Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “clouds”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Survey of microphysical properties of marine boundary-layer clouds in the Western North Atlantic

Oceanic low level clouds strongly affect the atmospheric radiation budget. Uncertainties in their microphysical properties and cover currently limit the accuracy of climate predictions. Further, studies quantifying the relative importance of aerosol and dynamics on cloud properties in specific meteorological regimes are poorly constrained by observations in the Western North Atlantic boundary layer. Low level clouds were measured during the Aerosol Cloud meTereology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) campaign in winter and summer 2020. The two NASA LaRC research aircraft HU-25 Falcon and UC-12 B-200 King Air conducted 35 simultaneous flights to investigate aerosol-cloud interactions of maritime clouds and their impact on radiation. Number concentration, liquid water content, ice water content, and particle size distribution in the size range of 3 µm to 1460 µm in diameter were measured with the fast forward scattering cloud probe (FCDP) and 2-dimensional optical array imaging probe (2D-S) onboard the Falcon. Here, we present an overview of late winter (February-March) and late summer (August-September) oceanic cloud properties in the region 65°W to 80°W and 30°N to 40°N. We compare cloud properties in these two seasons and investigate their dependence on meteorological parameters and aerosol abundance. In a case study, we present cloud observations in a cold air outbreak event on 1 March 2020 with a specific focus on mixed-phase clouds.

microphysical properties↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cloud feedbacks on greenhouse warming in the superparameterized climate model SP‐CCSM 4

Abstract Cloud feedbacks on greenhouse warming are studied in a superparameterized version of the Community Climate System Model (SP‐CCSM4) in an atmospheric component SP‐CAM4 that explicitly simulates cumulus convection. A 150 year simulation in an abrupt quadrupling of CO 2 is branched from a control run. It develops moderate positive global cloud feedback and an implied climate sensitivity of 2.8 K comparable to the conventionally parameterized CCSM4 and the median of other modern climate models. All of SP‐CCSM4's positive shortwave cloud feedback is due to a striking decrease in low cloud over land, which is much more pronounced than in most other climate models, including CCSM4. Four other cloud responses – decreased midlevel cloud, more Arctic water and ice cloud, a slight poleward shift of midlatitude storm track cloud, and an upward shift of high clouds – are also typical of conventional global climate models. SP‐CCSM4 does not simulate the large warming‐induced decrease in Southern Ocean cloud found in CCSM4. Two companion uncoupled SP‐CAM4 simulations, one with a uniform 4 K sea‐surface temperature increase and one with quadrupled CO 2 but fixed SST, suggest that SP‐CCSM4's global‐scale cloud changes are primarily mediated by the warming, rather than by rapid adjustments to increased CO 2 . SP‐CAM4 show spatial patterns of cloud response qualitatively similar to the previous‐generation superparameterized SP‐CAM3, but with systematically more positive low cloud feedbacks over low‐latitude land and ocean.

Bretherton, Christopher S.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Regime dependence of cloud condensate variability observed at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Sites

Microphysical processes and cloud–radiation interaction occur on spatial scales of variability smaller than those represented explicitly in global weather forecasting and climate models. It is therefore necessary to parametrize the unresolved heterogeneity of humidity and cloud condensate in order to predict process rates accurately. Ground‐based observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement sites located in various climatic regions of the world provide a source of high‐temporal‐resolution observations of cloud condensate. A number of different retrieval products for cloud condensate are assessed for the different geographical regions, years and seasons. The retrieval reliability varies with cloud type, but for cloud categories largely unaffected by precipitation a comparison across sites and longer time periods is possible. These observations confirm previously documented variability behaviour as a function of cloud fraction, but also reveal a systematic regime dependence that is not captured by existing parametrizations. Condensate variability measured as a fractional standard deviation (FSD) in warm boundary‐layer clouds is greater in the Tropics than in mid and high latitudes for scenes with comparable cloud type and fraction, with the observed FSD varying from 1.2 in the Tropics to 0.4 in the Arctic. A parametrization of the FSD of cloud liquid condensate based on the grid‐box mean total water amount and cloud fraction is formulated and shown to capture the observed range of FSD values better across different geographical sites and different seasons. The regime dependence of FSD for cirrus cloud is less pronounced than that for liquid clouds and is found largely to agree with FSD values previously derived from satellite observations.

Ahlgrimm, Maike↗
DOE OSTI2018

Cloud-Scale Droplet Number Sensitivity to Liquid Water Path in Marine Stratocumulus

Cloud droplet number concentration (N c ) is retrieved from remotely observed marine stratocumulus cloud liquid water path (LWP), cloud optical depth (τ c ), and cloud thickness, using an optical model that assumes liquid water content (LWC) increases linearly from cloud base. Assuming that LWC is vertically uniform would underestimate τ c by 5% and N c by 14%. Individual retrievals of N c from 10-min averages vary by orders of magnitude from long-term averages. Surface cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration N CCN is weakly but significantly correlated with N c (R = 0.3) for the day leading and 6 hr following N c . Consistent with coalescence and drizzle scavenging cloud droplets, lag correlations show that N c decreases for 1 hr after the peak area-average rain rate. Greater observed LWP for lower N c [d(log N c )/d(log LWP) = 2.3] is consistent with enhanced entrainment drying of clouds with greater N c and consistent with removal of N c by thicker clouds with more coalescence and drizzle. Stronger precipitation in clouds with greater N c is the opposite sensitivity as expected were LWP to be controlled by the “cloud lifetime” indirect aerosol effect. The strong sensitivity of N c to LWP suggests that cloud dynamic and thermodynamic forcings drive macrophysical variability that controls N c in southeastern tropical Pacific stratocumulus clouds. Regressions are relatively insensitive to assumptions about the covariance of errors among the sensors.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Regime-specific Cloud Vertical Overlap Characteristics from Radar and Lidar Observations at the ARM sites

Climate and numerical weather prediction models require assumptions to represent the vertical distribution of subgrid-scale clouds, which have radiative transfer implications. In this study, nearly 25 years of ground-based radar and lidar observations of vertical cloud profiles at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site are utilized to derive cloud vertical overlap characteristics from the Cloud Type (CLDTYPE) data product. Here, the cloud vertical overlap characteristics are further separated by cloud regime by considering seven cloud types (i.e., low cloud, congestus, deep convection, altocumulus, altostratus, cirrostratus, and cirrus) as well as periods of shallow cumulus. The decorrelation length scale (i.e., exponential transition from maximum to random overlap with layer separation) is found to vary by cloud regime, ranging between 0.04 km for cirrostratus paired with cirrus to 4.58 km for low cloud paired with cirrus at SGP. Cloud vertical overlap characteristics are also considered for other ARM sites including the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), North Slope of Alaska (NSA), and Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) sites amongst other shorter term ARM deployments globally. The decorrelation length scale ranged globally from 1.03 km in the Arctic Ocean to 3.06 km in Manacapuru, Brazil. Globally, the decorrelation length scale by cloud regime exhibited similarities (e.g., for cirrus paired with cirrus) and differences (e.g., congestus paired with cirrus). The results could help inform development of cloud vertical overlap assumptions within operational numerical weather prediction models and potentially improve prediction of radiative fluxes for weather, climate, and renewable energy forecasting.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating Cloud Properties at Scott Base: Comparing Ceilometer Observations With ERA5, JRA55, and MERRA2 Reanalyses Using an Instrument Simulator

This study compares CL51 ceilometer observations made at Scott Base, Antarctica, with statistics from the ERA5, JRA55, and MERRA2 reanalyses. To enhance the comparison we use a lidar instrument simulator to derive cloud statistics from the reanalyses which account for instrumental factors. The cloud occurrence in the three reanalyses is slightly overestimated above 3 km, but displays a larger underestimation below 3 km relative to observations. Unlike previous studies, we see no relationship between relative humidity and cloud occurrence biases, suggesting that the cloud biases do not result from the representation of moisture. We also show that the seasonal variation of cloud occurrence and cloud fraction, defined as the vertically integrated cloud occurrence, are small in both the observations and the reanalyses. We also examine the quality of the cloud representation for a set of weather states derived from ERA5 surface winds. The variability associated with grouping cloud occurrence based on weather state is much larger than the seasonal variation, highlighting weather state is a strong control of cloud occurrence. All the reanalyses continue to display underestimates below 3 km and overestimates above 3 km for each weather state. But the variability in ERA5 statistics matches the changes in the observations better than the other reanalyses. We also use a machine learning scheme to estimate the quantity of supercooled liquid water cloud from the ceilometer observations. Ceilometer low-level supercooled liquid water cloud occurrences are considerably larger than values derived from the reanalyses, further highlighting the poor representation of low-level clouds in the reanalyses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ship‐Based Lidar Evaluation of Southern Ocean Low Clouds in the Storm‐Resolving General Circulation Model ICON and the ERA5 and MERRA‐2 Reanalyses

Global storm resolving models (GSRMs) represent the next generation of global climate models. One of them is a 5-km Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic Weather and Climate Model (ICON). Its high resolution means that parameterizations of convection and clouds, including subgrid-scale clouds, are omitted, relying on explicit simulation but necessarily utilizing microphysics and turbulence parameterizations. Standard-resolution (10–100 km) models, which use convection and cloud parameterizations, have substantial cloud biases over the Southern Ocean (SO), adversely affecting radiation and sea surface temperature. The SO is dominated by low clouds, which cannot be observed accurately from space due to overlapping clouds, attenuation, and ground clutter. We evaluated SO clouds in ICON and the ERA5 and MERRA-2 reanalyzes using approximately 2400 days of lidar observations and 2300 radiosonde profiles from 31 voyages and a Macquarie Island station during 2010–2021, compared to the model and reanalyzes using a ground-based lidar simulator. We found that ICON and the reanalyzes underestimate the total cloud fraction by about 10% and 20%, respectively. ICON and ERA5 overestimate the cloud occurrence peak at about 500 m, associated with underestimated lower tropospheric stability and overestimated lifting condensation level. The reanalyzes strongly underestimate fog and very low-level clouds, and MERRA-2 underestimates cloud occurrence at almost all heights. Outgoing shortwave radiation is overestimated in MERRA-2, implying a “too few, too bright” cloud problem. SO cloud and fog biases are a substantial issue in the analyzed model and reanalyzes and result in shortwave and longwave radiation biases.

Kuma, Peter [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden); Univ. of Ca↗
DOE OSTI2025

Downward Convective Moisture Transport Dominated by a Few Overshooting Clouds in Marine and Continental Shallow Convection

Abstract In a previous study (Xiao et al., 2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ms003526 ), we found that ignoring the moist convective downdrafts associated with overshooting clouds in parameterizations can lead to significant biases in the simulated depth and liquid water content of a shallow cloud layer. In this study, we seek to better quantify the properties of the clouds responsible for these moist downdrafts to help improve shallow convection parameterizations. We apply a 3‐D cloud‐tracking algorithm to large‐eddy simulations (LESs) of marine and continental shallow convection. We find that top 1% and 2% of the tracked cloud population ranked by lifetime‐mean cloud‐base mass flux can explain 90%–95% of the total downward moisture transport in the upper cloud layer whereas top 10%–20% is required to explain 90%–95% of the total upward moisture transport near mean cloud base. The vertical structure of the clouds in the top 1% and 2% (the overshooting “deep mode”) is also distinctively different from that of the rest of the cloud population (the “shallow mode”). Shallow convection parameterizations need to capture accurately the properties and convective transports of the clouds in both the deep and shallow modes. To do that, our results suggest that mass‐flux parameterizations need to (a) accurately predict the size and number of the deep‐mode clouds and (b) explicitly represent overshooting cloud updrafts and associated moist downdrafts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

The jet and arc molecular clouds toward Westerlund 2, RCW 49, and HESS J1023–575; {sup 12}CO and {sup 13}CO (J = 2-1 and J = 1-0) observations with NANTEN2 and Mopra telescope

We have made new CO observations of two molecular clouds, which we call 'jet' and 'arc' clouds, toward the stellar cluster Westerlund 2 and the TeV γ-ray source HESS J1023–575. The jet cloud shows a linear structure from the position of Westerlund 2 on the east. In addition, we have found a new counter jet cloud on the west. The arc cloud shows a crescent shape in the west of HESS J1023–575. A sign of star formation is found at the edge of the jet cloud and gives a constraint on the age of the jet cloud to be ∼Myr. An analysis with the multi CO transitions gives temperature as high as 20 K in a few places of the jet cloud, suggesting that some additional heating may be operating locally. The new TeV γ-ray images by H.E.S.S. correspond to the jet and arc clouds spatially better than the giant molecular clouds associated with Westerlund 2. We suggest that the jet and arc clouds are not physically linked with Westerlund 2 but are located at a greater distance around 7.5 kpc. A microquasar with long-term activity may be able to offer a possible engine to form the jet and arc clouds and to produce the TeV γ-rays, although none of the known microquasars have a Myr age or steady TeV γ-rays. Alternatively, an anisotropic supernova explosion which occurred ∼Myr ago may be able to form the jet and arc clouds, whereas the TeV γ-ray emission requires a microquasar formed after the explosion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Theoretical Analysis of the Entrainment–Mixing Process at Cloud Boundaries. Part I: Droplet Size Distributions and Humidity within the Interface Zone

Abstract The problem of a complex entrainment–mixing process is analyzed by solving a diffusion–evaporation equation for an open region in the vicinity of the cloud–dry air interface. Upon normalization the problem is reduced to a one-parametric one, the governing parameter being the potential evaporation parameter R proportional to the ratio of saturation deficit in the dry air to the available liquid water content in the cloud air. As distinct from previous multiple studies analyzing mixing within closed adiabatic volumes, we consider a principally nonstationary problem that never leads to a homogeneous equilibrium state. It is shown that at R < −1 the cloud edge shifts toward the cloud; that is, the cloud dissipates due to mixing with dry air, and the cloud volume decreases. If R > −1, the cloud edge shifts outside; that is, the mixing leads to an increase in the cloud volume. The time evolution of droplet size distribution and its moments, as well as the relative humidity within the expanding cloud–dry air interface, are calculated and analyzed. It is shown that the values of the mean volume radii rapidly decrease within the interface zone in the direction away from the cloud, indicating significant changes in the cloud edge microstructure. Scattering diagrams plotted for the cloud edge agree well with high-frequency in situ measurements, corroborating the reliability of the proposed approach. It is shown that the humidity front moves toward dry air faster than the front of liquid water content. As a result, the mixing leads to formation of a humid air shell around the cloud. The widths of the interface zone and humid shell are evaluated.

Pinsky, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cloud Coalescence: A Dynamical Instability Affecting Multiphase Environments

Mass and size distributions are the key characteristics of any astrophysical object, including the densest clumps comprising the cold phase of multiphase environments. In our recent papers, we showed how individual clouds of various sizes form and evolve in active galactic nuclei. In particular, we showed that large clouds undergo damped oscillations as a response to their formation process. Here we follow up this investigation, addressing how different size clouds interact. We find that smaller clouds become trapped in the advective flows generated by larger clouds. The explanation for this behavior leads to a rather remarkable conclusion: even in the absence of gravity, complexes of clouds are dynamically unstable. In an idealized environment (e.g., one free of turbulence and magnetic fields) a perfectly symmetric arrangement of static clouds will remain static, but any small spatial perturbation will lead to all clouds coalescing into a single, large cloud, given enough time. Here, by using numerical simulations, we investigate the main factors that determine the rate of coalescence. In addition to the cloud separation distance, we find that the transient response of clouds to a disturbance is the primary factor. Turbulent motions in the flow can easily suppress this tendency for spatially well-separated clouds to coalesce, so it is as yet unclear if this phenomenon can occur in nature. Nevertheless, this Letter casts strong doubts on a recent hypothesis that large clouds are prone to fragmentation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Aerosol-induced closure of marine cloud cells: enhanced effects in the presence of precipitation

Abstract. The Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) version 4.3 model is configured within a Lagrangian framework to quantify the impact of aerosols on evolving cloud fields. Kilometer-scale simulations utilizing meteorological boundary conditions are based on 10 case study days offering diverse meteorology during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA). Measurements from aircraft, the ground-based Atmosphere Radiation Measurement (ARM) site at Graciosa Island in the Azores, and A-Train and geostationary satellites are utilized for validation, demonstrating good agreement with the WRF-simulated cloud and aerosol properties. Higher aerosol concentration leads to suppressed drizzle and increased cloud water content in all case study days. These changes lead to larger radiative cooling rates at cloud top, enhanced vertical velocity variance, and increased vertical and horizontal wind speed near the base of the lower-tropospheric inversion. As a result, marine cloud cell area expands, narrowing the gap between shallow clouds and increasing cloud optical thickness, liquid water content, and the top-of-atmosphere outgoing shortwave flux. While similar aerosol effects are observed in lightly to non-raining clouds, they tend to be smaller by comparison. These simulations show a relationship between cloud cell area expansion and the radiative adjustments caused by liquid water path and cloud fraction changes. The adjustments are positive and scale as 74 % and 51 %, respectively, relative to the Twomey effect. While higher-resolution large-eddy simulations may provide improved representation of cloud-top mixing processes, these results emphasize the importance of addressing mesoscale cloud-state transitions in the quantification of aerosol radiative forcing that cannot be attained from traditional climate models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Comparison of scattering ratio profiles retrieved from ALADIN/Aeolus and CALIOP/CALIPSO observations and preliminary estimates of cloud fraction profiles

The space-borne active sounders have been contributing invaluable vertically resolved information of atmospheric optical properties since the launch of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) in 2006. To build long-term records from space-borne lidars useful for climate studies, one has to understand the differences between successive space lidars operating at different wavelengths, flying on different orbits, and using different viewing geometries, receiving paths, and detectors. In this article, we compare the results of Atmospheric Laser Doppler INstrument (ALADIN) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) lidars for the period from 28 June to 31 December 2019. First, we build a dataset of ALADIN–CALIOP collocated profiles (Δdist<1°; Δtime<6 h). Then we convert ALADIN's 355 nm particulate backscatter and extinction profiles into the scattering ratio vertical profiles SR(z) at 532 nm using molecular density profiles from Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System, version 5 (GEOS-5 DAS). And finally, we build the CALIOP and ALADIN globally gridded cloud fraction profiles CF(z) by applying the same cloud detection threshold to the SR(z) profiles of both lidars at the same spatial resolution. Before comparing the SR(z) and CF(z) profiles retrieved from the two analyzed lidar missions, we performed a numerical experiment to estimate the best achievable cloud detection agreement CDA norm (z) considering the differences between the instruments. We define CDA norm (z) in each latitude–altitude bin as the occurrence frequency of cloud layers detected by both lidars, divided by a cloud fraction value for the same latitude–altitude bin. We simulated the SR(z) and CF(z) profiles that would be observed by these two lidars if they were flying over the same atmosphere predicted by a global model. By analyzing these simulations, we show that the theoretical limit for CDA$_{norm}^{theor}$(z) for a combination of ALADIN and CALIOP instruments is equal to 0.81±0.07 at all altitudes. In other words, 19 % of the clouds cannot be detected simultaneously by two instruments due to said differences. The analyses of the actual observed CALIOP–ALADIN collocated dataset containing ~78 000 pairs of nighttime SR(z) profiles revealed the following points: (a) the values of SR(z) agree well up to ~3 km height. (b) The CF(z) profiles show agreement below ~3 km, where ~80 % of the clouds detected by CALIOP are detected by ALADIN as expected from the numerical experiment. (c) Above this height, the CDA$_{norm}^{obs}$(z) reduces to ~50 %. (d) On average, better sensitivity to lower clouds skews ALADIN's cloud peak height in pairs of ALADIN–CALIOP profiles by ~0.5±0.6 km downwards, but this effect does not alter the heights of polar stratospheric clouds and high tropical clouds thanks to their strong backscatter signals. (e) The temporal evolution of the observed CDA$_{norm}^{obs}$(z) does not reveal any statistically significant change during the considered period. This indicates that the instrument-related issues in ALADIN L0/L1 have been mitigated, at least down to the uncertainties of the following CDA$_{norm}^{obs}$(z) values: 68±12 %, 55±14 %, 34±14 %, 39±13 %, and 42±14 % estimated at 0.75, 2.25, 6.75, 8.75, and 10.25 km, respectively.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

A unified parameterization of clouds and turbulence using CLUBB and subcolumns in the Community Atmosphere Model

Most global climate models parameterize separate cloud types using separate parameterizations. This approach has several disadvantages, including obscure interactions between parameterizations and inaccurate triggering of cumulus parameterizations. Alternatively, a unified cloud parameterization uses one equation set to represent all cloud types. Such cloud types include stratiform liquid and ice cloud, shallow convective cloud, and deep convective cloud. Vital to the success of a unified parameterization is a general interface between clouds and microphysics. One such interface involves drawing Monte Carlo samples of subgrid variability of temperature, water vapor, cloud liquid, and cloud ice, and feeding the sample points into a microphysics scheme. This study evaluates a unified cloud parameterization and a Monte Carlo microphysics interface that has been implemented in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) version 5.3. Model computational expense is estimated, and sensitivity to the number of subcolumns is investigated. Results describing the mean climate and tropical variability from global simulations are presented. The new model shows a degradation in precipitation skill but improvements in shortwave cloud forcing, liquid water path, long-wave cloud forcing, precipitable water, and tropical wave simulation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

A unified parameterization of clouds and turbulence using CLUBB and subcolumns in the Community Atmosphere Model

Most global climate models parameterize separate cloud types using separate parameterizations. This approach has several disadvantages, including obscure interactions between parameterizations and inaccurate triggering of cumulus parameterizations. Alternatively, a unified cloud parameterization uses one equation set to represent all cloud types. Such cloud types include stratiform liquid and ice cloud, shallow convective cloud, and deep convective cloud. Vital to the success of a unified parameterization is a general interface between clouds and microphysics. One such interface involves drawing Monte Carlo samples of subgrid variability of temperature, water vapor, cloud liquid, and cloud ice, and feeding the sample points into a microphysics scheme.This study evaluates a unified cloud parameterization and a Monte Carlo microphysics interface that has been implemented in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) version 5.3. Results describing the mean climate and tropical variability from global simulations are presented. The new model shows a degradation in precipitation skill but improvements in short-wave cloud forcing, liquid water path, long-wave cloud forcing, precipitable water, and tropical wave simulation. Also presented are estimations of computational expense and investigation of sensitivity to number of subcolumns.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1984

Theoretical development of Monte Carlo codes for modeling cumulus cloud fields

Reflected fluxes are calculated for stratocumulus cloud fields as a function of skycover, cloud aspect ratio, and cloud shape. Cloud liquid water volume is held invariant as cloud shape is varied so that the results can be utilized more effectively by general circulation models and climate models. On the basis of required accuracy in the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment program, an order of magnitude value of 10 W/sq m is used to estimate significant differences between plane parallel and broken cloudiness. This limit is exceeded for cloud covers between 10% and 90%, indicating that plane paralel calculations are not satisfactory at most values of cloud cover. The choice of cloud shape also leads to large differences in reflected fluxes. These differences are traced to the anisotropic intensity pattern out the cloud sides, to the size and shape of the holes between clouds, and to variations in cloud area as viewed from the solar direction. An empirical relationship for effective cloud cover is given at solar zenith angle of theta = 60 deg. This relationship allows for the relatively accurate (delta F = 10 - 15 W/sq m.) computation of broken cloud field reflected fluxes from plane parallel calculations.

Welch, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Lidar observations of the fine-scale variability of marine stratocumulus clouds

An Nd:YAG lidar system was flown aboard NASA's ER-2 high altitude aircraft. Observations of cloud top height were made with 70 m along-track and 7.5 m vertical-height resolution. The lidar data observed from an East Pacific stratocumulus cloud height deck revealed large cloud variability on 1-5 km scales. The cloud deck sloped upward from 700 to 1000 m in a northeast-southwest direction over a distance of 120 km. Vertical cloud top distributions were negatively skewed indicating flat-topped clouds. The dominant spectral peak of the cloud top variations was found at 4.5 km, which is 5 to 7 times the depth of the local boundary layer. No other peaks were significant in the average spectrum. The cloud layer was stable with respect to cloud top entrainment instability. The southwestern region of the study area was more prone to shear instability at cloud top than the northeastern region. The results of this study show that a lidar system is ideal to provide the topography of clouds and local boundary layer depth. This information is useful in the study of cloud top radiation and parameterization of clouds in numerical models.

Boers, Reinout↗
NASA NTRS1988

A study of cloud-generated radiative heating and its generation of available potential energy. I - Theoretical background. II - Results for a climatological zonal mean January

The effect of radiative heating and cooling by clouds on the available potential energy (APE) is theoretically discussed. It is shown that the cloud radiative contribution to the generation of APE is determined by the net cloud radiative heating and the efficiency factor, which is a function of the temperature distribution of the atmosphere. Results are presented for low and middle cloud effects for three atmospheric layers. Cloud radiative heating is found to be a single function of cloud optical thickness for all classes designed in terms of cloud top heights and optical thickness. Low clouds at low latitudes destroy APE an midclouds generate APE. A concept is developed to relate the cloud radiative heating to cloud heights and optical depths. Cloud-generated radiative heating is computed for January zonal mean conditions for low and midclouds. For both cases, the strongest influence is found in the low troposphere, with marked differences in signs and magnitudes. At extratropical latitudes, both cloud classes generate net radiative cooling. In the tropics, the effect of low cloud changes from net cooling to the net heating as the optical thickness increases, and midclouds cause net heating. A mechanism is described whereby this dependence produces a strong positive feedback effect on the development of SST anomalies in the tropical oceans.

Stuhlmann, R.↗