Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2979-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2979-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Jun 2019
Research article |
| 03 Jun 2019
| 03 Jun 2019
Use of polarimetric radar measurements to constrain simulated convective cell evolution: a pilot study with Lagrangian tracking
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, USA
Marcus van Lier-Walqui
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, USA
Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Scott Collis
DOE Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
Scott E. Giangrande
DOE Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
Robert C. Jackson
DOE Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
Xiaowen Li
Goddard Earth Science and Technology and Research, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD,
USA
Toshihisa Matsui
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD,
USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of
Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Richard Orville
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX, USA
Mark H. Picel
DOE Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
Daniel Rosenfeld
The Fredy & Nadine Hermann Institute of Earth Studies, The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Alexander Ryzhkov
Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies,
National Weather Center, Norman, OK, USA
Richard Weitz
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX, USA
Pengfei Zhang
Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies,
National Weather Center, Norman, OK, USA
NOAA/OAR National Severe
Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK, USA
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Models struggle to capture cloud and precipitation processes and their radiative effects in marine cold-air outbreaks. We use a quasi-Lagrangian framework to compare large-eddy simulation (LES) and single-column model (SCM) output with field and satellite observations. With fixed droplet and ice numbers, LES and SCM agree in liquid-only tests. In mixed-phase conditions, LES plausibly capture cloud thinning and breakup, while SCMs largely remain overcast and thereby miss cloud radiative effects.
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Short summary
Short summary
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Ken S. Carslaw, Leighton A. Regayre, Ulrike Proske, Andrew Gettelman, David M. H. Sexton, Yun Qian, Lauren R. Marshall, Oliver Wild, Marcus van Lier-Walqui, Annika Oertel, Saloua Peatier, Ben Yang, Jill S. Johnson, Sihan Li, Daniel T. McCoy, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Christina J. Williamson, Gregory S. Elsaesser, Kuniko Yamazaki, and Ben B. B. Booth
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Short summary
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Anton Kötsche, Alexander Myagkov, Leonie von Terzi, Maximilian Maahn, Veronika Ettrichrätz, Teresa Vogl, Alexander Ryzhkov, Petar Bukovcic, Davide Ori, and Heike Kalesse-Los
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Our study combines radar observations of snow with snowfall camera observations on the ground to enhance our understanding of radar variables and snowfall properties. We found that values of an important radar variable (KDP) can be related to many different snow particle properties and number concentrations. We were able to constrain which particle sizes contribute to KDP by using computer models of snowflakes and showed which microphysical processes during snow formation can influence KDP.
Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, Toshihisa Matsui, Takamichi Iguchi, Kelcy Brunner, Eric C. Bruning, Marcus van Lier-Walqui, Edward R. Mansell, Tamanna Subba, Chongai Kuang, Michael P. Jensen, and Scott A. Braun
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5149, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5149, 2025
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Aerosols from air pollution affect weather and climate in various ways. Uncertainties remain on their interactions with clouds, in particular via microphysics (processes related to phase-changes of water that generate rain and lightning). We investigate this with high resolution simulations, focusing on cumulus thermals (the rising bubbles in clouds). We describe the thermals’ roles in these interactions, and identify related mesoscale feedback that enhance convection under polluted conditions.
McKenna W. Stanford, Ann M. Fridlind, Andrew S. Ackerman, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Qian Xiao, Jian Wang, Toshihisa Matsui, Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, and Paul Lawson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11199–11231, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11199-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11199-2025, 2025
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The evolution of cloud droplets, from the point they are activated by atmospheric aerosol to the formation of precipitation, is an important process relevant to understanding cloud–climate feedbacks. This study demonstrates a benchmark framework for using novel airborne measurements and retrievals to constrain high-resolution simulations of moderately deep cumulus clouds and pathways for scaling results to large-scale models and space-based observational platforms.
Yuanyuan Wu, Jihu Liu, Yannian Zhu, Yu Zhang, Yang Cao, Kang-En Huang, Boyang Zheng, Yichuan Wang, Yanyun Li, Quan Wang, Chen Zhou, Yuan Liang, Jianning Sun, Minghuai Wang, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 3243–3258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-3243-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-3243-2025, 2025
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Based on a deep-learning method, we established a global classification dataset of daytime and nighttime marine low-cloud mesoscale morphology. This aims to promote a comprehensive understanding of cloud dynamics and cloud–climate feedback. Closed mesoscale cellular convection (MCC) clouds occur more frequently at night, while suppressed cumulus clouds exhibit remarkable decreases. Solid stratus and MCC cloud types show clear seasonal variations.
Wonbae Bang, Jacob T. Carlin, Kwonil Kim, Alexander V. Ryzhkov, Guosheng Liu, and GyuWon Lee
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 3559–3581, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3559-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-3559-2025, 2025
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Microphysics model-based diagnosis, such as the spectral bin model (SBM), has recently been attempted to diagnose winter precipitation types. In this study, the accuracy of SBM-based precipitation type diagnosis is compared with other traditional methods. SBM has a relatively higher accuracy for dry-snow and wet-snow events, whereas it has lower accuracy for rain events. When the microphysics scheme in the SBM was optimized for the corresponding region, the accuracy for rain events improved.
Florian Tornow, Ann Fridlind, George Tselioudis, Brian Cairns, Andrew Ackerman, Seethala Chellappan, David Painemal, Paquita Zuidema, Christiane Voigt, Simon Kirschler, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5053–5074, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5053-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5053-2025, 2025
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The recent NASA campaign ACTIVATE (Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment) performed 71 tandem flights in mid-latitude marine cold-air outbreaks off the US eastern seaboard. We provide meteorological and cloud transition stage context, allowing us to identify days that are most suitable for Lagrangian modeling and analysis. Surveyed cloud properties show signatures of cloud microphysical processes, such as cloud-top entrainment and secondary ice formation.
Min Deng, Scott E. Giangrande, Michael P. Jensen, Karen Johnson, Christopher R. Williams, Jennifer M. Comstock, Ya-Chien Feng, Alyssa Matthews, Iosif A. Lindenmaier, Timothy G. Wendler, Marquette Rocque, Aifang Zhou, Zeen Zhu, Edward Luke, and Die Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1641–1657, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1641-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1641-2025, 2025
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A relative calibration technique is developed for the cloud radar by monitoring the intercept of the wet-radome attenuation log-linear behavior as a function of rainfall rates in light and moderate rain conditions. This resulting reflectivity offset during the recent field campaign is compared favorably with the traditional disdrometer comparison near the rain onset, while it also demonstrates similar trends with respect to collocated and independently calibrated reference radars.
Chris J. Wright, Joel A. Thornton, Lyatt Jaeglé, Yang Cao, Yannian Zhu, Jihu Liu, Randall Jones II, Robert Holzworth, Daniel Rosenfeld, Robert Wood, Peter Blossey, and Daehyun Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2937–2946, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2937-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2937-2025, 2025
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Aerosol particles influence clouds, which exert a large forcing on solar radiation and freshwater. To better understand the mechanisms by which aerosol influences thunderstorms, we look at the two busiest shipping lanes in the world, where recent regulations have reduced sulfur emissions by nearly an order of magnitude. We find that the reduction in emissions has been accompanied by a dramatic decrease in both lightning and the number of droplets in clouds over the shipping lanes.
Zhe Song, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Ningning Yao, Lang Chen, Yuhai Sun, Boqiong Jiang, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2473–2494, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2473-2025, 2025
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Our results with injected sea salt aerosols for five open oceans show that sea salt aerosols with low injection amounts dominate shortwave radiation, mainly through indirect effects. As indirect aerosol effects saturate with increasing injection rates, direct effects exceed indirect effects. This implies that marine cloud brightening is best implemented in areas with extensive cloud cover, while aerosol direct scattering effects remain dominant when clouds are scarce.
Johannes Mülmenstädt, Andrew S. Ackerman, Ann M. Fridlind, Meng Huang, Po-Lun Ma, Naser Mahfouz, Susanne E. Bauer, Susannah M. Burrows, Matthew W. Christensen, Sudhakar Dipu, Andrew Gettelman, L. Ruby Leung, Florian Tornow, Johannes Quaas, Adam C. Varble, Hailong Wang, Kai Zhang, and Youtong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13633–13652, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13633-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13633-2024, 2024
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Stratocumulus clouds play a large role in Earth's climate by reflecting incoming solar energy back to space. Turbulence at stratocumulus cloud top mixes in dry, warm air, which can lead to cloud dissipation. This process is challenging for coarse-resolution global models to represent. We show that global models nevertheless agree well with our process understanding. Global models also think the process is less important for the climate than other lines of evidence have led us to conclude.
Trude Eidhammer, Andrew Gettelman, Katherine Thayer-Calder, Duncan Watson-Parris, Gregory Elsaesser, Hugh Morrison, Marcus van Lier-Walqui, Ci Song, and Daniel McCoy
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7835–7853, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7835-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7835-2024, 2024
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We describe a dataset where 45 parameters related to cloud processes in the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2) Community Atmosphere Model version 6 (CAM6) are perturbed. Three sets of perturbed parameter ensembles (263 members) were created: current climate, preindustrial aerosol loading and future climate with sea surface temperature increased by 4 K.
Alexei Korolev, Zhipeng Qu, Jason Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Mélissa Cholette, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Greg M. McFarquhar, Paul Lawson, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11849–11881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, 2024
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The phenomenon of high ice water content (HIWC) occurs in mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) when a large number of small ice particles with typical sizes of a few hundred micrometers is found at high altitudes. It was found that secondary ice production in the vicinity of the melting layer plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of HIWC. This study presents a conceptual model of the formation of HIWC in tropical MCSs based on in situ observations and numerical simulation.
Abigail S. Williams, Jeramy L. Dedrick, Lynn M. Russell, Florian Tornow, Israel Silber, Ann M. Fridlind, Benjamin Swanson, Paul J. DeMott, Paul Zieger, and Radovan Krejci
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11791–11805, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11791-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11791-2024, 2024
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The measured aerosol size distribution modes reveal distinct properties characteristic of cold-air outbreaks in the Norwegian Arctic. We find higher sea spray number concentrations, smaller Hoppel minima, lower effective supersaturations, and accumulation-mode particle scavenging during cold-air outbreaks. These results advance our understanding of cold-air outbreak aerosol–cloud interactions in order to improve their accurate representation in models.
Toshi Matsui, Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, Ann Fridlind, and Scott Braun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10793–10814, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024, 2024
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Using computer simulations and real measurements, we discovered that storms over the Amazon were narrower but more intense during the dry periods, producing heavier rain and more ice particles in the clouds. Our research showed that cumulus bubbles played a key role in creating these intense storms. This study can improve the representation of the effect of continental and ocean environments on tropical regions' rainfall patterns in simulations.
G. Alexander Sokolowsky, Sean W. Freeman, William K. Jones, Julia Kukulies, Fabian Senf, Peter J. Marinescu, Max Heikenfeld, Kelcy N. Brunner, Eric C. Bruning, Scott M. Collis, Robert C. Jackson, Gabrielle R. Leung, Nils Pfeifer, Bhupendra A. Raut, Stephen M. Saleeby, Philip Stier, and Susan C. van den Heever
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5309–5330, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5309-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5309-2024, 2024
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Building on previous analysis tools developed for atmospheric science, the original release of the Tracking and Object-Based Analysis (tobac) Python package, v1.2, was open-source, modular, and insensitive to the type of gridded input data. Here, we present the latest version of tobac, v1.5, which substantially improves scientific capabilities and computational efficiency from the previous version. These enhancements permit new uses for tobac in atmospheric science and potentially other fields.
Johannes Mülmenstädt, Edward Gryspeerdt, Sudhakar Dipu, Johannes Quaas, Andrew S. Ackerman, Ann M. Fridlind, Florian Tornow, Susanne E. Bauer, Andrew Gettelman, Yi Ming, Youtong Zheng, Po-Lun Ma, Hailong Wang, Kai Zhang, Matthew W. Christensen, Adam C. Varble, L. Ruby Leung, Xiaohong Liu, David Neubauer, Daniel G. Partridge, Philip Stier, and Toshihiko Takemura
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7331–7345, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7331-2024, 2024
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Human activities release copious amounts of small particles called aerosols into the atmosphere. These particles change how much sunlight clouds reflect to space, an important human perturbation of the climate, whose magnitude is highly uncertain. We found that the latest climate models show a negative correlation but a positive causal relationship between aerosols and cloud water. This means we need to be very careful when we interpret observational studies that can only see correlation.
Siddhant Gupta, Dié Wang, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and Michael P. Jensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4487–4510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, 2024
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We examine the lifecycle of isolated deep convective clouds (DCCs) in the Amazon rainforest. Weather radar echoes from the DCCs are tracked to evaluate their lifecycle. The DCC size and intensity increase, reach a peak, and then decrease over the DCC lifetime. Vertical profiles of air motion and mass transport from different seasons are examined to understand the transport of energy and momentum within DCC cores and to address the deficiencies in simulating DCCs using weather and climate models.
Kamil Mroz, Alessandro Battaglia, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1577–1597, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, 2024
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In this study, we examine the extent to which radar measurements from space can inform us about the properties of clouds and precipitation. Surprisingly, our analysis showed that the amount of ice turning into rain was lower than expected in the current product. To improve on this, we came up with a new way to extract information about the size and concentration of particles from radar data. As long as we use this method in the right conditions, we can even estimate how dense the ice is.
Yang Wang, Chanakya Bagya Ramesh, Scott E. Giangrande, Jerome Fast, Xianda Gong, Jiaoshi Zhang, Ahmet Tolga Odabasi, Marcus Vinicius Batista Oliveira, Alyssa Matthews, Fan Mei, John E. Shilling, Jason Tomlinson, Die Wang, and Jian Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15671–15691, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15671-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15671-2023, 2023
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We report the vertical profiles of aerosol properties over the Southern Great Plains (SGP), a region influenced by shallow convective clouds, land–atmosphere interactions, boundary layer turbulence, and the aerosol life cycle. We examined the processes that drive the aerosol population and distribution in the lower troposphere over the SGP. This study helps improve our understanding of aerosol–cloud interactions and the model representation of aerosol processes.
McKenna W. Stanford, Ann M. Fridlind, Israel Silber, Andrew S. Ackerman, Greg Cesana, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Alain Protat, Simon Alexander, and Adrian McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9037–9069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9037-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9037-2023, 2023
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Clouds play an important role in the Earth’s climate system as they modulate the amount of radiation that either reaches the surface or is reflected back to space. This study demonstrates an approach to robustly evaluate surface-based observations against a large-scale model. We find that the large-scale model precipitates too infrequently relative to observations, contrary to literature documentation suggesting otherwise based on satellite measurements.
Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and John M. Peters
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5297–5316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5297-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5297-2023, 2023
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Our study tracks thunderstorms observed during the wet and dry seasons of the Amazon Basin using weather radar. We couple this precipitation tracking with opportunistic overpasses of a wind profiler and other ground observations to add unique insights into the upwards and downwards air motions within these clouds at various stages in the storm life cycle. The results of a simple updraft model are provided to give physical explanations for observed seasonal differences.
Yuchen Wang, Xvli Guo, Yajie Huo, Mengying Li, Yuqing Pan, Shaocai Yu, Alexander Baklanov, Daniel Rosenfeld, John H. Seinfeld, and Pengfei Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5233–5249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5233-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5233-2023, 2023
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Substantial advances have been made in recent years toward detecting and quantifying methane super-emitters from space. However, such advances have rarely been expanded to measure the global methane pledge because large-scale swaths and high-resolution sampling have not been coordinated. Here we present a versatile spaceborne architecture that can juggle planet-scale and plant-level methane retrievals, challenge official emission reports, and remain relevant for stereoscopic measurements.
Christopher R. Williams, Joshua Barrio, Paul E. Johnston, Paytsar Muradyan, and Scott E. Giangrande
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2381–2398, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2381-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2381-2023, 2023
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This study uses surface disdrometer observations to calibrate 8 years of 915 MHz radar wind profiler deployed in the central United States in northern Oklahoma. This study had two key findings. First, the radar wind profiler sensitivity decreased approximately 3 to 4 dB/year as the hardware aged. Second, this drift was slow enough that calibration can be performed using 3-month intervals. Calibrated radar wind profiler observations and Python processing code are available on public repositories.
Bhupendra A. Raut, Paytsar Muradyan, Rajesh Sankaran, Robert C. Jackson, Seongha Park, Sean A. Shahkarami, Dario Dematties, Yongho Kim, Joseph Swantek, Neal Conrad, Wolfgang Gerlach, Sergey Shemyakin, Pete Beckman, Nicola J. Ferrier, and Scott M. Collis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1195–1209, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1195-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1195-2023, 2023
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We studied the stability of a blockwise phase correlation (PC) method to estimate cloud motion using a total sky imager (TSI). Shorter frame intervals and larger block sizes improve stability, while image resolution and color channels have minor effects. Raindrop contamination can be identified by the rotational motion of the TSI mirror. The correlations of cloud motion vectors (CMVs) from the PC method with wind data vary from 0.38 to 0.59. Optical flow vectors are more stable than PC vectors.
Paolo Dandini, Céline Cornet, Renaud Binet, Laetitia Fenouil, Vadim Holodovsky, Yoav Y. Schechner, Didier Ricard, and Daniel Rosenfeld
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6221–6242, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6221-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6221-2022, 2022
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3D cloud envelope and development velocity are retrieved from realistic simulations of multi-view
CLOUD (C3IEL) images. Cloud development velocity is derived by finding matching features
between acquisitions separated by 20 s. The tie points are then mapped from image to space via 3D
reconstruction of the cloud envelope obtained from 2 simultaneous images. The retrieved cloud
topography as well as the velocities are in good agreement with the estimates obtained from the
physical models.
Frederic Tridon, Israel Silber, Alessandro Battaglia, Stefan Kneifel, Ann Fridlind, Petros Kalogeras, and Ranvir Dhillon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12467–12491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12467-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12467-2022, 2022
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The role of ice precipitation in the Earth water budget is not well known because ice particles are complex, and their formation involves intricate processes. Riming of ice crystals by supercooled water droplets is an efficient process, but little is known about its importance at high latitudes. In this work, by exploiting the deployment of an unprecedented number of remote sensing systems in Antarctica, we find that riming occurs at much lower temperatures compared with the mid-latitudes.
Michael S. Diamond, Pablo E. Saide, Paquita Zuidema, Andrew S. Ackerman, Sarah J. Doherty, Ann M. Fridlind, Hamish Gordon, Calvin Howes, Jan Kazil, Takanobu Yamaguchi, Jianhao Zhang, Graham Feingold, and Robert Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12113–12151, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12113-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12113-2022, 2022
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Smoke from southern Africa blankets the southeast Atlantic from June-October, overlying a major transition region between overcast and scattered clouds. The smoke affects Earth's radiation budget by absorbing sunlight and changing cloud properties. We investigate these effects in regional climate and large eddy simulation models based on international field campaigns. We find that large-scale circulation changes more strongly affect cloud transitions than smoke microphysical effects in our case.
Sachin Patade, Deepak Waman, Akash Deshmukh, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Arti Jadav, Vaughan T. J. Phillips, Aaron Bansemer, Jacob Carlin, and Alexander Ryzhkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12055–12075, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12055-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12055-2022, 2022
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This modeling study focuses on the role of multiple groups of primary biological aerosol particles as ice nuclei on cloud properties and precipitation. This was done by implementing a more realistic scheme for biological ice nucleating particles in the aerosol–cloud model. Results show that biological ice nucleating particles have a limited role in altering the ice phase and precipitation in deep convective clouds.
Mengying Li, Shaocai Yu, Xue Chen, Zhen Li, Yibo Zhang, Zhe Song, Weiping Liu, Pengfei Li, Xiaoye Zhang, Meigen Zhang, Yele Sun, Zirui Liu, Caiping Sun, Jingkun Jiang, Shuxiao Wang, Benjamin N. Murphy, Kiran Alapaty, Rohit Mathur, Daniel Rosenfeld, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11845–11866, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11845-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11845-2022, 2022
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This study constructed an emission inventory of condensable particulate matter (CPM) in China with a focus on organic aerosols (OAs), based on collected CPM emission information. The results show that OA emissions are enhanced twofold for the years 2014 and 2017 after the inclusion of CPM in the new inventory. Sensitivity cases demonstrated the significant contributions of CPM emissions from stationary combustion and mobile sources to primary, secondary, and total OA concentrations.
Feiyue Mao, Ruixing Shi, Daniel Rosenfeld, Zengxin Pan, Lin Zang, Yannian Zhu, and Xin Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10589–10602, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10589-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10589-2022, 2022
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Previous studies generally ignored the faint aerosols undetected by the CALIPSO layer detection algorithm because they are too optically thin. Here, we retrieved the faint aerosol extinction based on instantaneous CALIPSO observations with the constraint of SAGE data. The correlation and normalized root-mean-square error of the retrievals with independent SAGE data are 0.66 and 100.6 %, respectively. The minimum retrieved extinction at night can be extended to 10-4 km-1 with 125 % uncertainty.
Israel Silber, Robert C. Jackson, Ann M. Fridlind, Andrew S. Ackerman, Scott Collis, Johannes Verlinde, and Jiachen Ding
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 901–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-901-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-901-2022, 2022
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The Earth Model Column Collaboratory (EMC2) is an open-source ground-based (and air- or space-borne) lidar and radar simulator and subcolumn generator designed for large-scale models, in particular climate models, applicable also for high-resolution models. EMC2 emulates measurements while remaining faithful to large-scale models' physical assumptions implemented in their cloud or radiation schemes. We demonstrate the use of EMC2 to compare AWARE measurements with the NASA GISS ModelE3 and LES.
Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, Toshihisa Matsui, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 711–724, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-711-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-711-2022, 2022
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We investigate how the concentration of aerosols (small particles that serve as seeds for cloud droplets) affect the dynamics of simulated clouds using two different frameworks, i.e., the traditional selection of cloudy rising grid points and tracking small-scale coherent rising features (cumulus thermals). By doing so, we find that these cumulus thermals reveal useful information about the coupling between internal cloud circulations and cloud droplet and raindrop formation.
Matthew W. Christensen, Andrew Gettelman, Jan Cermak, Guy Dagan, Michael Diamond, Alyson Douglas, Graham Feingold, Franziska Glassmeier, Tom Goren, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Edward Gryspeerdt, Ralph Kahn, Zhanqing Li, Po-Lun Ma, Florent Malavelle, Isabel L. McCoy, Daniel T. McCoy, Greg McFarquhar, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sandip Pal, Anna Possner, Adam Povey, Johannes Quaas, Daniel Rosenfeld, Anja Schmidt, Roland Schrödner, Armin Sorooshian, Philip Stier, Velle Toll, Duncan Watson-Parris, Robert Wood, Mingxi Yang, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 641–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, 2022
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Trace gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) are released from a variety of point sources around the globe. Examples include volcanoes, industrial chimneys, forest fires, and ship stacks. These sources provide opportunistic experiments with which to quantify the role of aerosols in modifying cloud properties. We review the current state of understanding on the influence of aerosol on climate built from the wide range of natural and anthropogenic laboratories investigated in recent decades.
Ramon Campos Braga, Barbara Ervens, Daniel Rosenfeld, Meinrat O. Andreae, Jan-David Förster, Daniel Fütterer, Lianet Hernández Pardo, Bruna A. Holanda, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Ovid O. Krüger, Oliver Lauer, Luiz A. T. Machado, Christopher Pöhlker, Daniel Sauer, Christiane Voigt, Adrian Walser, Manfred Wendisch, Ulrich Pöschl, and Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17513–17528, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17513-2021, 2021
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Interactions of aerosol particles with clouds represent a large uncertainty in estimates of climate change. Properties of aerosol particles control their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei. Using aerosol measurements in the Amazon, we performed model studies to compare predicted and measured cloud droplet number concentrations at cloud bases. Our results confirm previous estimates of particle hygroscopicity in this region.
Linhui Jiang, Yan Xia, Lu Wang, Xue Chen, Jianjie Ye, Tangyan Hou, Liqiang Wang, Yibo Zhang, Mengying Li, Zhen Li, Zhe Song, Yaping Jiang, Weiping Liu, Pengfei Li, Daniel Rosenfeld, John H. Seinfeld, and Shaocai Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16985–17002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16985-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16985-2021, 2021
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This paper establishes a bottom-up approach to reveal a unique pattern of urban on-road vehicle emissions at a spatial resolution 1–3 orders of magnitude higher than current inventories. The results show that the hourly average on-road vehicle emissions of CO, NOx, HC, and PM2.5 are 74 kg, 40 kg, 8 kg, and 2 kg, respectively. Integrating our traffic-monitoring-based approach with urban measurements, we could address major data gaps between urban air pollutant emissions and concentrations.
Michael P. Jensen, Virendra P. Ghate, Dié Wang, Diana K. Apoznanski, Mary J. Bartholomew, Scott E. Giangrande, Karen L. Johnson, and Mandana M. Thieman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14557–14571, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14557-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14557-2021, 2021
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This work compares the large-scale meteorology, cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and thermodynamics of closed- and open-cell cloud organizations using long-term observations from the astern North Atlantic. Open-cell cases are associated with cold-air outbreaks and occur in deeper boundary layers, with stronger winds and higher rain rates compared to closed-cell cases. These results offer important benchmarks for model representation of boundary layer clouds in this climatically important region.
Ramon Campos Braga, Daniel Rosenfeld, Ovid O. Krüger, Barbara Ervens, Bruna A. Holanda, Manfred Wendisch, Trismono Krisna, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, Christiane Voigt, and Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14079–14088, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021, 2021
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Quantifying the precipitation within clouds is crucial for our understanding of the Earth's hydrological cycle. Using in situ measurements of cloud and rain properties over the Amazon Basin and Atlantic Ocean, we show here a linear relationship between the effective radius (re) and precipitation water content near the tops of convective clouds for different pollution states and temperature levels. Our results emphasize the role of re to determine both initiation and amount of precipitation.
Florian Tornow, Andrew S. Ackerman, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12049–12067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12049-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12049-2021, 2021
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Cold air outbreaks affect the local energy budget by forming bright boundary layer clouds that, once it rains, evolve into dimmer, broken cloud fields that are depleted of condensation nuclei – an evolution consistent with closed-to-open cell transitions. We find that cloud ice accelerates this evolution, primarily via riming prior to rain onset, which (1) reduces liquid water, (2) reduces condensation nuclei, and (3) leads to early precipitation cooling and moistening below cloud.
Xin Lu, Feiyue Mao, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yannian Zhu, Zengxin Pan, and Wei Gong
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11979–12003, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11979-2021, 2021
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In this paper, a novel method for retrieving cloud base height and geometric thickness is developed and applied to produce a global climatology of boundary layer clouds with a high accuracy. The retrieval is based on the 333 m resolution low-level cloud distribution as obtained from the CALIPSO lidar data. The main part of the study describes the variability of cloud vertical geometrical properties in space, season, and time of the day. Resultant new insights are presented.
Mariko Oue, Pavlos Kollias, Sergey Y. Matrosov, Alessandro Battaglia, and Alexander V. Ryzhkov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4893–4913, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4893-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4893-2021, 2021
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Multi-wavelength radar measurements provide capabilities to identify ice particle types and growth processes in clouds beyond the capabilities of single-frequency radar measurements. This study introduces Doppler velocity and polarimetric radar observables into the multi-wavelength radar reflectivity measurement to improve identification analysis. The analysis clearly discerns snowflake aggregation and riming processes and even early stages of riming.
Christopher R. Williams, Karen L. Johnson, Scott E. Giangrande, Joseph C. Hardin, Ruşen Öktem, and David M. Romps
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4425–4444, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4425-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4425-2021, 2021
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In addition to detecting clouds, vertically pointing cloud radars detect individual insects passing over head. If these insects are not identified and removed from raw observations, then radar-derived cloud properties will be contaminated. This work identifies clouds in radar observations due to their continuous and smooth structure in time, height, and velocity. Cloud masks are produced that identify cloud vertical structure that are free of insect contamination.
Yongjie Huang, Wei Wu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Xuguang Wang, Hugh Morrison, Alexander Ryzhkov, Yachao Hu, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Jason Milbrandt, Alexei V. Korolev, and Ivan Heckman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6919–6944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, 2021
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Numerous small ice crystals in the tropical convective storms are difficult to detect and could be potentially hazardous for commercial aircraft. This study evaluated the numerical models against the airborne observations and investigated the potential cloud processes that could lead to the production of these large numbers of small ice crystals. It is found that key microphysical processes are still lacking or misrepresented in current numerical models to realistically simulate the phenomenon.
Thiago S. Biscaro, Luiz A. T. Machado, Scott E. Giangrande, and Michael P. Jensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6735–6754, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6735-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6735-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study suggests that there are two distinct modes driving diurnal precipitating convective clouds over the central Amazon. In the wet season, local factors such as turbulence and nighttime cloud coverage are the main controls of daily precipitation, while dry-season daily precipitation is modulated primarily by the mesoscale convective pattern. The results imply that models and parameterizations must consider different formulations based on the seasonal cycle to correctly resolve convection.
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Short summary
Weather radars are offering improved capabilities to investigate storm physics, which remain poorly understood. We investigate enhanced use of such data near Houston, Texas, where pollution sources often provide a convenient contrast between polluted and clean air. We conclude that Houston is a favorable location to conduct a future field campaign during June through September because isolated storms are common and tend to last an hour, allowing frequent observations of a full life cycle.
Weather radars are offering improved capabilities to investigate storm physics, which remain...
