Articles | Volume 18, issue 13
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9457–9473, 2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9457-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9457–9473, 2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9457-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
06 Jul 2018
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 06 Jul 2018
The diurnal cycle of cloud profiles over land and ocean between 51° S and 51° N, seen by the CATS spaceborne lidar from the International Space Station
Vincent Noel et al.
Related authors
Artem Feofilov, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noël, and Frederic Szczap
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1187, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The response of clouds to human-induced climate warming remains the largest source of uncertainty in model predictions of climate. We consider cloud retrievals from spaceborne observations, the existing CALIOP lidar and future ATLID lidar, show how they compare for the same scenes, and discuss the advantage of adding a new lidar for detecting cloud changes in the long run. We show that the ATLID's advanced technology should allow detecting thinner clouds during daytime than before.
Matthias Tesche and Vincent Noel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4225–4240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Mid-level and high clouds can be considered natural laboratories for studying cloud glaciation in the atmosphere. While they can be conveniently observed from ground with lidar, such measurements require a clear line of sight between the instrument and the target cloud. Here, observations of clouds with two spaceborne lidars are used to assess where ground-based lidar measurements of mid- and upper-level clouds are least affected by the light-attenuating effect of low-level clouds.
Artem G. Feofilov, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noël, Rodrigo Guzman, Cyprien Gindre, Po-Lun Ma, and Marjolaine Chiriaco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1055–1074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1055-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1055-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Space-borne lidars have been providing invaluable information of atmospheric optical properties since 2006, and new lidar missions are on the way to ensure continuous observations. In this work, we compare the clouds estimated from space-borne ALADIN and CALIOP lidar observations. The analysis of collocated data shows that the agreement between the retrieved clouds is good up to 3 km height. Above that, ALADIN detects 40 % less clouds than CALIOP, except for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).
Damien Héron, Stephanie Evan, Joris Pianezze, Thibaut Dauhut, Jerome Brioude, Karen Rosenlof, Vincent Noel, Soline Bielli, Christelle Barthe, and Jean-Pierre Cammas
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-870, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-870, 2020
Publication in ACP not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
Upward transport within tropical cyclones of water vapor from the low troposphere into the colder upper troposphere/lower stratosphere can result in the moistening of this region. Balloon observations and model simulations of tropical cyclone Enawo in the less-observed Southwest Indian Ocean (the third most tropical cyclone active region on Earth) are used to show how convective overshoots within Enawo penetrate the tropopause directly, injecting water/ice into the stratosphere.
Thibaut Dauhut, Vincent Noel, and Iris-Amata Dion
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3921–3929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3921-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3921-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We document for the first time the diurnal cycle of the clouds in the tropical stratosphere, using the measurements from the lidar on board the International Space Station. The stratospheric clouds are concentrated over the convective centers. Their cloud fraction is minimal and limited to the vicinity of the tropopause during daytime. It presents two maxima: one in the early night and one shortly after midnight, when clouds also extend deeper in the stratosphere.
Thibault Vaillant de Guélis, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noel, Rodrigo Guzman, Philippe Dubuisson, David M. Winker, and Seiji Kato
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4659–4685, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4659-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4659-2017, 2017
V. Noel, H. Chepfer, C. Hoareau, M. Reverdy, and G. Cesana
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1597–1603, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1597-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1597-2014, 2014
C. Hoareau, P. Keckhut, V. Noel, H. Chepfer, and J.-L. Baray
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6951–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013, 2013
M. Reverdy, V. Noel, H. Chepfer, and B. Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 12081–12101, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12081-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12081-2012, 2012
Artem Feofilov, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noël, and Frederic Szczap
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1187, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The response of clouds to human-induced climate warming remains the largest source of uncertainty in model predictions of climate. We consider cloud retrievals from spaceborne observations, the existing CALIOP lidar and future ATLID lidar, show how they compare for the same scenes, and discuss the advantage of adding a new lidar for detecting cloud changes in the long run. We show that the ATLID's advanced technology should allow detecting thinner clouds during daytime than before.
Matthias Tesche and Vincent Noel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4225–4240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Mid-level and high clouds can be considered natural laboratories for studying cloud glaciation in the atmosphere. While they can be conveniently observed from ground with lidar, such measurements require a clear line of sight between the instrument and the target cloud. Here, observations of clouds with two spaceborne lidars are used to assess where ground-based lidar measurements of mid- and upper-level clouds are least affected by the light-attenuating effect of low-level clouds.
Assia Arouf, Hélène Chepfer, Thibault Vaillant de Guélis, Marjolaine Chiriaco, Matthew D. Shupe, Rodrigo Guzman, Artem Feofilov, Patrick Raberanto, Tristan S. L'Ecuyer, Seiji Kato, and Michael R. Gallagher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3893–3923, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3893-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3893-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We proposed new estimates of the surface longwave (LW) cloud radiative effect (CRE) derived from observations collected by a space-based lidar on board the CALIPSO satellite and radiative transfer computations. Our estimate appropriately captures the surface LW CRE annual variability over bright polar surfaces, and it provides a dataset more than 13 years long.
Artem G. Feofilov, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noël, Rodrigo Guzman, Cyprien Gindre, Po-Lun Ma, and Marjolaine Chiriaco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1055–1074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1055-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1055-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Space-borne lidars have been providing invaluable information of atmospheric optical properties since 2006, and new lidar missions are on the way to ensure continuous observations. In this work, we compare the clouds estimated from space-borne ALADIN and CALIOP lidar observations. The analysis of collocated data shows that the agreement between the retrieved clouds is good up to 3 km height. Above that, ALADIN detects 40 % less clouds than CALIOP, except for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).
Oscar Javier Rojas Muñoz, Marjolaine Chiriaco, Sophie Bastin, and Justine Ringard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15699–15723, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15699-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15699-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A method is developed and evaluated to quantify each process that affects hourly 2 m temperature variations on a local scale, based almost exclusively on observations retrieved from an observatory near the Paris region. Each term involved in surface temperature variations is estimated, and its contribution and importance are also assessed. It is found that clouds are the main modulator on hourly temperature variations for most hours of the day, and thus their characterization is addressed.
Yan Yu, Olga V. Kalashnikova, Michael J. Garay, Huikyo Lee, Myungje Choi, Gregory S. Okin, John E. Yorks, James R. Campbell, and Jared Marquis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1427–1447, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1427-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1427-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Given the current uncertainties in the simulated diurnal variability of global dust mobilization and concentration, observational characterization of the variations in dust mobilization and concentration will provide a valuable benchmark for evaluating and constraining such model simulations. The current study investigates the diurnal cycle of dust loading across the global tropics, subtropics, and mid-latitudes by analyzing aerosol observations from the International Space Station.
Debbie O'Sullivan, Franco Marenco, Claire L. Ryder, Yaswant Pradhan, Zak Kipling, Ben Johnson, Angela Benedetti, Melissa Brooks, Matthew McGill, John Yorks, and Patrick Selmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12955–12982, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12955-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12955-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mineral dust is an important component of the climate system, and we assess how well it is predicted by two operational models. We flew an aircraft in the dust layers in the eastern Atlantic, and we also make use of satellites. We show that models predict the dust layer too low and that it predicts the particles to be too small. We believe that these discrepancies may be overcome if models can be constrained with operational observations of dust vertical and size-resolved distribution.
Damien Héron, Stephanie Evan, Joris Pianezze, Thibaut Dauhut, Jerome Brioude, Karen Rosenlof, Vincent Noel, Soline Bielli, Christelle Barthe, and Jean-Pierre Cammas
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-870, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2020-870, 2020
Publication in ACP not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
Upward transport within tropical cyclones of water vapor from the low troposphere into the colder upper troposphere/lower stratosphere can result in the moistening of this region. Balloon observations and model simulations of tropical cyclone Enawo in the less-observed Southwest Indian Ocean (the third most tropical cyclone active region on Earth) are used to show how convective overshoots within Enawo penetrate the tropopause directly, injecting water/ice into the stratosphere.
Kirk Knobelspiesse, Henrique M. J. Barbosa, Christine Bradley, Carol Bruegge, Brian Cairns, Gao Chen, Jacek Chowdhary, Anthony Cook, Antonio Di Noia, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, David J. Diner, Richard Ferrare, Guangliang Fu, Meng Gao, Michael Garay, Johnathan Hair, David Harper, Gerard van Harten, Otto Hasekamp, Mark Helmlinger, Chris Hostetler, Olga Kalashnikova, Andrew Kupchock, Karla Longo De Freitas, Hal Maring, J. Vanderlei Martins, Brent McBride, Matthew McGill, Ken Norlin, Anin Puthukkudy, Brian Rheingans, Jeroen Rietjens, Felix C. Seidel, Arlindo da Silva, Martijn Smit, Snorre Stamnes, Qian Tan, Sebastian Val, Andrzej Wasilewski, Feng Xu, Xiaoguang Xu, and John Yorks
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2183–2208, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2183-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2183-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) field campaign is a resource for the next generation of spaceborne multi-angle polarimeter (MAP) and lidar missions. Conducted in the fall of 2017 from the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, four MAP instruments and two lidars were flown on the high-altitude ER-2 aircraft over a variety of scene types and ground assets. Data are freely available to the public and useful for algorithm development and testing.
Thibaut Dauhut, Vincent Noel, and Iris-Amata Dion
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3921–3929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3921-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3921-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We document for the first time the diurnal cycle of the clouds in the tropical stratosphere, using the measurements from the lidar on board the International Space Station. The stratospheric clouds are concentrated over the convective centers. Their cloud fraction is minimal and limited to the vicinity of the tropopause during daytime. It presents two maxima: one in the early night and one shortly after midnight, when clouds also extend deeper in the stratosphere.
Rebecca M. Pauly, John E. Yorks, Dennis L. Hlavka, Matthew J. McGill, Vassilis Amiridis, Stephen P. Palm, Sharon D. Rodier, Mark A. Vaughan, Patrick A. Selmer, Andrew W. Kupchock, Holger Baars, and Anna Gialitaki
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6241–6258, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6241-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6241-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) demonstrated that direct calibration of 1064 nm lidar data from a spaceborne platform is possible. By normalizing the CATS signal to a modeled molecular backscatter profile the CATS data were calibrated, enabling the derivation of optical properties of clouds and aerosols. Comparisons of the calibrated signal with airborne lidar, ground-based lidar, and spaceborne lidar all show agreement within the estimated error bars of the respective instruments.
Yan Yu, Olga V. Kalashnikova, Michael J. Garay, Huikyo Lee, Myungje Choi, Gregory S. Okin, John E. Yorks, and James R. Campbell
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2019-975, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2019-975, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Given the current uncertainties in the simulated diurnal variability of global dust mobilization and concentration, observational characterization of the variations in dust mobilization and concentration will provide a valuable benchmark for evaluating and constraining such model simulations. The current study investigates the diurnal cycle of dust loading across the global tropics, sub-tropics, and mid-latitudes by analyzing aerosol observations from the International Space Station.
Justine Ringard, Marjolaine Chiriaco, Sophie Bastin, and Florence Habets
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13129–13155, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13129-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13129-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterizes the changes observed at Paris urban scale and attempts to identify the surface–atmosphere feedbacks likely to explain the trends observed as a function of the different configurations of large-scale dynamics. This article is interested in several atmospheric parameters and their possible retroactions. Finally, to study urban environments, the analysis at the local scale is essential because it is very poorly represented in the model.
Marie Lothon, Paul Barnéoud, Omar Gabella, Fabienne Lohou, Solène Derrien, Sylvain Rondi, Marjolaine Chiriaco, Sophie Bastin, Jean-Charles Dupont, Martial Haeffelin, Jordi Badosa, Nicolas Pascal, and Nadège Montoux
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5519–5534, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5519-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5519-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In the context of an atmospheric network of instrumented sites equipped with sky cameras for cloud monitoring, we present an algorithm named ELIFAN, which aims to estimate the cloud cover amount from full-sky visible daytime images. ELIFAN is based on red-to-blue ratio thresholding applied on the image pixels and on the use of a blue-sky library. We present its principle and its performance and highlight the interest of combining several complementary instruments.
Logan Lee, Jianglong Zhang, Jeffrey S. Reid, and John E. Yorks
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12687–12707, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12687-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12687-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The study of the diurnal variation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol vertical distribution is necessary for the monitoring and modeling of aerosol particles for various air pollution, visibility and climate-related studies. Upon evaluating 1064 nm AOD and aerosol extinction profiles from the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) level 2 aerosol product, we studied the diurnal variation of AOD and aerosol extinction profiles on both regional and global scales.
Emmanouil Proestakis, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Ioannis Binietoglou, Albert Ansmann, Ulla Wandinger, Julian Hofer, John Yorks, Edward Nowottnick, Abduvosit Makhmudov, Alexandros Papayannis, Aleksander Pietruczuk, Anna Gialitaki, Arnoud Apituley, Artur Szkop, Constantino Muñoz Porcar, Daniele Bortoli, Davide Dionisi, Dietrich Althausen, Dimitra Mamali, Dimitris Balis, Doina Nicolae, Eleni Tetoni, Gian Luigi Liberti, Holger Baars, Ina Mattis, Iwona Sylwia Stachlewska, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Lucia Mona, Maria Mylonaki, Maria Rita Perrone, Maria João Costa, Michael Sicard, Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Nikolaos Siomos, Pasquale Burlizzi, Rebecca Pauly, Ronny Engelmann, Sabur Abdullaev, and Gelsomina Pappalardo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 11743–11764, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11743-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11743-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
To increase accuracy and validate satellite-based products, comparison with ground-based reference observations is required. To do this, we present evaluation activity of EARLINET for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of NASA's CATS lidar operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS) while identified discrepancies are discussed. Better understanding CATS performance and limitations provides a valuable basis for scientific studies implementing the satellite-based lidar system.
Sophie Bastin, Philippe Drobinski, Marjolaine Chiriaco, Olivier Bock, Romain Roehrig, Clemente Gallardo, Dario Conte, Marta Domínguez Alonso, Laurent Li, Piero Lionello, and Ana C. Parracho
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1471–1490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1471-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1471-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This paper uses colocated observations of temperature, precipitation and humidity to investigate the triggering of precipitation. It shows that there is a critical value of humidity above which precipitation picks up. This critical value depends on T and varies spatially. It also analyses how this dependency is reproduced in regional climate simulations over Europe. Models with too little and too light precipitation have both lower critical value of humidity and higher probability to exceed it.
Marjolaine Chiriaco, Jean-Charles Dupont, Sophie Bastin, Jordi Badosa, Julio Lopez, Martial Haeffelin, Helene Chepfer, and Rodrigo Guzman
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 919–940, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-919-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-919-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
A scientific approach is presented to aggregate and harmonize a set of 60 geophysical variables at hourly scale over a decade, and to allow multiannual and multi-variable studies combining atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, radiation, clouds and aerosols from ground-based observations.
Thibault Vaillant de Guélis, Hélène Chepfer, Vincent Noel, Rodrigo Guzman, Philippe Dubuisson, David M. Winker, and Seiji Kato
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4659–4685, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4659-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4659-2017, 2017
Antonio Di Noia, Otto P. Hasekamp, Lianghai Wu, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Brian Cairns, and John E. Yorks
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4235–4252, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4235-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4235-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper an algorithm for the retrieval of aerosol properties from NASA Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) data is presented. An artificial neural network is used to produce a first estimate of the aerosol properties, which is then improved using an iterative retrieval scheme based on Phillips–Tikhonov regularization. Using the neural network retrievals as a first guess for the Phillips–Tikhonov improved the retrieval convergence, confirming results previously found on ground-based data.
Kenneth Sinclair, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Brian Cairns, John Yorks, Andrzej Wasilewski, and Matthew McGill
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2361–2375, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2361-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2361-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present a multi-angular contrast approach to retrieve cloud top height (CTH) using photogrammetry. We demonstrate the method’s ability to retrieve heights of multiple cloud layers within single footprints, using the multiple views available for each footprint. This paper provides an in-depth description and performance analysis of the CTH retrieval technique and the retrieved cloud heights are evaluated using collocated data from the Cloud Physics Lidar.
Kerry Meyer, Steven Platnick, G. Thomas Arnold, Robert E. Holz, Paolo Veglio, John Yorks, and Chenxi Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1743–1753, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1743-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1743-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Cirrus cloud optical and microphysical properties are retrieved from remote sensing solar reflectance measurements at two narrow wavelength channels within the broader water vapor absorption band at 1.88 µm. Results from this technique compare well with other solar reflectance, IR, and lidar-based retrievals. This approach is complementary to traditional remote sensing techniques and can extend cloud retrieval capabilities for thin cirrus clouds.
V. Noel, H. Chepfer, C. Hoareau, M. Reverdy, and G. Cesana
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1597–1603, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1597-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1597-2014, 2014
C. Hoareau, P. Keckhut, V. Noel, H. Chepfer, and J.-L. Baray
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6951–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013, 2013
M. Reverdy, V. Noel, H. Chepfer, and B. Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 12081–12101, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12081-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12081-2012, 2012
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Diurnal cycles of cloud cover and its vertical distribution over the Tibetan Plateau revealed by satellite observations, reanalysis datasets, and CMIP6 outputs
Satellite observations of seasonality and long-term trends in cirrus cloud properties over Europe: investigation of possible aviation impacts
Ice crystal characterization in cirrus clouds III: retrieval of ice crystal shape and roughness from observations of halo displays
Distinct regional meteorological influences on low cloud albedo susceptibility over global marine stratocumulus regions
Technical note: Identification of two ice-nucleating regimes for dust-related cirrus clouds based on the relationship between number concentrations of ice-nucleating particles and ice crystals
Highly supercooled riming and unusual triple-frequency radar signatures over McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Ice microphysical processes in the dendritic growth layer: a statistical analysis combining multi-frequency and polarimetric Doppler cloud radar observations
Observing short-timescale cloud development to constrain aerosol–cloud interactions
Natural Marine Cloud Brightening in the Southern Ocean
Microphysical Characteristics of Super Typhoon Lekima (2019) and Its Impacts on Polarimetric Radar Remote Sensing of Precipitation
Exploring relations between cloud morphology, cloud phase, and cloud radiative properties in Southern Ocean's stratocumulus clouds
Observations of cold-cloud properties in the Norwegian Arctic using ground-based and spaceborne lidar
An evaluation of the liquid cloud droplet effective radius derived from MODIS, airborne remote sensing, and in situ measurements from CAMP2Ex
A Lagrangian analysis of pockets of open cells over the southeastern Pacific
The formation and composition of the Mount Everest plume in winter
New insights on the prevalence of drizzle in marine stratocumulus clouds based on a machine learning algorithm applied to radar Doppler spectra
Addressing the difficulties in quantifying droplet number response to aerosol from satellite observations
Optically thin clouds in the trades
Stability-dependent increases in liquid water with droplet number in the Arctic
Lightning activity in northern Europe during a stormy winter: disruptions of weather patterns originating in global climate phenomena
A climatology of open and closed mesoscale cellular convection over the Southern Ocean derived from Himawari-8 observations
Methodology to determine the coupling of continental clouds with surface and boundary layer height under cloudy conditions from lidar and meteorological data
Albedo susceptibility of northeastern Pacific stratocumulus: the role of covarying meteorological conditions
Opportunistic experiments to constrain aerosol effective radiative forcing
Environmental effects on aerosol–cloud interaction in non-precipitating marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds over the eastern North Atlantic
Hemispheric contrasts in ice formation in stratiform mixed-phase clouds: disentangling the role of aerosol and dynamics with ground-based remote sensing
Microphysical process of precipitating hydrometeors from warm-front mid-level stratiform clouds revealed by ground-based lidar observations
Overview: Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modelling towards an improved understanding of cloud and precipitation processes
A climatology of trade-wind cumulus cold pools and their link to mesoscale cloud organization
Global evidence of aerosol-induced invigoration in marine cumulus clouds
Impacts of the Saharan air layer on the physical properties of the Atlantic tropical cyclone cloud systems: 2003–2019
Two-year statistics of columnar-ice production in stratiform clouds over Hyytiälä, Finland: environmental conditions and the relevance to secondary ice production
Changes in cirrus cloud properties and occurrence over Europe during the COVID-19-caused air traffic reduction
A new conceptual model for adiabatic fog
Deciphering organization of GOES-16 green cumulus through the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) lens
Satellite retrieval of cloud base height and geometric thickness of low-level cloud based on CALIPSO
Lightning occurrences and intensity over the Indian region: long-term trends and future projections
Contrasting ice formation in Arctic clouds: surface-coupled vs. surface-decoupled clouds
Evaluation of the CMIP6 marine subtropical stratocumulus cloud albedo and its controlling factors
Identifying meteorological influences on marine low-cloud mesoscale morphology using satellite classifications
Lidar observations of cirrus clouds in Palau (7°33′ N, 134°48′ E)
Observing the timescales of aerosol–cloud interactions in snapshot satellite images
Potential impact of aerosols on convective clouds revealed by Himawari-8 observations over different terrain types in eastern China
How frequent is natural cloud seeding from ice cloud layers ( < −35 °C) over Switzerland?
Processes contributing to cloud dissipation and formation events on the North Slope of Alaska
Characterisation and surface radiative impact of Arctic low clouds from the IAOOS field experiment
A-Train estimates of the sensitivity of the cloud-to-rainwater ratio to cloud size, relative humidity, and aerosols
Ice injected into the tropopause by deep convection – Part 2: Over the Maritime Continent
3D radiative heating of tropical upper tropospheric cloud systems derived from synergistic A-Train observations and machine learning
The potential of increasing man-made air pollution to reduce rainfall over southern West Africa
Yuxin Zhao, Jiming Li, Lijie Zhang, Cong Deng, Yarong Li, Bida Jian, and Jianping Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 743–769, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-743-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-743-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Diurnal variations of clouds play an important role in the radiative budget and precipitation. Based on satellite observations, reanalysis, and CMIP6 outputs, the diurnal variations in total cloud cover and cloud vertical distribution over the Tibetan Plateau are explored. The diurnal cycle of cirrus is a key focus and found to have different characteristics from those found in the tropics. The relationship between the diurnal cycle of cirrus and meteorological factors is also discussed.
Qiang Li and Silke Groß
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15963–15980, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15963-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15963-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The IPCC report identified that cirrus clouds have a significant impact on the radiation balance comparable to the CO2 effects, which, however, is still hard to parameterize. The current study investigates the possible impact of aviation on cirrus properties based on the analysis of 10-year lidar measurements of CALIPSO. The results reveal that there is a significant positive trend in cirrus depolarization ratio in the last 10 years before COVID-19, which is strongly correlated with aviation.
Linda Forster and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15179–15205, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15179-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a novel retrieval using ground-based imaging observations of halo displays together with radiative transfer simulations to help improve our understanding of ice crystal properties representative of cirrus clouds. Analysis of 4400 calibrated HaloCam images featuring a 22° halo revealed aggregates of hexagonal columns of 20 µm effective radius with a mixture of about 37 % smooth and 63% severely roughened surfaces as the best match in general.
Jianhao Zhang and Graham Feingold
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1127, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1127, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Using observations from the space, we show maps of potential cloud brightness changes in response to increases in cloud droplets. We find that the environmental conditions in which these cloud reside covary in time differently from one part of the world to another, leaving distinct regional fingerprints of cloud brightness changes, which are absent when data is aggregated globally. We stress the importance of embracing, instead of untangling, the covariability between meteorology and aerosol.
Yun He, Zhenping Yin, Fuchao Liu, and Fan Yi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13067–13085, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13067-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13067-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A method is proposed to identify the sole presence of heterogeneous nucleation and competition between heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation for dust-related cirrus clouds by characterizing the relationship between dust ice-nucleating particle concentration calculated from CALIOP using the POLIPHON method and in-cloud ice crystal number concentration from the DARDAR-Nice dataset. Two typical cirrus cases are shown as a demonstration, and the proposed method can be extended to a global scale.
Frederic Tridon, Israel Silber, Alessandro Battaglia, Stefan Kneifel, Ann Fridlind, Petros Kalogeras, and Ranvir Dhillon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12467–12491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12467-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12467-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The role of ice precipitation in the Earth water budget is not well known because ice particles are complex, and their formation involves intricate processes. Riming of ice crystals by supercooled water droplets is an efficient process, but little is known about its importance at high latitudes. In this work, by exploiting the deployment of an unprecedented number of remote sensing systems in Antarctica, we find that riming occurs at much lower temperatures compared with the mid-latitudes.
Leonie von Terzi, José Dias Neto, Davide Ori, Alexander Myagkov, and Stefan Kneifel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11795–11821, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11795-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11795-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a statistical analysis of ice microphysical processes (IMP) in mid-latitude clouds. Combining various radar approaches, we find that the IMP active at −20 to −10 °C seems to be the main driver of ice particle size, shape and concentration. The strength of aggregation at −20 to −10 °C correlates with the increase in concentration and aspect ratio of locally formed ice particles. Despite ongoing aggregation, the concentration of ice particles stays enhanced until −4 °C.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Franziska Glassmeier, Graham Feingold, Fabian Hoffmann, and Rebecca J. Murray-Watson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11727–11738, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11727-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11727-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The response of clouds to changes in aerosol remains a large uncertainty in our understanding of the climate. Studies typically look at aerosol and cloud processes in snapshot images, measuring all properties at the same time. Here we use multiple images to characterise how cloud temporal development responds to aerosol. We find a reduction in liquid water path with increasing aerosol, party due to feedbacks. This suggests the aerosol impact on cloud water may be weaker than in previous studies.
Gerald G. Mace, Sally Benson, Ruhi Humphries, Mathew Peter Gombert, and Elizabeth Sterner
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-571, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-571, 2022
Revised manuscript accepted for ACP
Short summary
Short summary
The number cloud droplets per unit volume is a significantly important property of clouds that controls their reflective properties. Computer models of the Earth's atmosphere and climate have low skill at predicting the reflective properties of Southern Ocean clouds. Here we investigate the properties of those clouds using satellite data and find that the cloud droplet number in the Southern Ocean is related to the oceanic phytoplankton abundance near Antarctica.
Yabin Gou, Haonan Chen, and Lulin Xue
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-495, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-495, 2022
Revised manuscript accepted for ACP
Short summary
Short summary
This article investigates the complex precipitation microphysics associated with super typhoon Lekima (2019) using a host of in situ and remote sensing observations, including rain gauge and disdrometer data, and polarimetric radar observations. The impacts of precipitation microphysics on multi-source data consistency and radar precipitation estimation are quantified. It is concluded that the dynamical precipitation microphysical processes must be considered in radar precipitation estimation.
Jessica Danker, Odran Sourdeval, Isabel L. McCoy, Robert Wood, and Anna Possner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10247–10265, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10247-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10247-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Using spaceborne lidar-radar retrievals, we show that seasonal changes in cloud phase outweigh changes in cloud-phase statistics across cloud morphologies at given cloud-top temperatures. These results show that cloud morphology does not seem to pose a primary constraint on cloud-phase statistics in the Southern Ocean. Meanwhile, larger changes in in-cloud albedo across cloud morphologies are observed in supercooled liquid rather than mixed-phase stratocumuli.
Britta Schäfer, Tim Carlsen, Ingrid Hanssen, Michael Gausa, and Trude Storelvmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9537–9551, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9537-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9537-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud properties are important for the surface radiation budget. This study presents cold-cloud observations based on lidar measurements from the Norwegian Arctic between 2011 and 2017. Using statistical assessments and case studies, we give an overview of the macro- and microphysical properties of these clouds and demonstrate the capabilities of long-term cloud observations in the Norwegian Arctic from the ground-based lidar at Andenes.
Dongwei Fu, Larry Di Girolamo, Robert M. Rauber, Greg M. McFarquhar, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Jesse Loveridge, Yulan Hong, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Brian Cairns, Mikhail D. Alexandrov, Paul Lawson, Sarah Woods, Simone Tanelli, Sebastian Schmidt, Chris Hostetler, and Amy Jo Scarino
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8259–8285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8259-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8259-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite-retrieved cloud microphysics are widely used in climate research because of their central role in water and energy cycles. Here, we provide the first detailed investigation of retrieved cloud drop sizes from in situ and various satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques applied to real cumulus cloud fields. We conclude that the most widely used passive remote sensing method employed in climate research produces high biases of 6–8 µm (60 %–80 %) caused by 3-D radiative effects.
Kevin M. Smalley, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ryan Eastman, Mark Smalley, and Mikael K. Witte
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8197–8219, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8197-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8197-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We use geostationary satellite observations to track pockets of open-cell (POC) stratocumulus and analyze how precipitation, cloud microphysics, and the environment change. Precipitation becomes more intense, corresponding to increasing effective radius and decreasing number concentrations, while the environment remains relatively unchanged. This implies that changes in cloud microphysics are more important than the environment to POC development.
Edward E. Hindman and Scott Lindstrom
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7995–8008, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7995-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7995-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Winds buffeting the Mt. Everest massif often produce plumes. This systematic study identified plumes from daily observations of real-time, on-line images from a geosynchronous meteorological satellite. The corresponding meteorological data were used with a cloud-forming model to show the plumes were composed, depending on the temperature, of droplets, crystals or both. They were not composed of resuspended snow, which is a common belief. We estimated the plumes may produce significant snowfall.
Zeen Zhu, Pavlos Kollias, Edward Luke, and Fan Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7405–7416, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7405-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7405-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Drizzle (small rain droplets) is an important component of warm clouds; however, its existence is poorly understood. In this study, we capitalized on a machine-learning algorithm to develop a drizzle detection method. We applied this algorithm to investigate drizzle occurrence and found out that drizzle is far more ubiquitous than previously thought. This study demonstrates the ubiquitous nature of drizzle in clouds and will improve understanding of the associated microphysical process.
Hailing Jia, Johannes Quaas, Edward Gryspeerdt, Christoph Böhm, and Odran Sourdeval
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7353–7372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol–cloud interaction is the most uncertain component of the anthropogenic forcing of the climate. By combining satellite and reanalysis data, we show that the strength of the Twomey effect (S) increases remarkably with vertical velocity. Both the confounding effect of aerosol–precipitation interaction and the lack of vertical co-location between aerosol and cloud are found to overestimate S, whereas the retrieval biases in aerosol and cloud appear to underestimate S.
Theresa Mieslinger, Bjorn Stevens, Tobias Kölling, Manfred Brath, Martin Wirth, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6879–6898, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The trades are home to a plethora of small cumulus clouds that are often barely visible to the human eye and difficult to detect with active and passive remote sensing methods. With the help of a new method and by means of high-resolution data we can detect small and particularly thin clouds. We find that optically thin clouds are a common phenomenon in the trades, covering a large area and influencing the radiative effect of clouds if they are undetected and contaminate the cloud-free signal.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5743–5756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds are important to the Arctic surface energy budget, but the impact of aerosols on their properties is largely uncertain. This work shows that the response of liquid water path to cloud droplet number increases is strongly dependent on lower tropospheric stability (LTS), with weaker cooling effects in polluted clouds and at high LTS. LTS is projected to decrease in a warmer Arctic, reducing the cooling effect of aerosols and producing a positive, aerosol-dependent cloud feedback.
Ivana Kolmašová, Ondřej Santolík, and Kateřina Rosická
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3379–3389, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3379-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3379-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The 2014–2015 winter brought an enormous number of lightning strokes to northern Europe, about 4 times more than their long-term median over the last decade. This unusual production of lightning, concentrated above the ocean and along the western coastal areas, was probably due to a combination of large-scale climatic events like El Niño and the North Atlantic Oscillation, causing increased sea surface temperatures and updraft strengths, which acted as additional thundercloud-charging drivers.
Francisco Lang, Luis Ackermann, Yi Huang, Son C. H. Truong, Steven T. Siems, and Michael J. Manton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2135–2152, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2135-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2135-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Marine low-level clouds cover vast areas of the Southern Ocean, and they are essential to the Earth system energy balance. We use 3 years of satellite observations to group low-level clouds by their spatial structure using a pattern-recognizing program. We studied two primary cloud type patterns, i.e. open and closed clouds. Open clouds are uniformly distributed over the storm track, while closed clouds are most predominant in the southeastern Indian Ocean. Closed clouds exhibit a daily cycle.
Tianning Su, Youtong Zheng, and Zhanqing Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1453–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1453-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1453-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To enrich our understanding of coupling of continental clouds, we developed a novel methodology to determine cloud coupling state from a lidar and a suite of surface meteorological instruments. This method is built upon advancement in our understanding of fundamental boundary layer processes and clouds. As the first remote sensing method for determining the coupling state of low clouds over land, this methodology paves a solid ground for further investigating the coupled land–atmosphere system.
Jianhao Zhang, Xiaoli Zhou, Tom Goren, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 861–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Oceanic liquid-form clouds are effective sunlight reflectors. Their brightness is highly sensitive to changes in the amount of aerosol particles in the atmosphere and the state of the atmosphere they reside in. This study quantifies this sensitivity using long-term satellite observations and finds an overall cloud brightening (a cooling effect) potential and an essential role of the covarying meteorological conditions in governing this sensitivity for northeastern Pacific stratocumulus.
Matthew W. Christensen, Andrew Gettelman, Jan Cermak, Guy Dagan, Michael Diamond, Alyson Douglas, Graham Feingold, Franziska Glassmeier, Tom Goren, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Edward Gryspeerdt, Ralph Kahn, Zhanqing Li, Po-Lun Ma, Florent Malavelle, Isabel L. McCoy, Daniel T. McCoy, Greg McFarquhar, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sandip Pal, Anna Possner, Adam Povey, Johannes Quaas, Daniel Rosenfeld, Anja Schmidt, Roland Schrödner, Armin Sorooshian, Philip Stier, Velle Toll, Duncan Watson-Parris, Robert Wood, Mingxi Yang, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 641–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Trace gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) are released from a variety of point sources around the globe. Examples include volcanoes, industrial chimneys, forest fires, and ship stacks. These sources provide opportunistic experiments with which to quantify the role of aerosols in modifying cloud properties. We review the current state of understanding on the influence of aerosol on climate built from the wide range of natural and anthropogenic laboratories investigated in recent decades.
Xiaojian Zheng, Baike Xi, Xiquan Dong, Peng Wu, Timothy Logan, and Yuan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 335–354, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-335-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-335-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses ground-based observations to investigate the physical processes in the aerosol–cloud interactions in non-precipitating marine boundary layer clouds, over the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Results show that the cloud responses to the aerosols are diminished with limited water vapor supply, while they are enhanced with increasing water vapor availability. The clouds are found to be most sensitive to the aerosols under sufficient water vapor and strong boundary layer turbulence.
Martin Radenz, Johannes Bühl, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Boris Barja González, Rodanthi-Elisabeth Mamouri, Félix Zamorano, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17969–17994, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study brings together long-term ground-based remote-sensing observations of mixed-phase clouds at three key locations of aerosol–cloud interactions in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes. The findings contribute several new aspects on the nature of the excess of supercooled liquid clouds in the Southern Hemisphere, such as a long-term lidar-based estimate of ice-nucleating particle profiles as well as the effects of boundary layer coupling and gravity waves on ice formation.
Yang Yi, Fan Yi, Fuchao Liu, Yunpeng Zhang, Changming Yu, and Yun He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17649–17664, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17649-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17649-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our lidar observations reveal the complete microphysical process of hydrometeors falling from mid-level stratiform clouds. We find that the surface rainfall begins as supercooled mixed-phase hydrometeors fall out of a liquid parent cloud base. We find also that the collision–coalescence growth of precipitating raindrops and subsequent spontaneous breakup always occur around 0.6 km altitude during surface rainfalls. Our findings provide new insights into stratiform precipitation formation.
Silke Trömel, Clemens Simmer, Ulrich Blahak, Armin Blanke, Sabine Doktorowski, Florian Ewald, Michael Frech, Mathias Gergely, Martin Hagen, Tijana Janjic, Heike Kalesse-Los, Stefan Kneifel, Christoph Knote, Jana Mendrok, Manuel Moser, Gregor Köcher, Kai Mühlbauer, Alexander Myagkov, Velibor Pejcic, Patric Seifert, Prabhakar Shrestha, Audrey Teisseire, Leonie von Terzi, Eleni Tetoni, Teresa Vogl, Christiane Voigt, Yuefei Zeng, Tobias Zinner, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17291–17314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The article introduces the ACP readership to ongoing research in Germany on cloud- and precipitation-related process information inherent in polarimetric radar measurements, outlines pathways to inform atmospheric models with radar-based information, and points to remaining challenges towards an improved fusion of radar polarimetry and atmospheric modelling.
Raphaela Vogel, Heike Konow, Hauke Schulz, and Paquita Zuidema
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16609–16630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16609-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16609-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The shallow cumulus clouds that populate the trade-wind regions can produce substantial amounts of rain. Before reaching the surface, part of the rain can evaporate and form pools of cold air that spread at the surface as density currents. We use 10 years of data from Barbados to show that such cold pools occur on 3 out of 4 d, that cold-pool periods are 90 % cloudier relative to the average winter conditions, and that they are connected to specific patterns of mesoscale cloud organization.
Alyson Douglas and Tristan L'Ecuyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15103–15114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15103-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15103-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
When aerosols enter the atmosphere, they interact with the clouds above in what we term aerosol–cloud interactions and lead to a series of reactions which delay the onset of rain. This delay may lead to increased rain rates, or invigoration, when the cloud eventually rains. We show that aerosol leads to invigoration in certain environments. The strength of the invigoration depends on how large the cloud is, which suggests that it is highly tied to the organization of the cloud system.
Hao Luo and Yong Han
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15171–15184, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15171-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15171-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The various feedbacks of Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) to the Saharan air layer (SAL) are determined by the combined effects of dry air masses, the dust aerosols as ice nuclei, and dynamic, thermodynamic, and moisture conditions. The specific influence mechanisms of SAL on the three intensities of TCs (tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane) are different. The conclusions are beneficial to our recognition of the physical process and evolution of TCs in the Atlantic region.
Haoran Li, Ottmar Möhler, Tuukka Petäjä, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14671–14686, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14671-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14671-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In natural clouds, ice-nucleating particles are expected to be rare above –10 °C. In the current paper, we found that the formation of ice columns is frequent in stratiform clouds and is associated with increased precipitation intensity and liquid water path. In single-layer shallow clouds, the production of ice columns was attributed to secondary ice production, despite the rime-splintering process not being expected to take place in such clouds.
Qiang Li and Silke Groß
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14573–14590, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14573-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14573-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Aircraft emit exhaust gases and particles directly into the atmosphere, which may contribute to climate change. We present a significant reduction in the occurrence rate and particle linear depolarization ratio of cirrus clouds based on the analysis of measurements with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite during COVID-19 when air traffic was significantly reduced. The findings imply that these clouds formed with less influence from aviation.
Felipe Toledo, Martial Haeffelin, Eivind Wærsted, and Jean-Charles Dupont
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13099–13117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13099-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13099-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The article presents a new conceptual model to describe the temporal evolution of continental fog layers, developed based on 7 years of fog measurements performed at the SIRTA observatory, France. This new paradigm relates the visibility reduction caused by fog to its vertical thickness and liquid water path and provides diagnostic variables that could substantially improve the reliability of fog dissipation nowcasting at a local scale, based on real-time profiling observation.
Tom Dror, Mickaël D. Chekroun, Orit Altaratz, and Ilan Koren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12261–12272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12261-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12261-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A part of continental shallow convective cumulus (Cu) was shown to share properties such as organization and formation over vegetated areas, thus named green Cu. Mechanisms behind the formed patterns are not understood. We use different metrics and an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) to decompose the dataset and quantify organization factors (cloud streets and gravity waves). We show that clouds form a highly organized grid structure over hundreds of kilometers at the field lifetime.
Xin Lu, Feiyue Mao, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yannian Zhu, Zengxin Pan, and Wei Gong
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11979–12003, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, a novel method for retrieving cloud base height and geometric thickness is developed and applied to produce a global climatology of boundary layer clouds with a high accuracy. The retrieval is based on the 333 m resolution low-level cloud distribution as obtained from the CALIPSO lidar data. The main part of the study describes the variability of cloud vertical geometrical properties in space, season, and time of the day. Resultant new insights are presented.
Rohit Chakraborty, Arindam Chakraborty, Ghouse Basha, and Madineni Venkat Ratnam
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11161–11177, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11161-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11161-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, urbanization-induced surface warming has been found to trigger prominent changes in upper-troposphere–lower-stratosphere regions leading to stronger and more frequent lightning extremes over India. Consequently, the implementation of this hypothesis in global climate models reveals that lightning frequency and intensity values across India will rise by ~10–25 % and 15–50 %, respectively, by 2100 at the current urbanization rate, which should be alarming for present policymakers.
Hannes J. Griesche, Kevin Ohneiser, Patric Seifert, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10357–10374, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10357-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10357-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Heterogeneous ice formation in Arctic mixed-phase clouds under consideration of their surface-coupling state is investigated. Cloud phase and macrophysical properties were determined by means of lidar and cloud radar measurements, the coupling state, and cloud minimum temperature by radiosonde profiles. Above −15 °C cloud minimum temperature, surface-coupled clouds are more likely to contain ice by a factor of 2–6. By means of a literature survey, causes of the observed effects are discussed.
Bida Jian, Jiming Li, Guoyin Wang, Yuxin Zhao, Yarong Li, Jing Wang, Min Zhang, and Jianping Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9809–9828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9809-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9809-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate the performance of the AMIP6 model in simulating cloud albedo over marine subtropical regions and the impacts of different aerosol types and meteorological factors on the cloud albedo based on multiple satellite datasets and reanalysis data. The results show that AMIP6 demonstrates moderate improvement over AMIP5 in simulating the monthly variation in cloud albedo, and changes in different aerosol types and meteorological factors can explain ~65 % of the changes in the cloud albedo.
Johannes Mohrmann, Robert Wood, Tianle Yuan, Hua Song, Ryan Eastman, and Lazaros Oreopoulos
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9629–9642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9629-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9629-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Observations of marine-boundary-layer conditions are composited by cloud type, based on a new classification dataset. It is found that two cloud types, representing regions of clustered and suppressed low-level clouds, occur in very similar large-scale conditions but are distinguished from each other by considering low-level circulation and surface wind fields, validating prior results from modeling.
Francesco Cairo, Mauro De Muro, Marcel Snels, Luca Di Liberto, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Ajil Kottayil, Andrea Scoccione, and Stefano Ghisu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7947–7961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A lidar was used in Palau from February–March 2016. Clouds were observed peaking at 3 km below the high cold-point tropopause (CPT). Their occurrence was linked with cold anomalies, while in warm cases, cirrus clouds were restricted to 5 km below the CPT. Thin subvisible cirrus (SVC) near the CPT had distinctive characteristics. They were linked to wave-induced cold anomalies. Back trajectories are mostly compatible with convective outflow, while some distinctive SVC may originate in situ.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Tom Goren, and Tristan W. P. Smith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6093–6109, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud responses to aerosol are time-sensitive, but this development is rarely observed. This study uses isolated aerosol perturbations from ships to measure this development and shows that macrophysical (width, cloud fraction, detectability) and microphysical (droplet number) properties of ship tracks vary strongly with time since emission, background cloud and meteorological state. This temporal development should be considered when constraining aerosol–cloud interactions with observations.
Tianmeng Chen, Zhanqing Li, Ralph A. Kahn, Chuanfeng Zhao, Daniel Rosenfeld, Jianping Guo, Wenchao Han, and Dandan Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6199–6220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6199-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A convective cloud identification process is developed using geostationary satellite data from Himawari-8.
Convective cloud fraction is generally larger before noon and smaller in the afternoon under polluted conditions, but megacities and complex topography can influence the pattern.
A robust relationship between convective cloud and aerosol loading is found. This pattern varies with terrain height and is modulated by varying thermodynamic, dynamical, and humidity conditions during the day.
Ulrike Proske, Verena Bessenbacher, Zane Dedekind, Ulrike Lohmann, and David Neubauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5195–5216, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5195-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ice crystals falling out of one cloud can initiate freezing in a second cloud below. We estimate the occurrence frequency of this natural cloud seeding over Switzerland from satellite data and sublimation calculations. We find that such situations with an ice cloud above another cloud are frequent and that the falling crystals survive the fall between two clouds in a significant number of cases, suggesting that natural cloud seeding is an important phenomenon over Switzerland.
Joseph Sedlar, Adele Igel, and Hagen Telg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4149–4167, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021, 2021
Julia Maillard, François Ravetta, Jean-Christophe Raut, Vincent Mariage, and Jacques Pelon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4079–4101, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4079-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4079-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds remain a major source of uncertainty in understanding the Arctic climate, due in part to the lack of measurements over the sea ice. In this paper, we exploit a series of lidar profiles acquired from autonomous drifting buoys deployed in the Arctic Ocean and derive a statistic of low cloud frequency and macrophysical properties. We also show that clouds contribute to warm the surface in the shoulder seasons but not significantly from May to September.
Kevin M. Smalley and Anita D. Rapp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2765–2779, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We use satellite observations of shallow cumulus clouds to investigate the influence of cloud size on the ratio of cloud water path to rainwater (WRR) in different environments. For a fixed temperature and relative humidity, WRR increases with cloud size, but it varies little with aerosols. These results imply that increasing WRR with rising temperature relates not only to deeper clouds but also to more frequent larger clouds.
Iris-Amata Dion, Cyrille Dallet, Philippe Ricaud, Fabien Carminati, Thibaut Dauhut, and Peter Haynes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2191–2210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2191-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2191-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ice in the tropopause has a strong radiative effect on climate. The amount of ice injected (∆IWC) up to the tropical tropopause layer has been shown to be the highest over the Maritime Continent (MC), a region that includes Indonesia. ∆IWC is studied over islands and sea of the MC. Space-borne observations of ice, precipitation and lightning are used to estimate ∆IWC and are compared to ∆IWC estimated from the ERA5 reanalyses. It is shown that Java is the area of the greatest ∆IWC over the MC.
Claudia J. Stubenrauch, Giacomo Caria, Sofia E. Protopapadaki, and Friederike Hemmer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1015–1034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1015-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1015-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical anvils formed by convective outflow play a crucial role in modulating the Earth’s energy budget and heat transport. To explore the relation between these anvils and convection, we built 3D radiative heating fields, based on machine learning employed on cloud and atmospheric properties from IR sounder and meteorological reanalyses, trained on lidar–radar retrievals. The 15-year time series reveals colder convective systems during warm periods, affecting the atmospheric heating structure.
Gregor Pante, Peter Knippertz, Andreas H. Fink, and Anke Kniffka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 35–55, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-35-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-35-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Seasonal rainfall amounts along the densely populated West African Guinea coast have been decreasing during the past 35 years, with recently accelerating trends. We find strong indications that this is in part related to increasing human air pollution in the region. Given the fast increase in emissions, the political implications of this work are significant. Reducing air pollution locally and regionally would mitigate an imminent health crisis and socio-economic damage from reduced rainfall.
Cited articles
Bouniol, D., Roca, R., Fiolleau, T., and Poan, D. E.: Macrophysical,
Microphysical, and Radiative Properties of Tropical Mesoscale Convective
Systems over Their Life Cycle, J. Climate, 29, 3353–3371,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0551.1, 2016.
Bourgeois, E., Bouniol, D., Couvreux, F., Guichard, F., Marsham, J. H.,
Garcia-Carreras, L., Birch, C. E., and Parker, D. J.: Characteristics of
mid-level clouds over West Africa, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 113, D04210,
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3215, 2018.
Cesana, G. and Chepfer, H.: Evaluation of the cloud thermodynamic phase in a
climate model using CALIPSO-GOCCP, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 7922–7937,
https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50376, 2013.
Cesana, G., Chepfer, H., Winker, D. M., Getzewich, B., Cai, X., Okamoto, H.,
Hagihara, Y., Jourdan, O., Mioche, G., Noel, V., and Reverdy, M.: Using in
situ airborne measurements to evaluate three cloud phase products derived
from CALIPSO, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 5788–5808,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024334, 2016.
Chepfer, H., Bony, S., Winker, D., Cesana, G., Dufresne, J. L., Minnis, P.,
Stubenrauch, C. J., and Zeng, S.: The GCM-Oriented CALIPSO Cloud Product
(CALIPSO-GOCCP), J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00H16, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012251,
2010.
Chepfer, H., Cesana, G., Winker, D., Getzewich, B., and Vaughan, M.:
Comparison of two different cloud climatologies derived from CALIOP Level 1
observations: the CALIPSO-ST and the CALIPSO-GOCCP, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech.,
30, 725–744, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00057.1, 2013.
Chiriaco, M., Bastin, S., Yiou, P., Haeffelin, M., Dupont, J.-C., Klenov, L.,
and Stéfanon, M.: European heat-wave in July 2006: observations and
modelling showing how local processes amplify conducive large-scale
conditions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 5644–5652, 2014.
Chiriaco, M., Dupont, J.-C., Bastin, S., Badosa, J., Lopez, J., Haeffelin,
M., Chepfer, H., and Guzman, R.: ReOBS: a new approach to synthesize
long-term multi-variable dataset and application to the SIRTA supersite,
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 919–940,
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-919-2018, 2018.
Culoma, A., Elfving, A., Meynart, R., Straume, A., and Wernham, D.: AEOLUS
mission: the latest preparations before launch, Proc. SPIE 10423, Sensors,
Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XXI, 1042303,
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2282159, 2017.
Dong, X., Xi, B., Crosby, K., Long, C. N., Stone, R. S., and Shupe, M. D.: A
10 year climatology of Arctic cloud fraction and radiative forcing at Barrow,
Alaska, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D17212, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013489, 2010.
Dupont, J. C., Haeffelin, M., Morille, Y., Noel, V., Keckhut, P., Winker, D.,
Comstock, J., Chervet, P., and Roblin, A.: Macrophysical and optical
properties of midlatitude cirrus clouds from four ground-based lidars and
collocated CALIOP observations, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D00H24,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD011943, 2010.
Dupont, J.-C., Haeffelin, M., Morille, Y., Comstock, J. M., Flynn, C., Long, C. N.,
Sivaraman, C., and Newson, R. K.: Cloud properties derived from two lidars over the ARM SGP site, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08814, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL046274, 2011.
Eastman, R. and Warren, S. G.: Diurnal Cycles of Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, Stratus,
Stratocumulus, and Fog from Surface Observations over Land and Ocean, J. Climate, 27, 2386–2404,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00352.1, 2014.
Elouragini, S. and Flamant, P. H.: Iterative method to determine an averaged
lidar ratio and the range resolved extinction in cirrus, Appl. Optics, 35,
1512–1518, 1996.
Gray, W. M. and Jacobson, R. W.: Diurnal variation of deep cumulus
convection, Mon. Weather Rev., 105, 1171–1188,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1977)105<1171:DVODCC>2.0.CO;2, 1977.
Greenwald, T. J. and Christopher, S. A.: Daytime variation of marine
stratocumulus microphysical properties as observed from geostationary
satellite, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 1723–1726, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL900346,
1999.
Gupta, A. K., Rajeev, K., Sijikumar, S., and Nair, A. K. M.: Enhanced daytime
occurrence of clouds in the tropical upper troposphere over land and ocean, Atmos. Res., 201, 133–143, 2018.
Guzman, R., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., Vaillant de Guélis, T., Kay, J. E.,
Raberanto, P., Cesana, G., Vaughan, M. A., and Winker, D. M.: Direct
atmosphere opacity observations from CALIPSO provide new constraints on
cloud-radiation interactions, J. Geophys. Res., 122, 1066–1085,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025946, 2017.
Haeffelin, M., Barthès, L., Bock, O., Boitel, C., Bony, S., Bouniol, D.,
Chepfer, H., Chiriaco, M., Cuesta, J., Delanoë, J., Drobinski, P.,
Dufresne, J.-L., Flamant, C., Grall, M., Hodzic, A., Hourdin, F., Lapouge,
F., Lemaître, Y., Mathieu, A., Morille, Y., Naud, C., Noël, V.,
O'Hirok, W., Pelon, J., Pietras, C., Protat, A., Romand, B., Scialom, G., and
Vautard, R.: SIRTA, a ground-based atmospheric observatory for cloud and
aerosol research, Ann. Geophys., 23, 253–275,
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-253-2005, 2005.
Haynes, J. M., Vonder Haar, T. H., L'Ecuyer, T., and Henderson, D.: Radiative
heating characteristics of earth's cloudy atmosphere from vertically resolved
active sensors, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 624–630, https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50145,
2013.
Hoareau, C., Keckhut, P., Noel, V., Chepfer, H., and Baray, J.-L.: A decadal
cirrus clouds climatology from ground-based and spaceborne lidars above the
south of France (43.9∘ N–5.7∘ E), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13,
6951–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013, 2013.
Hogan, R. J., Illingworth, A. J., O'Connor, E. J., and Poiares Baptista, J.
P. V.: Characteristics of mixed-phase clouds. II: A climatology from
ground-based lidar, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 129, 2117–2134, 2003.
Hu, Y., Winker, D., Vaughan, M., Lin, B., Omar, A., Trepte, C., Flittner, D.,
Yang, P., Nasiri, S. L., Baum, B., Holz, R., Sun, W., Liu, Z., Wang, Z.,
Young, S., Stamnes, K., Huang, J., and Kuehn, R.: CALIPSO/CALIOP Cloud Phase
Discrimination Algorithm, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 26, 2293–2309, 2009.
Illingworth, A. J., Barker, H. W., Beljaars, A., Ceccaldi, M., Chepfer, H.,
Clerbaux, N., Cole, J., Delanoë, J., Domenech, C., Donovan, D. P.,
Fukuda, S., Hirakata, M., Hogan, R. J., Huenerbein, A., Kollias, P.,
Kubota,T., Nakajima, T., Nakajima, T. Y., Nishizawa, T., Ohno, Y., Okamoto,
H., Oki, R., Sato, K., Satoh, M., Shephard, M. W.,
Velázquez-Blázquez, A., Wandinger, U., Wehr, T., and van Zadelhoff,
G.: The EarthCARE Satellite: The Next Step Forward in Global Measurements of
Clouds, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Radiation, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 96,
1311–1332, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00227.1, 2015.
Johnson, R. H., Rickenbach, T. M., Rutledge, S. A., Ciesielski, P. E., and
Schubert, W. H.: Trimodal Characteristics of Tropical Convection, J. Climate,
12, 2397–2418, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<2397:TCOTC>2.0.CO;2, 1999.
Kato, S., Rose, F. G., Sun-Mack, S., Miller, W. F., Chen, Y., Rutan, D. A.,
Stephens, G. L., Loeb, N. G., Minnis, P., Wielicki, B. A., Winker, D. M.,
Charlock, T. P., Stackhouse Jr., P. W., Xu, K.-M., and Collins, W. D.:
Improvements of top-of-atmosphere and surface irradiance computations with
CALIPSO-, CloudSat-, and MODIS-derived cloud and aerosol properties, J.
Geophys. Res., 116, D19209, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016050, 2011.
Kollias, P., Bharadwaj, N., Widener, K., Jo, I., and Johnson, K.: Scanning
ARM Cloud Radars. Part I: Operational Sampling Strategies, J. Atmos. Ocean.
Tech., 31, 569–582, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-13-00044.1, 2014.
Konsta, D., Dufresne, J. L., Chepfer, H., Idelkadi, A., and Cesana, G.: Use
of A-train satellite observations (CALIPSO–PARASOL) to evaluate tropical
cloud properties in the LMDZ5 GCM, Clim. Dynam., 47, 1263–1284,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2900-y, 2016.
Kummerow, C., Barnes, W., Kozu, T., Shiue, J., and Simpson, J.: The Tropical
Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) sensor package, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 15,
809–817, 1998.
L'Ecuyer, T. S. and Jiang, J. H.: Touring the atmosphere aboard the A-Train,
Phys. Today, 63, 36–40, 2010.
L'Ecuyer, T. S., Wood, N. B., Haladay, T., Stephens, G. L., and Stackhouse
Jr., P. W.: Impact of clouds on atmospheric heating based on the R04 CloudSat
fluxes and heating rates data set, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D00A15,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD009951, 2008.
Liu, C. and Zipser, E. J.: Diurnal cycles of precipitation, clouds, and lightning in the tropics from 9 years of TRMM observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L04819, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL032437, 2008.
Liu, Z., Vaughan, M. A., Winker, D., Kittaka, C., Getzewich, B., Kuehn, R.,
Omar, A., Powell, K. A., Trepte, C., and Hostetler, C.: The CALIPSO lidar
cloud and aerosol discrimination: Version 2 algorithm and initial assessment
of performance, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 26, 1198–1213, 2009.
Masunaga, H., L'Ecuyer, T. S., and Kummerow, C. D.: Variability in the
Characteristics of Precipitation Systems in the Tropical Pacific. Part I:
Spatial Structure, J. Climate, 18, 823–840, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-3304.1, 2005.
McGill, M. J., Yorks, J. E., Scott, V. S., Kupchock, A. W., and Selmer, P.
A.: The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS): A technology demonstration on
the International Space Station, Proc. SPIE 9612, Lidar Remote Sensing for
Environmental Monitoring XV, 96120A, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190841, 2015.
Naud, C., Del Genio, A. D., Haeffelin, M., Morille, Y., Noel, V., Dupont,
J.-C., Turner, D., Lo, C., and Comstock, J. M.: Thermodynamic phase profiles
of optically thin midlatitude clouds and their relation to temperature, J.
Geophys. Res., 115, D11202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012889, 2010.
Noel, V. and Haeffelin, M.: Midlatitude Cirrus Clouds and Multiple
Tropopauses from a 2002–2006 Climatology over the SIRTA observatory, J.
Geophys. Res., 112, D13206, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007753, 2007.
Palm, S. P., Hlavka, D. L., Selmer, P., and Pauly, R.: the Cloud Aerosol
Transport System (CATS) Data Product Catalog release 3.0, available at:
https://cats.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/docs/CATS_Data_Products_Catalog.pdf
(last access: 23 January 2018), 2016.
Pappalardo, G., Amodeo, A., Apituley, A., Comeron, A., Freudenthaler, V.,
Linné, H., Ansmann, A., Bösenberg, J., D'Amico, G., Mattis, I., Mona,
L., Wandinger, U., Amiridis, V., Alados-Arboledas, L., Nicolae, D., and
Wiegner, M.: EARLINET: towards an advanced sustainable European aerosol lidar
network, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 2389–2409,
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-2389-2014, 2014.
Philippon, N., de Lapparent, B., Gond, V., Sèze, G., Martiny, N.,
Camberlin, P., Cornu, G., Morel, B., Moron, V., Bigot, S., Brou, T., and
Dubreuil, V.: Analysis of the diurnal cycles for a better understanding of
the mean annual cycle of forests greenness in Central Africa, Agr. Forest
Meteorol., 223, 81–94, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2016.04.005, 2016.
Protat, A., Delanoë, J., Plana-Fattori, A., May, P. T., and O'Connor, E.
J.: The statistical properties of tropical ice clouds generated by the West
African and Australian monsoons, from ground-based radar-lidar observations,
Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 136, 345–363, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.490, 2009.
Reverdy, M., Chepfer, H., Donovan, D., Noel, V., Cesana, G., Hoareau, C.,
Chiriaco, M., and Bastin, S.: An EarthCARE/ATLID simulator to evaluate cloud
description in climate models, J. Geophys. Res., 120, 11090–11113,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023919, 2015.
Rossow, W. B.: Measuring cloud properties from space: A review, J. Climate,
2, 201–213, 1989.
Rossow, W. B. and Schiffer, R. A.: Advances in understanding clouds from ISCCP, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 80, 2261–2288,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1999)080<2261:AIUCFI>2.0.CO;2, 1999.
Rozendaal, M. A., Leovy, C. B., and Klein, S. A.: An Observational Study of
Diurnal Variations of Marine Stratiform Cloud, J. Climate, 8, 1795–1809,
1995.
Sassen, K. and Benson, S.: A midlatitude Cirrus Cloud Climatology from the
Facility for Atmospheric Remote Sensing. Part II : microphysical properties
derived from lidar depolarisation, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 2103–2112,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058<2103:AMCCCF>2.0.CO;2, 2001.
Sassen, K. and Wang, Z.: The Clouds of the Middle Troposphere: Composition,
Radiative Impact, and Global Distribution, Surv. Geophys., 33, 677–691,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-011-9163-x, 2012.
Sassen, K., Wang, Z., and Liu, D.: Cirrus clouds and deep convection in the
tropics: Insights from CALIPSO and CloudSat, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D00H06,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD011916, 2009.
Sèze, G., Pelon, J., Derrien, M., Le Gléau, H., and Six, B.:
Evaluation against CALIPSO lidar observations of the multi-geostationary
cloud cover and type dataset assembled in the framework of the
Megha-Tropiques mission, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 141, 774–797,
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2392, 2014.
Shang, H., Letu, H., Nakajima, T. Y., Wang, Z., Ma, R., Wang, T., Lei, Y.,
Ji, D., Li, S., and Shi, J.: Diurnal cycle and seasonal variation of cloud
cover over the Tibetan Plateau as determined from Himawari-8 new-generation
geostationary satellite data, Sci. Rep.-UK, 8, 1–8,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19431-w, 2018.
Soden, B. J.: The diurnal cycle of convection, clouds, and water vapor in the
tropical upper troposphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 2173–2176,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011436, 2000.
Stephens, G., Winker, D., Pelon, J., Trepte, C., Vane, D., Yuhas, C.,
L'Ecuyer, T., and Lebsock, M.: CloudSat and CALIPSO within the A-Train: Ten
Years of Actively Observing the Earth System, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 99,
569–581, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0324.1, 2018.
Stephens, G. L. and Kummerow, C. D.: The Remote Sensing of Clouds and
Precipitation from Space: A Review, J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 3742–3765,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2006JAS2375.1, 2007.
Stubenrauch, C. J., Chédin, A., Rädel, G., Scott, N. A., and Serrar,
S.: Cloud Properties and Their Seasonal and Diurnal Variability from TOVS
Path-B, J. Climate, 19, 5531–5553, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3929.1, 2006.
Taylor, S., Stier, P., White, B., Finkensieper, S., and Stengel, M.:
Evaluating the diurnal cycle in cloud top temperature from SEVIRI, Atmos.
Chem. Phys., 17, 7035–7053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7035-2017, 2017.
Tian, B., Soden, B. J., and Wu, X.: Diurnal cycle of convection, clouds, and
water vapor in the tropical upper troposphere: Satellites versus a general circulation model, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D10101,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004117, 2004.
Vaughan, M. A., Powell, K. A., Winker, D. M., Hostetler, C. A., Kuehn, R. E.,
Hunt, W. H., Getzewich, B. J., Young, S. A., Liu, Z., and McGill, M. J.:
Fully Automated Detection of Cloud and Aerosol Layers in the CALIPSO Lidar
Measurements, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 26, 2034–2050,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JTECHA1228.1, 2009.
Wang, Z. and Sassen, K.: Cloud type and macrophysical property retrieval
using multiple remote sensors, J. Appl. Meteorol., 40, 1665–1682, 2001.
Wilson, A. M. and Barros, A. P.: Orographic Land–Atmosphere Interactions and
the Diurnal Cycle of Low-Level Clouds and Fog, J. Hydrometeorol., 18,
1513–1533, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-16-0186.1, 2017.
Winker, D., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., and Cai, X.: Observational Constraints on
Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors, Surv. Geophys., 38,
1483–1508, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-017-9452-0, 2017.
Winker, D. M., Vaughan, M. A., Omar, A., Hu, Y., and Powell, K. A.: Overview
of the CALIPSO mission and CALIOP data processing algorithms, J. Atmos.
Ocean. Tech., 26, 2310–2323, 2009.
Winker, D. M., Pelon, J., Coakley Jr., 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., Mégie, G., 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.
Yin, J. and Porporato, A.: Diurnal cloud cycle biases in climate models, Nat.
Commun., 8, 2269, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02369-4, 2017.
Yorks, J. E., Hlavka, D. L., Hart, W. D., and McGill, M. J.: Statistics of
Cloud Optical Properties from Airborne Lidar Measurements, J. Atmos. Ocean.
Tech., 28, 869–883, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JTECHA1507.1, 2011.
Yorks, J. E., McGill, M. J., Palm, S. P., Hlavka, D. L., Selmer, P. A.,
Nowottnick, E. P., Vaughan, M. A., Rodier, S. D., and Hart, W. D.: An
overview of the CATS level 1 processing algorithms and data products,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 4632–4639, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068006, 2016a.
Yorks, J. E., Palm, S. P., McGill, M. J., Hlavka, D. L., Hart, W. D., Selmer,
P. A., and Nowottnick, E.: CATS Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document, Level 1
and Level 2 Data Products, release 1.2, available at:
https://cats.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/docs/CATS_ATBD.pdf (last access:
13 February 2018), 2016b.
Yorks, J. E., Rodier, S. D., Nowottnick, E., Selmer, P. A., McGill, M. J.,
Palm, S. P., and Vaughan, M. A.: CATS Level 2 Vertical Feature Mask
Algorithms and Data Products: An Overview and Initial Assessment, Atmos.
Meas. Tech. Discuss., in preparation, 2018.
Zhao, W., Marchand, R., and Fu, Q.: The diurnal cycle of clouds and
precipitation at the ARM SGP site: Cloud radar observations and simulations
from the multiscale modeling framework, J. Geophys. Res., 122, 7519–7536,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026353, 2017.
Short summary
From 3 years of observations from the CATS lidar on the International Space Station we document the daily cycle of the vertical distribution of clouds.
This is the first time this is documented over several continents and oceans using finely resolved measurements on a near-global scale from a single instrument.
We show that other instruments observing clouds from space, like CALIPSO, document extremes of the daily cycle over ocean and closer to the average over land.
From 3 years of observations from the CATS lidar on the International Space Station we document...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint