Articles | Volume 14, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6443-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-14-6443-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Oct 2021
Research article |
| 07 Oct 2021
| 07 Oct 2021
Spaceborne differential absorption radar water vapor retrieval capabilities in tropical and subtropical boundary layer cloud regimes
Richard J. Roy
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Matthew Lebsock
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Marcin J. Kurowski
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
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Observations collected during the 25 February 2020 deployment of the VIPR at the Stony Brook Radar Observatory clearly demonstrate the potential of G-band radars for cloud and precipitation research. The field experiment, which coordinated an X-, Ka-, W- and G-band radar, revealed that the differential reflectivity from Ka–G band pair provides larger signals than the traditional Ka–W pairing underpinning an increased sensitivity to smaller amounts of liquid and ice water mass and sizes.
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Marcin J. Kurowski, Matthew D. Lebsock, and Kevin M. Smalley
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Juan M. Socuellamos, Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ken B. Cooper, and Pavlos Kollias
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3583–3596, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3583-2024, 2024
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Luis F. Millán, Matthew D. Lebsock, Ken B. Cooper, Jose V. Siles, Robert Dengler, Raquel Rodriguez Monje, Amin Nehrir, Rory A. Barton-Grimley, James E. Collins, Claire E. Robinson, Kenneth L. Thornhill, and Holger Vömel
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Matthew D. Lebsock and Mikael Witte
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This paper evaluates measurements of cloud drop size distributions made from airplanes. We find that as the number of cloud drops increases the distribution of the cloud drop sizes narrows. The data are used to develop a simple equation that relates the drop number to the width of the drop sizes. We then use this equation to demonstrate that existing approaches to observe the drop number from satellites contain errors that can be corrected by including the new relationship.
Richard M. Schulte, Matthew D. Lebsock, and John M. Haynes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3531–3546, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3531-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3531-2023, 2023
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In order to constrain climate models and better understand how clouds might change in future climates, accurate satellite estimates of cloud liquid water content are important. The satellite currently best suited to this purpose, CloudSat, is not sensitive enough to detect some non-raining low clouds. In this study we show that information from two other satellite instruments, MODIS and CALIOP, can be combined to provide cloud water estimates for many of the clouds that are missed by CloudSat.
Maria J. Chinita, Mikael Witte, Marcin J. Kurowski, Joao Teixeira, Kay Suselj, Georgios Matheou, and Peter Bogenschutz
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Sunlight can pass diagonally through the atmosphere, cutting through the 3-D water vapour field in a way that
smears2-D maps of imaging spectroscopy vapour retrievals. In simulations we show how this smearing is
towardsor
away fromthe Sun, so calculating
across the solar direction allows sub-kilometre information about water vapour's spatial scaling to be calculated. This could be tested by airborne campaigns and used to obtain new information from upcoming spaceborne data products.
Mark T. Richardson, David R. Thompson, Marcin J. Kurowski, and Matthew D. Lebsock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5555–5576, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5555-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5555-2021, 2021
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Modern and upcoming hyperspectral imagers will take images with spatial resolutions as fine as 20 m. They can retrieve column water vapour, and we show evidence that from these column measurements you can get statistics of planetary boundary layer (PBL) water vapour. This is important information for climate models that need to account for sub-grid mixing of water vapour near the surface in their PBL schemes.
Katia Lamer, Mariko Oue, Alessandro Battaglia, Richard J. Roy, Ken B. Cooper, Ranvir Dhillon, and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3615–3629, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Observations collected during the 25 February 2020 deployment of the VIPR at the Stony Brook Radar Observatory clearly demonstrate the potential of G-band radars for cloud and precipitation research. The field experiment, which coordinated an X-, Ka-, W- and G-band radar, revealed that the differential reflectivity from Ka–G band pair provides larger signals than the traditional Ka–W pairing underpinning an increased sensitivity to smaller amounts of liquid and ice water mass and sizes.
David R. Thompson, Brian H. Kahn, Philip G. Brodrick, Matthew D. Lebsock, Mark Richardson, and Robert O. Green
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2827–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2827-2021, 2021
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Concentrations of water vapor in the atmosphere vary dramatically over space and time. Mapping this variability can provide insights into atmospheric processes that help us understand atmospheric processes in the Earth system. Here we use a new measurement strategy based on imaging spectroscopy to map atmospheric water vapor concentrations at very small spatial scales. Experiments demonstrate the accuracy of this technique and some initial results from an airborne remote sensing experiment.
Luis Millán, Richard Roy, and Matthew Lebsock
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5193–5205, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5193-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5193-2020, 2020
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This paper describes the feasibility of using a differential absorption radar technique for the remote sensing of total column water vapor from a spaceborne platform.
Mark Richardson, Matthew D. Lebsock, James McDuffie, and Graeme L. Stephens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4947–4961, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4947-2020, 2020
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We previously combined CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) lidar data and reflected-sunlight measurements from OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2) for information about low clouds over oceans. The satellites are no longer formation-flying, so this work is a step towards getting new information about these clouds using only OCO-2. We can rapidly and accurately identify liquid oceanic clouds and obtain their height better than a widely used passive sensor.
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Short summary
This study describes the potential capabilities of a hypothetical spaceborne radar to observe water vapor within clouds.
This study describes the potential capabilities of a hypothetical spaceborne radar to observe...
