Can liquid cloud microphysical processes be used for vertically pointing cloud radar calibration?

Maahn, Maximilian; Hoffmann, Fabian; Shupe, Matthew D.; de Boer, Gijs; Matrosov, Sergey Y.; Luke, Edward P.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3151-2019

Articles | Volume 12, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3151-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3151-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 6

Research article

|

13 Jun 2019

Research article |

| 13 Jun 2019

Can liquid cloud microphysical processes be used for vertically pointing cloud radar calibration?

Maximilian Maahn, Fabian Hoffmann, Matthew D. Shupe, Gijs de Boer, Sergey Y. Matrosov, and Edward P. Luke

Data sets

Cloud mask from Micropulse Lidar (30SMPLCMASK1ZWANG). Oliktok Point (OLI) and North Slope of Alaska (NSA). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by C. Sivaraman, K. Johnson, L. Riihimaki and S. Giangrande) https://doi.org/10.5439/1027736

Microwave Radiometer (MWRLOS). North Slope of Alaska (NSA). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by C. Sivaraman, K. Gaustad, L. Riihimaki, M. Cadeddu, T. Shippert and V. Ghate) https://doi.org/10.5439/1046211

Ceilometer (CEIL). Oliktok Point (OLI) and North Slope of Alaska (NSA). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by B. Ermold and V. Morris) https://doi.org/10.5439/1181954

Interpolated Sonde (INTERPOLATEDSONDE). Oliktok Point (OLI) and North Slope of Alaska (NSA). ARM Data Center ARM user facility https://doi.org/10.5439/1095316

Microwave Radiometer – High Frequency (MWRHF). North Slope of Alaska (NSA). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by M. Cadeddu and V. Ghate) https://doi.org/10.5439/1025250

Microwave Radiometer – High Frequency (MWR3C). Oliktok Point (OLI). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by M. Cadeddu and V. Ghate) https://doi.org/10.5439/1025248

Campaign Datasets for ARM Airborne Carbon Measurements (ARM-ACME-V). ARM Data Center ARM user facility (compiled by S. Biraud, F. Mei, C. Flynn, J. Hubbe, C. Long, A. Matthews, M. Pekour, A. Sedlacek, S. Springston, J. Tomlinson, and D. Chand) https://doi.org/10.5439/1346549

Model code and software

Pamtra2 (Passive and Active Microwave TRANsfer 2) M. Maahn and D. Ori https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2552448

Short summary

Cloud radars are unique instruments for observing cloud processes, but uncertainties in radar calibration have frequently limited data quality. Here, we present three novel methods for calibrating vertically pointing cloud radars. These calibration methods are based on microphysical processes of liquid clouds, such as the transition of cloud droplets to drizzle drops. We successfully apply the methods to cloud radar data from the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) and Oliktok Point (OLI) ARM sites.