, Jean-Charles Dupont, Susana Jorquera, and Christophe Le Gac
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6853–6875, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6853-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6853-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud observations are essential to rainfall, fog and climate change forecasts. One key instrument for these observations is cloud radar. Yet, discrepancies are found when comparing radars from different ground stations or satellites. Our work presents a calibration methodology for cloud radars based on reference targets, including an analysis of the uncertainty sources. The method enables the calibration of reference instruments to improve the quality and value of the cloud radar network data.
Nicolas Blanchard, Florian Pantillon, Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, and Julien Delanoë
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 617–634, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-617-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-617-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents the first results from the airborne RASTA observations measured during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX). Our combined Eulerian–Lagrangian analysis found three types of organized convection (frontal, banded and mid-level) in the warm conveyor belt (WCB) of the Stalactite cyclone. The results emphasize that convection embedded in WCBs occurs in a coherent and organized manner rather than as isolated cells.
Mark Richardson, Matthew D. Lebsock, James McDuffie, and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4947–4961, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We previously combined CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) lidar data and reflected-sunlight measurements from OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2) for information about low clouds over oceans. The satellites are no longer formation-flying, so this work is a step towards getting new information about these clouds using only OCO-2. We can rapidly and accurately identify liquid oceanic clouds and obtain their height better than a widely used passive sensor.
Annette K. Miltenberger, Paul R. Field, Adrian H. Hill, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7979–8001, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7979-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7979-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Orographic wave clouds offer a natural laboratory to investigate cloud microphysical processes and their representation in atmospheric models. They impact the larger-scale flow by a vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol. We use detailed observations from the ICE-L campaign to evaluate the representation of these clouds in a state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction model and explore the impact of environmental conditions on the vertical redistribution of moisture.
Emmanuel Fontaine, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Delphine Leroy, Julien Delanoë, Alain Protat, Fabien Dezitter, John Walter Strapp, and Lyle Edward Lilie
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3503–3553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3503-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3503-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates properties of ice hydrometeors (shape, concentration, density, and size) in deep convective systems. The analysis focuses on similarities and differences over four locations in the tropical troposphere. It shows that measurements as a function of temperature and radar reflectivity factors tend to be similar in the four types of deep convective systems when concentrations of ice are larger than 0.1 g m-3.
Alexandre Guillaume, Brian H. Kahn, Eric J. Fetzer, Qing Yue, Gerald J. Manipon, Brian D. Wilson, and Hook Hua
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4361–4377, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4361-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A method is described to classify cloud mixtures of cloud top types, termed cloud scenes, using cloud type classification derived from the CloudSat radar. The scale dependence of the cloud scenes is quantified. The cloud scenes are used to assess the characteristics of spatially collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) thermodynamic-phase and ice cloud property retrievals within scenes of varying cloud type complexity.
Constantino Listowski, Julien Delanoë, Amélie Kirchgaessner, Tom Lachlan-Cope, and John King
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6771–6808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6771-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6771-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Using satellite cloud products we investigate the supercooled liquid-water (SLW) distribution Antarctic-wide for the first time. We demonstrate differences between the monthly evolution of the marine low-level mixed-phase clouds and that of the marine low-level pure SLW clouds. In addition to the temperature and sea ice fraction as factors explaining the low-level liquid-cloud seasonal cycle, ice nuclei emissions from open water may also be driving the mixed-phase cloud monthly evolution.
Quitterie Cazenave, Marie Ceccaldi, Julien Delanoë, Jacques Pelon, Silke Groß, and Andrew Heymsfield
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2819–2835, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2819-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2819-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The impact of ice clouds on the water cycle and radiative budget is still uncertain due to the complexity of cloud processes that makes it difficult to acquire adequate observations of ice cloud properties and parameterize them into climate and weather prediction models. In this paper we present the latest refinements brought to the DARDAR-CLOUD product, which contains ice cloud microphysical properties retrieved from the cloud radar and lidar measurements from the A-Train space mission.
Mary Borderies, Olivier Caumont, Julien Delanoë, Véronique Ducrocq, Nadia Fourrié, and Pascal Marquet
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 907–926, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-907-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-907-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The potential of W-band radar reflectivity to improve the quality of analyses and forecasts of heavy precipitation events in the Mediterranean area is investigated. The 1D + 3DVar assimilation method has been adapted to assimilate the W-band reflectivity in the Météo-France kilometre-scale NWP model AROME. The results suggest that the joint assimilation of W-band reflectivity and horizontal wind profiles lead to a slight improvement of moisture analyses and rainfall precipitation forecasts.
Mary Borderies, Olivier Caumont, Julien Delanoë, Véronique Ducrocq, and Nadia Fourrié
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 821–835, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-821-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-821-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The study reports on the impact of the assimilation of wind data from airborne Doppler cloud-profiling radar in a kilometre-scale NWP model on predicting heavy precipitation events in the Mediterranean area. The positive impact of the assimilation of such data is particularly evidenced for a heavy precipitation event and results are slightly encouraging over a 45-day period. In addition, the impact of the length of the assimilation window in a 3h-3DVar assimilation system is investigated.
Jui-Lin Frank Li, Mark Richardson, Wei-Liang Lee, Eric Fetzer, Graeme Stephens, Jonathan Jiang, Yulan Hong, Yi-Hui Wang, Jia-Yuh Yu, and Yinghui Liu
The Cryosphere, 13, 969–980, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-969-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-969-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Observed summer Arctic sea ice retreat has been faster than simulated by the average CMIP5 models, most of which exclude falling ice particles from their radiative calculations.
We use controlled CESM1-CAM5 simulations to show for the first time that snowflakes' radiative effects can accelerate sea ice retreat. September retreat rates are doubled above current CO2 levels, highlighting falling ice radiative effects as a high priority for inclusion in future modelling of the Arctic.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Julien Delanoë, and Matthias Bauer-Pfundstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1815–1839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study gives a summary of lessons learned during the absolute calibration of the airborne, high-power Ka-band cloud radar HAMP MIRA on board the German research aircraft HALO. The first part covers the internal calibration of the instrument where individual instrument components are characterized in the laboratory. In the second part, the internal calibration is validated with external reference sources like the ocean surface backscatter and different air- and spaceborne cloud radars.
Daniel T. McCoy, Paul R. Field, Gregory S. Elsaesser, Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo, Brian H. Kahn, Mark D. Zelinka, Chihiro Kodama, Thorsten Mauritsen, Benoit Vanniere, Malcolm Roberts, Pier L. Vidale, David Saint-Martin, Aurore Voldoire, Rein Haarsma, Adrian Hill, Ben Shipway, and Jonathan Wilkinson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1147–1172, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1147-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The largest single source of uncertainty in the climate sensitivity predicted by global climate models is how much low-altitude clouds change as the climate warms. Models predict that the amount of liquid within and the brightness of low-altitude clouds increase in the extratropics with warming. We show that increased fluxes of moisture into extratropical storms in the midlatitudes explain the majority of the observed trend and the modeled increase in liquid water within these storms.
Odran Sourdeval, Edward Gryspeerdt, Martina Krämer, Tom Goren, Julien Delanoë, Armin Afchine, Friederike Hemmer, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14327–14350, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14327-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14327-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The number concentration of ice crystals (Ni) is a key cloud property that remains very uncertain due to difficulties in determining it using satellites. This lack of global observational constraints limits our ability to constrain this property in models responsible for predicting future climate. This pair of papers fills this gap by showing and analyzing the first rigorously evaluated global climatology of Ni, leading to new information shedding light on the processes that control high clouds.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Odran Sourdeval, Johannes Quaas, Julien Delanoë, Martina Krämer, and Philipp Kühne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14351–14370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14351-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14351-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The concentration of ice crystals in a cloud affects both the properties and the life cycle of the cloud. This work uses a new satellite retrieval to investigate controls on the ice crystal concentration at a global scale. Both temperature and vertical wind speed in a cloud have a strong impact on the concentration of ice crystals. The ice crystal number is also related to the aerosol environment; defining this relation opens up new ways to investigate human impacts on clouds and the climate.
Jesse Dorrestijn, Brian H. Kahn, João Teixeira, and Fredrick W. Irion
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2717–2733, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2717-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite observations are used to quantify the scale-dependent variance of temperature and water vapor in the atmosphere. The scale dependence is much more variable than previously thought, using a new methodology based on individual satellite swaths. A break in the scale dependence is found to vary from less than 100 to greater than 1000 km. These new variance scaling results are of high importance for improving climate GCM subgrid parameterizations.
Christopher R. Yost, Kristopher M. Bedka, Patrick Minnis, Louis Nguyen, J. Walter Strapp, Rabindra Palikonda, Konstantin Khlopenkov, Douglas Spangenberg, William L. Smith Jr., Alain Protat, and Julien Delanoe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1615–1637, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1615-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1615-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Accretion of cloud ice particles upon engine or instrument probe surfaces can cause engine malfunction or even power loss, and therefore it is important for aircraft to avoid flight through clouds that may have produced large quantities of ice particles. This study introduces a method by which potentially hazardous conditions can be detected using satellite imagery. It was found that potentially hazardous conditions were often located near or beneath very cold clouds and thunderstorm updrafts.
Mark Richardson and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1515–1528, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1515-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1515-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This study analyses how much information can be obtained about liquid clouds over oceans using measurements of reflected sunlight by the OCO-2 satellite. We find that using 75 of the 853 functioning oxygen A-band channels is sufficient to retrieve cloud optical depth, and the height and thickness of the cloud in terms of atmospheric pressure coordinates, to better than 3 hPa.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Robert O. Green, Steve A. Chien, Elizabeth M. Middleton, and Daniel Q. Tran
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1019–1030, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1019-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The distribution of ice and liquid particles in clouds (i.e., their thermodynamic phase) has a large impact on Earth's climate. We report a global high spatial resolution survey of cloud phase based on a decade of data from the Hyperion orbital imaging spectrometer. Seasonal and latitudinal trends corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). Most variance observed at climate model grid scales of 100 km is explained by spatial structure at finer spatial resolutions.
Fredrick W. Irion, Brian H. Kahn, Mathias M. Schreier, Eric J. Fetzer, Evan Fishbein, Dejian Fu, Peter Kalmus, R. Chris Wilson, Sun Wong, and Qing Yue
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 971–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a new algorithm for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) that uses its thermal infrared spectra directly rather than using “cloud-clearing.” By additionally modelling clouds within an AIRS field-of-view, we retrieve temperature and water vapor profiles on the AIRS ~13.5 km horizontal footprint (at nadir) rather than the ~45 km footprint of cloud-cleared spectra. Initial validation is presented, and avenues for future development are discussed.
Guillaume Mioche, Olivier Jourdan, Julien Delanoë, Christophe Gourbeyre, Guy Febvre, Régis Dupuy, Marie Monier, Frédéric Szczap, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, and Jean-François Gayet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12845–12869, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12845-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12845-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This paper is a study about the mixed-phase clouds frequently occurring in the Arctic region. It is based on airborne measurements and highlights the microphysical properties of these particular clouds composed of liquid droplets at cloud top and ice crystals below precipitating down to the surface. This work may help to improve the representation of the mixed-phase clouds in numerical prediction models as well as the retrieval of their properties from remote sensing observations.
Jean-Christophe Raut, Louis Marelle, Jerome D. Fast, Jennie L. Thomas, Bernadett Weinzierl, Katharine S. Law, Larry K. Berg, Anke Roiger, Richard C. Easter, Katharina Heimerl, Tatsuo Onishi, Julien Delanoë, and Hans Schlager
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10969–10995, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10969-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10969-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We study the cross-polar transport of plumes from Siberian fires to the Arctic in summer, both in terms of transport pathways and efficiency of deposition processes. Those plumes containing soot may originate from anthropogenic and biomass burning sources in mid-latitude regions and may impact the Arctic climate by depositing on snow and ice surfaces. We evaluate the role of the respective source contributions, investigate the transport of plumes and treat pathway-dependent removal of particles.
Jing Yang, Zhien Wang, and Andrew Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-714, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-714, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows the freezing time is longer for large drops than small drops. Due to instrumental limitations, freezing drops cannot be identified until they exhibit obvious shape deformation. In models, drop freezing is assumed to be instantaneous, which is not realistic; thus, the model yields a broader
first icePSD than is observed. This study allows us to interpret the observed ice PSDs in developing convective clouds, and notes the deficiency of instantaneous drop freezing in models.
Eivind G. Wærsted, Martial Haeffelin, Jean-Charles Dupont, Julien Delanoë, and Philippe Dubuisson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10811–10835, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10811-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10811-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Heating and cooling of fog layers by solar and terrestrial radiation influence the fog life cycle. We quantify these radiative impacts on fog liquid water using detailed cloud radar observations of seven fog events as well as sensitivity studies. We find that the impact of radiation is affected mainly by fog optical thickness, atmospheric humidity and the presence of clouds above the fog. Observing these quantities in real time can therefore be useful for forecasting fog dissipation.
Brian H. Kahn, Georgios Matheou, Qing Yue, Thomas Fauchez, Eric J. Fetzer, Matthew Lebsock, João Martins, Mathias M. Schreier, Kentaroh Suzuki, and João Teixeira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9451–9468, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The global-scale patterns of subtropical marine boundary layer clouds are investigated with coincident NASA A-train satellite and reanalysis data. This study is novel in that all data are used at the finest spatial and temporal resolution possible. Our results are consistent with surface-based data and suggest that the combination of satellite and reanalysis data sets have potential to add to the global context of our understanding of the subtropical cumulus-dominated marine boundary layer.
Ulrich Schumann, Robert Baumann, Darrel Baumgardner, Sarah T. Bedka, David P. Duda, Volker Freudenthaler, Jean-Francois Gayet, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Patrick Minnis, Markus Quante, Ehrhard Raschke, Hans Schlager, Margarita Vázquez-Navarro, Christiane Voigt, and Zhien Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 403–438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-403-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-403-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The initially linear clouds often seen behind aircraft are known as contrails. Contrails are prototype cirrus clouds forming under well-known conditions, but with less certain life cycle and climate effects. This paper collects contrail data from a large set of measurements and compares them among each other and with models. The observations show consistent contrail properties over a wide range of aircraft and atmosphere conditions. The dataset is available for further research.
Jing Yang, Zhien Wang, Andrew J. Heymsfield, and Jeffrey R. French
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10159–10173, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10159-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10159-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides statistics of the vertical air motion characteristics in convective clouds using aircraft in situ measurements from three field campaigns. Small-scale drafts are frequently observed and make important contributions to total air mass flux. The probability density functions and profiles of the observed vertical velocity and air mass flux are provided. The differences among the three field campaigns are compared. Factors influencing the vertical air motions are discussed.
Martin Schnaiter, Emma Järvinen, Paul Vochezer, Ahmed Abdelmonem, Robert Wagner, Olivier Jourdan, Guillaume Mioche, Valery N. Shcherbakov, Carl G. Schmitt, Ugo Tricoli, Zbigniew Ulanowski, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5091–5110, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5091-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5091-2016, 2016
L. Wu, H. Su, R. G. Fovell, T. J. Dunkerton, Z. Wang, and B. H. Kahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 14041–14053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-14041-2015, 2015
G. Mioche, O. Jourdan, M. Ceccaldi, and J. Delanoë
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 2445–2461, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2445-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2445-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents a characterization of the vertical, spatial and seasonal variability of Arctic clouds and mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) over the entire Arctic region. MPC properties in the region of the Svalbard archipelago (78°N, 15°E) are also investigated. The occurrence frequency of clouds and MPCs are determined from CALIPSO/CLOUDSAT measurements processed with the DARDAR retrieval algorithm which allows for a reliable cloud thermodynamic phase classification.
C. Liu, P. Yang, P. Minnis, N. Loeb, S. Kato, A. Heymsfield, and C. Schmitt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13719–13737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13719-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13719-2014, 2014
Short summary
Short summary
An ice cloud model is developed by assuming an ice cloud to be an ensemble of columns and aggregates with specific habit fractions at each particle size bin. The microphysical and optical properties of this two-habit model (THM) are compared with both laboratory and in situ measurements. When the THM is applied to ice cloud property retrieval, excellent spectral consistency is achieved. A comparison between observed and theoretical polarized reflectivities illustrates the applicability of THM.
E. Fontaine, A. Schwarzenboeck, J. Delanoë, W. Wobrock, D. Leroy, R. Dupuy, C. Gourbeyre, and A. Protat
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11367–11392, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11367-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11367-2014, 2014
T. Eidhammer, H. Morrison, A. Bansemer, A. Gettelman, and A. J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10103–10118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10103-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10103-2014, 2014
M. M. Schreier, B. H. Kahn, K. Sušelj, J. Karlsson, S. C. Ou, Q. Yue, and S. L. Nasiri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3573–3587, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3573-2014, 2014
M. Diao, M. A. Zondlo, A. J. Heymsfield, L. M. Avallone, M. E. Paige, S. P. Beaton, T. Campos, and D. C. Rogers
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2639–2656, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2639-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2639-2014, 2014
C. Jouan, J. Pelon, E. Girard, G. Ancellet, J. P. Blanchet, and J. Delanoë
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1205–1224, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1205-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1205-2014, 2014
J.-F. Gayet, V. Shcherbakov, L. Bugliaro, A. Protat, J. Delanoë, J. Pelon, and A. Garnier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 899–912, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-899-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-899-2014, 2014
B. H. Kahn, F. W. Irion, V. T. Dang, E. M. Manning, S. L. Nasiri, C. M. Naud, J. M. Blaisdell, M. M. Schreier, Q. Yue, K. W. Bowman, E. J. Fetzer, G. C. Hulley, K. N. Liou, D. Lubin, S. C. Ou, J. Susskind, Y. Takano, B. Tian, and J. R. Worden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 399–426, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Impact of weather systems on observed precipitation at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard)
Analysis of ship emission effects on clouds over the southeastern Atlantic using geostationary satellite observations
Relationship between latent and radiative heating fields of tropical cloud systems using synergistic satellite observations
Shallow cloud variability in Houston, Texas, during the ESCAPE and TRACER field experiments
How does the lifetime of detrained cirrus impact the high-cloud radiative effect in the tropics?
Anvil–radiation diurnal interaction: shortwave radiative-heating destabilization driving the diurnal variation of convective anvil outflow and its modulation on the radiative cancellation
Impact of wildfire smoke on Arctic cirrus formation – Part 1: Analysis of MOSAiC 2019–2020 observations
A new aggregation and riming discrimination algorithm based on polarimetric weather radars
Study of optical scattering properties and direct radiative effects of high-altitude cirrus clouds in Barcelona, Spain, with 4 years of lidar measurements
Co-variability drives the inverted-V sensitivity between liquid water path and droplet concentrations
Life cycle studies and liquid-phase characterization of Arctic mixed-phase clouds: MOSAiC 2019–2020 results
Lightning declines over shipping lanes following regulation of fuel sulfur emissions
Post-return stroke VHF electromagnetic activity in north-western Mediterranean cloud-to-ground lightning flashes
A machine learning-based perspective on deep convective clouds and their organisation in 3D. Part I: Influence of deep convective cores on the cloud life-cycle
A machine learning-based perspective on deep convective clouds and their organisation in 3D. Part II: Spatial-temporal patterns of convective organisation
Technical note: Applicability of physics-based and machine-learning-based algorithms of a geostationary satellite in retrieving the diurnal cycle of cloud base height
Observing convective activities in complex convective organizations and their contributions to precipitation and anvil cloud amounts
Advances in CALIPSO (IIR) cirrus cloud property retrievals – Part 1: Methods and testing
Advances in CALIPSO (IIR) cirrus cloud property retrievals – Part 2: Global estimates of the fraction of cirrus clouds affected by homogeneous ice nucleation
Weak liquid water path response in ship tracks
Air mass history linked to the development of Arctic mixed-phase clouds
Distinct structure, radiative effects, and precipitation characteristics of deep convection systems in the Tibetan Plateau compared to the tropical Indian Ocean
The correlation between Arctic sea ice, cloud phase and radiation using A-Train satellites
Technical note: Retrieval of the supercooled liquid fraction in mixed-phase clouds from Himawari-8 observations
Characterisation of low-base and mid-base clouds and their thermodynamic phase over the Southern Ocean and Arctic marine regions
A survey of radiative and physical properties of North Atlantic mesoscale cloud morphologies from multiple identification methodologies
Extensive coverage of ultrathin tropical tropopause layer cirrus clouds revealed by balloon-borne lidar observations
The effects of warm-air intrusions in the high Arctic on cirrus clouds
The characteristics of cloud macro-parameters caused by the seeder–feeder process inside clouds measured by millimeter-wave cloud radar in Xi'an, China
Shallow- and deep-convection characteristics in the greater Houston, Texas, area using cell tracking methodology
Observations of the macrophysical properties of cumulus cloud fields over the tropical western Pacific and their connection to meteorological variables
A Lagrangian perspective on the lifecycle and cloud radiative effect of deep convective clouds over Africa
Daytime variation in the aerosol indirect effect for warm marine boundary layer clouds in the eastern North Atlantic
Technical note: Bimodal parameterizations of in situ ice cloud particle size distributions
Inter-relations of precipitation, aerosols, and clouds over Andalusia, southern Spain, revealed by the Andalusian Global ObseRvatory of the Atmosphere (AGORA)
On the relationship between mesoscale cellular convection and meteorological forcing: comparing the Southern Ocean against the North Pacific
Aerosol-related effects on the occurrence of heterogeneous ice formation over Lauder, New Zealand ∕ Aotearoa
Low-level Arctic clouds: a blind zone in our knowledge of the radiation budget
Climatologically invariant scale invariance seen in distributions of cloud horizontal sizes
Variability and properties of liquid-dominated clouds over the ice-free and sea-ice-covered Arctic Ocean
Asymmetries in cloud microphysical properties ascribed to sea ice leads via water vapour transport in the central Arctic
Quantifying the dependence of drop spectrum width on cloud drop number concentration for cloud remote sensing
The evolution of deep convective systems and their associated cirrus outflows
Wildfire smoke triggers cirrus formation: lidar observations over the eastern Mediterranean
Rapid saturation of cloud water adjustments to shipping emissions
Sensitivities of cloud radiative effects to large-scale meteorology and aerosols from global observations
Distinct secondary ice production processes observed in radar Doppler spectra: insights from a case study
Investigating the development of clouds within marine cold-air outbreaks
Detection of large-scale cloud microphysical changes within a major shipping corridor after implementation of the International Maritime Organization 2020 fuel sulfur regulations
Examining cloud vertical structure and radiative effects from satellite retrievals and evaluation of CMIP6 scenarios
Kerstin Ebell, Christian Buhren, Rosa Gierens, Giovanni Chellini, Melanie Lauer, Andreas Walbröl, Sandro Dahlke, Pavel Krobot, and Mario Mech
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7315–7342, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7315-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7315-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Ground-based observations of precipitation are rare in the Arctic. Since 2017, additional temporally highly resolved precipitation measurements have been carried out by a precipitation gauge and an optical precipitation sensor at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. These new data facilitate the distinction between liquid and solid precipitation. Using reanalysis data, we also find that water vapor transport contributes strongly to precipitation and especially to extreme precipitation events.
Nikos Benas, Jan Fokke Meirink, Rob Roebeling, and Martin Stengel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6957–6973, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6957-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6957-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines how ship emissions affect clouds over a shipping corridor in the southeastern Atlantic. Using satellite data from 2004 to 2023, we find that ship emissions increase the number of cloud droplets while reducing their size and slightly decrease cloud water content. Effects on seasonal and daily patterns vary based on regional factors. The impact of emissions weakened after stricter regulations were implemented in 2020.
Xiaoting Chen, Claudia J. Stubenrauch, and Giulio Mandorli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6857–6880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6857-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6857-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Strongly precipitating mesoscale convective systems produce a large amount of diabatic heating of the atmosphere, influencing atmospheric circulation. Their complete 3D description, attained by machine learning techniques in combination with satellite observations, has enabled a detailed study of the relationship between latent and radiative heating in these cloud systems. Convective organization increases both the average and the vertical gradient of radiative effects of the mesoscale convective systems.
Zackary Mages, Pavlos Kollias, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Paloma Borque, and Mariko Oue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6025–6045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6025-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6025-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Convective clouds are a key component of the climate system. Using remote sensing observations during two field experiments in Houston, Texas, we identify four diurnal patterns of shallow convective clouds. We find areas more frequently experiencing shallow convective clouds, and we find areas where the vertical extent of shallow convective clouds is higher and where they are more likely to precipitate. This provides insight into the complicated environment that forms these clouds in Houston.
George Horner and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5617–5631, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5617-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5617-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work tracks the life cycle of thin cirrus clouds that flow out of tropical convective storms. These cirrus clouds are found to have a warming effect on the atmosphere over their whole lifetime. Thin cirrus that originate from land origin convection warm more than those of ocean origin. Moreover, if the lifetime of these cirrus clouds increase, the warming they exert over their whole lifetime also increases. These results help us understand how these clouds might change in a future climate.
Zhenquan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5021–5039, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5021-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5021-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Convective anvil outflow directly driven by the shortwave radiative-heating destabilization is strong during the daytime, whereas the outflow contributed by the longwave radiative cooling through radiative destabilization and circulation is weak. This leads to the diurnal variation in the convection-producing anvil clouds, which in turn can influence the radiative energy budget.
Albert Ansmann, Cristofer Jimenez, Johanna Roschke, Johannes Bühl, Kevin Ohneiser, Ronny Engelmann, Martin Radenz, Hannes Griesche, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, Daniel A. Knopf, Sandro Dahlke, Tom Gaudek, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4847–4866, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4847-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4847-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we focus on the potential impact of wildfire smoke on cirrus formation. For the first time, state-of-the-art aerosol and cirrus observations with lidar and radar, presented in this paper (Part 1 of a series of two articles), are closely linked to the comprehensive modeling of gravity-wave-induced ice nucleation in cirrus evolution processes, presented in a companion paper (Part 2). We found a clear impact of wildfire smoke on cirrus evolution.
Armin Blanke, Mathias Gergely, and Silke Trömel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4167–4184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4167-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4167-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The area-wide radar-based distinction between riming and aggregation is crucial for model microphysics and data assimilation. This study introduces a discrimination algorithm based on polarimetric radar networks only. Exploiting the unique opportunity to link fall velocities from Doppler spectra to polarimetric variables in an operational setting enables us to set up and evaluate a well-performing machine learning algorithm.
Cristina Gil-Díaz, Michäel Sicard, Odran Sourdeval, Athulya Saiprakash, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Adolfo Comerón, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, and Daniel Camilo Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3445–3464, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3445-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3445-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a comprehensive analysis of optical scattering properties and direct radiative effects of cirrus clouds based on 4 years of continuous ground-based lidar measurements with the Barcelona MPLNET lidar. A novel approach of the self-consistent scattering model for cirrus clouds is presented to determine their optical scattering properties at different wavelengths, and their direct radiative effects are calculated with the discrete ordinates method embedded in the ARTDECO package.
Tom Goren, Goutam Choudhury, Jan Kretzschmar, and Isabel McCoy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3413–3423, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3413-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3413-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Many studies have identified an inverted-V relationship between the liquid water path (LWP) and droplet concentration (Nd), where LWP increases and then decreases with Nd. Using satellite observations and meteorological data, we demonstrate that the inverted V primarily reflects co-variability between LWP and Nd. We suggest taking a holistic approach that considers this co-variability when assessing the climatological sensitivity of LWP to anthropogenic aerosols.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Hannes Griesche, Ronny Engelmann, Martin Radenz, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, Daniel Alexander Knopf, Sandro Dahlke, Johannes Bühl, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-967, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-967, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using advanced remote sensing on the icebreaker Polarstern, we studied mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) in the central Arctic during the 2019–2020 MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) campaign. For the first time, lidar and radar techniques tracked the year-round evolution of liquid and ice phases in MPCs. The study provides cloud statistics and explores key processes driving cloud longevity, offering new insights into Arctic cloud formation and persistence.
Chris J. Wright, Joel A. Thornton, Lyatt Jaeglé, Yang Cao, Yannian Zhu, Jihu Liu, Randall Jones II, Robert Holzworth, Daniel Rosenfeld, Robert Wood, Peter Blossey, and Daehyun Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2937–2946, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2937-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2937-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol particles influence clouds, which exert a large forcing on solar radiation and freshwater. To better understand the mechanisms by which aerosol influences thunderstorms, we look at the two busiest shipping lanes in the world, where recent regulations have reduced sulfur emissions by nearly an order of magnitude. We find that the reduction in emissions has been accompanied by a dramatic decrease in both lightning and the number of droplets in clouds over the shipping lanes.
Andrea Kolínská, Ivana Kolmašová, Eric Defer, Ondřej Santolík, and Stéphane Pédeboy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1791–1803, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1791-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1791-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We contribute to understanding differences in lightning flashes of opposite polarity by explaining distinct in-cloud processes after return strokes. Using data from multiple sensors, including individual Lightning Mapping Array stations, we reveal that positive flashes sustain strong high-frequency radiation due to the recharging of their in-cloud leader; this is in contrast to negative flashes, for which this activity declines rapidly.
Sarah Brüning and Holger Tost
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-374, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-374, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study analyses the temporal variability and life-cycle of spatially organised convective clouds, frequently associated with severe weather. We derive the data from a machine learning-based 3D extrapolation of 2D satellite data. The results highlight the impact of convective organisation on horizontal and vertical cloud properties and a prolonged cloud life-cycle. Overall, our findings emphasise a more intense activity over land but enhanced seasonal changes over the ocean.
Sarah Brüning and Holger Tost
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-376, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-376, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The connection between convective cloud organisation and severe weather demands a robust characterisation of hazardous clouds. This study sets on to investigate spatio-temporal patterns and regional hotspots of convective organisation using machine learning-based 3D data and combining different organisation indices. While limitations arise due to overlapping effects of isolated and clustered convection, we emphasise the impact of a surface-specific seasonality that depends on the hemisphere.
Mengyuan Wang, Min Min, Jun Li, Han Lin, Yongen Liang, Binlong Chen, Zhigang Yao, Na Xu, and Miao Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14239–14256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14239-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14239-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Although machine learning technology is advanced in the field of satellite remote sensing, the physical inversion algorithm based on cloud base height can better capture the daily variation in the characteristics of the cloud base.
Zhenquan Wang and Jian Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13811–13831, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13811-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13811-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical convection organizations are normally connected complexes of many convective activities. In this work, a novel variable-brightness-temperature segment tracking algorithm is established to partition the complex convective organizations into structural components of single cold cores for tracking separately. The duration, precipitation and anvil amount of the tracked organization segments have strong loglinear relationships with brightness temperature structures.
David L. Mitchell, Anne Emilie Garnier, and Sarah Woods
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3790, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3790, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Motivated by the need to better understand the physics of cirrus clouds, a satellite retrieval for cirrus cloud ice water content, ice particle number concentration and effective size was developed by exploiting relationships between cirrus cloud measurements made during field campaigns and cloud radiative properties measured by satellite. These retrievals tested favorably when compared against corresponding aircraft measurements and were found to depend on the visual opacity of the cloud.
David L. Mitchell and Anne Garnier
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3814, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3814, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Arguably the greatest knowledge gap in cirrus cloud research is the relative roles of homogeneous and heterogeneous ice nucleation in cirrus cloud formation. Since this depends on temperature, latitude, season, and topography, a satellite remote sensing method was developed to measure cirrus cloud properties. It was found that cirrus clouds strongly affected by homogeneous ice nucleation may account for over half of the overall cirrus cloud radiative effect during winter outside the tropics.
Anna Tippett, Edward Gryspeerdt, Peter Manshausen, Philip Stier, and Tristan W. P. Smith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13269–13283, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13269-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13269-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ship emissions can form artificially brightened clouds, known as ship tracks, and provide us with an opportunity to investigate how aerosols interact with clouds. Previous studies that used ship tracks suggest that clouds can experience large increases in the amount of water (LWP) from aerosols. Here, we show that there is a bias in previous research and that, when we account for this bias, the LWP response to aerosols is much weaker than previously reported.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11115–11132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11115-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11115-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The formation of mixed-phase clouds during marine cold-air outbreaks is not well understood. Our study, using satellite data and Lagrangian trajectories, reveals that the occurrence of these clouds depends on both time and temperature, influenced partly by the presence of biological ice-nucleating particles. This highlights the importance of comprehending local aerosol dynamics for precise modelling of cloud-phase transitions in the Arctic.
Yuxin Zhao, Jiming Li, Deyu Wen, Yarong Li, Yuan Wang, and Jianping Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9435–9457, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9435-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9435-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study identifies deep convection systems (DCSs), including deep convection cores and anvils, over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and tropical Indian Ocean (TO). The DCSs over the TP are less frequent, showing narrower and thinner cores and anvils compared to those over the TO. TP DCSs show a stronger longwave cloud radiative effect at the surface and in the low-level atmosphere. Distinct aerosol–cloud–precipitation interaction is found in TP DCSs, probably due to the cold cloud bases.
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
Short summary
Better characterizing the relationship between sea ice and clouds is key to understanding Arctic climate because clouds and sea ice affect surface radiation and modulate Arctic surface warming. Our results indicate that Arctic liquid clouds robustly increase in response to sea ice decrease. This increase has a cooling effect on the surface because more solar radiation is reflected back to space, and it should contribute to dampening future Arctic surface warming.
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
Short summary
The supercooled liquid fraction (SLF) in mixed-phase clouds is retrieved for the first time using passive geostationary satellite observations based on differences in liquid droplet and ice particle radiative properties. The retrieved results are comparable to global distributions observed by active instruments, and the feasibility of the retrieval method to analyze the observed trends of the SLF has been validated.
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
Short summary
Uncertainty with respect to cloud phases over the Southern Ocean and Arctic marine regions leads to large uncertainties in the radiation budget of weather and climate models. This study investigates the phases of low-base and mid-base clouds using satellite-based remote sensing data. A comprehensive analysis of the correlation of cloud phase with various parameters, such as temperature, aerosols, sea ice, vertical and horizontal cloud extent, and cloud radiative effect, is presented.
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
Short summary
Cloud types are determined using machine learning image classifiers applied to satellite imagery for 1 year in the North Atlantic. This survey of these cloud types shows that the climate impact of a cloud scene is, in part, a function of cloud type. Each type displays a different mix of thick and thin cloud cover, with the fraction of thin cloud cover having the strongest impact on the clouds' radiative effect. Future studies must account for differing properties and processes among cloud types.
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
Short summary
Upper tropical clouds have a strong impact on Earth's climate but are challenging to observe. We report the first long-duration observations of tropical clouds from lidars flying on board stratospheric balloons. Comparisons with spaceborne observations reveal the enhanced sensitivity of balloon-borne lidar to optically thin cirrus. These clouds, which have a significant coverage and lie in the uppermost troposphere, are linked with the dehydration of air masses on their way to the stratosphere.
Georgios Dekoutsidis, Martin Wirth, and Silke Groß
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5971–5987, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5971-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5971-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
For decades the earth's temperature has been rising. The Arctic regions are warming faster. Cirrus clouds can contribute to this phenomenon. During warm-air intrusions, air masses are transported into the Arctic from the mid-latitudes. The HALO-(AC)3 campaign took place to measure cirrus during intrusion events and under normal conditions. We study the two cloud types based on these measurements and find differences in their geometry, relative humidity distribution and vertical structure.
Huige Di and Yun Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5783–5801, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5783-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We observed the seeder–feeder process among double-layer clouds using a cloud radar and microwave radiometer. By defining the parameters of the seeding depth and seeding time of the upper cloud affecting the lower cloud, we find that the cloud particle terminal velocity is significantly enhanced during the seeder–feeder period, and the lower the height and thinner the thickness of the height difference between double-layer clouds, the lower the height and thicker the thickness of seeding depth.
Kristofer S. Tuftedal, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Mariko Oue, and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5637–5657, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5637-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5637-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study analyzed coastal convective cells from June through September 2018–2021. The cells were classified and their lifecycles were analyzed to better understand their characteristics. Features such as convective-core growth, for example, are shown. The study found differences in the initiation location of shallow convection and in the aerosol loading in deep convective environments. This work provides a foundation for future analyses of convection or other tracked events elsewhere.
Michie Vianca De Vera, Larry Di Girolamo, Guangyu Zhao, Robert M. Rauber, Stephen W. Nesbitt, and Greg M. McFarquhar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5603–5623, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5603-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical oceanic low clouds remain a dominant source of uncertainty in cloud feedback in climate models due to their macrophysical properties (fraction, size, height, shape, distribution) being misrepresented. High-resolution satellite imagery over the Philippine oceans is used here to characterize cumulus macrophysical properties and their relationship to meteorological variables. Such information can act as a benchmark for cloud models and can improve low-cloud generation in climate models.
William K. Jones, Martin Stengel, and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5165–5180, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5165-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Storm clouds cover large areas of the tropics. These clouds both reflect incoming sunlight and trap heat from the atmosphere below, regulating the temperature of the tropics. Over land, storm clouds occur in the late afternoon and evening and so exist both during the daytime and at night. Changes in this timing could upset the balance of the respective cooling and heating effects of these clouds. We find that isolated storms have a larger effect on this balance than their small size suggests.
Shaoyue Qiu, Xue Zheng, David Painemal, Christopher R. Terai, and Xiaoli Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2913–2935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2913-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2913-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The aerosol indirect effect (AIE) depends on cloud states, which exhibit significant diurnal variations in the northeastern Atlantic. Yet the AIE diurnal cycle remains poorly understood. Using satellite retrievals, we find a pronounced “U-shaped” diurnal variation in the AIE, which is contributed to by the transition of cloud states combined with the lagged cloud responses. This suggests that polar-orbiting satellites with overpass times at noon underestimate daytime mean values of the AIE.
Irene Bartolomé García, Odran Sourdeval, Reinhold Spang, and Martina Krämer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1699–1716, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1699-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1699-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
How many ice crystals of each size are in a cloud is a key parameter for the retrieval of cloud properties. The distribution of ice crystals is obtained from in situ measurements and used to create parameterizations that can be used when analyzing the remote-sensing data. Current parameterizations are based on data sets that do not include reliable measurements of small crystals, but in our study we use a data set that includes very small ice crystals to improve these parameterizations.
Wenyue Wang, Klemens Hocke, Leonardo Nania, Alberto Cazorla, Gloria Titos, Renaud Matthey, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Agustín Millares, and Francisco Navas-Guzmán
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1571–1585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1571-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1571-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The south-central interior of Andalusia experiences complex precipitation patterns as a result of the semi-arid Mediterranean climate and the influence of Saharan dust. This study monitored the inter-relations between aerosols, clouds, meteorological variables, and precipitation systems using ground-based remote sensing and in situ instruments.
Francisco Lang, Steven T. Siems, Yi Huang, Tahereh Alinejadtabrizi, and Luis Ackermann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1451–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1451-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Marine low-level clouds play a crucial role in the Earth's energy balance, trapping heat from the surface and reflecting sunlight back into space. These clouds are distinguishable by their large-scale spatial structures, primarily characterized as hexagonal patterns with either filled (closed) or empty (open) cells. Utilizing satellite observations, these two cloud type patterns have been categorized over the Southern Ocean and North Pacific Ocean through a pattern recognition program.
Julian Hofer, Patric Seifert, J. Ben Liley, Martin Radenz, Osamu Uchino, Isamu Morino, Tetsu Sakai, Tomohiro Nagai, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1265–1280, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1265-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
An 11-year dataset of polarization lidar observations from Lauder, New Zealand / Aotearoa, was used to distinguish the thermodynamic phase of natural clouds. The cloud dataset was separated to assess the impact of air mass origin on the frequency of heterogeneous ice formation. Ice formation efficiency in clouds above Lauder was found to be lower than in the polluted Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes but higher than in very clean and pristine environments, such as Punta Arenas in southern Chile.
Hannes Jascha Griesche, Carola Barrientos-Velasco, Hartwig Deneke, Anja Hünerbein, Patric Seifert, and Andreas Macke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 597–612, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-597-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-597-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Arctic is strongly affected by climate change and the role of clouds therein is not yet completely understood. Measurements from the Arctic expedition PS106 were used to simulate radiative fluxes with and without clouds at very low altitudes (below 165 m), and their radiative effect was calculated to be 54 Wm-2. The low heights of these clouds make them hard to observe. This study shows the importance of accurate measurements and simulations of clouds and gives suggestions for improvements.
Thomas D. DeWitt, Timothy J. Garrett, Karlie N. Rees, Corey Bois, Steven K. Krueger, and Nicolas Ferlay
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 109–122, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-109-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-109-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Viewed from space, a defining feature of Earth's atmosphere is the wide spectrum of cloud sizes. A recent study predicted the distribution of cloud sizes, and this paper compares the prediction to observations. Although there is nuance in viewing perspective, we find robust agreement with theory across different climatological conditions, including land–ocean contrasts, time of year, or latitude, suggesting a minor role for Coriolis forces, aerosol loading, or surface temperature.
Marcus Klingebiel, André Ehrlich, Elena Ruiz-Donoso, Nils Risse, Imke Schirmacher, Evelyn Jäkel, Michael Schäfer, Kevin Wolf, Mario Mech, Manuel Moser, Christiane Voigt, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15289–15304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15289-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15289-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we explain how we use aircraft measurements from two Arctic research campaigns to identify cloud properties (like droplet size) over sea-ice and ice-free ocean. To make sure that our measurements make sense, we compare them with other observations. Our results show, e.g., larger cloud droplets in early summer than in spring. Moreover, the cloud droplets are also larger over ice-free ocean than compared to sea ice. In the future, our data can be used to improve climate models.
Pablo Saavedra Garfias, Heike Kalesse-Los, Luisa von Albedyll, Hannes Griesche, and Gunnar Spreen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14521–14546, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14521-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14521-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
An important Arctic climate process is the release of heat fluxes from sea ice openings to the atmosphere that influence the clouds. The characterization of this process is the objective of this study. Using synergistic observations from the MOSAiC expedition, we found that single-layer cloud properties show significant differences when clouds are coupled or decoupled to the water vapour transport which is used as physical link between the upwind sea ice openings and the cloud under observation.
Matthew D. Lebsock and Mikael Witte
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14293–14305, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14293-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14293-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper evaluates measurements of cloud drop size distributions made from airplanes. We find that as the number of cloud drops increases the distribution of the cloud drop sizes narrows. The data are used to develop a simple equation that relates the drop number to the width of the drop sizes. We then use this equation to demonstrate that existing approaches to observe the drop number from satellites contain errors that can be corrected by including the new relationship.
George Horner and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14239–14253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14239-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical deep convective clouds, and the thin cirrus (ice) clouds that flow out from them, are important for modulating the energy budget of the tropical atmosphere. This work uses a new method to track the evolution of the properties of these clouds across their entire lifetimes. We find these clouds cool the atmosphere in the first 6 h before switching to a warming regime after the deep convective core has dissipated, which is sustained beyond 120 h from the initial convective event.
Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Daniel A. Knopf, Argyro Nisantzi, Johannes Bühl, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Dragos Ene, Ulla Wandinger, and Diofantos Hadjimitsis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14097–14114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14097-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14097-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
For the first time, rather clear evidence is found that wildfire smoke particles can trigger strong cirrus formation. This finding is of importance because intensive and large wildfires may occur increasingly often in the future as climate change proceeds. Based on lidar observations in Cyprus in autumn 2020, we provide detailed insight into the cirrus formation at the tropopause in the presence of aged wildfire smoke (here, 8–9 day old Californian wildfire smoke).
Peter Manshausen, Duncan Watson-Parris, Matthew W. Christensen, Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12545–12555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12545-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12545-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol from burning fuel changes cloud properties, e.g., the number of droplets and the content of water. Here, we study how clouds respond to different amounts of shipping aerosol. Droplet numbers increase linearly with increasing aerosol over a broad range until they stop increasing, while the amount of liquid water always increases, independently of emission amount. These changes in cloud properties can make them reflect more or less sunlight, which is important for the earth's climate.
Hendrik Andersen, Jan Cermak, Alyson Douglas, Timothy A. Myers, Peer Nowack, Philip Stier, Casey J. Wall, and Sarah Wilson Kemsley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10775–10794, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10775-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10775-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses an observation-based cloud-controlling factor framework to study near-global sensitivities of cloud radiative effects to a large number of meteorological and aerosol controls. We present near-global sensitivity patterns to selected thermodynamic, dynamic, and aerosol factors and discuss the physical mechanisms underlying the derived sensitivities. Our study hopes to guide future analyses aimed at constraining cloud feedbacks and aerosol–cloud interactions.
Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Josué Gehring, Louis Jaffeux, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Pierre Coutris, Athanasios Nenes, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10207–10234, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10207-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10207-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Secondary ice production plays a key role in clouds and precipitation. In this study, we analyze radar measurements from a snowfall event in the Jura Mountains. Complex signatures are observed, which reveal that ice crystals were formed through various processes. An analysis of multi-sensor data suggests that distinct ice multiplication processes were taking place. Both the methods used and the insights gained through this case study contribute to a better understanding of snowfall microphysics.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson, Edward Gryspeerdt, and Tom Goren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9365–9383, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9365-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9365-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds formed in Arctic marine cold air outbreaks undergo a distinct evolution, but the factors controlling their transition from high-coverage to broken cloud fields are poorly understood. We use satellite and reanalysis data to study how these clouds develop in time and the different influences on their evolution. The aerosol concentration is correlated with cloud break-up; more aerosol is linked to prolonged coverage and a stronger cooling effect, with implications for a more polluted Arctic.
Michael S. Diamond
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8259–8269, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8259-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Fuel sulfur regulations were implemented for ships in 2020 to improve air quality but may also accelerate global warming. We use spatial statistics and satellite retrievals to detect changes in the size of cloud droplets and find evidence for a resulting decrease in cloud brightness within a major shipping corridor after the sulfur limits went into effect. Our results confirm both that the regulations are being followed and that they are having a warming influence via their effect on clouds.
Hao Luo, Johannes Quaas, and Yong Han
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8169–8186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8169-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8169-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds exhibit a wide range of vertical structures with varying microphysical and radiative properties. We show a global survey of spatial distribution, vertical extent and radiative effect of various classified cloud vertical structures using joint satellite observations from the new CCCM datasets during 2007–2010. Moreover, the long-term trends in CVSs are investigated based on different CMIP6 future scenarios to capture the cloud variations with different, increasing anthropogenic forcings.
Cited articles
Back, L. E. and Bretherton, C. S.: The relationship between wind speed and
precipitation in the Pacific ITCZ, J. Climate, 18, 4317–4328, 2005.
Barahona, D., Molod, A., Bacmeister, J., Nenes, A., Gettelman, A., Morrison,
H., Phillips, V., and Eichmann, A.: Development of two-moment cloud
microphysics for liquid and ice within the NASA Goddard Earth Observing
System Model (GEOS-5), Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1733–1766,
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1733-2014, 2014.
Baum, B. A., Yang, P, Nasiri, S. L., Heidinger, A. K., Heymsfield, A. J., and
Li, J.: Bulk scattering properties for the remote sensing of ice clouds. Part
III: High-resolution spectral models from 100 to 3250 cm−1, J. Appl.
Meteorol. Clim., 46, 423–434, 2007.
Baumgardner, D., Abel, S. J., Axisa, D., Cotton, R., Crosier, J., Field, P.,
Gurganus, C., Heymsfield, A., Korolev, A., Krämer, M., Lawson, P.,
McFarquhar, G., Ulanowski, Z., and Um, J.: Cloud ice properties: In situ
measurement challenges. Ice Formation and Evolution in Clouds and
Precipitation: Measurement and Modeling Challenges, Meteor. Monogr., 58,
Amer. Meteor. Soc., https://doi.org/10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0011.1, 2017.
Bender, F. A. M., Ramanathan, V., and Tselioudis, G.: Changes in
extratropical storm track cloudiness 1983–2008: Observational support for a
poleward shift, Clim. Dynam., 38, 2037–2053, 2012.
Bony, S., Stevens, B., Coppin, D., Becker, T., Reed, K. A., Voigt, A., and
Medeiros, B.: Thermodynamic control of anvil cloud amount, P. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA, 113, 8927–8932, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1601472113, 2016.
Ceccaldi, M., Delanoë, J., Hogan, R. J., Pounder, N. L., Protat, A.,
and Pelon, J.: From CloudSat-CALIPSO to EarthCare: Evolution of
the DARDAR cloud classification and its comparison to airborne radar-lidar
observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 7962–7981,
https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50579, 2013.
Ceppi, P., Hartmann, D. L., and Webb, M. J.: Mechanisms of the negative
shortwave cloud feedback in middle to high latitudes, J. Climate, 29,
139–157, 2016.
Chang, F. L. and Li, Z.: A near global climatology of single-layer and
overlapped clouds and their optical properties retrieved from TERRA/MODIS
data using a new algorithm, J. Climate, 18, 4752–4771, 2005.
Chang, K.-W., L'Ecuyer, T. S., Kahn, B. H., and Natraj, V.: Information
content of visible and midinfrared radiances for retrieving tropical ice
cloud properties, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 4944–4966,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026357, 2017.
Chen, Y.-W., Seiki, T., Kodama, C., Satoh, M., Noda, A. T., and Yamada, Y.:
High cloud responses to global warming simulated by two different cloud
microphysics schemes implemented in the Nonhydrostatic Icosahedral
Atmospheric Model (NICAM), J. Climate, 29, 5949–5964, 2016.
Cressie, N.: Relaxing assumptions in the one sample t-test, Australian J.
Stat., 22, 143–153, 1980.
Delanoë, J. and Hogan, R. J.: A variational scheme for retrieving ice
cloud properties from combined radar, lidar, and infrared radiometer, J.
Geophys. Res., 113, D07204, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009000, 2008.
Delanoë, J. and Hogan, R. J.: Combined CloudSat-CALIPSO-MODIS retrievals
of the properties of ice clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00H29,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012346, 2010.
Delanoë, J., Heymsfield, A. J., Protat, A., Bansemer, A., and Hogan, R.
J.: Normalized particle size distribution for remote sensing application, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 119, 4204–4227, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020700, 2014.
Deng, M., Mace, G. G., Wang, Z., and Lawson, R. P.: Evaluation of several
A-train ice cloud retrieval products with in situ measurements collected
during the SPARTICUS campaign, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 52, 1014–1030,
2013.
Dim, J. R., Murakami, H., Nakajima, T. Y., Nordell, B., Heidinger, A. K.,
and Takamura, T.: The recent state of the climate: Driving components of
cloud-type variability, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D11117,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014559, 2011.
Eidhammer, T., Morrison, H., Mitchell, D., Gettelman, A., and Erfani, E.:
Improvements in global climate model microphysics using a consistent
representation of ice particle properties, J. Climate, 30, 609–629, 2017.
Fan, J., Leung, L. R., Rosenfeld, D., Chen, Q., Li, Z., Zhang, J., and Yan,
H.: Microphysical effects determine macrophysical response for aerosol
impacts on deep convective clouds, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110,
E4581–E4590, 2013.
Fauchez, T., Dubuisson, P., Cornet, C., Szczap, F., Garnier, A., Pelon, J.,
and Meyer, K.: Impacts of cloud heterogeneities on cirrus optical properties
retrieved from space-based thermal infrared radiometry, Atmos. Meas. Tech.,
8, 633–647, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-633-2015, 2015.
Fetzer, E., Wilson, B., and Manipon, G.: AIRS-AMSU variables-CloudSat cloud
mask, radar reflectivities, and cloud classification matchups V3.2,
Greenbelt, MD, USA, Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services
Center (GES DISC), https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/WVCC/DATA201, 2013.
Garnier, A., Pelon, J., Dubuisson, P.,Yang, P., Faivre, M., Chomette, O.,
Pascal, N., Lucker, P., and Murray, T.: Retrieval of cloud properties using
CALIPSO Imaging Infrared Radiometer, Part II: effective diameter and ice
water path, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 52, 2582–2599,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-12-0328.1, 2013.
Gentemann, C. L., Meissner, T., and Wentz, F. J.: Accuracy of Satellite Sea
Surface Temperatures at 7 and 11 GHz, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 48,
1009–1018, 2010.
Gettelman, A., Liu, X., Ghan, S. J., Morrison, H., Park, S., Conley, A. J.,
Klein, S. A., Boyle, J., Mitchell, D. L., and Li, J.-L. F.: Global
simulations of ice nucleation and ice supersaturation with an improved cloud
scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D18216,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013797, 2010.
Grabowski, W. W.: Untangling Microphysical Impacts on Deep Convection
Applying a Novel Modeling Methodology, J. Atmos. Sci., 72, 2446–2464, 2015.
Heymsfield, A., Winker, D., Avery, M., Vaughan, M., Diskin, G., Deng, M.,
Mitev, V., and Matthey, R.: Relationships between Ice Water Content and
Volume Extinction Coefficient from In Situ Observations for Temperatures from
0∘ to −86 ∘C: Implications for Spaceborne Lidar
Retrievals, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 53, 479–505, 2014.
Heymsfield, A. J., Schmitt, C., and Bansemer, A.: Ice cloud particle size
distributions and pressure-dependent terminal velocities from in situ
observations at temperatures from 0∘ to −86 ∘C, J. Atmos.
Sci., 70, 4123–4154, 2013.
Hilburn, K. A. and Wentz, F. J.: Intercalibrated Passive Microwave Rain
Products from the Unified Microwave Ocean Retrieval Algorithm (UMORA), J.
Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 47, 778–794, 2008.
Hong, Y. and Liu, G.: The characteristics of ice cloud properties derived
from CloudSat and CALIPSO measurements, J. Climate, 28, 3880–3901, 2015.
Huang, H.-L., Yang, P., Wei, H., Baum, B. A., Hu, Y., Antonelli, P., and
Ackerman, S. A.: Inference of ice cloud properties from high spectral
resolution infrared observations, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 42, 842–853, 2004.
Irion, F. W., Kahn, B. H., Schreier, M. M., Fetzer, E. J., Fishbein, E., Fu,
D., Kalmus, P., Wilson, R. C., Wong, S., and Yue, Q.: Single-footprint
retrievals of temperature, water vapor and cloud properties from AIRS, Atmos.
Meas. Tech., 11, 971–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-971-2018, 2018.
Jiang, J. H., Su, H., Zhai, C., Massie, S. T., Schoeberl, M. R., Colarco, P.
R., Platnick, S., Gu, Y., and Liou, K.-N.: Influence of convection and
aerosol pollution on ice cloud particle effective radius, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,
11, 457–463, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-457-2011, 2011.
Jin, H. and Nasiri, S. L.: Evaluation of AIRS cloud-thermodynamic phase
determination with CALIPSO, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 53, 1012–1027, 2014.
Kahn, B. H., Liang, C. K., Eldering, A., Gettelman, A., Yue, Q., and Liou, K.
N.: Tropical thin cirrus and relative humidity observed by the Atmospheric
Infrared Sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1501–1518,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-1501-2008, 2008.
Kahn, B. H., Irion, F. W., Dang, V. T., Manning, E. M., Nasiri, S. L., Naud,
C. M., Blaisdell, J. M., Schreier, M. M., Yue, Q., Bowman, K. W., Fetzer, E.
J., Hulley, G. C., Liou, K. N., Lubin, D., Ou, S. C., Susskind, J., Takano,
Y., Tian, B., and Worden, J. R.: The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder version 6
cloud products, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 399–426,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-399-2014, 2014.
Kahn, B. H., Schreier, M. M., Yue, Q., Fetzer, E. J., Irion, F. W.,
Platnick, S., Wang, C., Nasiri, S. L., and L'Ecuyer, T. S.: Pixel-scale
assessment and uncertainty analysis of AIRS and MODIS ice cloud optical
thickness and effective radius, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 120, 11669–11689,
2015.
Kahn, B. H., Matheou, G., Yue, Q., Fauchez, T., Fetzer, E. J., Lebsock, M.,
Martins, J., Schreier, M. M., Suzuki, K., and Teixeira, J.: An A-train and
MERRA view of cloud, thermodynamic, and dynamic variability within the
subtropical marine boundary layer, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9451–9468,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9451-2017, 2017.
Kärcher, B.: Cirrus clouds and their response to anthropogenic
activities, Curr. Clim. Change Rep., 3, 45–57,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-017-0060-3, 2017.
King, M. D., Platnick, S., Menzel, W. P., Ackerman, S. A., and Hubanks, P.
A.: Spatial and temporal distributions of clouds observed by MODIS onboard
the Terra and Aqua satellites, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 51, 3826–3852, 2013.
Krämer, M., Rolf, C., Luebke, A., Afchine, A., Spelten, N., Costa, A., Meyer,
J., Zöger, M., Smith, J., Herman, R. L., Buchholz, B., Ebert, V.,
Baumgardner, D., Borrmann, S., Klingebiel, M., and Avallone, L.: A
microphysics guide to cirrus clouds – Part 1: Cirrus types, Atmos. Chem.
Phys., 16, 3463–3483, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3463-2016, 2016.
Keckhut, P., Borchi, F., Bekki, S., Hauchecorne, A., and Silaouina, M.:
Cirrus classification at midlatitude from systematic lidar observations, J.
Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 45, 249–258, 2006.
Lawson, R. P., Jensen, E., Mitchell, D. L., Baker, B., Mo, Q., and Pilson,
B.: Microphysical and radiative properties of tropical clouds investigated
in TC4 and NAMMA, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00J08, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013017,
2010.
Leroy, D., Fontaine, E., Schwarzenboeck, A., Strapp, J. W., Korolev, A.,
Mcfarquhar, G., Dupuy, R., Gourbeyre, C., Lilie, L., Protat, A., Delanoe, J.,
Dezitter, F., and Grandin, A.: Ice crystal sizes in High Ice Water Content
clouds. Part II: Statistics of mass diameter percentiles in tropical
convection observed in the HAIC/HIWC project, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 34,
117–136, 2017.
Lindzen, R. S., Chou, M.-D., and Hou, A. U.: Does the Earth have an adaptive
infrared iris?, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 82, 417–432, 2001.
Liu, X., Penner, J. E., Ghan, S. J., and Wang, M.: Inclusion of ice
microphysics in the NCAR Community Atmospheric Model Version 3 (CAM3), J.
Climate, 20, 4526–4547, 2007.
Luo, Z., Liu, G. Y., and Stephens, G. L: CloudSat adding new insight into
tropical penetrating convection, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L19819,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035330, 2008.
Mace, G. G., Zhang, Q., Vaughan, M., Marchand, R., Stephens, G., Trepte, C.,
and Winker, D.: A description of hydrometeor layer occurrence statistics
derived from the first year of merged Cloudsat and CALIPSO data, J. Geophys.
Res., 114, D00A26, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009755, 2009.
Manaster, A., O'Dell, C., and Elsaesser, G.: Evaluation of Cloud Liquid Water
Path Trends Using a Multidecadal Record of Passive Microwave Observations, J.
Climate, 30, 5871–5884, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0399.1, 2017.
Manning, E. M. and Aumann, H. H.: Hyperspectral sounder performance for cold
scenes, Proc. SPIE 10402, Earth Observing Systems XXII, 1040225,
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273398, 2017.
Marvel, K., Zelinka, M., Klein, S. A., Bonfils, C., Caldwell, P., Doutriaux,
C., Santer, B. D., and Taylor, K. E.: External influences on modeled and
observed cloud trends, J. Climate, 28, 4820–4840, 2015.
Mauritsen, T. and Stevens, B.: Missing iris effect as a possible cause of
muted hydrological change and high climate sensitivity in models, Nat.
Geosci., 8, 346–351, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2414, 2015.
McFarquhar, G. M. and Heymsfield, A. J.: The definition and significance of
an effective radius for ice clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 2039–2052,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<2039:TDASOA>2.0.CO;2,
1998.
Minnis, P., Sun-Mack, S., Young, D. F., Heck, P. W., Garber, D. P., Chen, Y.,
Spangenberg, D. A., Arduini, R. F., Trepte, Q. Z., Smith, W. L., Ayers, J.
K., Gibson, S. C., Miller, W. F., Hong, G., Chakrapani, V., Takano, Y., Liou,
K.-N., Xie, Y., and Yang, P.: CERES edition-2 cloud property retrievals using
TRMM VIRS and Terra and Aqua MODIS data, Part I: Algorithms. IEEE T. Geosci.
Remote, 49, 4374–4400, 2011.
Mitchell, D. L., Rasch, P., Ivanova, D., McFarquhar, G., and Nousiainen, T.:
Impact of small ice crystal assumptions on ice sedimentation rates in cirrus
clouds and GCM simulations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L09806,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033552, 2008.
Morrison, H. and Grabowski, W. W.: Cloud-system resolving model simulations
of aerosol indirect effects on tropical deep convection and its thermodynamic
environment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 10503–10523,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-10503-2011, 2011.
Nasiri, S. L., Dang, V. T., Kahn, B. H., Fetzer, E. J., Manning, E. M.,
Schreier, M. M., and Frey, R. A.: Comparing MODIS and AIRS infrared-based
cloud retrievals, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 50, 1057–1072,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JAMC2603.1, 2011.
Norris, J. R., Allen, R. J., Evan, A. T., Zelinka, M. D., O'Dell, C. W., and
Klein, S. A.: Evidence for climate change in the satellite cloud record,
Nature, 536, 72–75, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18273, 2016.
Pagano, T. S., Broberg, S., Aumann, H. H., Elliott, D., Manning, E., and
Strow, L.: Performance status of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder ten years
after launch, Proc. SPIE 8527, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and
Ultraspectral Remote Sensing Technology, Techniques and Applications IV,
852703, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.977309, 2012.
Phillips, V. T. J., Donner, L. J., and Garner, S. T.: Nucleation processes
in deep convection simulated by a cloud-system-resolving model with
double-moment bulk microphysics, J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 738–761, 2007.
Platnick, S., Meyer, K. G., King, M. D., Wind, G., Amarasinghe, N., Marchant,
B., Arnold, G. T., Zhang, Z., Hubanks, P. A., Holz, R. E., Yang, P., Ridgway,
W. L., and Riedi, J.: The MODIS cloud optical and microphysical products:
Collection 6 updates and examples from Terra and Aqua, IEEE T. Geosci.
Remote, 55, 502–525, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2016.2610522, 2017.
Posselt, D., L'Ecuyer, T. S., and Stephens, G. L.: Exploring the error
characteristics of thin ice cloud property retrievals using a Markov chain
Monte Carlo algorithm, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D24206,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010832, 2008.
Protat, A., Delanoë, J., May, P. T., Haynes, J., Jakob, C., O'Connor, E.,
Pope, M., and Wheeler, M. C.: The variability of tropical ice cloud
properties as a function of the large-scale context from ground-based
radar-lidar observations over Darwin, Australia, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11,
8363–8384, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-8363-2011, 2011.
Protopapadaki, S. E., Stubenrauch, C. J., and Feofilov, A. G.: Upper
tropospheric cloud systems derived from IR sounders: properties of cirrus
anvils in the tropics, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3845–3859,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3845-2017, 2017.
Rosenfeld, D., Lohmann, U., Raga, G. B., and Coauthors: Flood or drought: How
do aerosols affect precipitation?, Science, 321, 1309–1313,
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1160606, 2008.
Rysman, J.-F., Claud, C., and Delanoë, J: Monitoring deep convection and
convective overshooting from 60∘ S to 60∘ N using MHS: A
CloudSat/CALIPSO-based assessment, IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens., 14, 159–163,
2017.
Sanderson, B. M., Piani, C., Ingram, W. J., Stone, D. A., and Allen, M. R.:
Towards constraining climate sensitivity by linear analysis of feedback
patterns in thousands of perturbed-physics GCM simulations, Clim. Dynam., 30,
175–190, 2008.
Santer, B. D., Wigley, T. M. L., Boyle, J. S., Gaffen, D. J., Hnilo, J. J.,
Nychka, D., Parker, D. E., and Taylor, K. E.: Statistical significance of
trends and trend differences in layer-average atmospheric temperature time
series, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 7337–7356, 2000.
Satoh, M. and Matsuda, Y.: Statistics on high-cloud areas and their
sensitivities to cloud microphysics using single-cloud experiments, J. Atmos.
Sci., 66, 2659–2677, 2009.
Sherwood, S. C.: Aerosols and ice particle size in tropical cumulonimbus, J.
Climate, 15, 1051–1063, 2002.
Stanford, M. W., Varble, A., Zipser, E., Strapp, J. W., Leroy, D.,
Schwarzenboeck, A., Potts, R., and Protat, A.: A ubiquitous ice size bias in
simulations of tropical deep convection, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9599–9621,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9599-2017, 2017.
Stephens, G. L.: The influence of radiative transfer on the mass and heat
budgets of ice crystals falling in the atmosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 40,
1729–1739, 1983.
Stephens, G. L., Hakuba, M. Z., Webb, M., Lebsock, M., Yue, Q., Kahn, B. H.,
Hristova-Veleva, S., Rapp, A., Stubenrauch, C., Elsasser, G., and Slingo, J.:
Regional intensification of the tropical hydrological cycle during ENSO,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 4361–4370, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077598, 2018.
Stubenrauch, C., Rossow, W. B., Kinne, S., and Coauthors: Assessment of
global cloud datasets from satellites: Project and database initiated by the
GEWEX Radiation Panel, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 94, 1031–1049,
https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00117.1, 2013.
Su, H., Jiang, J. H., Neelin, J. D., and Coauthors: Tightening of tropical
ascent and high clouds key to precipitation change in a warmer climate, Nat.
Commun., 8, 15771, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15771, 2017.
Takahashi, H. and Luo, Z.: Where is the level of neutral buoyancy for deep
convection?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L15809, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052638,
2012.
Takahashi, H. and Luo, Z. J.: Characterizing tropical overshooting deep
convection from joint analysis of CloudSat and geostationary satellite
observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 119, 112–121, 2014.
Takahashi, H., Luo, Z. J., and Stephens, G. L.: Level of neutral buoyancy,
deep convective outflow, and convective core: New perspectives based on 5
years of CloudSat data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos, 122, 2958–2969,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025969, 2017.
Teixeira, J.: AIRS/Aqua L2 Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU) V006,
Greenbelt, MD, USA, Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services
Center (GES DISC), https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/AIRS/DATA201, 2013.
van Diedenhoven, B., Fridlind, A. M., Cairns, B., and Ackerman, A. S.:
Variation of ice crystal size, shape, and asymmetry parameter in tops of
tropical deep convective clouds, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 119, 11809–11825,
2014.
van Diedenhoven, B., Fridlind, A. M., Cairns, B., Ackerman, A. S., and Yorks,
J. E.: Vertical variation of ice particle size in convective cloud tops,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 4586–4593, 2016.
Van Weverberg, K., Vogelmann, A. M., Lin, W., Luke, E. P., Cialella, A.,
Minnis, P., Khaiyer, M., Boer, E. R., and Jensen, M. P.: The role of cloud
microphysics parameterization in the simulation of mesoscale convective
system clouds and precipitation in the tropical western Pacific, J. Atmos.
Sci., 70, 1104–1128, 2013.
Wang, C., Platnick, S., Zhang, Z., Meyer, K., and Yang, P: Retrieval of ice
cloud properties using an optimal estimation algorithm and MODIS infrared
observations: 1. Forward model, error analysis, and information content, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 5809–5826, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024526, 2016.
Wentz, F. J., Meissner, T., Gentemann, C., and Brewer, M.: Remote Sensing
Systems AQUA AMSR-E Daily Environmental Suite on 0.25 deg grid, Version
V7, Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, CA, available
at: http://remss.com/missions/amsr (last access: 16 May 2017), 2014a.
Wentz, F. J., Meissner, T., Gentemann, C., Hilburn, K. A., and Scott, J.:
Remote Sensing Systems GCOM-W1 AMSR2 Daily Environmental Suite on 0.25 deg
grid, Version V7.2, Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, CA, available at:
http://remss.com/missions/amsr, 2014b.
Winker, D. M., Pelon, J., Coakley, J. A., Ackerman, S. A., Charlson, R. J.,
Colarco, P. R., Flamant, P., Fu, Q., Hoff, R. M., Kittaka, C., Kubar, T. L.,
Le Treut, H., McCormick, M. P., Megie, E., Poole, L., Powell, K., Trepte, C.,
Vaughan, M. A., and Wielicki, B. A.: The CALIPSO mission. A global 3D view of
aerosols and clouds, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 91, 1211–1229, 2010.
Wylie, D., Jackson, D. L., Menzel, W. P., and Bates, J. J.: Trends in global
cloud cover in two decades of HIRS observations, J. Climate, 18, 3021–3031,
2005.
Yuan, T. and Li, Z.: General macro- and microphysical properties of deep
convective clouds as observed by MODIS, J. Climate, 23, 3457–3473, 2010.
Yue, Q., Kahn, B. H., Fetzer, E. J., Wong, S., Frey, R., and Meyer, K. G.:
On the response of MODIS cloud coverage to global mean surface air
temperature, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 966–979,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025174, 2017a.
Yue, Q., Lambrigtsen, B., Behrangi, A., and Coauthors: AIRS V6 Test Report
Supplement: Performance of AIRS+AMSU vs. AIRS-only retrievals: Analysis of
the impact of the loss of AMSU-A2, 104 pp., 2017b.
Zelinka, M. D., Klein, S. A., Taylor, K. E., Andrews, T., Webb, M. J.,
Gregory, J. M., and Forster, P.: Contributions of different cloud types to
feedbacks and rapid adjustments in CMIP5, J. Climate, 26, 5007–5027,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00555.1, 2013.
Zhang, Z., Platnick, S., Yang, P., Heidinger, A. K., and Comstock, J. M.:
Effects of ice particle size vertical inhomogeneity on the passive remote
sensing of ice clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D17203,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD013835, 2010.
Zhao, G., Di Girolamo, L., Diner, D. J., Bruegge, C. J., Mueller, K. J., and
Wu, D. L.: Regional changes in Earth's color and texture as observed from
space over a 15-year period, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 54, 4240–4249, 2016.
Short summary
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite instrument shows statistically significant global trends in ice cloud properties between September 2002 and August 2016. The trends are not explained by known AIRS instrument limitations. Significant differences in the ice cloud particle size is found between convective clouds and thin ice clouds in the tropics. These results will be a useful benchmark for other studies of global ice cloud properties.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite instrument shows statistically significant...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint