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NASA NTRS2005

North Pacific Cloud Feedbacks Inferred from Synoptic-Scale Dynamic and Thermodynamic Relationships

This study analyzed daily satellite cloud observations and reanalysis dynamical parameters to determine how mid-tropospheric vertical velocity and advection over the sea surface temperature gradient control midlatitude North Pacific cloud properties. Optically thick clouds with high tops are generated by synoptic ascent, but two different cloud regimes occur under synoptic descent. When vertical motion is downward during summer, extensive stratocumulus cloudiness is associated with near surface northerly wind, while frequent cloudless pixels occur with southerly wind. Examinations of ship-reported cloud types indicates that midlatitude stratocumulus breaks up as the the boundary level decouples when it is advected equatorward over warmer water. Cumulus is prevalent under conditions of synoptic descent and cold advection during winter. Poleward advection of subtropical air over colder water causes stratification of the near-surface layer that inhibits upward mixing of moisture and suppresses cloudiness until a fog eventually forms. Averaging of cloud and radiation data into intervals of 500-hPa vertical velocity and advection over the SST gradient enables the cloud response to changes in temperature and the stratification of the lower troposphere to be investigated independent of the dynamics.

Norris, Joel R.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Nonspherical and Spherical Characterization of Ice in Hurricane Erin for Wideband Passive Microwave Comparisons

In order to better understand the characteristics of frozen cloud particles in hurricane systems, computed brightness temperatures were compared with radiometric observations of Hurricane Erin (2001) from the NASA ER-2 aircraft. The focus was oil the frozen particle microphysics and the high frequencies (2 85 GHz) that are particularly sensitive to frozen particles. Frozen particles in hurricanes are an indicator of increasing hurricane intensity. In fact "hot towers" associated with increasing hurricane intensity are composed of frozen ice cloud particles. (They are called hot towers because their column of air is warmer than the surrounding air temperature, but above about 5-7 km to the tops of the towers at 15-19 km, the cloud particles are frozen.) This work showed that indeed, one can model information about cloud ice particle characteristics and indicated that nonspherical ice shapes, instead of spherical particles, provided the best match to the observations. Overall, this work shows that while non-spherical particles show promise, selecting and modeling a proper ice particle parameterization can be difficult and additional in situ measurements are needed to define and validate appropriate parameterizations. This work is important for developing Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite algorithms for the retrieval of ice characteristics both above the melting layer, as in Hurricane Erin, and for ice particles that reach the surface as falling snow.

Skofronick-Jackson, Gail↗

NASA NTRS2006

Satellite Sounder-Based OLR-, Cloud- and Atmospheric Temperature Climatologies for Climate Analyses

Global energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system may change due to natural and man-made climate variations. For example, changes in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) can be regarded as a crucial indicator of climate variations. Clouds play an important role -still insufficiently assessed in the global energy balance on all spatial and temporal scales, and satellites provide an ideal platform to measure cloud and large-scale atmospheric variables simultaneously. The TOVS series of satellites were the first to provide this type of information since 1979. OLR [Mehta and Susskind], cloud cover and cloud top pressure [Susskind et al] are among the key climatic parameters computed by the TOVS Pathfinder Path-A algorithm using mainly the retrieved temperature and moisture profiles. AIRS, regarded as the new and improved TOVS , has a much higher spectral resolution and greater S/N ratio, retrieving climatic parameters with higher accuracy. First we present encouraging agreements between MODIS and AIRS cloud top pressure (C(sub tp) and effective (A(sub eff), a product of infrared emissivity at 11 microns and physical cloud cover or A(sub c)) cloud fraction seasonal and interannual variabilities for selected months. Next we present validation efforts and preliminary trend analyses of TOVS-retrieved C(sub tp) and A(sub eff). For example, decadal global trends of the TOVS Path-A and ISCCP-D2 P(sub c), and A(sub eff)/A(sub c), values are similar. Furthermore, the TOVS Path-A and ISCCP-AVHRR [available since 19831 cloud fractions correlate even more strongly, including regional trends. We also present TOVS and AIRS OLR validation effort results and (for the longer-term TOVS Pathfinder Path-A dataset) trend analyses. OLR interannual spatial variabilities from the available state-of-the-art CERES measurements and both from the AIRS [Susskind et al] and TOVS OLR computations are in remarkably good agreement. Global monthly mean CERES and TOVS OLR time series show very good agreement in absolute values also. Finally, we will assess correlations among long-term trends of selected parameters, derived simultaneously from the TOVS Pathfinder Path-A datase

Molnar, Gyula I.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Patterns of Convective Influence and Temperature in the TTL during ATTREX

The Tropical Tropopause Layer, a zonal torus of air around 13-18km altitude and -30 to 30 latitude,is the gatekeeper for air entering the stratosphere from the troposphere. The overall speed of theupward motion affects the input of all the trace constituents, but how the upward transfer is distributedbetween convective injection and slow ascent indirectly driven by breaking waveshas a critical effect on both water and some short-lived species (e.g., bromine compounds). Convection'spotential ability to bypass the cold trap in the center of the TTL torus can contribute to stratospherichydration. Convection can also quickly move short-lived tracers to higher altitudes (and higher ozonevalues), and contribute to ozone destruction.This presentation focusses on the relationship of convectively influenced air to temperature in the TTL, withan emphasis on the qualitative evolution during ATTREX. We use a technique of obtaining global, highresolution distributions of convective cloud tops at 3-hourly intervals to derive distributions ofconvectively influenced air in the TTL, and examine its relationship to TTL temperature. TTL temperaturedistributions are often affected directly by convection, but equatorial and other gravity waves having a varietyof space and time scales are also important. The relationship of these temperature patterns to outputfrom convection will determine whether hydrated air remains in the TTL, or whether it is stripped of itswater soon after injection.

Pfister, Leonhard↗

NASA NTRS1979

The high-temperature corona associated with a loop prominence system

Flare-associated coronal loops were observed on the SE limb of the sun of 1972 February 9 by the Goddard X-ray and EUV spectroheliograph on board OSO 7. The loop structure is clearly visible in the lines of Mg VIII and Mg IX, whereas little or no detail is observed in Fe XV and Fe XVI. A looplike structure with a cloud of emission at the top is observed in soft X-rays. The temperature structure in the region has been calculated from the ratio Fe XVI/Fe XV. The isothermal contour plot is strikingly similar to the isointensity contour plots of the soft X-ray spectroheliograms. With these temperatures and the Fe XV intensity calculated from a calibration scheme developed by Chapman and Neupert, the emission measure has been estimated in the loops. Calculated energy losses suggest that continued deposition of energy is required over the observing period.

Chapman, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS2021

Development and Analysis of a Thick Cloud Layers Database for Lightning Launch Commit Criteria Improvement

Lightning can pose a potential threat to space launch vehicles. In response to this, rules were created called the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LLCC) that help weather personnel evaluate the potential for natural and rocket-triggered lightning. One of the ten LLCC with the least research is called the Thick Cloud Layers rule. To further understand electrification of thick cloud layers and potentially improve the Thick Cloud Layers rule, a database of thick cloud layers that occurred over the Eastern Range was created. This database is then used to create an algorithm for identifying and differentiating thick cloud layers from other cloud types based on radar characteristics, temperature levels in reference to cloud height, and the surface electric field. By analyzing and identifying thick cloud events, this project could help narrow down when thick clouds are occurring and potentially minimize unnecessary launch delays. Events that caused LLCC violations involving the Thick Cloud Layers rule were analyzed by hand using Level-2 NEXRAD radar data from the National Weather Service WSR-88D radar in Melbourne with the program GR2Analyst. Cases that were found to be isolated and not involved with convection were recorded (date, start/end time, location) in a database. Radar data associated with these cases was collected and gridded using Python radar packages. Once gridded, I calculated and recorded for each radar scan the following radar reflectivity driven parameters within an 11x11 km bin centered on each 1 square km grid point: the mean reflectivity colder than 0 degrees Celsius, Maximum Radar Reflectivity (MRR) colder than 0 degrees Celsius, Volume Averaged Height Integrated Radar Reflectivity (VAHIRR), Hydrometeor Identification (HID), the difference between the maximum and mean reflectivity, the cloud depth colder than 0 degrees Celsius, the overall cloud depth, the cloud top, and the cloud bottom. Soundings for each event were used to determine cloud temperature levels, and where the cloud is in relation to the freezing level. Electric field mill data collected over the Eastern Range was used to determine surface electric fields below each cloud. All parameters were analyzed in depth for several thick cloud cases to gain an understanding of typical thick cloud characteristics. Cases of thick clouds and other isolated cloud types were also recorded for training purposes to see if enough differences exist between cloud types to differentiate them with an algorithm. Each case along with its corresponding characteristics was recorded in a database, and this database was used to compare differing cloud types, as well as train the algorithm to detect thick clouds.

Lightning↗

NASA NTRS1979

Remote sensing of cloud distribution

Day and night mapping of the global distribution of the horizontal cloud-cover and the corresponding cloud-top pressure levels can be derived from the same infrared data used to derive clear column temperature profiles. Applications to the 15 micrometer VTPR data are given. Extension of this approach for the determination of the radiative transfer properties of clouds is presented and the possibility of using such information to infer cloud types is discussed.

Chahine, M. T.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Scale Dependence of Cirrus Horizontal Heterogeneity Effects on TOA Measurements: MODIS Brightness Temperatures in the Thermal Infrared - Part I

This paper presents a study on the impact of cirrus cloud heterogeneities on MODIS simulated thermal infrared (TIR) brightness temperatures (BTs) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) as a function of spatial resolution from 50 meters to 10 kilometers. A realistic 3-D (three-dimensional) cirrus field is generated by the 3DCLOUD model (average optical thickness of 1.4, cloudtop and base altitudes at 10 and 12 kilometers, respectively, consisting of aggregate column crystals of D (sub eff) equals 20 microns), and 3-D thermal infrared radiative transfer (RT) is simulated with the 3DMCPOL (3-D Monte Carlo Polarized) code. According to previous studies, differences between 3-D BT computed from a heterogenous pixel and 1-D (one-dimensional) RT computed from a homogeneous pixel are considered dependent at nadir on two effects: (i) the optical thickness horizontal heterogeneity leading to the plane-parallel homogeneous bias (PPHB); and the (ii) horizontal radiative transport (HRT) leading to the independent pixel approximation error (IPAE). A single but realistic cirrus case is simulated and, as expected, the PPHB mainly impacts the low-spatial resolution results (above approximately 250 meters), with averaged values of up to 5-7 K (thousand), while the IPAE mainly impacts the high-spatial resolution results (below approximately 250 meters) with average values of up to 1-2 K (thousand). A sensitivity study has been performed in order to extend these results to various cirrus optical thicknesses and heterogeneities by sampling the cirrus in several ranges of parameters. For four optical thickness classes and four optical heterogeneity classes, we have found that, for nadir observations, the spatial resolution at which the combination of PPHB and HRT effects is the smallest, falls between 100 and 250 meters. These spatial resolutions thus appear to be the best choice to retrieve cirrus optical properties with the smallest cloud heterogeneity-related total bias in the thermal infrared. For off-nadir observations, the average total effect is increased and the minimum is shifted to coarser spatial resolutions.

TOA↗

NASA NTRS1984

Zonal winds in the middle atmosphere of Venus from Pioneer Venus radio occultation data

The present investigation is concerned with the derivation of zonal winds for the middle atmosphere (40-80 km) of Venus, using Pioneer Venus (PV) radio occultation data. The considered altitude range is of particular interest because the atmospheric circulation of Venus is uncertain above the cloud tops (65-70 km). The Pioneer Venus orbiter began circling the planet every 24 hours on December 4, 1978. Four seasons of occultation data have now been collected. It is found that the assumption of cyclostrophic balance, in conjunction with radio occultation derived temperature data, yields a zonal wind field for most of the middle atmosphere of Venus. An intense midlatitude jet at and above the cloud tops is the most notable feature of the winds.

Newman, M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Air-sea interaction during an extreme cold air outbreak from the eastern coast of the United States

An aircraft investigation of boundary layer mean and turbulent structure is reported, and the Lagrangian budgets of temperature and moisture in the subcloud layer following a streamline during an extreme cold air outbreak are evaluated. The maximum sea-air temperature difference was 23 K. Two aircraft were used: the NCAR Electra, which measured turbulent fluxes and investigated subcloud layer conditions, and the NASA Electra, which measured the height of cloud tops using lidar. A stratocumulus overcast was found from about 60 km offshore to the Gulf Stream core with cloud top rising downstream. East of the Gulf Stream cumulus congestus and snow showers were observed. Cloud base decreased downstream and numerous steam plumes filled the subcloud layer. Temperature cross sections show most warming, and moistening of the subcloud layer occurred before the Gulf Stream core. Windspeeds increased downstream and maxima were observed near cloud top (inversion) and in the subcloud layer. Lagrangian budgets showed most warming, and moistening of the layer between 70 m and about 100 m below mean cloud base was due to turbulent flux divergence.

Grossman, Robert L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Remote sensing of cloud parameters

Day and night mapping of the global distributions of the horizontal cloud covers and the corresponding cloud-top pressure levels are derived from the same set of infrared radiance data used to retrieve clear-column temperature profiles. General formulation of the problem is presented with illustrations for the simple case of a single layer of non-reflecting clouds. Experimental verification is obtained using 15 micron data measured by the NOAA-VTPR infrared sounder. After correcting for water vapor emission, the results show that the effective cloud cover derived from 15 micron data is less than that obtained from visible data.

Chahine, M. T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Venus -Mesospheric hazes of ice, dust, and acid aerosols

Four distinct types of particles are suggested to be present in the upper atmosphere of Venus. The lowest and densest haze may consist of a submicron sulfuric acid aerosol which extends above the cloud tops, up to about 80 km, representing an extension of the upper cloud deck. Temperature structure measurements in the 70-120 km altitude range indicate the occasional appearance of two independent water ice layers, of which the lower may form between 80 and 100 km and is probably the detached haze layer noted in high contrast limb photography. A nucleation of this ice layer on sulfuric acid aerosols is hypothesized. Temperatures of the Venus mesopause, near 120 km altitude, are frequently cold enough to allow ice nucleation on meteoric dust or ambient ions, yielding a haze (analogous to noctilucent clouds on earth) which is expected to be tenuous to the point of optical invisibility.

Turco, R. P.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Convective Influence on the Humidity and Clouds in the Tropical Tropopause Layer During Boreal Summer

The impact of convection on the humidity and clouds in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) during boreal summer 2007 is investigated in simulations of detailed cloud microphysical processes and their effects on the water vapor (H2O) profile along backward trajectories from the 379 K potential temperature (100‐hPa pressure) surface. Convective influence is determined by tracing the trajectories through time‐dependent fields of satellite‐based convective cloud top height. The simulated H2O mixing ratios at the 100‐hPa level and cloud occurrence fractions in the middle to upper (16–18 km) TTL exhibit a pronounced maximum over the Asian monsoon region as in observations; these local enhancements are virtually absent in the simulation without convection, indicating that convection is the dominant driver of the localized H2O and cloud maxima in the Asian summer monsoon region. Convection moistens the 100‐hPa level by 0.6 ppmv (~15%) averaged over the 10°S–50°N domain and increases tropical (10°S–30°N) mean cloud occurrence in the middle to upper TTL by ~170%. Nearly all of the convective enhancements in H2O and clouds are due to the effect of convective saturation; convectively detrained ice crystals have negligible impact. Parcels are most frequently hydrated by deep convection in the southern sector of the Asian monsoon anticyclone and subsequently dehydrated downstream of convection to the west, shifting the locations of final dehydration northwest of the cold temperature region in the northern Tropics. Infrequent, extreme deep convective systems (cloud tops exceeding 380 K) have a disproportionately large effect on TTL humidity and clouds.

Humidity↗

NASA NTRS2018

Explicit Cloud Representation in the Atmos 1D Climate Model for Earth and Rocky Planet Applications

1D climate models are less sophisticated than 3D global circulation models (GCMs), however their computational time is much less expensive, allowing a large number of runs in a short period of time to explore a wide parameter space. Exploring parameter space is particularly important for predicting the observable properties of exoplanets, for which few parameters are known with certainty. Therefore, 1D climate models are still very useful tools for planetary studies. In most of these 1D models, clouds are not physically represented in the atmosphere, despite having a well-known, significant impact on a planetary radiative budget. This impact is simulated by artificially raising surface albedo, in order to reproduce the observed-averaged surface temperature (i.e. 288 K for modern Earth) and a radiative balance at the top of the atmosphere. This non-physical representation of clouds, causes atmospheric long wave and shortwaves fluxes to not match observational data. Additionally, this technique represents a parameter that is highly-tuned to modern Earth’s climate, and may not be appropriate for planets that deviate from modern Earth’s climate conditions. In this paper, we present an update to the climate model within the Atmos 1D atmospheric modeling package with a physical representation of clouds. We show that this physical representation of clouds in the atmosphere allows both long wave and shortwave fluxes to match observational data. This improvement will allow us to study the energy fluxes for a variety of cloudy rocky planets, and increase our confidence in future simulations of temperature profile and net energy balance.

Thomas Fauchez↗

NASA NTRS1995

Calculation of surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes from physical quantities based on ISCCP data sets. 1: Method and sensitivity to input data uncertainties

The largest uncertainty in upwelling shortwave (SW) fluxes (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is caused by uncertainties in land surface albedo, whereas the largest uncertainty in downwelling SW at the surface (approximately equal 5-10 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) is related to cloud detection errors. The uncertainty of upwelling longwave (LW) fluxes (approximately 10-20 W/m(exp 2), regional daily mean) depends on the accuracy of the surface temperature for the surface LW fluxes and the atmospheric temperature for the top of atmosphere LW fluxes. The dominant source of uncertainty is downwelling LW fluxes at the surface (approximately equal 10-15 W/m(exp 2)) is uncertainty in atmospheric temperature and, secondarily, atmospheric humidity; clouds play little role except in the polar regions. The uncertainties of the individual flux components and the total net fluxes are largest over land (15-20 W/m(exp 2)) because of uncertainties in surface albedo (especially its spectral dependence) and surface temperature and emissivity (including its spectral dependence). Clouds are the most important modulator of the SW fluxes, but over land areas, uncertainties in net SW at the surface depend almost as much on uncertainties in surface albedo. Although atmospheric and surface temperature variations cause larger LW flux variations, the most notable feature of the net LW fluxes is the changing relative importance of clouds and water vapor with latitude. Uncertainty in individual flux values is dominated by sampling effects because of large natrual variations, but uncertainty in monthly mean fluxes is dominated by bias errors in the input quantities.

Zhang, Y.-C.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Decomposing Cloud Radiative Feedbacks by Cloud-Top Phase

Changes in cloud scattering properties and emissivity that arise from atmospheric warming cause substantial radiative feedbacks in model projections of anthropogenic climate change, and the relative importance of the underlying mechanisms is poorly understood. One leading hypothesis is that ice-to-liquid conversions cause clouds to optically thicken, producing a major negative feedback. We test this hypothesis by developing a method to decompose cloud radiative feedbacks by cloud-top phase. The method is applied to an ensemble of six state-of-the-art global climate models run with prescribed sea surface temperature. In these simulations, the global mean of the net cloud scattering and emissivity feedback from cloud-phase conversions ranges from −0.17 to −0.01 W m −2 K −1 , while the overall net cloud feedback ranges from 0.02 to 0.91 W m −2 K −1 . The multimodel mean of the cloud scattering and emissivity feedback from cloud-phase conversions is approximately 19% of the magnitude of the multimodel mean of the overall cloud feedback (−0.10 vs 0.52 W m −2 K −1 ). These results indicate that cloud-phase conversions cause a robust negative feedback by changing cloud scattering and emissivity, but this mechanism makes a modest contribution to the overall cloud feedback at the global scale.

Climate change↗

NASA NTRS1983

Thermal structure of the atmosphere of Venus

The available data sets determining the thermal structure are critically discussed and combined into a mean model. The implications of the oberved contrasts for atmospheric motions, on small and large scales, are discussed. Greenhouse models which allow a convective atmosphere below 35 to 50 km give a reasonable explanation of the high surface temperature. Surprisingly, however, the deep atmosphere is generally stable. The radiative imbalance thus drives the general circulation rather than local convection. A distinct tropopause occurs at the cloud tops. Above this, the atmosphere is very stably stratified and not far from radiative equilibrium. Gravity waves are present. The upper atmosphere, with its very large day-night temperature contrast, must be in motion away from the sun, but velocities are strongly limited to a sizable viscous dissipation.

Seiff, A.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Spectropolarimetry of Venus and Jupiter clouds - Information content of equivalent widths

The theory of the curve-of-growth for absorption lines formed in an anisotropically scattering medium, particularly the clouds of Venus and Jupiter, is generalized to the case of polarization. When the photon path-length distributions associated with each of Stokes' parameters (Il, Ir, and Q) are evaluated using Pade's approximations, analytical expressions can be derived for the corresponding equivalent widths. It is found that spectra of Q, derivable from the rotational temperature of the Q-lines, are formed at a level closer to the cloud top than the photopolarimetric level, rendering a more accurate location of the cloud top than possible by photopolarization. It is also demonstrated that simultaneous measurements of the equivalent widths of strong I- and Q-lines can provide analytical relations for retrieving the scale-height ratios of ambient gas-to-cloud particles and minor constituent-to-ambient gas molecules without resorting to any other independent measurement.

Buriez, J. C.↗