AMT Atmospheric Measurement Techniques AMT Atmos. Meas. Tech. 1867-8548 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/amt-8-435-2015 Distinguishing cirrus cloud presence in autonomous lidar measurements Campbell J. R. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0251-4550 1 Vaughan M. A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-7284 2 Oo M. 3 Holz R. E. 3 Lewis J. R. 4 Welton E. J. 5 Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, California, USA NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA Space Sciences and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA 27 01 2015 8 1 435 449 Copyright: © 2015 J. R. Campbell et al. 2015 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/8/435/2015/amt-8-435-2015.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/8/435/2015/amt-8-435-2015.pdf

2012 Level-2 Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) satellite-based cloud data sets are investigated for thresholds that distinguish the presence of cirrus clouds in autonomous lidar measurements, based on temperatures, heights, optical depth and phase. A thermal threshold, proposed by Sassen and Campbell (2001) for cloud top temperature <i>T</i><sub>top</sub> ≤ −37 °C, is evaluated versus CALIOP algorithms that identify ice-phase cloud layers using polarized backscatter measurements. Derived global mean cloud top heights (11.15 vs. 10.07 km above mean sea level; a.m.s.l.), base heights (8.76 km a.m.s.l. vs. 7.95 km a.m.s.l.), temperatures (−58.48 °C vs. −52.18 °C and −42.40 °C vs. −38.13 °C, respectively, for tops and bases) and optical depths (1.18 vs. 1.23) reflect the sensitivity to this constraint. Over 99 % of all <i>T</i><sub>top</sub> ≤ −37 °C clouds are classified as ice by CALIOP Level-2 algorithms. Over 81 % of all ice clouds correspond with <i>T</i><sub>top</sub> ≤ −37 °C. For instruments lacking polarized measurements, and thus practical estimates of phase, <i>T</i><sub>top</sub> ≤ −37 °C provides sufficient justification for distinguishing cirrus, as opposed to the risks of glaciated liquid-water cloud contamination occurring in a given sample from clouds identified at relatively "warm" (<i>T</i><sub>top</sub> > −37 °C) temperatures. Although accounting for uncertainties in temperatures collocated with lidar data (i.e., model reanalyses/sondes) may justifiably relax the threshold to include warmer cases, the ambiguity of "warm" ice clouds cannot be fully reconciled with available measurements, conspicuously including phase. Cloud top heights and optical depths are investigated, and global distributions and frequencies derived, as functions of CALIOP-retrieved phase. These data provide little additional information, compared with temperature alone, and may exacerbate classification uncertainties overall.

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