Articles | Volume 21, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-21-7947-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 May 2021
Research article |
| 25 May 2021
| 25 May 2021
Lidar observations of cirrus clouds in Palau (7°33′ N, 134°48′ E)
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Rome, Italy
Mauro De Muro
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Rome, Italy
now at: AIT Thales Alenia Space, Rome, Italy
Marcel Snels
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Rome, Italy
Luca Di Liberto
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Rome, Italy
Silvia Bucci
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), UMR CNRS 8539, CNRS, IPSL, ENS-PSL, École Polytechnique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
Bernard Legras
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), UMR CNRS 8539, CNRS, IPSL, ENS-PSL, École Polytechnique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
Ajil Kottayil
Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, India
Andrea Scoccione
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), Rome, Italy
now at: Centro Operativo per la Meteorologia, Aeronautica Militare, Pomezia, Italy
Stefano Ghisu
Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Dipartimento di Fisica, Rome, Italy
Related authors
Pierre Gramme, Cedric Busschots, Emmanuel Dekemper, Didier Pieroux, Noel C. Baker, Stefano Casadio, Anna Maria lannarelli, Nicola Ferrante, Annalisa Di Bernardino, Paolo Pettinari, Elisa Castelli, Luca di Liberto, and Francesco Cairo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2255, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2255, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new remote sensing instrument using hyperspectral imaging to observe the variability in space and time of the nitrogen dioxide concentration. We also show the results of its validation campaign in a challenging urban setting in Rome, showing very good agreement with two reference instruments. Having an imaging instrument rather than the currently state-of-the-art unidirectional spectrometers brings promising capability in the context of satellite products validation.
Francesco Cairo, Martina Krämer, Armin Afchine, Guido Di Donfrancesco, Luca Di Liberto, Sergey Khaykin, Lorenza Lucaferri, Valentin Mitev, Max Port, Christian Rolf, Marcel Snels, Nicole Spelten, Ralf Weigel, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4899–4925, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4899-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4899-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Cirrus clouds have been observed over the Himalayan region between 10 km and the tropopause at 17–18 km. Data from backscattersonde, hygrometers, and particle cloud spectrometers have been compared to assess their consistency. Empirical relationships between optical parameters accessible with remote sensing lidars and cloud microphysical parameters (such as ice water content, particle number and surface area density, and particle aspherical fraction) have been established.
Francesco Cairo, Terry Deshler, Luca Di Liberto, Andrea Scoccione, and Marcel Snels
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 419–431, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-419-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-419-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The T-matrix theory was used to compute the backscatter and depolarization of mixed-phase PSC, assuming that particles are solid (NAT or possibly ice) above a threshold radius R and liquid (STS) below, and a single shape is common to all solid particles. We used a dataset of coincident lidar and balloon-borne backscattersonde and OPC measurements. The agreement between modelled and measured backscatter is reasonable and allows us to constrain the parameters R and AR.
Clare E. Singer, Benjamin W. Clouser, Sergey M. Khaykin, Martina Krämer, Francesco Cairo, Thomas Peter, Alexey Lykov, Christian Rolf, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Simone Brunamonti, and Elisabeth J. Moyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4767–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of water vapor in the upper troposphere are necessary to study cloud formation and hydration of the stratosphere but challenging due to cold–dry conditions. We compare measurements from three water vapor instruments from the StratoClim campaign in 2017. In clear sky (clouds), point-by-point differences were <1.5±8 % (<1±8 %). This excellent agreement allows detection of fine-scale structures required to understand the impact of convection on stratospheric water vapor.
Sergey M. Khaykin, Elizabeth Moyer, Martina Krämer, Benjamin Clouser, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Alexey Lykov, Armin Afchine, Francesco Cairo, Ivan Formanyuk, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Christian Rolf, Clare E. Singer, Nicole Spelten, Vasiliy Volkov, Vladimir Yushkov, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3169–3189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Asian monsoon anticyclone is the key contributor to the global annual maximum in lower stratospheric water vapour. We investigate the impact of deep convection on the lower stratospheric water using a unique set of observations aboard the high-altitude M55-Geophysica aircraft deployed in Nepal in summer 2017 within the EU StratoClim project. We find that convective plumes of wet air can persist within the Asian anticyclone for weeks, thereby enhancing the occurrence of high-level clouds.
Francesco Cairo, Terry Deshler, Luca Di Liberto, Andrea Scoccione, and Marcel Snels
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-28, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-28, 2022
Publication in AMT not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
We study Mie theory on aspherical scatterers, computing on coincident measurements of PSC by lidar and Particle Counters, the backscatter and depolarization of mixed phase PSC. WParticles are assumed solid if larger than R; for these, Mie results are reduced by C < 1 and only a common fraction X < 1 of the backscattering is polarized. We retrieve R, C and X. The match of model and measurement is good for backscattering, poor for depolarization. The hypothesis on X may be not fulfilled.
Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Francesco Cairo, Jean-Paul Vernier, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Felix Ploeger, Terry Deshler, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15259–15282, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In 2017, in situ aerosol measurements were conducted aboard the M55 Geophysica in the Asian monsoon region. The vertical particle mixing ratio profiles show a distinct layer (15–18.5 km), the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL). The backscatter ratio (BR) was calculated based on the aerosol size distributions and compared with the BRs detected by a backscatter probe and a lidar aboard M55, and by the CALIOP lidar. All four methods show enhanced BRs in the ATAL altitude range (max. at 17.5 km).
Marcel Snels, Francesco Colao, Francesco Cairo, Ilir Shuli, Andrea Scoccione, Mauro De Muro, Michael Pitts, Lamont Poole, and Luca Di Liberto
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2165–2178, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2165-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2165-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A total of 5 years of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) observations by ground-based lidar at Concordia station (Antarctica) are presented. These data have been recorded in coincidence with the overpasses of the CALIOP lidar on the CALIPSO satellite. First we demonstrate that both lidars observe essentially the same thing, in terms of detection and composition of the PSCs. Then we use both datasets to study seasonal and interannual variations in the formation temperature of NAT mixtures.
Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Pasquale Sellitto, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Viciani, Alessio Montori, Antonio Chiarugi, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Alexey Ulanovsky, Francesco Cairo, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12193–12210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12193-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12193-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents and evaluates a transport analysis method to study the convective injection of air in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere of the Asian monsoon anticyclone region. The approach is thereby used to analyse the trace gas data collected during the StratoClim aircraft campaign. The results showed that fresh convective air can be injected fast at a high level of the atmosphere (above 17 km), with potential impacts on the stratospheric chemistry of the Northern Hemisphere.
Clair Duchamp, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, Pasquale Sellitto, Adam E. Bourassa, Alexei Rozanov, Ghassan Taha, and Daniel J. Zawada
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3355, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3355, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed the stratospheric aerosol plume from the 2022 Hunga eruption using satellite lidar data. We implemented a method to retrieve some aerosol properties, as standard products failed in this case. We found very high optical depth values in the days following the eruption, which decreased rapidly but remained elevated for months. Our results are broadly validated, though some satellite products underestimate the values due, in part, to the unusual aerosol size distribution in the plume.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Clair Duchamp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6353–6364, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest stratospheric aerosol perturbation of the last 30 years. Stratospheric volcanic aerosols usually produce a transient climate cooling; these impacts depend on volcanic aerosol composition/size, due to size-dependent interactions with solar/terrestrial radiation. We demonstrate that the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai stratospheric aerosols have a larger cooling potential per unit mass than the past climate-relevant El Chichón (1984) and Pinatubo (1991) eruptions.
Pierre Gramme, Cedric Busschots, Emmanuel Dekemper, Didier Pieroux, Noel C. Baker, Stefano Casadio, Anna Maria lannarelli, Nicola Ferrante, Annalisa Di Bernardino, Paolo Pettinari, Elisa Castelli, Luca di Liberto, and Francesco Cairo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2255, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2255, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new remote sensing instrument using hyperspectral imaging to observe the variability in space and time of the nitrogen dioxide concentration. We also show the results of its validation campaign in a challenging urban setting in Rome, showing very good agreement with two reference instruments. Having an imaging instrument rather than the currently state-of-the-art unidirectional spectrometers brings promising capability in the context of satellite products validation.
Redha Belhadji, Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Silvia Bucci, Tran Minh Nguyet, Martin Schwell, and Bernard Legras
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1453, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1453, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2019–2020 Australian wildfires triggered massive Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds, injecting smoke aerosols into the stratosphere and forming a self-sustaining vortex that reached 35 km altitude. This vortex created a transient ozone mini-hole. Using satellite and ground-based observations, we tracked a 30–40 % initial ozone depletion, which decayed to ~7 % within a month. These findings highlight the impact of extreme wildfires on stratospheric dynamics and ozone composition.
Annachiara Bellini, Henri Diémoz, Luca Di Liberto, Gian Paolo Gobbi, Alessandro Bracci, Ferdinando Pasqualini, and Francesca Barnaba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6119–6144, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6119-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6119-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a comprehensive overview of the Italian Automated LIdar-CEilometer network, ALICENET, describing its infrastructure, aerosol retrievals, and main applications. The supplement covers data-processing details. We include examples of output products, comparisons with independent data, and examples of the network capability to provide near-real-time aerosol fields over Italy. ALICENET is expected to benefit the sectors of air quality, radiative budget/solar energy, and aviation safety.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Juan Cuesta, Aurélien Podglajen, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15523–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season 2019–2020. These fires injected a smoke plume in the stratosphere, which dispersed over the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar and terrestrial radiation. A number of detached smoke bubbles were also observed emanating from this plume and ascending quickly to over 35 km altitude. Here we study how absorption of radiation generated ascending motion of both the the hemispheric plume and the vortices.
Francesco Cairo, Martina Krämer, Armin Afchine, Guido Di Donfrancesco, Luca Di Liberto, Sergey Khaykin, Lorenza Lucaferri, Valentin Mitev, Max Port, Christian Rolf, Marcel Snels, Nicole Spelten, Ralf Weigel, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4899–4925, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4899-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4899-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Cirrus clouds have been observed over the Himalayan region between 10 km and the tropopause at 17–18 km. Data from backscattersonde, hygrometers, and particle cloud spectrometers have been compared to assess their consistency. Empirical relationships between optical parameters accessible with remote sensing lidars and cloud microphysical parameters (such as ice water content, particle number and surface area density, and particle aspherical fraction) have been established.
Francesco Cairo, Terry Deshler, Luca Di Liberto, Andrea Scoccione, and Marcel Snels
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 419–431, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-419-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-419-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The T-matrix theory was used to compute the backscatter and depolarization of mixed-phase PSC, assuming that particles are solid (NAT or possibly ice) above a threshold radius R and liquid (STS) below, and a single shape is common to all solid particles. We used a dataset of coincident lidar and balloon-borne backscattersonde and OPC measurements. The agreement between modelled and measured backscatter is reasonable and allows us to constrain the parameters R and AR.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The long-duration atmospheric impact of the Tonga eruption in January 2022 is a plume of water and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere that persisted for more than 6 months. We study this evolution using several satellite instruments and analyse the unusual behaviour of this plume as sulfates and water first moved down rapidly and then separated into two layers. We also report the self-organization in compact and long-lived patches.
Clare E. Singer, Benjamin W. Clouser, Sergey M. Khaykin, Martina Krämer, Francesco Cairo, Thomas Peter, Alexey Lykov, Christian Rolf, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Simone Brunamonti, and Elisabeth J. Moyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4767–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of water vapor in the upper troposphere are necessary to study cloud formation and hydration of the stratosphere but challenging due to cold–dry conditions. We compare measurements from three water vapor instruments from the StratoClim campaign in 2017. In clear sky (clouds), point-by-point differences were <1.5±8 % (<1±8 %). This excellent agreement allows detection of fine-scale structures required to understand the impact of convection on stratospheric water vapor.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Corinna Kloss, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9299–9311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
As a consequence of extreme heat and drought, record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season in 2019–2020. Fires injected a smoke plume very high up to the stratosphere, which dispersed quite quickly to the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar radiation, reflecting and absorbing part of it – thus producing impacts on the climate system. Here we estimate this impact on radiation and we study how it depends on the properties and ageing of the plume.
Sergey M. Khaykin, Elizabeth Moyer, Martina Krämer, Benjamin Clouser, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Alexey Lykov, Armin Afchine, Francesco Cairo, Ivan Formanyuk, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Christian Rolf, Clare E. Singer, Nicole Spelten, Vasiliy Volkov, Vladimir Yushkov, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3169–3189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Asian monsoon anticyclone is the key contributor to the global annual maximum in lower stratospheric water vapour. We investigate the impact of deep convection on the lower stratospheric water using a unique set of observations aboard the high-altitude M55-Geophysica aircraft deployed in Nepal in summer 2017 within the EU StratoClim project. We find that convective plumes of wet air can persist within the Asian anticyclone for weeks, thereby enhancing the occurrence of high-level clouds.
Francesco Cairo, Terry Deshler, Luca Di Liberto, Andrea Scoccione, and Marcel Snels
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-28, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-28, 2022
Publication in AMT not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
We study Mie theory on aspherical scatterers, computing on coincident measurements of PSC by lidar and Particle Counters, the backscatter and depolarization of mixed phase PSC. WParticles are assumed solid if larger than R; for these, Mie results are reduced by C < 1 and only a common fraction X < 1 of the backscattering is polarized. We retrieve R, C and X. The match of model and measurement is good for backscattering, poor for depolarization. The hypothesis on X may be not fulfilled.
Marcel Snels, Stefania Stefani, Angelo Boccaccini, David Biondi, and Giuseppe Piccioni
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7187–7197, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7187-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A novel simulation chamber, PASSxS (Planetary Atmosphere Simulation System for Spectroscopy), has been developed for absorption measurements with a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) and possibly a cavity ring-down (CRD) spectrometer, with a sample temperature ranging from 100 K up to 550 K, while the pressure of the gas can be varied up to 60 bar. These temperature and pressure ranges cover a significant part of the planetary atmospheres in the solar system and possibly extrasolar planets.
Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Francesco Cairo, Jean-Paul Vernier, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Felix Ploeger, Terry Deshler, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15259–15282, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In 2017, in situ aerosol measurements were conducted aboard the M55 Geophysica in the Asian monsoon region. The vertical particle mixing ratio profiles show a distinct layer (15–18.5 km), the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL). The backscatter ratio (BR) was calculated based on the aerosol size distributions and compared with the BRs detected by a backscatter probe and a lidar aboard M55, and by the CALIOP lidar. All four methods show enhanced BRs in the ATAL altitude range (max. at 17.5 km).
Ralf Weigel, Christoph Mahnke, Manuel Baumgartner, Antonis Dragoneas, Bärbel Vogel, Felix Ploeger, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Beiping Luo, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11689–11722, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In July and August 2017, eight StratoClim mission flights of the Geophysica reached up to 20 km in the Asian monsoon anticyclone. New particle formation (NPF) was identified in situ by abundant nucleation-mode aerosols (6–15 nm in diameter) with mixing ratios of up to 50 000 mg−1. NPF occurred most frequently at 12–16 km with fractions of non-volatile residues of down to 15 %. Abundance and productivity of observed NPF indicate its ability to promote the Asian tropopause aerosol layer.
Felix Ploeger, Mohamadou Diallo, Edward Charlesworth, Paul Konopka, Bernard Legras, Johannes C. Laube, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Gebhard Günther, Andreas Engel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8393–8412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the global stratospheric circulation (Brewer–Dobson circulation) in the new ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis based on age of air simulations, and we compare it to results from the preceding ERA-Interim reanalysis. Our results show a slower stratospheric circulation and higher age for ERA5. The age of air trend in ERA5 over the 1989–2018 period is negative throughout the stratosphere, related to multi-annual variability and a potential contribution from changes in the reanalysis system.
Hugo Lestrelin, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Mikail Salihoglu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7113–7134, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7113-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7113-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Following the 2020 Australian fires, it was recently discovered that stratospheric wildfire smoke plumes self-organize as anticyclonic vortices that persist for months and rise by 10 km due to the radiative heating from the absorbing smoke. In this study, we show that smoke-charged vortices previously occurred in the aftermath of the 2017 Canadian fires. We use meteorological analysis to characterize this new object in geophysical fluid dynamics, which likely impacts radiation and climate.
Keun-Ok Lee, Brice Barret, Eric L. Flochmoën, Pierre Tulet, Silvia Bucci, Marc von Hobe, Corinna Kloss, Bernard Legras, Maud Leriche, Bastien Sauvage, Fabrizio Ravegnani, and Alexey Ulanovsky
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3255–3274, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3255-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3255-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper focuses on the emission sources and pathways of pollution from the boundary layer to the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) during the StratoClim aircraft campaign period. Simulations with the Meso-NH cloud-chemistry model at a horizontal resolution of 15 km are performed over the Asian region to characterize the impact of monsoon deep convection on the composition of AMA and on the formation of the Asian tropopause aerosol layer during the StratoClim campaign.
Adriana Bossolasco, Fabrice Jegou, Pasquale Sellitto, Gwenaël Berthet, Corinna Kloss, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2745–2764, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2745-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2745-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Using the Community Earth System Model, we simulate the surface aerosols lifted to the Asian tropopause (the ATAL layer), its composition and trend, covering a long-term period (2000–2015). We identify a
double-peakaerosol vertical profile that we attribute to
dryand
convectivecloud-borne aerosols. We find that natural aerosol (mineral dust) is the dominant aerosol type and has no long-term trend. ATAL's anthropogenic fraction, by contrast, shows a marked positive trend.
Marcel Snels, Francesco Colao, Francesco Cairo, Ilir Shuli, Andrea Scoccione, Mauro De Muro, Michael Pitts, Lamont Poole, and Luca Di Liberto
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2165–2178, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2165-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2165-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A total of 5 years of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) observations by ground-based lidar at Concordia station (Antarctica) are presented. These data have been recorded in coincidence with the overpasses of the CALIOP lidar on the CALIPSO satellite. First we demonstrate that both lidars observe essentially the same thing, in terms of detection and composition of the PSCs. Then we use both datasets to study seasonal and interannual variations in the formation temperature of NAT mixtures.
Corinna Kloss, Gwenaël Berthet, Pasquale Sellitto, Felix Ploeger, Ghassan Taha, Mariam Tidiga, Maxim Eremenko, Adriana Bossolasco, Fabrice Jégou, Jean-Baptiste Renard, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 535–560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-535-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-535-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The year 2019 was particularly rich for the stratospheric aerosol layer due to two volcanic eruptions (at Raikoke and Ulawun) and wildfire events. With satellite observations and models, we describe the exceptionally complex situation following the Raikoke eruption. The respective plume overwhelmed the Northern Hemisphere stratosphere in terms of aerosol load and resulted in the highest climate impact throughout the past decade.
Sören Johansson, Michael Höpfner, Oliver Kirner, Ingo Wohltmann, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Erik Kretschmer, Jörn Ungermann, and Gerald Wetzel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14695–14715, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14695-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14695-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present high-resolution measurements of pollutant trace gases (PAN, C2H2, and HCOOH) in the Asian monsoon UTLS from the airborne limb imager GLORIA during StratoClim 2017. Enhancements are observed up to 16 km altitude, and PAN and C2H2 even up to 18 km. Two atmospheric models, CAMS and EMAC, reproduce the pollutant's large-scale structures but not finer structures. Convection is investigated using backward trajectories of the models ATLAS and TRACZILLA with advanced detection of convection.
Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Pasquale Sellitto, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Viciani, Alessio Montori, Antonio Chiarugi, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Alexey Ulanovsky, Francesco Cairo, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12193–12210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12193-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12193-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents and evaluates a transport analysis method to study the convective injection of air in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere of the Asian monsoon anticyclone region. The approach is thereby used to analyse the trace gas data collected during the StratoClim aircraft campaign. The results showed that fresh convective air can be injected fast at a high level of the atmosphere (above 17 km), with potential impacts on the stratospheric chemistry of the Northern Hemisphere.
Bernard Legras and Silvia Bucci
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11045–11064, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11045-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11045-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Asian monsoon is the most active region bringing surface compounds by convection to the stratosphere during summer. We study the transport pathways and the trapping within the upper-layer anticyclonic circulation. Above 15 km, the confinement can be represented by a uniform ascent over continental Asia of about 200 m per day and a uniform loss to other regions with a characteristic time of 2 weeks. We rule out the presence of a
chimneyproposed in previous studies over the Tibetan Plateau.
Cited articles
Biavati, G., Di Donfrancesco, G., Cairo, F., and Feist, D. G.: Correction
scheme for close-range lidar returns, Appl. Opt., 50, 5872–5882, 2011. a
Bissonnette, L. R.: Lidar and multiple scattering, in: Lidar,
Springer, 43–103, 2005. a
Boehm, M. T. and Verlinde, J.: Stratospheric influence on upper tropospheric
tropical cirrus, Geophysical Res. Lett., 27, 3209–3212, 2000. a
Bucci, S., Cristofanelli, P., Decesari, S., Marinoni, A., Sandrini, S., Größ, J., Wiedensohler, A., Di Marco, C. F., Nemitz, E., Cairo, F., Di Liberto, L., and Fierli, F.: Vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties in the Po Valley during the 2012 summer campaigns, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5371–5389, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5371-2018, 2018. a
Bucci, S., Legras, B., Sellitto, P., D'Amato, F., Viciani, S., Montori, A., Chiarugi, A., Ravegnani, F., Ulanovsky, A., Cairo, F., and Stroh, F.: Deep-convective influence on the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere composition in the Asian monsoon anticyclone region: 2017 StratoClim campaign results, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12193–12210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12193-2020, 2020. a
Cairo, F., Donfrancesco, G. D., Adriani, A., Pulvirenti, L., and Fierli, F.:
Comparison of various linear depolarization parameters measured by lidar,
Appl. Opt., 38, 4425–4432, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.38.004425, 1999. a
Cairo, F., Di Donfrancesco, G., Snels, M., Fierli, F., Viterbini, M., Borrmann, S., and Frey, W.: A comparison of light backscattering and particle size distribution measurements in tropical cirrus clouds, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 557–570, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-557-2011, 2011. a
Cairo, F., Di Donfrancesco, G., Di Liberto, L., and Viterbini, M.: The RAMNI airborne lidar for cloud and aerosol research, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1779–1792, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1779-2012, 2012. a, b
Cavalieri, O., Cairo, F., Fierli, F., Di Donfrancesco, G., Snels, M., Viterbini, M., Cardillo, F., Chatenet, B., Formenti, P., Marticorena, B., and Rajot, J. L.: Variability of aerosol vertical distribution in the Sahel, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 12005–12023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-12005-2010, 2010. a
Cavalieri, O., Di Donfrancesco, G., Cairo, F., Fierli, F., Snels, M.,
Viterbini, M., Cardillo, F., Chatenet, B., Formenti, P., Marticorena, B.,
et al.: The AMMA MULID network for aerosol characterization in West Africa,
Int. J. Remote Sens., 32, 5485–5504, 2011. a
Chen, W.-N., Chiang, C.-W., and Nee, J.-B.: Lidar ratio and depolarization
ratio for cirrus clouds, Appl. Opt., 41, 6470–6476,
https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.41.006470, 2002. a, b, c, d
Collis, R. and Russell, P.: Lidar measurement of particles and gases by elastic
backscattering and differential absorption, in: Laser monitoring of the
atmosphere, Springer, 71–151, 1976. a
Comstock, J. M. and Jakob, C.: Evaluation of tropical cirrus cloud properties
derived from ECMWF model output and ground based measurements over Nauru
Island, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L10106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL019539, 2004. a
Comstock, J. M., Ackerman, T. P., and Mace, G. G.: Ground-based lidar and radar
remote sensing of tropical cirrus clouds at Nauru Island: Cloud statistics
and radiative impacts, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4714, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002203, 2002. a
Dawson, K. W., Meskhidze, N., Josset, D., and Gassó, S.: Spaceborne observations of the lidar ratio of marine aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3241–3255, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3241-2015, 2015. a
De Deckker, P.: The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: critical to world oceanography and
world climate, Geosci. Lett., 3, 1–12, 2016. a
Del Guasta, M.: Simulation of LIDAR returns from pristine and deformed
hexagonal ice prisms in cold cirrus by means of “face tracing”, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 12589–12602,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD900724, 2001. a
Dessler, A. and Yang, P.: The distribution of tropical thin cirrus clouds
inferred from Terra MODIS data, J. Climate, 16, 1241–1247, 2003. a
Di Liberto, L., Angelini, F., Pietroni, I., Cairo, F., Di Donfrancesco, G.,
Viola, A., Argentini, S., Fierli, F., Gobbi, G., Maturilli, M., et al.:
Estimate of the arctic convective boundary layer height from lidar
observations: a case study, Adv. Meteorol., 2012, 851927, https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/851927, 2012. a
Donovan, D., Whiteway, J., and Carswell, A. I.: Correction for nonlinear
photon-counting effects in lidar systems, Appl. Opt., 32, 6742–6753,
1993. a
Eloranta, E. W.: Practical model for the calculation of multiply scattered
lidar returns, Appl. Opt., 37, 2464–2472, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.37.002464, 1998. a
Flury, T., Wu, D. L., and Read, W. G.: Correlation among cirrus ice content, water vapor and temperature in the TTL as observed by CALIPSO and Aura/MLS, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 683–691, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-683-2012, 2012. a
Fu, Q., Smith, M., and Yang, Q.: The Impact of Cloud Radiative Effects on the
Tropical Tropopause Layer Temperatures, Atmosphere, 9, 377,
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9100377, 2018. a
Fueglistaler, S., Dessler, A., Dunkerton, T., Folkins, I., Fu, Q., and Mote,
P. W.: Tropical tropopause layer, Rev. Geophys., 47, RG1004, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008RG000267, 2009. a, b
Fujiwara, M., Iwasaki, S., Shimizu, A., Inai, Y., Shiotani, M., Hasebe, F.,
Matsui, I., Sugimoto, N., Okamoto, H., Nishi, N., Hamada, A., Sakazaki, T.,
and Yoneyama, K.: Cirrus observations in the tropical tropopause layer over
the western Pacific, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 114, D09304,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011040, 2009. a
Garrett, T., Heymsfield, A., McGill, M. J., Ridley, B., Baumgardner, D., Bui,
T., and Webster, C.: Convective generation of cirrus near the tropopause,
J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D21203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004952, 2004. a
Heymsfield, A. J., McFarquhar, G. M., Collins, W. D., Goldstein, J. A., Valero,
F., Spinhirne, J., Hart, W., and Pilewskie, P.: Cloud properties leading to
highly reflective tropical cirrus: Interpretations from CEPEX, TOGA COARE,
and Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 103, 8805–8812, 1998. a
Hogan, R. J.: Fast approximate calculation of multiply scattered lidar returns,
Appl. Opt., 45, 5984–5992, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.45.005984, 2006. a
Immler, F., Krüger, K., Fujiwara, M., Verver, G., Rex, M., and Schrems, O.: Correlation between equatorial Kelvin waves and the occurrence of extremely thin ice clouds at the tropical tropopause, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 4019–4026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-4019-2008, 2008. a, b
Jensen, E. J., Toon, O. B., Pfister, L., and Selkirk, H. B.: Dehydration of the
upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by subvisible cirrus clouds near the
tropical tropopause, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 825–828,
https://doi.org/10.1029/96GL00722, 1996. a
Kar, J., Vaughan, M. A., Lee, K.-P., Tackett, J. L., Avery, M. A., Garnier, A., Getzewich, B. J., Hunt, W. H., Josset, D., Liu, Z., Lucker, P. L., Magill, B., Omar, A. H., Pelon, J., Rogers, R. R., Toth, T. D., Trepte, C. R., Vernier, J.-P., Winker, D. M., and Young, S. A.: CALIPSO lidar calibration at 532 nm: version 4 nighttime algorithm, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1459–1479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1459-2018, 2018. a
Klett, J. D.: Lidar inversion with variable backscatter/extinction ratios,
Appl. Opt., 24, 1638–1643, 1985. a
Knapp, K. R., Ansari, S., Bain, C. L., Bourassa, M. A., Dickinson, M. J., Funk,
C., Helms, C. N., Hennon, C. C., Holmes, C. D., Huffman, G. J., et al.:
Globally gridded satellite observations for climate studies, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 92, 893–907, 2011. a
Kremser, S., Wohltmann, I., Rex, M., Langematz, U., Dameris, M., and Kunze, M.: Water vapour transport in the tropical tropopause region in coupled Chemistry-Climate Models and ERA-40 reanalysis data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 2679–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-2679-2009, 2009. a
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. a
Kubota, H., Shirooka, R., Ushiyama, T., Chuda, T., Iwasaki, S., and Takeuchi,
K.: Seasonal Variations of Precipitation Properties Associated with the
Monsoon over Palau in the Western Pacific, J. Hydrometeorol., 6,
518–531, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM432.1, 2005. a
Lawson, R. P., Woods, S., Jensen, E., Erfani, E., Gurganus, C., Gallagher, M.,
Connolly, P., Whiteway, J., Baran, A. J., May, P., Heymsfield, A., Schmitt,
C. G., McFarquhar, G., Um, J., Protat, A., Bailey, M., Lance, S., Muehlbauer,
A., Stith, J., Korolev, A., Toon, O. B., and Krämer, M.: A Review of Ice
Particle Shapes in Cirrus formed In Situ and in Anvils, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 10049–10090,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD030122, 2019. a
Legras, B. and Bucci, S.: Confinement of air in the Asian monsoon anticyclone and pathways of convective air to the stratosphere during the summer season, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11045–11064, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11045-2020, 2020. a
Luo, Z. and Rossow, W. B.: Characterizing Tropical Cirrus Life Cycle,
Evolution, and Interaction with Upper-Tropospheric Water Vapor Using
Lagrangian Trajectory Analysis of Satellite Observations, J. Climate,
17, 4541–4563, https://doi.org/10.1175/3222.1, 2004. a
Massie, S. T., Gille, J., Craig, C., Khosravi, R., Barnett, J., Read, W., and
Winker, D.: HIRDLS and CALIPSO observations of tropical cirrus, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115, D00H11, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012100, 2010. a
Nazaryan, H., McCormick, M. P., and Menzel, W. P.: Global characterization of
cirrus clouds using CALIPSO data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D16211, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009481, 2008. a
Nee, J., Lien, C., Chen, W., and Lin, C.: Lidar detection of cirrus cloud in
Chung-Li (25∘ N, 121∘ E), J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 2249–2257, 1998. a
Noel, V. and Sassen, K.: Study of planar ice crystal orientations in ice clouds
from scanning polarization lidar observations, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 44, 653–664, 2005. a
O'Connor, E. J., Illingworth, A. J., and Hogan, R. J.: A Technique for
Autocalibration of Cloud Lidar, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 21, 777–786,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2004)021<0777:ATFAOC>2.0.CO;2, 2004. a
Pace, G., Cacciani, M., di Sarra, A., Fiocco, G., and Fuà, D.: Lidar
observations of equatorial cirrus clouds at Mahé Seychelles, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 4236, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002710, 2003. a, b
Papagiannopoulos, N., Mona, L., Alados-Arboledas, L., Amiridis, V., Baars, H., Binietoglou, I., Bortoli, D., D'Amico, G., Giunta, A., Guerrero-Rascado, J. L., Schwarz, A., Pereira, S., Spinelli, N., Wandinger, U., Wang, X., and Pappalardo, G.: CALIPSO climatological products: evaluation and suggestions from EARLINET, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2341–2357, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2341-2016, 2016. a
Pfister, L., Selkirk, H. B., Jensen, E. J., Schoeberl, M. R., Toon, O. B.,
Browell, E. V., Grant, W. B., Gary, B., Mahoney, M. J., Bui, T. V., and
Hintsa, E.: Aircraft observations of thin cirrus clouds near the tropical
tropopause, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 9765–9786,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JD900648, 2001. a, b, c
Pisso, I. and Legras, B.: Turbulent vertical diffusivity in the sub-tropical stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 697–707, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-697-2008, 2008. a
Platt, C., Abshire, N., and McNice, G.: Some microphysical properties of an ice
cloud from lidar observation of horizontally oriented crystals, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 17, 1220–1224, 1978. a
Platt, C., Young, S., Manson, P., Patterson, G., Marsden, S., Austin, R., and
Churnside, J.: The optical properties of equatorial cirrus from observations
in the ARM pilot radiation observation experiment, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 1977–1996, 1998. a
Platt, C., Young, S., Austin, R., Patterson, G., Mitchell, D., and Miller, S.:
LIRAD observations of tropical cirrus clouds in MCTEX, Part I: Optical
properties and detection of small particles in cold cirrus, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 3145–3162, 2002. a
Platt, C. M. R., Scott, S. C., and Dilley, A. C.: Remote Sounding of High
Clouds, Part VI: Optical Properties of Midlatitude and Tropical Cirrus,
J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 729–747,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1987)044<0729:RSOHCP>2.0.CO;2, 1987. a
Prabhakara, C., Kratz, D., Yoo, J.-M., Dalu, G., and Vernekar, A.: Optically
thin cirrus clouds: Radiative impact on the warm pool, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 49, 467–483, 1993. a
Ramanathan, V. and Collins, W.: Thermodynamic regulation of ocean warming by
cirrus clouds deduced from observations of the 1987 El Nino, Nature, 351,
27–32, 1991. a
Reichardt, J., Reichardt, S., Hess, M., and McGee, T. J.: Correlations among
the optical properties of cirrus-cloud particles: Microphysical
interpretation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002589, 2002. a
Rosati, B., Herrmann, E., Bucci, S., Fierli, F., Cairo, F., Gysel, M., Tillmann, R., Größ, J., Gobbi, G. P., Di Liberto, L., Di Donfrancesco, G., Wiedensohler, A., Weingartner, E., Virtanen, A., Mentel, T. F., and Baltensperger, U.: Studying the vertical aerosol extinction coefficient by comparing in situ airborne data and elastic backscatter lidar, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 4539–4554, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-4539-2016, 2016. a, b
Rossow, W. B. and Schiffer, R. A.: Advances in understanding clouds from ISCCP,
B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 80, 2261–2288, 1999. a
Sassen, K. and Benson, S.: A midlatitude cirrus cloud climatology from the
Facility for Atmospheric Remote Sensing, Part II: Microphysical properties
derived from lidar depolarization, J. Atmos. Sci., 58,
2103–2112, 2001. a
Sassen, K. and Cho, B. S.: Subvisual-Thin Cirrus Lidar Dataset for Satellite
Verification and Climatological Research, J. Appl. Meteorol.,
31, 1275–1285, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1992)031<1275:STCLDF>2.0.CO;2, 1992. a
Sassen, K., Benson, R. P., and Spinhirne, J. D.: Tropical cirrus cloud
properties derived from TOGA/COARE airborne polarization lidar, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 673–676, 2000. a
Sassen, K., Wang, Z., and Liu, D.: Global distribution of cirrus clouds from
CloudSat/Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations
(CALIPSO) measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D00A12,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD009972, 2008. a
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. a
Spichtinger, P.: Shallow cirrus convection – a source for ice
supersaturation, Tellus A, 66, 19937,
https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v66.19937, 2014. a
Stohl, A., Forster, C., Frank, A., Seibert, P., and Wotawa, G.: Technical note: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART version 6.2, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2461–2474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-2461-2005, 2005. a
Sunilkumar, S. V. and Parameswaran, K.: Temperature dependence of tropical
cirrus properties and radiative effects, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 110, D13205, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005426, 2005. a, b
Sunilkumar, S. V., Muhsin, M., Venkat Ratnam, M., Parameswaran, K.,
Krishna Murthy, B. V., and Emmanuel, M.: Boundaries of tropical tropopause
layer (TTL): A new perspective based on thermal and stability profiles,
J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 741–754,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025217, 2017. a
Tissier, A.-S. and Legras, B.: Convective sources of trajectories traversing the tropical tropopause layer, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3383–3398, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3383-2016, 2016. a
Tzella, A. and Legras, B.: A Lagrangian view of convective sources for transport of air across the Tropical Tropopause Layer: distribution, times and the radiative influence of clouds, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 12517–12534, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-12517-2011, 2011. a
Uthe, E. E. and Russell, P. B.: Lidar observations of tropical high-altitude cirrus clouds, in Radiation in the Atmosphere, edited by: Bolle, H. J., Science, 242–244, Enfield, N. H., 1976. a
Virts, K. S. and Wallace, J. M.: Annual, interannual, and intraseasonal
variability of tropical tropopause transition layer cirrus, J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 3097–3112, 2010. a
Virts, K. S. and Wallace, J. M.: Observations of temperature, wind, cirrus, and
trace gases in the tropical tropopause transition layer during the MJO,
J. Atmos. Sci., 71, 1143–1157, 2014. a
Wang, T. and Dessler, A. E.: Analysis of cirrus in the tropical tropopause
layer from CALIPSO and MLS data: A water perspective, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 117, D04211, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016442, 2012. a
Wang, T., Wu, D. L., Gong, J., and Tsai, V.: Tropopause Laminar Cirrus and Its
Role in the Lower Stratosphere Total Water Budget, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 7034–7052, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029845, 2019. a
Wang, W., Yi, F., Liu, F., Zhang, Y., Yu, C., and Yin, Z.: Characteristics and
Seasonal Variations of Cirrus Clouds from Polarization Lidar Observations at
a 30∘ N Plain Site, Remote Sens., 12, 3998, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12233998, 2020. a
Weinzierl, B., Sauer, D., Esselborn, M., Petzold, A., Veira, A., Rose, M.,
Mund, S., Wirth, M., Ansmann, A., Tesche, M., et al.: Microphysical and
optical properties of dust and tropical biomass burning aerosol layers in the
Cape Verde region—an overview of the airborne in situ and lidar
measurements during SAMUM-2, Tellus B, 63,
589–618, 2011. a
Wheeler, M. C. and Hendon, H. H.: An all-season real-time multivariate MJO
index: Development of an index for monitoring and prediction, Mon. Weather
Rev., 132, 1917–1932, 2004. a
Woods, S., Lawson, R. P., Jensen, E., Bui, T. P., Thornberry, T., Rollins, A.,
Pfister, L., and Avery, M.: Microphysical Properties of Tropical Tropopause
Layer Cirrus, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123, 6053–6069,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD028068, 2018. a
Young, S. A.: Analysis of lidar backscatter profiles in optically thin clouds,
Appl. Opt., 34, 7019–7031, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.34.007019, 1995. a
Zou, L., Griessbach, S., Hoffmann, L., Gong, B., and Wang, L.: Revisiting global satellite observations of stratospheric cirrus clouds, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9939–9959, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9939-2020, 2020. a
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.
A lidar was used in Palau from February–March 2016. Clouds were observed peaking at 3 km below...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint