Articles | Volume 23, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3103-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3103-2023
Research article
 | 
09 Mar 2023
Research article |  | 09 Mar 2023

Characteristics of supersaturation in midlatitude cirrus clouds and their adjacent cloud-free air

Georgios Dekoutsidis, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, Martina Krämer, and Christian Rolf

Data sets

HALO database, Mission: ML-CIRRUS, WALES M. Wirth https://doi.org/10.17616/R39Q0T

Catalogue of ECMWF Real-time Products ECMWF https://doi.org/10.21957/open-data

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Short summary
Cirrus clouds affect Earth's atmosphere, deeming our study important. Here we use water vapor measurements by lidar and study the relative humidity (RHi) within and around midlatitude cirrus clouds. We find high supersaturations in the cloud-free air and within the clouds, especially near the cloud top. We study two cloud types with different formation processes. Finally, we conclude that the shape of the distribution of RHi can be used as an indicator of different cloud evolutionary stages.
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