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At least 19 records

CROCUS Dual Polarization Ceilometer Data at Northeastern Illinois University Rooftop

This dataset is from the Department of Energy Office of Science funded project, CROCUS Urban Integrated Field Laboratory (https://crocus-urban.org/). The dual-polarization ceilometer (Vaisala CL61) is an autonomous lidar system operating at 910 nm wavelength, providing valuable measurements for understanding atmospheric boundary layer evolution, air quality, and cloud-aerosol interactions. The CL61 measures the backscattered signal intensity alternating between parallel- and cross-polarization signals. The unique depolarization measurement capability improves discrimination between different particle types, such as liquid droplets, ice crystals, and aerosols. The depolarization is highly dependent on the scatterer shape and orientation (spherical vs non-spherical particles), with the linear depolarization ratio providing a measure of dominant backscatter signal component from atmospheric particles at various heights, essentially allowing discrimination between liquid and solid particles. With its efficient optical system, CL61’s improved signal-to-noise ratio compared to traditional ceilometers allows studying detailed vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds up to 15 km height.Datasets are stored in a netCDF data format, and we we encourage users to make use of the associated toolkits available from Unidata (https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/), Project Pythia (https://foundations.projectpythia.org/core/data-formats/netcdf-cf.html), and our “Instrument Cookbooks” (https://crocus-urban.github.io/instrument-cookbooks) for more information on how to process the metadata-rich datasets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Boundary-Layer-Coupled and Decoupled Clouds in Global Storm-Resolving Models: Comparisons With the ARM Observations

The accurate representation of interactions between clouds and planetary boundary layer (PBL) is a persistent challenge in climate models, critical for simulating surface energy budget. The emergence of kilometer-grid-scale global storm resolving models (GSRMs) offers the potential for enhanced details of PBL processes in these complex interactions. This study evaluates the representation of PBL-coupled and decoupled clouds in nine GSRM simulations against extensive ground-based observations by the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, across six sites encompassing diverse regimes such as marine and continental environments in tropics and midlatitude. By differentiating coupling based on the relative positions between cloud bases and PBL tops, our analysis focuses on the simulation of PBL height, cloud frequency, position and vertical extent. The GSRMs generally exhibit commendable agreements with observed cloud structures and PBL diurnal cycles across different ARM sites. In contrast to the relatively consistent representation of decoupled clouds, discrepancies exist between the simulated and the observed coupled clouds, particularly in areas of intense convection, for example, over tropical rainforests and mountainous regions. These biases are probably associated with the models' tendency to underestimate the boundary layer humidity and the frequency of coupled clouds within different ranges of PBL heights. This study underscores the importance for continuous improvements in the representation of boundary layer and convection within these global kilometer-grid-scale models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Comparison of 2017 OWLETS Mobile Ozone Data to the National Air Quality Forecast (NAQFC) Model

The OWLETS study occurred during the summer of 2017 [Sullivan et al.]. The motivation for this study was to better understand significant ozone (O3) land-water gradients in coastal regions that can occur due to differences in surface deposition, boundary layer height, and cloud coverage. This study focuses on data collected by a marine research vessel that obtained NO2and O3 measurements on the Chesapeake Bay over a span of two days.

Amber Verstynen↗

Climatology of Melting Layer Heights Estimated From Cloud Radar Observations at Various Locations

A melting layer (ML) detection algorithm for cloud radar with polarimetric capability was developed and applied to the cloud radar data collected from five different sites around the world for several years. The retrieved melting layer top height (MLH) showed a very good correspondence with the ECMWF Reanalysis 5 zero degree level data for all five sites. The ML characteristics were distinctively different for different sites, revealing climatological characteristics of ML forming clouds in different regions. Generally, ML tended to occur more frequently in summer than in winter except for a maritime site, where low stratiform clouds formed frequently in summer, the top of which might be lower than the freezing level. In contrast, at two Arctic sites, ML occurred almost exclusively in summer because it was too cold to have an ML in the other seasons. The MLH also varied significantly from site to site but generally was higher during warmer seasons. Based on MLH, two new indices, bulk temperature lapse rate (BLR) and relative depth (RD) of liquid cloud below MLH (RD) were developed, which were useful to explain the environmental characteristics of the five sites. BLR generally increased with the surface temperature at all sites except at the marine site that showed an opposite trend, where a unique synoptic pattern in winter generated high BLR in this cold season. Finally, these findings confirm that studies on thermodynamic structures using cloud radars can be broadened, taking advantage of BLR and RD information, as these indices can represent environmental thermodynamic characteristics of the clouds that have ML.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Comparison of Cloud Resolving Model Simulations to Remote Sensing Data

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the ability of a cloud-resolving model (CRM) to simulate the dynamical, radiative, and microphysical properties of deep convective cloud objects identified using CERES (Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System) on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite platform, for many cases. A deep convective cloud object is a contiguous region that is composed of satellite footprints that fulfill the following selection criteria: 100% cloud fraction, cloud optical depth > 10, and a cloud top height of at least 10 km. Selection criteria have also been formed for different types of boundary-layer clouds, as described in Xu et al. (2005). The purpose of the cloud object approach is to identify specific areas of where the cloud properties simulated by the CRM systematically differ from the observed cloud properties. Where these systematic differences exist, concrete steps can be made to improve the CRM s simulation of an entire class of clouds, rather than by tuning the model to correctly simulate a single case study, as is often done. Additional information regarding detailed approaches and findings are presented.

Randall, David A.↗

Boundary-Layer Cloud Modeling Challenges on the North Slope of Alaska

The accurate modeling and prediction of cloud base heights is critical for energy balance calculations and aviation operations, alike. Low-level (i.e., boundary-layer) Arctic clouds can be difficult to model, making prediction of formation and dissipation challenging. Primarily mixed-phase, these clouds typically contain low quantities of supercooled liquid water and often slowly precipitate relatively small amounts of moderately and heavily rimed snow particles. While this appears to be the predominant cloudy state on the North Slope of Alaska (NSA), the delicate balance of microphysical, dynamical, radiative, surface coupling, and advective processes can rapidly shift to heavy snow (with various degrees of riming) or to a complete dissipation of the cloud layer without any precipitation, depending on the dominant processes. Here we strive to disentangle these various processes. First, we compare the predictive performances of four different numerical weather models in forecasting the presence and base-heights of low-level clouds: the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh - Alaska (HRRR-AK) model, the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting (Polar WRF) model, the Unified Model (UM), and the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) model. Initial results comparing model output at two U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (AMT) NSA sites, during the fall season in 2019 and 2022, show that the UM slightly outperforms the HRRR-AK in terms of accurately forecasting the presence of a low-level cloud layer (89% of the time). All models have a significant bias of 300 to 800 meters in forecasting cloud base height (lower than is observed); however, the UM and ECMWF models have the lowest biases. Finally, a case study for a particularly challenging April 2017 thin-cloud event is presented, wherein we compare the performance of four different bulk microphysical parameterization schemes using a higher-resolution large eddy simulation (LES) model, the WRF-LES. Initial results show that the Thompson scheme was the only one able to reproduce and sustain a substantial supercooled liquid layer, but it was unable to reproduce the transition from a deep, liquid-rich cloud to a thin layer with moderately and heavily rimed precipitation. This is the first step in linking simulated LES-scale riming processes with those parameterized at a coarser mesoscale model scale. This has important implications for forecasting low-level clouds in an operational environment, given the efficiency of the riming process.

cloud base heights↗

Convective Transport and Evolution of Clouds and aerosols in the Asian Summer Monsoon Region

The existence of a persistent layer in the lowermost stratosphere in the Asian Monsoon region is well-known and has been observed by satellites and also in situ by balloon-borne sensors. This aerosol layer has been observed to persist every year by both SAGE sensors and by CALIOP, between the tropopause and the lower boundary of the Junge stratospheric sulfate layer. But how does this layer form and why? Apparently, aerosols are lofted by convection form the Indian and Asian continents, into the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) area in the middle of a persistent anticyclone associate with the Asian summer monsoon. But some mysteries remain. The top of this aerosol layer is well above the altitude of maximum convective outflow, so why is the top of the aerosol layer so high? Are the aerosols coming from China or from India? And finally, is there an observable impact of these aerosol on thin cirrus distributions in the UT/LS? We explore the interesting difference in altitude between the ATAL layer and the convective cloud top height, using observations from CALIOP and from SAGE. In the process of doing this we examine the accuracy of both CALIOP and SAGE cloud/aerosol discrimination, and the impact of various averaging lengths. We compare the apparent "observational tropopause" with observations from COSMIC, CALIOP (clouds), and with modeled interpolation from MERRA-2. We also compare CALIOP and CloudSat daytime cloud top heights for convective clouds with the vertical aerosol distribution, and evaluate convection in this region as represented by MERRA-2. Finally, and maybe most importantly we compare convective cloud top heights and temperatures with diurnal variability during the most recent years by using observations from the geostationary Himawari satellite. How representative are the twice-daily A-Train observations, when compared to the natural diurnal variability of convection? The goal is to establish the origins of these UT/LS aerosols, whether these aerosol distributions can be completely explained by convective transport, and to evaluate convective lofting of aerosol by models. Ultimately, the convective lofting of aerosols as modeled is needed to explain the Asian Monsoon aerosol distributions. The observations contribute much-needed information to enhance the model accuracy.

clouds↗

Differences in Tropical High Clouds Among Reanalyses: Origins and Radiative Impacts

We examine differences among reanalysis highcloud products in the tropics, assess the impacts of these differences on radiation budgets at the top of the atmosphere and within the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), and discuss their possible origins in the context of the reanalysis models. We focus on the ERA5 (fifthgeneration European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts – ECMWF – reanalysis), ERA-Interim (ECMWF Interim Reanalysis), JRA-55 (Japanese 55-year Reanalysis), MERRA-2 (Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2), and CFSR/CFSv2 (Climate Forecast System Reanalysis/Climate Forecast System Version 2) reanalyses. As a general rule, JRA-55 produces the smallest tropical high-cloud fractions and cloud water contents among the reanalyses, while MERRA-2 produces the largest. Accordingly, long-wave cloud radiative effects are relatively weak in JRA-55 and relatively strong in MERRA-2. Only MERRA-2 and ERA5 among the reanalyses produce tropical-mean values of outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) close to those observed, but ERA5 tends to underestimate cloud effects, while MERRA-2 tends to overestimate variability. ERA5 also produces distributions of longwave, short-wave, and total cloud radiative effects at the top of the atmosphere that are very consistent with those observed. The other reanalyses all exhibit substantial biases in at least one of these metrics, although compensation between the long-wave and short-wave effects helps to constrain biases in the total cloud radiative effect for most reanalyses. The vertical distribution of cloud water content emerges as a key difference between ERA-Interim and other reanalyses. Whereas ERA-Interim shows a monotonic decrease of cloud water content with increasing height, the other reanalyses all produce distinct anvil layers. The latter is in better agreement with observations and yields very different profiles of radiative heating in the UTLS. For example, whereas the altitude of the level of zero net radiative heating tends to be lower in convective regions than in the rest of the tropics in ERAInterim, the opposite is true for the other four reanalyses. Differences in cloud water content also help to explain systematic differences in radiative heating in the tropical lower stratosphere among the reanalyses. We discuss several ways in which aspects of the cloud and convection schemes impact the tropical environment. Discrepancies in the vertical profiles of temperature and specific humidity in convective regions are particularly noteworthy, as these variables are directly constrained by data assimilation, are widely used, and feed back to convective behaviour through their relationships with thermodynamic stability.

High Clouds↗

The Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Clear Convective Boundary Layer at the ARM SGP Supersite

The convective boundary layer (CBL), also known as the mixing layer, constitutes the critical lower segment of the atmosphere that significantly influences daily human activities. The growing demand for precise weather forecasts is driven by the requirements of agriculture, transportation, and routine societal functions. Here, to enhance understanding of the CBL, this study investigates the spatiotemporal variability in the CBL and its controlling factors using four-year Doppler lidar, surface flux, and profiling measurements at five ARM Southern Great Plains sites within a 100 km radius. This investigation utilizes data collected exclusively under clear-sky conditions or scattered low-cloud conditions. Results reveal significant spatial differences in CBL evolutions. Daily mixing layer heights (MLHs) vary up to 1 km (30% of the mean) in late afternoon. There is a clear east–west contrast: western sites (C1, E32, E37) exhibit higher summer MLH (1.9–2.1 km) and vertical velocity variances (1.0–1.2 m 2 s −2 ) than eastern sites (1.6–1.8 km), reversing in winter. Temporally, the MLH peaks at 70% of the sunrise–sunset interval, the lagging heat flux (HF) peaks at 50%; and the seasonal MLH maxima lag the HF by approximately one month, influenced by nighttime PBL (planetary boundary layer) properties. The HF and lower tropospheric stability are the main factors of influence for the CBL, but site-specific dependencies highlight the critical roles of local factors, underscoring the need for including them in CBL modeling.

ARM SGP site↗

Statistical Analyses of Satellite Cloud Object Data From CERES: Boundary-layer Cloud Objects During 1998 El Nino - Part 4

Three boundary-layer cloud object types, stratus, stratocumulus and cumulus, that occurred over the Pacific Ocean during January-August 1998, are identified from the CERES (Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy System) single scanner footprint (SSF) data from the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite. This study emphasizes the differences and similarities in the characteristics of each cloud-object type between the tropical and subtropical regions and among different size categories and among small geographic areas. Both the frequencies of occurrence and statistical distributions of cloud physical properties are analyzed. In terms of frequencies of occurrence, stratocumulus clouds dominate the entire boundary layer cloud population in all regions and among all size categories. Stratus clouds are more prevalent in the subtropics and near the coastal regions, while cumulus clouds are relatively prevalent over open ocean and the equatorial regions, particularly, within the small size categories. The largest size category of stratus cloud objects occurs more frequently in the subtropics than in the tropics and has much larger average size than its cumulus and stratocumulus counterparts. Each of the three cloud object types exhibits small differences in statistical distributions of cloud optical depth, liquid water path, TOA albedo and perhaps cloud-top height, but large differences in those of cloud-top temperature and OLR between the tropics and subtropics. Differences in the sea surface temperature (SST) distributions between the tropics and subtropics influence some of the cloud macrophysical properties, but cloud microphysical properties and albedo for each cloud object type are likely determined by (local) boundary-layer dynamics and structures. Systematic variations of cloud optical depth, TOA albedo, cloud-top height, OLR and SST with cloud object sizes are pronounced for the stratocumulus and stratus types, which are related to systematic variations of the strength of inversion with cloud object sizes, produced by large-scale subsidence. The differences in cloud macrophysical properties over small regions are significantly larger than those of cloud microphysical properties and TOA albedo, suggesting a greater control of (local) large-scale dynamics and other factors on cloud object properties. When the three cloud object types are combined, the relative population among the three types is the most important factor for determining the cloud object properties in a Pacific transect where the transition of boundary-layer cloud types takes place.

Xu, Kuan-Man↗

Cirrus cloud retrieval using infrared sounding data: Multilevel cloud errors

In this study we perform an error analysis for cloud-top pressure retrieval using the High-Resolution Infrared Radiometric Sounder (HIRS/2) 15-microns CO2 channels for the two-layer case of transmissive cirrus overlying an overcast, opaque stratiform cloud. This analysis includes standard deviation and bias error due to instrument noise and the presence of two cloud layers, the lower of which is opaque. Instantaneous cloud pressure retrieval errors are determined for a range of cloud amounts (0.1-1.0) and cloud-top pressures (850-250 mb). Large cloud-top pressure retrieval errors are found to occur when a lower opaque layer is present underneath an upper transmissive cloud layer in the satellite field of view (FOV). Errors tend to increase with decreasing upper-cloud effective cloud amount and with decreasing cloud height (increasing pressure). Errors in retrieved upper-cloud pressure result in corresponding errors in derived effective cloud amount. For the case in which a HIRS FOV has two distinct cloud layers, the difference between the retrieved and actual cloud-top pressure is positive in all cases, meaning that the retrieved upper-cloud height is lower than the actual upper-cloud height. In addition, errors in retrieved cloud pressure are found to depend upon the lapse rate between the low-level cloud top and the surface. We examined which sounder channel combinations would minimize the total errors in derived cirrus cloud height caused by instrument noise and by the presence of a lower-level cloud. We find that while the sounding channels that peak between 700 and 1000 mb minimize random errors, the sounding channels that peak at 300-500 mb minimize bias errors. For a cloud climatology, the bias errors are most critical.

Baum, Bryan A.↗

MIE Lidar proposed for the German Space Shuttle Mission D2

Firm plans for a second German Spacelab mission (D2-mission), originally scheduled for late 1988 is basically a zero-g mission, but will also include earth observation experiments. On board the D2-facility will allow performance of a number of different measurements with the goal to obtain performance data (cloud top heights, height of the planetary boundary layer, optical thickness, and cloud base height of thin and medium thick clouds, ice/water phase discriminatin for clouds, tropopause height, tropaspheric height, tropospheric aerosols, and stratospheric aerosols.

Renger, W.↗

Identifying Optimal Temporal Scale for the Correlation of AOD and Ground Measurements of PM2.5 to Improve the Modeling Performance in a Real-Time Air Quality Estimation System

Aerosol optical depth (AOD), derived from satellite measurements using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), offers indirect estimates of particle matter. Research shows a significant positive correlation between satellite-based measurements of AOD and ground-based measurements of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5). In addition, satellite observations have also shown great promise in improving estimates of PM2.5 air quality surface. Research shows that correlations between AOD and ground PM2.5 are affected by a combination of many factors such as inherent characteristics of satellite observations, terrain, cloud cover, height of the mixing layer, and weather conditions, and thus might vary widely in different regions, different seasons, and even different days in a same location. Analysis of correlating AOD with ground measured PM2.5 on a day-to-day basis suggests the temporal scale, a number of immediate latest days for a given run's day, for their correlations needs to be considered to improve air quality surface estimates, especially when satellite observations are used in a real-time pollution system. The second reason is that correlation coefficients between AOD and ground PM2.5 cannot be predetermined and needs to be calculated for each day's run for a real-time system because the coefficients can vary over space and time. Few studies have been conducted to explore the optimal way to apply AOD data to improve model accuracies of PM2.5 surface estimation in a real-time air quality system. This paper discusses the best temporal scale to calculate the correlation of AOD and ground particle matter data to improve the results of pollution models in real-time system.

Li,Hui↗

A Lagrangian analysis of pockets of open cells over the southeastern Pacific

Abstract. Pockets of open cells (POCs) have been shown to develop within closed-cell stratocumulus (StCu), and a large body of evidence suggests that the development of POCs result from changes in small-scale processes internal to the boundary layer rather than large-scale forcings. Precipitation is widely viewed as a key process important to POC development and maintenance. In this study, GOES-16 satellite observations are used in conjunction with MERRA-2 winds to track and compare the microphysical and environmental evolution of two populations of closed-cell StCu selected by visual inspection over the southeastern Pacific Ocean: one group that transitions to POCs and another comparison group (CLOSED) that does not. The high spatiotemporal resolution of the new GOES-16 data allows for a detailed examination of the temporal evolution of POCs in this region. We find that POCs tend to develop near the coast, last tens of hours, are larger than 104 km2, and often (88 % of cases) do not re-close before they exit the StCu deck. Most POCs are observed to form at night and tend to exit the StCu during the day when the StCu is contracting in area. Relative to the CLOSED trajectories, POCs have systematically larger effective radii, lower cloud drop number concentrations, a comparable conditional in-cloud liquid water path, and a higher frequency of more intense precipitation. Meanwhile, no systematic environmental differences other than boundary layer height are observed between POC and CLOSED trajectories. Interestingly, there are no differences in reanalysis aerosol optical depth between both sets of trajectories, which may lead one to the interpretation that differences in aerosol concentrations are not influencing POC development or resulting in a large number that re-close. However, this largely depends on the reanalysis treatment of aerosol–cloud interactions, and the product used in this study has no explicit handling of these important processes. These results support the consensus view regarding the importance of precipitation on the formation and maintenance of POCs and demonstrate the utility of modern geostationary remote sensing data in evaluating the POC life cycle.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Variations in the 3 Micron Spectrum Across the Orion Bar: PAHS and Related Molecules

Long-slit spectra across the Orion Bar reveal significant differences in the spatial behavior of the components of the 3 micrometer PAH spectrum. The strong PAH band at 3.29 micrometers generally decreases exponentially with distance from the ionization front into the molecular cloud (scale height approximately 12"), although excesses appear approximately 10" and approximately 20" behind the ionization front, close to layers of H2 and CO emission respectively. The 3.40 micrometer PAH feature separates into two components with very different spatial distributions. The main component (at 3.395 micrometers), along with the 3.51 micrometer band and the PAH plateau (3.3-3.6 micrometers), shows excess emission approximately 10" and approximately 20" behind the ionization front, stronger than the excesses in the 3.29 micrometer band. The extra component of the 3.40 micrometer band, which peaks at approximately 3.405 micrometers, has a spatial distribution very similar to the H2 emission. Aromatic C-H stretches in PAHs most likely produce the 3.29 micrometer feature. Aliphatic C-H stretches in either attached methyl sidegroups or super-hydrogenated PAHs (H-PAHs), or perhaps both, could produce the complicated spectral and spatial structure at 3.40 micrometers. The distribution of these fragile PAH-based species traces the physical and chemical conditions in the interface between the ionized region and molecular cloud.

Sloan, G. C.↗

Calculating the Height of Volcanic Cloud SO2 With a Lagrangian Trajectory Tool: Raikoke (2019) and Pinatubo (1991) Cases

We have developed a new data analysis tool to reconstruct the altitude of SO2 clouds ejected by avolcanic eruption. Starting with 2D fields of satellite observed SO2 column density, known volcanolocation, and reanalysis wind fields, the Goddard Lagrangian trajectory tool allows us to estimatethe altitude and local concentration of SO2 at the time of observation. We demonstrate this tool forthe June 21, 2019 Mt. Raikoke eruption (8h, 30h and 78 hours after eruption). We use SO2 data fromthe Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite/Nadir Mapper (OMPS/NM) onboard the NASA-NOAASuomi National Polar Partnership satellite and the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument(TROPOMI) onboard the European Copernicus Sentinel 5 precursor satellite and wind fields fromthe NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model. We obtained a wide distribution ofSO2 altitudes between 1 and 19 kilometers in different parts of the Raikoke SO2 clouds, with thehighest SO2 concentration between 11 and 16 km, in good agreement with data from independentSO2 layer height retrievals from TROPOMI and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer(IASI). We then applied this method to the June 15, 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption using SO2 columnmeasurements from the NASA Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on June 16, 17, 18 andusing wind fields from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis version 2. Weobtained a wide distribution of SO2 heights from 6 km up to 30 km in the northern part of the cloud.We use our new trajectory tool to reconstruct volcanic SO2/aerosol emission sources as functions oftime and altitude, providing inputs to the GEOS model aerosol and chemistry schemes in order tosimulate the dispersion of volcanic SO2 and aerosol clouds from these events.

SO2↗