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NASA NTRS1992

Remote Sensing by Spaceborne Lidar Aided by Surface Returns

Spaceborne lidar offers the possibility of global mapping of clouds and atmospheric aerosols. Mapping of cloud-top heights, multiple layers of thin clouds and the depth of the planetary boundary layer (PBL), given sufficient aerosols, are applications that should be fairly easy to accomplish from space with even a modest lidar system. However, the constraints imposed on spaceborne lidar by large ranging distances, limited available power/weight, and fast moving platforms present significant challenges to achieving more quantitative retrievals such as extracting aerosol extinction profiles, PBL optical depths and cloud optical depths. Ways to take advantage of the strong signals available from ground/sea reflections to improve upon atmospheric aerosol and cloud retrievals as well as to distinguish certain surface types are explored.

Reagan, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Comparison of stratocumulus cloud properties derived from simultaneous satellite and surface-based instrumentation

Data from the First ISCCP Regional Experiment Marine Stratocumulus Intensive Field Observation period are used here to evaluate the cloud properties derived from the GOES in the vicinity of San Nicolas Island. Comparisons of island observations with satellite cloud parameter retrievals show that the hybrid bispectral threshold method provides a reliable and relatively accurate depiction of the diurnal variations of cloud amount, height, albedo, and thickness over this region. The level of agreement obtained here is very encouraging for simple method of extracting cloud parameters from operational meteorological satellite data. It is found that dissipating stratocumulus clouds tend to become thin enough to become nonblack in the infrared spectrum. The decrease in emissivity corresponds to 100 m or more in satellite-retrieved cloud-top height.

Minnis, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS1990

The effect of global warming on lightning frequencies

The first attempt to model global lightning distributions by using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) GCM is reported. Three sets of observations showing the relationship between lightning frequency and cloud top height are shown. Zonally averaged lightning frequency observed by satellite are compared with those calculated using the GISS GCM, and fair agreement is found. The change in lightning frequency for a double CO2 climate is calculated and found to be nearly 2.23 x 10 exp 6 extra lightning flashes per day.

Price, Colin↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stratocumulus cloud properties derived from simultaneous satellite and island-based instrumentation during FIRE

Cloud parameters derived from visible and infrared window data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) are compared to corresponding properties determined from instrumentation on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment marine stratocumulus intensive field observations period in July 1987. Examination of the satellite imagery revealed that the apparent bias can be explained by the persistence of the clouds over the northwest part of the island during periods of clearing around the island. Diurnal variations in the cloud cover were very significant; minimum cloudiness occurred during the late afternoon and maximum cloudiness early in the morning. Relationships were established between the satellite-derived cloud optical depth and two surface-observed quantities: cloud liquid water path and cloud thickness. Simultaneous observations of liquid water path and satellite-derived cloud optical depth were used to infer effective cloud-droplet radius, resulting in good agreement with correlative data. The diurnal variations in cloud amount are accompanied by changes in cloud thickness, cloud-top height, cloud liquid water path, and effective droplet size. These observations provide the most complete picture, to date, of the diurnal cycle of marine stratocumulus clouds, confirming previous satellite-based inferences of the diurnal behavior of marine stratocumulus at larger scales.

Minnis, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS1992

Integration of satellite and surface data using a radiative-convective oceanic boundary-layer model

A mixing-line boundary-layer model is used to retrieve cloud-top height from satellite-derived cloud-top temperatures, using 700-hPa National Meteorological Center (NMC) analyses and the Comprehensive Ocean and Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) surface data as supporting datasets. Results are compared with the fixed-lapse-rate method of retrieving boundary-layer depth from sea surface temperatures (SST) and cloud-top temperatures. A radiative-convective equilibrium boundary-layer model is used to retrieve boundary-layer structure given SST and surface wind, satellite cloud-top temperatures and cloud fraction, and the 700-hPa NMC thermodynamic analyses. Good agreement is found between the COADS data and the model solutions for low-level temperature and moisture. This suggests that equilibrium boundary-layer models may be of use over remote oceans in the retrieval of boundary-layer structure.

Betts, Alan K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cloud forcing and the net longwave surface radiation

A method is suggested which determines the monthly mean longwave radiation at the surface over the oceans using currently available satellite data sets. An independent estimate of the frequency of occurrence of clouds or cloud top heights is not required. A climatological relationship between the LWCRF (longwave cloud radiation forcing) at the top of the atmosphere and surface may be substituted. This ratio is obtained from a GMC simulation but in principle could be obtained observationally, although global coverage is doubtful. A flow diagram shows the procedure used to obtain maps for the monthly mean net upward longwave flux at the surface.

HARSHVARDHAN↗
NASA NTRS1992

A simple lightning parameterization for calculating global lightning distributions

A simple parameterization has been developed to simulate global lightning distributions. Convective cloud top height is used as the variable in the parameterization, with different formulations for continental and marine thunderstorms. The parameterization has been validated using two lightning data sets: one global and one regional. In both cases the simulated lightning distributions and frequencies are in very good agreement with the observed lightning data. This parameterization could be used for global studies of lightning climatology; the earth's electric circuit; in general circulation models for modeling global lightning activity, atmospheric NO(x) concentrations, and perhaps forest fire distributions for both the present and future climate; and, possibly, even as a short-term forecasting aid.

Price, Colin↗
NASA NTRS1993

Low cloud investigations for project FIRE: Island studies of cloud properties, surface radiation, and boundary layer dynamics. A simulation of the reflectivity over a stratocumulus cloud deck by the Monte Carlo method

The radiation field over a broken stratocumulus cloud deck is simulated by the Monte Carlo method. We conducted four experiments to investigate the main factor for the observed shortwave reflectively over the FIRE flight 2 leg 5, in which reflectivity decreases almost linearly from the cloud center to cloud edge while the cloud top height and the brightness temperature remain almost constant through out the clouds. From our results, the geometry effect, however, did not contribute significantly to what has been observed. We found that the variation of the volume extinction coefficient as a function of its relative position in the cloud affects the reflectivity efficiently. Additional check of the brightness temperature of each experiment also confirms this conclusion. The cloud microphysical data showed some interesting features. We found that the cloud droplet spectrum is nearly log-normal distributed when the clouds were solid. However, whether the shift of cloud droplet spectrum toward the larger end is not certain. The decrease of number density from cloud center to cloud edges seems to have more significant effects on the optical properties.

Ackerman, Thomas P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The effects of cloud inhomogeneities upon radiative fluxes, and the supply of a cloud truth validation dataset

A series of cloud and sea ice retrieval algorithms are being developed in support of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Science Team objectives. These retrievals include the following: cloud fractional area, cloud optical thickness, cloud phase (water or ice), cloud particle effective radius, cloud top heights, cloud base height, cloud top temperature, cloud emissivity, cloud 3-D structure, cloud field scales of organization, sea ice fractional area, sea ice temperature, sea ice albedo, and sea surface temperature. Due to the problems of accurately retrieving cloud properties over bright surfaces, an advanced cloud classification method was developed which is based upon spectral and textural features and artificial intelligence classifiers.

Welch, Ronald M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Atmospheric parameterization schemes for satellite cloud property retrieval during FIRE IFO 2

Satellite cloud retrieval algorithms generally require atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles to determine such cloud properties as pressure and height. For instance, the CO2 slicing technique called the ratio method requires the calculation of theoretical upwelling radiances both at the surface and a prescribed number (40) of atmospheric levels. This technique has been applied to data from, for example, the High Resolution Infrared Radiometer Sounder (HIRS/2, henceforth HIRS) flown aboard the NOAA series of polar orbiting satellites and the High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS). In this particular study, four NOAA-11 HIRS channels in the 15-micron region are used. The ratio method may be applied to various channel combinations to estimate cloud top heights using channels in the 15-mu m region. Presently, the multispectral, multiresolution (MSMR) scheme uses 4 HIRS channel combination estimates for mid- to high-level cloud pressure retrieval and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data for low-level (is greater than 700 mb) cloud level retrieval. In order to determine theoretical upwelling radiances, atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles must be provided as well as profiles of other radiatively important gas absorber constituents such as CO2, O3, and CH4. The assumed temperature and humidity profiles have a large effect on transmittance and radiance profiles, which in turn are used with HIRS data to calculate cloud pressure, and thus cloud height and temperature. For large spatial scale satellite data analysis, atmospheric parameterization schemes for cloud retrieval algorithms are usually based on a gridded product such as that provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) or the National Meteorological Center (NMC). These global, gridded products prescribe temperature and humidity profiles for a limited number of pressure levels (up to 14) in a vertical atmospheric column. The FIRE IFO 2 experiment provides an opportunity to investigate current atmospheric profile parameterization schemes, compare satellite cloud height results using both gridded products (ECMWF) and high vertical resolution sonde data from the National Weather Service (NWS) and Cross Chain Loran Atmospheric Sounding System (CLASS), and suggest modifications in atmospheric parameterization schemes based on these results.

Titlow, James↗
NASA NTRS1994

Study of atmospheric parameters measurements using MM-wave radar in synergy with LITE-2

The Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment, (LITE), has been developed, designed, and built by NASA Langley Research Center, to be flown on the space shuttle 'Discovery' on September 9, 1994. Lidar, which stands for light detecting and ranging, is a radar system that uses short pulses of laser light instead of radio waves in the case of the common radar. This space-based lidar offers atmospheric measurements of stratospheric and tropospheric aerosols, the planetary boundary layer, cloud top heights, and atmospheric temperature and density in the 10-40 km altitude range. A study is being done on the use, advantages, and limitations of a millimeterwave radar to be utilized in synergy with the Lidar system, for the LITE-2 experiment to be flown on a future space shuttle mission. The lower atmospheric attenuation, compared to infrared and optical frequencies, permits the millimeter-wave signals to penetrate through the clouds and measure multi-layered clouds, cloud thickness, and cloud-base height. These measurements would provide a useful input to radiation computations used in the operational numerical weather prediction models, and for forecasting. High power levels, optimum modulation, data processing, and high antenna gain are used to increase the operating range, while space environment, radar tradeoffs, and power availability are considered. Preliminary, numerical calculations are made, using the specifications of an experimental system constructed at Georgia Tech. The noncoherent 94 GHz millimeter-wave radar system has a pulsed output with peak value of 1 kW. The backscatter cross section of the particles to be measured, that are present in the volume covered by the beam footprint, is also studied.

Andrawis, Madeleine Y.↗
NASA NTRS1994

An improved cloud retrieval algorithim using HIRS2-MSU radiance measurements

Cloud-top heights and cloud amounts are produced as part of the operational processing of polar-satellite data at the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS). These products were compared with similar products from the air force's real-time nephanalysis (RTNEPH), from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, and from NASA Goddard's processing of satellite data. It was found that the amount of high-level cloud was too small in the NESDIS results, while the amount of low-level cloud was too large. An examination of the NESDIS algorithm revealed that the differences in cloud distributions were caused by the selection of channels used for the cloud retrievals. Cloud retrievals are most accurate at the levels at which the channels that are used are most sensitive. In addition, it was found that no one pair of channels was best at all levels. A new procedure was developed that varied the channels as a function of an initial estimate of the cloud height. This procedure produced improved cloud retrievals that were then compared with the RTNEPH results. The comparison showed that the two methods provide similar retrievals of cloud height and amount.

Mcmillin, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1995

Microwave and infrared simulations of an intense convective system and comparison with aircraft observations

A three-dimensional cloud model, radiative transfer model-based simulation system is tested and validated against the aircraft-based radiance observations of an intense convective system in southeastern Virginia on 29 June 1986 during the Cooperative Huntsville Meteorological Experiment. NASA's ER-2, a high-altitude research aircraft with a complement of radiometers operating at 11-micrometer infrared channel and 18-, 37-, 92-, and 183-GHz microwave channels provided data for this study. The cloud model successfully simulated the cloud system with regard to aircraft- and radar-observed cloud-top heights and diameters and with regard to radar-observed reflectivity structure. For the simulation time found to correspond best with the aircraft- and radar-observed structure, brightness temperatures T(sub b) are simulated and compared with observations for all the microwave frequencies along with the 11-micrometer infrared channel. Radiance calculations at the various frequencies correspond well with the aircraft observations in the areas of deep convection. The clustering of 37-147-GHz T(sub b) observations and the isolation of the 18-GHz values over the convective cores are well simulated by the model. The radiative transfer model, in general, is able to simulate the observations reasonably well from 18 GHz through 174 GHz within all convective areas of the cloud system. When the aircraft-observed 18- and 37-GHz, and 90- and 174-GHz T(sub b) are plotted against each other, the relationships have a gradual difference in the slope due to the differences in the ice particle size in the convective and more stratiform areas of the cloud. The model is able to capture these differences observed by the aircraft. Brightness temperature-rain rate relationships compare reasonably well with the aircraft observations in terms of the slope of the relationship. The model calculations are also extended to select high-frequency channels at 220, 340, and 400 GHz to simulate the Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer aircraft instrument to be flown in the near future. All three of these frequencies are able to discriminate the convective and anvil portions of the system, providing useful information similar to that from the frequencies below 183 GHz but with potentially enhanced spatial resolution from a satellite platform. In thin clouds, the dominant effect of water vapor is seen at 174, 340, and 400 GHz. In thick cloudy areas, the scattering effect is dominant at 90 and 220 GHz, while the overlaying water vapor can attenuate at 174, 340, and 400 GHz. All frequencies (90-400 GHz) show strong signatures in the core.

Prasad, N.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Short-range precipitation forecasts using assimilation of simulated satellite water vapor profiles and column cloud liquid water amounts

These observing system simulation experiments investigate the assimilation of satellite-observed water vapor and cloud liquid water data in the initialization of a limited-area primitive equations model with the goal of improving short-range precipitation forecasts. The assimilation procedure presented includes two aspects: specification of an initial cloud liquid water vertical distribution and diabatic initialization. The satellite data is simulated for the next generation of polar-orbiting satellite instruments, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and the High-Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS), which are scheduled to be launched on the NOAA-K satellite in the mid-1990s. Based on cloud-top height and total column cloud liquid water amounts simulated for satellite data a diagnostic method is used to specify an initial cloud water vertical distribution and to modify the initial moisture distribution in cloudy areas. Using a diabatic initialization procedure, the associated latent heating profiles are directly assimilated into the numerical model. The initial heating is estimated by time averaging the latent heat release from convective and large-scale condensation during the early forecast stage after insertion of satellite-observed temperature, water vapor, and cloud water formation. The assimilation of satellite-observed moisture and cloud water, together withy three-mode diabatic initialization, significantly alleviates the model precipitation spinup problem, especially in the first 3 h of the forecast. Experimental forecasts indicate that the impact of satellite-observed temperature and water vapor profiles and cloud water alone in the initialization procedure shortens the spinup time for precipitation rates by 1-2 h and for regeneration of the areal coverage by 3 h. The diabatic initialization further reduces the precipitation spinup time (compared to adiabatic initialization) by 1 h.

Wu, Xiaohua↗
NASA NTRS1995

Cloud layer thicknesses from a combination of surface and upper-air observations

Cloud layer thicknesses are derived from base and top altitudes by combining 14 years (1975-1988) of surface and upper-air observations at 63 sites in the Northern Hemisphere. Rawinsonde observations are employed to determine the locations of cloud-layer top and base by testing for dewpoint temperature depressions below some threshold value. Surface observations serve as quality checks on the rawinsonde-determined cloud properties and provide cloud amount and cloud-type information. The dataset provides layer-cloud amount, cloud type, high, middle, or low height classes, cloud-top heights, base heights and layer thicknesses, covering a range of latitudes from 0 deg to 80 deg N. All data comes from land sites: 34 are located in continental interiors, 14 are near coasts, and 15 are on islands. The uncertainties in the derived cloud properties are discussed. For clouds classified by low-, mid-, and high-top altitudes, there are strong latitudinal and seasonal variations in the layer thickness only for high clouds. High-cloud layer thickness increases with latitude and exhibits different seasonal variations in different latitude zones: in summer, high-cloud layer thickness is a maximum in the Tropics but a minimum at high latitudes. For clouds classified into three types by base altitude or into six standard morphological types, latitudinal and seasonal variations in layer thickness are very small. The thickness of the clear surface layer decreases with latitude and reaches a summer minimum in the Tropics and summer maximum at higher latitudes over land, but does not vary much over the ocean. Tropical clouds occur in three base-altitude groups and the layer thickness of each group increases linearly with top altitude. Extratropical clouds exhibit two groups, one with layer thickness proportional to their cloud-top altitude and one with small (less than or equal to 1000 m) layer thickness independent of cloud-top altitude.

Poore, Kirk D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of marine stratocumulus in TOMS ozone

The algorithm used to correct total O3 from the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) for cloud effects is based on the measured reflectivity, a climatological cloud top height, and an assumed tropospheric O3 column amount below clouds. In regions of persistent subtropical marine stratocumulus it is assumed that this introduces a positive error into total O3 because these clouds are lower than the assumed mean cloud height used in the algorithm. This appears to be confirmed by high correlation between Nimbus 7 TOMS total O3 and reflectivity data for typical regimes of persistent stratus, as identified by the international satellite cloud climatology project (ISCCP) observations. The TOMS total O3 overestimate has been computed using Nimbus 7/solar backscattered ultraviolet total O3 derived using temperature humidity infrared radiometer (THIR) data for years 1979-1984. A functional relationship between the THIR/non-THIR total O3 difference and reflectivity is used with TOMS reflectivity to modify Nimbus 7 TOMS O3 data for selected regions and periods. The correction diminishes or eliminates a number of apparent O3 maxima, with reductions of up to 20 Dobson units (DU) in total O3 on daily maps and approximately 5 DU on monthly mean O3 maps. Significant correlation between corrected TOMS O3 and reflectivity data remains because low-altitude O3 is retrieved more efficiently over a high-albedo surface. It is also possible that dynamical influences leading to stratocumulus formation bring O3-enriched air into the area. These results imply that although good arguments can be made for the use of TOMS total O3 as a proxy for tropospheric O3 in the tropics, caution must be exercised in the use of daily and even monthly O3 maps in the vicinity of clouds. Further research into the TOMS algorithm in cloudy regions is required to derive reliable estimates of tropospheric O3.

Thompson, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Absorption of Sunlight by Water Vapor in Cloudy Conditions: A Partial Explanation for the Cloud Absorption Anomaly

The atmospheric radiative transfer algorithms used in most global general circulation models underestimate the globally-averaged solar energy absorbed by cloudy atmospheres by up to 25 W/sq m. The origin of this anomalous absorption is not yet known, but it has been attributed to a variety of sources including oversimplified or missing physical processes in these models, uncertainties in the input data, and even measurement errors. Here, a sophisticated atmospheric radiative transfer model was used to provide a more comprehensive description of the physical processes that contribute to the absorption of solar radiation by the Earth's atmosphere. We found that the amount of sunlight absorbed by a cloudy atmosphere is inversely proportional to the solar zenith angle and the cloud top height, and directly proportional to the cloud optical depth and the water vapor concentration within the clouds. Atmospheres with saturated, optically-thick, low clouds absorbed about 12 W/sq m more than clear atmospheres. This accounts for about 1/2 to 1/3 of the anomalous ab- sorption. Atmospheres with optically thick middle and high clouds usually absorb less than clear atmospheres. Because water vapor is concentrated within and below the cloud tops, this absorber is most effective at small solar zenith angles. An additional absorber that is distributed at or above the cloud tops is needed to produce the amplitude and zenith angle dependence of the observed anomalous absorption.

Crisp, D.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Infrared Data for Storm Analysis

The papers in this section include: 1) 'Thunderstorm Top Structure Observed by Aircraft Overflights with an Infrared Radiometer'; 2) 'Thunderstorm Intensity as Determined from Satellite Data'; 3) 'Relation of Satellite-Based Thunderstorm Intensity to Radar-Estimated Rainfall'; 4) 'A Simple Physical Basis for Relating Geosynchronous Satellite Infrared Observations to Thunderstorm Rainfall'; 5) 'Satellite-Observed Cloud-Top Height Changes in Tornadic Thunderstorms'; 6) 'Predicting Tropical Cyclone Intensity Using Satellite-Measured Equivalent Blackbody Temperatures of Cloud Tops'.

Adler, R.↗