Articles | Volume 9, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2015-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2015-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 May 2016
Research article |
| 04 May 2016
Design and characterization of specMACS, a multipurpose hyperspectral cloud and sky imager
Florian Ewald
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Institut für Meteorologie, Munich, Germany
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Tobias Kölling
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Institut für Meteorologie, Munich, Germany
Andreas Baumgartner
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt, Institut für Methodik der Fernerkundung, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Institut für Meteorologie, Munich, Germany
Bernhard Mayer
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Institut für Meteorologie, Munich, Germany
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The mixed-phase temperature regime in convective clouds challenges our understanding of microphysical and radiative cloud properties. We provide a rare and unique dataset of aircraft in situ measurements in a strong mid-latitude convective system. We find that mechanisms initiating ice nucleation and growth strongly depend on temperature, relative humidity, and vertical velocity and variate within the measured system, resulting in altitude dependent changes of the cloud liquid and ice fraction.
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Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1033–1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1033-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1033-2022, 2022
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We present a setup for systematic characterization of differences between numerical weather models and radar observations for convective weather situations. Radar observations providing dual-wavelength and polarimetric variables to infer information about hydrometeor shapes and sizes are compared against simulations using microphysics schemes of varying complexity. Differences are found in ice and liquid phase, pointing towards issues of some schemes in reproducing particle size distributions.
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Silke Trömel, Clemens Simmer, Ulrich Blahak, Armin Blanke, Sabine Doktorowski, Florian Ewald, Michael Frech, Mathias Gergely, Martin Hagen, Tijana Janjic, Heike Kalesse-Los, Stefan Kneifel, Christoph Knote, Jana Mendrok, Manuel Moser, Gregor Köcher, Kai Mühlbauer, Alexander Myagkov, Velibor Pejcic, Patric Seifert, Prabhakar Shrestha, Audrey Teisseire, Leonie von Terzi, Eleni Tetoni, Teresa Vogl, Christiane Voigt, Yuefei Zeng, Tobias Zinner, and Johannes Quaas
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Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
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The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, Julien Delanoë, Stuart Fox, and Bernhard Mayer
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In this study, we show how solar radiance observations can be used to validate and further constrain ice cloud microphysics retrieved from the synergy of radar–lidar measurements. Since most radar–lidar retrievals rely on a global assumption about the ice particle shape, ice water content and particle size biases are to be expected in individual cloud regimes. In this work, we identify and correct these biases by reconciling simulated and measured solar radiation reflected from these clouds.
Pascal Polonik, Christoph Knote, Tobias Zinner, Florian Ewald, Tobias Kölling, Bernhard Mayer, Meinrat O. Andreae, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Thomas Klimach, Christoph Mahnke, Sergej Molleker, Christopher Pöhlker, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Daniel Rosenfeld, Christiane Voigt, Ralf Weigel, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1591–1605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1591-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1591-2020, 2020
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A realistic representation of cloud–aerosol interactions is central to accurate climate projections. Here we combine observations collected during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign with chemistry-transport simulations to evaluate the model’s ability to represent the indirect effects of biomass burning aerosol on cloud microphysics. We find an upper limit for the model sensitivity on cloud condensation nuclei concentrations well below the levels reached during the burning season in the Amazon Basin.
Eleni Marinou, Matthias Tesche, Athanasios Nenes, Albert Ansmann, Jann Schrod, Dimitra Mamali, Alexandra Tsekeri, Michael Pikridas, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Kalliopi-Artemis Voudouri, Stavros Solomos, Jean Sciare, Silke Groß, Florian Ewald, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 11315–11342, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11315-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11315-2019, 2019
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We assess the feasibility of ground-based and spaceborne lidars to retrieve profiles of cloud-relevant aerosol concentrations and ice-nucleating particles. The retrieved profiles are in good agreement with airborne in situ measurements. Our methodology will be applied to satellite observations in the future so as to provide a global 3D product of cloud-relevant properties.
Heike Konow, Marek Jacob, Felix Ament, Susanne Crewell, Florian Ewald, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Mario Mech, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 921–934, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, 2019
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High-resolution measurements of maritime clouds are relatively scarce. Airborne cloud radar, microwave radiometer and dropsonde observations are used to expand these data. The measurements are unified into one data set to enable easy joint analyses of several or all instruments together to gain insight into cloud properties and atmospheric state. The data set contains measurements from four campaigns between December 2013 and October 2016 over the tropical and midlatitude Atlantic.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Julien Delanoë, and Matthias Bauer-Pfundstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1815–1839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, 2019
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This study gives a summary of lessons learned during the absolute calibration of the airborne, high-power Ka-band cloud radar HAMP MIRA on board the German research aircraft HALO. The first part covers the internal calibration of the instrument where individual instrument components are characterized in the laboratory. In the second part, the internal calibration is validated with external reference sources like the ocean surface backscatter and different air- and spaceborne cloud radars.
Tobias Zinner, Ulrich Schwarz, Tobias Kölling, Florian Ewald, Evelyn Jäkel, Bernhard Mayer, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1167–1181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1167-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1167-2019, 2019
Florian Ewald, Tobias Zinner, Tobias Kölling, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1183–1206, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1183-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1183-2019, 2019
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This paper presents a new method for gaining insights into the vertical evolution of cloud droplet effective radii by using reflected solar radiation from cloud sides. The paper investigates how bi-spectral effective radius retrievals are affected by unknown cloud surface orientations and presents a method to mitigate this effect. Based on these findings, this study develops a statistical effective radius retrieval for airborne, side-looking imaging sensors.
Evelyn Jäkel, Manfred Wendisch, Trismono C. Krisna, Florian Ewald, Tobias Kölling, Tina Jurkat, Christiane Voigt, Micael A. Cecchini, Luiz A. T. Machado, Armin Afchine, Anja Costa, Martina Krämer, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrich Pöschl, Daniel Rosenfeld, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9049–9066, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9049-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9049-2017, 2017
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Vertical profiles of the cloud particle phase state in tropical deep convective clouds (DCCs) were investigated using airborne imaging spectrometer measurements during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign, which was conducted over the Brazilian rainforest in September 2014. A phase discrimination retrieval was applied to observations of clouds formed in different aerosol conditions. The profiles were compared to in situ and satellite measurements.
Tobias Zinner, Petra Hausmann, Florian Ewald, Luca Bugliaro, Claudia Emde, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4615–4632, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4615-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4615-2016, 2016
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A new retrieval of optical thickness and effective particle size of ice clouds over a wide range of optical thickness from transmittance measurements is presented. A visible range spectral slope is used to resolve the transmittance optical thickness ambiguity. Retrieval sensitivity to ice crystal habit, aerosol, albedo, sensor accuracy and lookup table interpolation is presented as well as an application of the method and comparison to satellite products for 2 days.
F. Ewald, C. Winkler, and T. Zinner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2491–2508, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2491-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2491-2015, 2015
F. Ewald, L. Bugliaro, H. Mannstein, and B. Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 309–322, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-309-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-309-2013, 2013
Anna Weber, Tobias Kölling, Veronika Pörtge, Andreas Baumgartner, Clemens Rammeloo, Tobias Zinner, and Bernhard Mayer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2209, 2023
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In this work, we introduce the 2D RGB polarization resolving cameras of the airborne hyperspectral and polarized imaging system specMACS. A full characterization and calibration of the cameras including a geometric calibration as well as a radiometric characterization is provided allowing for the computation of absolute calibrated, georeferenced Stokes vectors rotated into the scattering plane. We validate the calibration by comparing sunglint measurements to radiative transfer simulations.
James Barry, Stefanie Meilinger, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Anna Herman-Czezuch, Nicola Kimiaie, Christopher Schirrmeister, Rone Yousif, Tina Buchmann, Johannes Grabenstein, Hartwig Deneke, Jonas Witthuhn, Claudia Emde, Felix Gödde, Bernhard Mayer, Leonhard Scheck, Marion Schroedter-Homscheidt, Philipp Hofbauer, and Matthias Struck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4975–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4975-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4975-2023, 2023
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Measured power data from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems contain information about the state of the atmosphere. In this work, power data from PV systems in the Allgäu region in Germany were used to determine the solar irradiance at each location, using state-of-the-art simulation and modelling. The results were validated using concurrent measurements of the incoming solar radiation in each case. If applied on a wider scale, this algorithm could help improve weather and climate models.
Richard Maier, Fabian Jakub, Claudia Emde, Mihail Manev, Aiko Voigt, and Bernhard Mayer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2129, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2129, 2023
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Based on the TenStream solver, we present a new method to accelerate 3D radiative transfer towards the speed of currently used 1D solvers. Using a shallow cumulus cloud time series, we evaluate the performance of this new solver both in terms of speed and accuracy. Compared to a 3D benchmark simulation, we show that our new solver is able to determine much more accurate irradiances and heating rates than a 1D δ-Eddington solver, even when operated with a similar computational demand.
Bjorn Stevens, Stefan Adami, Tariq Ali, Hartwig Anzt, Zafer Aslan, Sabine Attinger, Jaana Bäck, Johanna Baehr, Peter Bauer, Natacha Bernier, Bob Bishop, Hendryk Bockelmann, Sandrine Bony, Veronique Bouchet, Guy Brasseur, David N. Bresch, Sean Breyer, Gilbert Brunet, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Junji Cao, Christelle Castet, Yafang Cheng, Ayantika Dey Choudhury, Deborah Coen, Susanne Crewell, Atish Dabholkar, Qing Dai, Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Dale Durran, Ayoub El Gaidi, Charlie Ewen, Eleftheria Exarchou, Veronika Eyring, Florencia Falkinhoff, David Farrell, Piers M. Forster, Ariane Frassoni, Claudia Frauen, Oliver Fuhrer, Shahzad Gani, Edwin Gerber, Debra Goldfarb, Jens Grieger, Nicolas Gruber, Wilco Hazeleger, Rolf Herken, Chris Hewitt, Torsten Hoefler, Huang-Hsiung Hsu, Daniela Jacob, Alexandra Jahn, Christian Jakob, Thomas Jung, Christopher Kadow, In-Sik Kang, Sarah Kang, Karthik Kashinath, Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, Daniel Klocke, Uta Kloenne, Milan Klöwer, Chihiro Kodama, Stefan Kollet, Tobias Kölling, Jenni Kontkanen, Steve Kopp, Michal Koran, Markku Kulmala, Hanna Lappalainen, Fakhria Latifi, Bryan Lawrence, June Yi Lee, Quentin Lejeun, Christian Lessig, Chao Li, Thomas Lippert, Jürg Luterbacher, Pekka Manninen, Jochem Marotzke, Satoshi Matsouoka, Charlotte Merchant, Peter Messmer, Gero Michel, Kristel Michielsen, Tomoki Miyakawa, Jens Müller, Ramsha Munir, Sandeep Narayanasetti, Ousmane Ndiaye, Carlos Nobre, Achim Oberg, Riko Oki, Tuba Özkan-Haller, Tim Palmer, Stan Posey, Andreas Prein, Odessa Primus, Mike Pritchard, Julie Pullen, Dian Putrasahan, Johannes Quaas, Krishnan Raghavan, Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, Markus Rapp, Florian Rauser, Markus Reichstein, Aromar Revi, Sonakshi Saluja, Masaki Satoh, Vera Schemann, Sebastian Schemm, Christina Schnadt Poberaj, Thomas Schulthess, Cath Senior, Jagadish Shukla, Manmeet Singh, Julia Slingo, Adam Sobel, Silvina Solman, Jenna Spitzer, Detlef Stammer, Philip Stier, Thomas Stocker, Sarah Strock, Hang Su, Petteri Taalas, John Taylor, Susann Tegtmeier, Georg Teutsch, Adrian Tompkins, Uwe Ulbrich, Pier-Luigi Vidale, Chien-Ming Wu, Hao Xu, Najibullah Zaki, Laure Zanna, Tianjun Zhou, and Florian Ziemen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-376, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-376, 2023
Preprint under review for ESSD
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To manage Earth in the Anthropocene, new tools, new institutions, and new forms of international cooperation will be required. Earth Virtualization Engines are proposed as international federation of centers of excellence to empower all people to respond to the immense and urgent challenges posed by climate change.
Philipp Hochstaffl, Franz Schreier, Claas Henning Köhler, Andreas Baumgartner, and Daniele Cerra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4195–4214, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4195-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4195-2023, 2023
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The study examines methane enhancements inferred from hyperspectral imaging observations using different retrieval schemes. One of the core challenges is the high spatial and moderate spectral resolution as it makes separation of spectral variations caused by molecular absorption and surface reflectivity challenging. It was found that localized methane enhancements can be detected and quantified from HySpex airborne observations using various retrieval schemes.
Karina McCusker, Anthony J. Baran, Chris Westbrook, Stuart Fox, Patrick Eriksson, Richard Cotton, Julien Delanoë, and Florian Ewald
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-126, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-126, 2023
Preprint under review for AMT
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Polarised radiative transfer simulations are performed using an atmospheric model based on in-situ measurements. These are compared to large polarisation measurements, to explore whether such measurements can provide information on cloud ice, e.g. particle shape and orientation. We find that using oriented particle models with shapes based on imagery generally allows for accurate simulations. However, results are sensitive to shape assumptions such as the choice of single crystals or aggregates.
Philipp Gregor, Tobias Zinner, Fabian Jakub, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3257–3271, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3257-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3257-2023, 2023
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This work introduces MACIN, a model for short-term forecasting of direct irradiance for solar energy applications. MACIN exploits cloud images of multiple cameras to predict irradiance. The model is applied to artificial images of clouds from a weather model. The artificial cloud data allow for a more in-depth evaluation and attribution of errors compared with real data. Good performance of derived cloud information and significant forecast improvements over a baseline forecast were found.
Veronika Pörtge, Tobias Kölling, Anna Weber, Lea Volkmer, Claudia Emde, Tobias Zinner, Linda Forster, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 645–667, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-645-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-645-2023, 2023
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In this work, we analyze polarized cloudbow observations by the airborne camera system specMACS to retrieve the cloud droplet size distribution defined by the effective radius (reff) and the effective variance (veff). Two case studies of trade-wind cumulus clouds observed during the EUREC4A field campaign are presented. The results are combined into maps of reff and veff with a very high spatial resolution (100 m × 100 m) that allow new insights into cloud microphysics.
Cathy Hohenegger, Peter Korn, Leonidas Linardakis, René Redler, Reiner Schnur, Panagiotis Adamidis, Jiawei Bao, Swantje Bastin, Milad Behravesh, Martin Bergemann, Joachim Biercamp, Hendryk Bockelmann, Renate Brokopf, Nils Brüggemann, Lucas Casaroli, Fatemeh Chegini, George Datseris, Monika Esch, Geet George, Marco Giorgetta, Oliver Gutjahr, Helmuth Haak, Moritz Hanke, Tatiana Ilyina, Thomas Jahns, Johann Jungclaus, Marcel Kern, Daniel Klocke, Lukas Kluft, Tobias Kölling, Luis Kornblueh, Sergey Kosukhin, Clarissa Kroll, Junhong Lee, Thorsten Mauritsen, Carolin Mehlmann, Theresa Mieslinger, Ann Kristin Naumann, Laura Paccini, Angel Peinado, Divya Sri Praturi, Dian Putrasahan, Sebastian Rast, Thomas Riddick, Niklas Roeber, Hauke Schmidt, Uwe Schulzweida, Florian Schütte, Hans Segura, Radomyra Shevchenko, Vikram Singh, Mia Specht, Claudia Christine Stephan, Jin-Song von Storch, Raphaela Vogel, Christian Wengel, Marius Winkler, Florian Ziemen, Jochem Marotzke, and Bjorn Stevens
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 779–811, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-779-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-779-2023, 2023
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Models of the Earth system used to understand climate and predict its change typically employ a grid spacing of about 100 km. Yet, many atmospheric and oceanic processes occur on much smaller scales. In this study, we present a new model configuration designed for the simulation of the components of the Earth system and their interactions at kilometer and smaller scales, allowing an explicit representation of the main drivers of the flow of energy and matter by solving the underlying equations.
Linda Forster and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15179–15205, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15179-2022, 2022
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We present a novel retrieval using ground-based imaging observations of halo displays together with radiative transfer simulations to help improve our understanding of ice crystal properties representative of cirrus clouds. Analysis of 4400 calibrated HaloCam images featuring a 22° halo revealed aggregates of hexagonal columns of 20 µm effective radius with a mixture of about 37 % smooth and 63% severely roughened surfaces as the best match in general.
Eleni Tetoni, Florian Ewald, Martin Hagen, Gregor Köcher, Tobias Zinner, and Silke Groß
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3969–3999, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3969-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3969-2022, 2022
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We use the C-band POLDIRAD and the Ka-band MIRA-35 to perform snowfall dual-wavelength polarimetric radar measurements. We develop an ice microphysics retrieval for mass, apparent shape, and median size of the particle size distribution by comparing observations to T-matrix ice spheroid simulations while varying the mass–size relationship. We furthermore show how the polarimetric measurements from POLDIRAD help to narrow down ambiguities between ice particle shape and size.
Theresa Mieslinger, Bjorn Stevens, Tobias Kölling, Manfred Brath, Martin Wirth, and Stefan A. Buehler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6879–6898, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6879-2022, 2022
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The trades are home to a plethora of small cumulus clouds that are often barely visible to the human eye and difficult to detect with active and passive remote sensing methods. With the help of a new method and by means of high-resolution data we can detect small and particularly thin clouds. We find that optically thin clouds are a common phenomenon in the trades, covering a large area and influencing the radiative effect of clouds if they are undetected and contaminate the cloud-free signal.
Mireia Papke Chica, Valerian Hahn, Tiziana Braeuer, Elena de la Torre Castro, Florian Ewald, Mathias Gergely, Simon Kirschler, Luca Bugliaro Goggia, Stefanie Knobloch, Martina Kraemer, Johannes Lucke, Johanna Mayer, Raphael Maerkl, Manuel Moser, Laura Tomsche, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Martin Zoeger, Christian von Savigny, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-255, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-255, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
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The mixed-phase temperature regime in convective clouds challenges our understanding of microphysical and radiative cloud properties. We provide a rare and unique dataset of aircraft in situ measurements in a strong mid-latitude convective system. We find that mechanisms initiating ice nucleation and growth strongly depend on temperature, relative humidity, and vertical velocity and variate within the measured system, resulting in altitude dependent changes of the cloud liquid and ice fraction.
Luca Bugliaro, Dennis Piontek, Stephan Kox, Marius Schmidl, Bernhard Mayer, Richard Müller, Margarita Vázquez-Navarro, Daniel M. Peters, Roy G. Grainger, Josef Gasteiger, and Jayanta Kar
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1029–1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1029-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1029-2022, 2022
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The monitoring of ash dispersion in the atmosphere is an important task for satellite remote sensing since ash represents a threat to air traffic. We present an AI-based method that retrieves the spatial extension and properties of volcanic ash clouds with high temporal resolution during day and night by means of geostationary satellite measurements. This algorithm, trained on realistic observations simulated with a radiative transfer model, runs operationally at the German Weather Service.
Gregor Köcher, Tobias Zinner, Christoph Knote, Eleni Tetoni, Florian Ewald, and Martin Hagen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1033–1054, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1033-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1033-2022, 2022
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We present a setup for systematic characterization of differences between numerical weather models and radar observations for convective weather situations. Radar observations providing dual-wavelength and polarimetric variables to infer information about hydrometeor shapes and sizes are compared against simulations using microphysics schemes of varying complexity. Differences are found in ice and liquid phase, pointing towards issues of some schemes in reproducing particle size distributions.
Simon Pfreundschuh, Stuart Fox, Patrick Eriksson, David Duncan, Stefan A. Buehler, Manfred Brath, Richard Cotton, and Florian Ewald
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 677–699, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-677-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-677-2022, 2022
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We test a novel method to remotely measure ice particles in clouds. This is important because such measurements are required to improve climate and weather models. The method combines a radar with newly developed sensors measuring microwave radiation at very short wavelengths. We use observations made from aircraft flying above the cloud and compare them to real measurements from inside the cloud. This works well given that one can model the ice particles in the cloud sufficiently well.
Martin Hagen, Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Lothar Oswald, David A. Farrell, Marvin Forde, Manuel Gutleben, Johann Heumos, Jens Reimann, Eleni Tetoni, Gregor Köcher, Eleni Marinou, Christoph Kiemle, Qiang Li, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Alton Daley, Delando Grant, and Kashawn Hall
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5899–5914, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5899-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5899-2021, 2021
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The German polarimetric weather radar Poldirad was deployed for the international campaign EUREC4A on Barbados. The focus was monitoring clouds and precipitation in the trade wind region east of Barbados. Observations were with a temporal sequence of 5 min and a maximum range of 375 km. Examples of mesoscale precipitation patterns, rain rate accumulation, diurnal cycle, and vertical distribution show the potential for further studies on the life cycle of precipitating shallow cumulus clouds.
Silke Trömel, Clemens Simmer, Ulrich Blahak, Armin Blanke, Sabine Doktorowski, Florian Ewald, Michael Frech, Mathias Gergely, Martin Hagen, Tijana Janjic, Heike Kalesse-Los, Stefan Kneifel, Christoph Knote, Jana Mendrok, Manuel Moser, Gregor Köcher, Kai Mühlbauer, Alexander Myagkov, Velibor Pejcic, Patric Seifert, Prabhakar Shrestha, Audrey Teisseire, Leonie von Terzi, Eleni Tetoni, Teresa Vogl, Christiane Voigt, Yuefei Zeng, Tobias Zinner, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17291–17314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17291-2021, 2021
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The article introduces the ACP readership to ongoing research in Germany on cloud- and precipitation-related process information inherent in polarimetric radar measurements, outlines pathways to inform atmospheric models with radar-based information, and points to remaining challenges towards an improved fusion of radar polarimetry and atmospheric modelling.
Heike Konow, Florian Ewald, Geet George, Marek Jacob, Marcus Klingebiel, Tobias Kölling, Anna E. Luebke, Theresa Mieslinger, Veronika Pörtge, Jule Radtke, Michael Schäfer, Hauke Schulz, Raphaela Vogel, Martin Wirth, Sandrine Bony, Susanne Crewell, André Ehrlich, Linda Forster, Andreas Giez, Felix Gödde, Silke Groß, Manuel Gutleben, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Theresa Lang, Bernhard Mayer, Mario Mech, Marc Prange, Sabrina Schnitt, Jessica Vial, Andreas Walbröl, Manfred Wendisch, Kevin Wolf, Tobias Zinner, Martin Zöger, Felix Ament, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5545–5563, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5545-2021, 2021
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The German research aircraft HALO took part in the research campaign EUREC4A in January and February 2020. The focus area was the tropical Atlantic east of the island of Barbados. We describe the characteristics of the 15 research flights, provide auxiliary information, derive combined cloud mask products from all instruments that observe clouds on board the aircraft, and provide code examples that help new users of the data to get started.
Geet George, Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, Robert Pincus, Chris Fairall, Hauke Schulz, Tobias Kölling, Quinn T. Kalen, Marcus Klingebiel, Heike Konow, Ashley Lundry, Marc Prange, and Jule Radtke
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5253–5272, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5253-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5253-2021, 2021
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Dropsondes measure atmospheric parameters such as temperature, pressure, humidity and horizontal winds. The EUREC4A field campaign deployed 1215 dropsondes during January–February 2020 in the north Atlantic trade-wind region in order to characterize the thermodynamic and the dynamic structure of the atmosphere, primarily at horizontal scales of ~ 200 km. We present JOANNE, the dataset that provides these dropsonde measurements and thereby a rich characterization of the trade-wind atmosphere.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
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The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, Julien Delanoë, Stuart Fox, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5029–5047, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5029-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5029-2021, 2021
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In this study, we show how solar radiance observations can be used to validate and further constrain ice cloud microphysics retrieved from the synergy of radar–lidar measurements. Since most radar–lidar retrievals rely on a global assumption about the ice particle shape, ice water content and particle size biases are to be expected in individual cloud regimes. In this work, we identify and correct these biases by reconciling simulated and measured solar radiation reflected from these clouds.
Manuel Gutleben, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12313–12327, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12313-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12313-2020, 2020
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Airborne lidar measurements in the vicinity of Barbados are used to investigate radiative effects of long-range-transported Saharan air layers. Derived atmospheric heating rates indicate that observed enhanced water vapor concentrations inside these layers are the main drivers for dust vertical mixing inside the layers. Additionally, they may play a major role for the suppression of subjacent convective cloud development.
Linda Forster, Meinhard Seefeldner, Andreas Baumgartner, Tobias Kölling, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3977–3991, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3977-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3977-2020, 2020
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We present a procedure for both the geometric and absolute radiometric characterization of the weather-proof RGB camera HaloCamRAW, which is part of our automated halo observation system HaloCam, designed for the quantitative analysis of halo displays. By comparing the calibrated HaloCamRAW radiances of a 22° halo scene with radiative transfer simulations, we demonstrate the potential of developing a retrieval method for ice crystal properties, such as size, shape, and surface roughness.
Lucas Höppler, Felix Gödde, Manuel Gutleben, Tobias Kölling, Bernhard Mayer, and Tobias Zinner
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-49, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-49, 2020
Publication in AMT not foreseen
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Clouds are considered as two-dimensional in many climate and weather models. This approach creates errors due to wrongly calculated solar or terrestrial radiative transfer. In order to reduce these errors, realistic three-dimensional clouds need to be retrieved or reproduced. This paper shows an approach to retrieve realistic three-dimensional clouds from an airplane, by combining the strengths of several active and passive remote sensing instruments.
Pascal Polonik, Christoph Knote, Tobias Zinner, Florian Ewald, Tobias Kölling, Bernhard Mayer, Meinrat O. Andreae, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Thomas Klimach, Christoph Mahnke, Sergej Molleker, Christopher Pöhlker, Mira L. Pöhlker, Ulrich Pöschl, Daniel Rosenfeld, Christiane Voigt, Ralf Weigel, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1591–1605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1591-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1591-2020, 2020
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A realistic representation of cloud–aerosol interactions is central to accurate climate projections. Here we combine observations collected during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign with chemistry-transport simulations to evaluate the model’s ability to represent the indirect effects of biomass burning aerosol on cloud microphysics. We find an upper limit for the model sensitivity on cloud condensation nuclei concentrations well below the levels reached during the burning season in the Amazon Basin.
Eleni Marinou, Matthias Tesche, Athanasios Nenes, Albert Ansmann, Jann Schrod, Dimitra Mamali, Alexandra Tsekeri, Michael Pikridas, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Kalliopi-Artemis Voudouri, Stavros Solomos, Jean Sciare, Silke Groß, Florian Ewald, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 11315–11342, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11315-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11315-2019, 2019
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We assess the feasibility of ground-based and spaceborne lidars to retrieve profiles of cloud-relevant aerosol concentrations and ice-nucleating particles. The retrieved profiles are in good agreement with airborne in situ measurements. Our methodology will be applied to satellite observations in the future so as to provide a global 3D product of cloud-relevant properties.
Heike Konow, Marek Jacob, Felix Ament, Susanne Crewell, Florian Ewald, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Mario Mech, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 921–934, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, 2019
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High-resolution measurements of maritime clouds are relatively scarce. Airborne cloud radar, microwave radiometer and dropsonde observations are used to expand these data. The measurements are unified into one data set to enable easy joint analyses of several or all instruments together to gain insight into cloud properties and atmospheric state. The data set contains measurements from four campaigns between December 2013 and October 2016 over the tropical and midlatitude Atlantic.
Florian Ewald, Silke Groß, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Julien Delanoë, and Matthias Bauer-Pfundstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1815–1839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1815-2019, 2019
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This study gives a summary of lessons learned during the absolute calibration of the airborne, high-power Ka-band cloud radar HAMP MIRA on board the German research aircraft HALO. The first part covers the internal calibration of the instrument where individual instrument components are characterized in the laboratory. In the second part, the internal calibration is validated with external reference sources like the ocean surface backscatter and different air- and spaceborne cloud radars.
Tobias Zinner, Ulrich Schwarz, Tobias Kölling, Florian Ewald, Evelyn Jäkel, Bernhard Mayer, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1167–1181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1167-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1167-2019, 2019
Florian Ewald, Tobias Zinner, Tobias Kölling, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1183–1206, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1183-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1183-2019, 2019
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This paper presents a new method for gaining insights into the vertical evolution of cloud droplet effective radii by using reflected solar radiation from cloud sides. The paper investigates how bi-spectral effective radius retrievals are affected by unknown cloud surface orientations and presents a method to mitigate this effect. Based on these findings, this study develops a statistical effective radius retrieval for airborne, side-looking imaging sensors.
Tobias Kölling, Tobias Zinner, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1155–1166, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1155-2019, 2019
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Imaging technology allows us to quickly gather information on larger cloud fields. Unlike using lidar or radar, it is difficult to obtain accurate position information about the observed clouds. This work presents a method to retrieve the missing position information using RGB images from an airborne video camera. Using field campaign data, we observe and explain a median offset of 126 m compared to lidar data and show that systematic errors across the measurement swath are well below 50 m.
Ulrich Schumann and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13833–13848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13833-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13833-2017, 2017
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It is generally assumed that a positive radiative forcing of the atmosphere implies a warming of the Earth surface. This assumption is valid for well-mixed greenhouse gases but is not guaranteed for disturbances which cause a vertically variable radiative heating rate profile with warming in the upper troposphere and cooling near the surface. This conceptual study shows that the warming induced by contrail cirrus prevails only for fast vertical heat exchange by mixing within the troposphere.
Fabian Jakub and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13317–13327, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13317-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13317-2017, 2017
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The formation of shallow cumulus cloud streets was historically attributed primarily to dynamics. Here, we focus on the interaction between radiatively induced surface heterogeneities and the resulting patterns in the flow. Our results suggest that solar radiative heating has the potential to organize clouds perpendicular to the sun's incidence angle.
Evelyn Jäkel, Manfred Wendisch, Trismono C. Krisna, Florian Ewald, Tobias Kölling, Tina Jurkat, Christiane Voigt, Micael A. Cecchini, Luiz A. T. Machado, Armin Afchine, Anja Costa, Martina Krämer, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrich Pöschl, Daniel Rosenfeld, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9049–9066, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9049-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9049-2017, 2017
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Vertical profiles of the cloud particle phase state in tropical deep convective clouds (DCCs) were investigated using airborne imaging spectrometer measurements during the ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign, which was conducted over the Brazilian rainforest in September 2014. A phase discrimination retrieval was applied to observations of clouds formed in different aerosol conditions. The profiles were compared to in situ and satellite measurements.
Linda Forster, Meinhard Seefeldner, Matthias Wiegner, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2499–2516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2499-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2499-2017, 2017
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Halo displays are produced by scattering of sunlight by smooth, hexagonal ice crystals. Consequently, the presence of a halo should contain information on particle shape. This study presents HaloCam, a novel sun-tracking camera system, and an automated detection algorithm to collect and evaluate long-term halo observations. Two-year HaloCam observations revealed that about 25 % of the detected cirrus clouds occurred together with a 22° halo indicating the presence of smooth, hexagonal crystals.
Carolin Klinger, Bernhard Mayer, Fabian Jakub, Tobias Zinner, Seung-Bu Park, and Pierre Gentine
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5477–5500, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5477-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5477-2017, 2017
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Radiation is driving weather and climate. Yet, the effect of radiation on clouds is not fully understood and often only poorly represented in models. Better understanding and better parameterizations of the radiation–cloud interaction are therefore essential. Using our newly developed fast
neighboring column approximationfor 3-D thermal heating and cooling rates, we show that thermal radiation changes cloud circulation and causes organization and a deepening of the clouds.
Tobias Zinner, Petra Hausmann, Florian Ewald, Luca Bugliaro, Claudia Emde, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4615–4632, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4615-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4615-2016, 2016
Short summary
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A new retrieval of optical thickness and effective particle size of ice clouds over a wide range of optical thickness from transmittance measurements is presented. A visible range spectral slope is used to resolve the transmittance optical thickness ambiguity. Retrieval sensitivity to ice crystal habit, aerosol, albedo, sensor accuracy and lookup table interpolation is presented as well as an application of the method and comparison to satellite products for 2 days.
N. Hanrieder, S. Wilbert, R. Pitz-Paal, C. Emde, J. Gasteiger, B. Mayer, and J. Polo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3467–3480, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3467-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3467-2015, 2015
F. Ewald, C. Winkler, and T. Zinner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2491–2508, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2491-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2491-2015, 2015
A. Kreuter, R. Buras, B. Mayer, A. Webb, R. Kift, A. Bais, N. Kouremeti, and M. Blumthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5989–6002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5989-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5989-2014, 2014
B. Reinhardt, R. Buras, L. Bugliaro, S. Wilbert, and B. Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 823–838, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-823-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-823-2014, 2014
A. Kylling, R. Buras, S. Eckhardt, C. Emde, B. Mayer, and A. Stohl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 649–660, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-649-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-649-2013, 2013
F. Ewald, L. Bugliaro, H. Mannstein, and B. Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 309–322, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-309-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-309-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
The generation of EarthCARE L1 test data sets using atmospheric model data sets
The EarthCARE mission – science and system overview
Processing reflectivity and Doppler velocity from EarthCARE's cloud-profiling radar: the C-FMR, C-CD and C-APC products
The S/Z Relationship of Rimed Snow Particles
3D cloud envelope and cloud development velocity from simulated CLOUD (C3IEL) stereo images
Passive ground-based remote sensing of radiation fog
Locations for the best lidar view of mid-level and high clouds
VELOX – a new thermal infrared imager for airborne remote sensing of cloud and surface properties
Above-aircraft cirrus cloud and aerosol optical depth from hyperspectral irradiances measured by a total-diffuse radiometer
Impact of second-trip echoes for space-borne high-pulse-repetition-frequency nadir-looking W-band cloud radars
Spaceborne differential absorption radar water vapor retrieval capabilities in tropical and subtropical boundary layer cloud regimes
Multifrequency radar observations of clouds and precipitation including the G-band
Can machine learning correct microwave humidity radiances for the influence of clouds?
McRALI: a Monte Carlo high-spectral-resolution lidar and Doppler radar simulator for three-dimensional cloudy atmosphere remote sensing
Cirrus cloud shape detection by tomographic extinction retrievals from infrared limb emission sounder measurements
Absolute calibration method for frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) cloud radars based on corner reflectors
Evaluation of the reflectivity calibration of W-band radars based on observations in rain
A technical description of the Balloon Lidar Experiment (BOLIDE)
Application of the shipborne remote sensing supersite OCEANET for profiling of Arctic aerosols and clouds during Polarstern cruise PS106
Mind the gap – Part 2: Improving quantitative estimates of cloud and rain water path in oceanic warm rain using spaceborne radars
Ice crystal characterization in cirrus clouds II: radiometric characterization of HaloCam for the quantitative analysis of halo displays
Mind the gap – Part 1: Accurately locating warm marine boundary layer clouds and precipitation using spaceborne radars
Free-fall experiments of volcanic ash particles using a 2-D video disdrometer
Microwave Radar/radiometer for Arctic Clouds (MiRAC): first insights from the ACLOUD campaign
A robust automated technique for operational calibration of ceilometers using the integrated backscatter from totally attenuating liquid clouds
Evaluation of differential absorption radars in the 183 GHz band for profiling water vapour in ice clouds
Use of polarimetric radar measurements to constrain simulated convective cell evolution: a pilot study with Lagrangian tracking
Improvement of airborne retrievals of cloud droplet number concentration of trade wind cumulus using a synergetic approach
Halo ratio from ground-based all-sky imaging
Aircraft-based stereographic reconstruction of 3-D cloud geometry
Polarization lidar: an extended three-signal calibration approach
The NCAS mobile dual-polarisation Doppler X-band weather radar (NXPol)
Initial report on polar mesospheric cloud observations by Himawari-8
Combining cloud radar and radar wind profiler for a value added estimate of vertical air motion and particle terminal velocity within clouds
A simple biota removal algorithm for 35 GHz cloud radar measurements
Improved cloud-phase determination of low-level liquid and mixed-phase clouds by enhanced polarimetric lidar
All-sky photogrammetry techniques to georeference a cloud field
Depolarization calibration and measurements using the CANDAC Rayleigh–Mie–Raman lidar at Eureka, Canada
Ice crystal characterization in cirrus clouds: a sun-tracking camera system and automated detection algorithm for halo displays
ISMAR: an airborne submillimetre radiometer
Sky camera geometric calibration using solar observations
Application of oxygen A-band equivalent width to disambiguate downwelling radiances for cloud optical depth measurement
Toward autonomous surface-based infrared remote sensing of polar clouds: cloud-height retrievals
How big is an OMI pixel?
Differential absorption radar techniques: water vapor retrievals
A microbolometer-based far infrared radiometer to study thin ice clouds in the Arctic
Uncertainties in cloud phase and optical thickness retrievals from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC)
Shortwave surface radiation network for observing small-scale cloud inhomogeneity fields
Cloud radar with hybrid mode towards estimation of shape and orientation of ice crystals
Combined vertical-velocity observations with Doppler lidar, cloud radar and wind profiler
David P. Donovan, Pavlos Kollias, Almudena Velázquez Blázquez, and Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5327–5356, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5327-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5327-2023, 2023
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The Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer mission (EarthCARE) is a multi-instrument cloud–aerosol–radiation-oriented satellite for climate and weather applications. For this satellite mission to be successful, the development and implementation of new techniques for turning the measured raw signals into useful data is required. This paper describes how atmospheric model data were used as the basis for creating realistic high-resolution simulated data sets to facilitate this process.
Tobias Wehr, Takuji Kubota, Georgios Tzeremes, Kotska Wallace, Hirotaka Nakatsuka, Yuichi Ohno, Rob Koopman, Stephanie Rusli, Maki Kikuchi, Michael Eisinger, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Masatoshi Taga, Patrick Deghaye, Eichi Tomita, and Dirk Bernaerts
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3581–3608, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3581-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3581-2023, 2023
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The EarthCARE satellite is due for launch in 2024. It includes four scientific instruments to measure global vertical profiles of aerosols, clouds and precipitation properties together with radiative fluxes and derived heating rates. The mission's scientific requirements, the satellite and the ground segment are described. In particular, the four scientific instruments and their performance are described at the level of detail required by mission data users.
Pavlos Kollias, Bernat Puidgomènech Treserras, Alessandro Battaglia, Paloma C. Borque, and Aleksandra Tatarevic
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1901–1914, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1901-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1901-2023, 2023
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The Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation (EarthCARE) satellite mission developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) features the first spaceborne 94 GHz Doppler cloud-profiling radar (CPR) with Doppler capability. Here, we describe the post-processing algorithms that apply quality control and corrections to CPR measurements and derive key geophysical variables such as hydrometeor locations and best estimates of particle sedimentation fall velocities.
Shelby Fuller, Samuel Marlow, Samuel Haimov, Matthew Burkhart, Kevin Shaffer, Austin Morgan, and Jefferson Snider
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-317, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-317, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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Snowfall rate and radar reflectivity measurements were analyzed. We confirm that the relationship between snowfall rate and reflectivity is dependent on snow particle type. It is likely that the detected snowfall was produced by solid (ice) hydrometeors colliding with liquid cloud droplets forming rimed snow particles. This refinement of the snowfall/reflectivity relationship for rimed snow particles is expected to improve snowfall rate estimation using W-band radars.
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.
Heather Guy, David D. Turner, Von P. Walden, Ian M. Brooks, and Ryan R. Neely
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5095–5115, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5095-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5095-2022, 2022
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Fog formation is highly sensitive to near-surface temperatures and humidity profiles. Passive remote sensing instruments can provide continuous measurements of the vertical temperature and humidity profiles and liquid water content, which can improve fog forecasts. Here we compare the performance of collocated infrared and microwave remote sensing instruments and demonstrate that the infrared instrument is especially sensitive to the onset of thin radiation fog.
Matthias Tesche and Vincent Noel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4225–4240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, 2022
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Mid-level and high clouds can be considered natural laboratories for studying cloud glaciation in the atmosphere. While they can be conveniently observed from ground with lidar, such measurements require a clear line of sight between the instrument and the target cloud. Here, observations of clouds with two spaceborne lidars are used to assess where ground-based lidar measurements of mid- and upper-level clouds are least affected by the light-attenuating effect of low-level clouds.
Michael Schäfer, Kevin Wolf, André Ehrlich, Christoph Hallbauer, Evelyn Jäkel, Friedhelm Jansen, Anna Elizabeth Luebke, Joshua Müller, Jakob Thoböll, Timo Röschenthaler, Bjorn Stevens, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1491–1509, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1491-2022, 2022
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The new airborne thermal infrared imager VELOX is introduced. It measures two-dimensional fields of spectral thermal infrared radiance or brightness temperature within the large atmospheric window. The technical specifications as well as necessary calibration and correction procedures are presented. Example measurements from the first field deployment are analysed with respect to cloud coverage and cloud top altitude.
Matthew S. Norgren, John Wood, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Snorre A. Stamnes, Luke D. Ziemba, Ewan C. Crosbie, Michael A. Shook, A. Scott Kittelman, Samuel E. LeBlanc, Stephen Broccardo, Steffen Freitag, and Jeffrey S. Reid
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1373–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1373-2022, 2022
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A new spectral instrument (SPN-S), with the ability to partition solar radiation into direct and diffuse components, is used in airborne settings to study the optical properties of aerosols and cirrus. It is a low-cost and mechanically simple system but has higher measurement uncertainty than existing standards. This challenge is overcome by utilizing the unique measurement capabilities to develop new retrieval techniques. Validation is done with data from two NASA airborne research campaigns.
Alessandro Battaglia
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7809–7820, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7809-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7809-2021, 2021
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Space-borne radar returns can be contaminated by artefacts caused by radiation that undergoes multiple scattering events and appears to originate from ranges well below the surface range. While such artefacts have been rarely observed from the currently deployed systems, they may become a concern in future cloud radar systems, potentially enhancing cloud cover high up in the troposphere via ghost returns.
Richard J. Roy, Matthew Lebsock, and Marcin J. Kurowski
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6443–6468, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6443-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6443-2021, 2021
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This study describes the potential capabilities of a hypothetical spaceborne radar to observe water vapor within clouds.
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
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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.
Inderpreet Kaur, Patrick Eriksson, Simon Pfreundschuh, and David Ian Duncan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2957–2979, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2957-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2957-2021, 2021
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Currently, cloud contamination in microwave humidity channels is addressed using filtering schemes. We present an approach to correct the cloud-affected microwave humidity radiances using a Bayesian machine learning technique. The technique combines orthogonal information from microwave channels to obtain a probabilistic prediction of the clear-sky radiances. With this approach, we are able to predict bias-free clear-sky radiances with well-represented case-specific uncertainty estimates.
Frédéric Szczap, Alaa Alkasem, Guillaume Mioche, Valery Shcherbakov, Céline Cornet, Julien Delanoë, Yahya Gour, Olivier Jourdan, Sandra Banson, and Edouard Bray
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 199–221, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-199-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-199-2021, 2021
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Spaceborne lidar and radar are suitable tools to investigate cloud vertical properties on a global scale. This paper presents the McRALI code that provides simulations of lidar and radar signals from the EarthCARE mission. Regarding radar signals, cloud heterogeneity induces a severe bias in velocity estimates. Regarding lidar signals, multiple scattering is not negligible. Our results also give some insight into the reliability of lidar signal modeling using independent column approximation.
Jörn Ungermann, Irene Bartolome, Sabine Griessbach, Reinhold Spang, Christian Rolf, Martina Krämer, Michael Höpfner, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 7025–7045, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7025-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-7025-2020, 2020
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This study examines the potential of new IR limb imager instruments and tomographic methods for cloud detection purposes. Simple color-ratio-based methods are examined and compared against more involved nonlinear convex optimization. In a second part, 3-D measurements of the airborne limb sounder GLORIA taken during the Wave-driven ISentropic Exchange campaign are used to exemplarily derive the location and extent of small-scale cirrus clouds with high spatial accuracy.
Felipe Toledo, Julien Delanoë, Martial Haeffelin, Jean-Charles Dupont, Susana Jorquera, and Christophe Le Gac
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6853–6875, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6853-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6853-2020, 2020
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Cloud observations are essential to rainfall, fog and climate change forecasts. One key instrument for these observations is cloud radar. Yet, discrepancies are found when comparing radars from different ground stations or satellites. Our work presents a calibration methodology for cloud radars based on reference targets, including an analysis of the uncertainty sources. The method enables the calibration of reference instruments to improve the quality and value of the cloud radar network data.
Alexander Myagkov, Stefan Kneifel, and Thomas Rose
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5799–5825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5799-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5799-2020, 2020
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This study shows two methods for evaluating the reflectivity calibration of W-band cloud radars. Both methods use natural rain as a reference target. The first method is based on spectral polarimetric observations and requires a polarimetric cloud radar with a scanner. The second method utilizes disdrometer observations and can be applied to scanning and vertically pointed radars. Both methods show consistent results and can be applied for operational monitoring of measurement quality.
Bernd Kaifler, Dimitry Rempel, Philipp Roßi, Christian Büdenbender, Natalie Kaifler, and Volodymyr Baturkin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5681–5695, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5681-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5681-2020, 2020
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The Balloon Lidar Experiment was the first lidar dedicated to measurements in the mesosphere flown on a balloon. During a 6 d flight, it made high-resolution observations of polar mesospheric clouds which form at high latitudes during summer at ~ 83 km altitude and are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere. We describe the instrument and assess its performance. We could detect fainter clouds with higher resolution than what is possible with ground-based instruments.
Hannes J. Griesche, Patric Seifert, Albert Ansmann, Holger Baars, Carola Barrientos Velasco, Johannes Bühl, Ronny Engelmann, Martin Radenz, Yin Zhenping, and Andreas Macke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5335–5358, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5335-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5335-2020, 2020
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In summer 2017, the research vessel Polarstern performed cruise PS106 to the Arctic north of Svalbard. In the frame of the cruise, remote-sensing observations of the atmosphere were performed on Polarstern to continuously monitor aerosol and clouds above the vessel. In our study, we present the deployed instrumentation and applied data analysis methods and provide case studies of the aerosol and cloud observations made during the cruise. Statistics of low-cloud occurrence are presented as well.
Alessandro Battaglia, Pavlos Kollias, Ranvir Dhillon, Katia Lamer, Marat Khairoutdinov, and Daniel Watters
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4865–4883, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4865-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4865-2020, 2020
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Warm rain accounts for slightly more than 30 % of the total rain amount and 70 % of the total rain area in the tropical belt and usually appears in kilometer-size cells. Spaceborne radars adopting millimeter wavelengths are excellent tools for detecting such precipitation types and for separating between the cloud and rain components. Our work highlights the benefits of operating multifrequency radars and discusses the impact of antenna footprints in quantitative estimates of liquid water paths.
Linda Forster, Meinhard Seefeldner, Andreas Baumgartner, Tobias Kölling, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3977–3991, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3977-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3977-2020, 2020
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We present a procedure for both the geometric and absolute radiometric characterization of the weather-proof RGB camera HaloCamRAW, which is part of our automated halo observation system HaloCam, designed for the quantitative analysis of halo displays. By comparing the calibrated HaloCamRAW radiances of a 22° halo scene with radiative transfer simulations, we demonstrate the potential of developing a retrieval method for ice crystal properties, such as size, shape, and surface roughness.
Katia Lamer, Pavlos Kollias, Alessandro Battaglia, and Simon Preval
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2363–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2363-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2363-2020, 2020
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According to ground-based radar observations, 50 % of liquid low-level clouds over the Atlantic extend below 1.2 km and are thinner than 400 m, thus limiting their detection from space. Using an emulator, we estimate that a 250 m resolution radar would capture cloud base better than the CloudSat radar which misses about 52 %. The more sensitive EarthCARE radar is expected to capture cloud cover but stretch cloud. This calls for the operation of interlaced pulse modes for future space missions.
Sung-Ho Suh, Masayuki Maki, Masato Iguchi, Dong-In Lee, Akihiko Yamaji, and Tatsuya Momotani
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5363–5379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5363-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5363-2019, 2019
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This is a fundamental study on the features of aerodynamic parameters: terminal velocity, axis ratio, and canting angle. These are necessary for developing a quantitative ash fall estimation method based on weather radar. They were analyzed under controlled conditions from laboratory free-fall experiments, since the aerodynamic properties of the particles are highly dependent on external conditions. These results will help in the development of quantitative ash estimation.
Mario Mech, Leif-Leonard Kliesch, Andreas Anhäuser, Thomas Rose, Pavlos Kollias, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5019–5037, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, 2019
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An improved understanding of Arctic mixed-phase clouds and their contribution to Arctic warming can be achieved by observations from airborne platforms with remote sensing instruments. Such an instrument is MiRAC combining active and passive techniques to gain information on the distribution of clouds, the occurrence of precipitation, and the amount of liquid and ice within the cloud. Operated during a campaign in Arctic summer, it could observe lower clouds often not seen by spaceborne radars.
Emma Hopkin, Anthony J. Illingworth, Cristina Charlton-Perez, Chris D. Westbrook, and Sue Ballard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4131–4147, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4131-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4131-2019, 2019
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Ceilometers are laser cloud base recorders which retrieve information about atmospheric aerosol and differing cloud types. In order to ensure the information retrieved from the ceilometer is correct and comparable with other ceilometers in an observation network, a calibration is needed. Presented here is a novel automated calibration method, which includes a correction for the effects of water vapour in the atmosphere and shows its application on the UK Met Office's ceilometer network.
Alessandro Battaglia and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3335–3349, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3335-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3335-2019, 2019
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This work investigates the potential of an innovative differential absorption radar for retrieving relative humidity inside ice clouds. The radar exploits the strong spectral dependence of the water vapour absorption for frequencies close to the 183 GHz water vapour band.
Results show that observations from a system with 4–6 frequencies can provide
novel information for understanding the formation and growth of ice crystals.
Ann M. Fridlind, Marcus van Lier-Walqui, Scott Collis, Scott E. Giangrande, Robert C. Jackson, Xiaowen Li, Toshihisa Matsui, Richard Orville, Mark H. Picel, Daniel Rosenfeld, Alexander Ryzhkov, Richard Weitz, and Pengfei Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2979–3000, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2979-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2979-2019, 2019
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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.
Kevin Wolf, André Ehrlich, Marek Jacob, Susanne Crewell, Martin Wirth, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1635–1658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1635-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1635-2019, 2019
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Using passive spectral solar radiation and active lidar, radar, and microwave measurements with HALO during NARVAL-II, the cloud droplet number concentration of shallow trade wind cumulus is estimated. With stepwise inclusion of the different instruments into the retrieval, the benefits of the synergetic approach based on artificial measurements and two cloud cases are demonstrated. Significant improvement with the synergetic method compared to the solar-radiation-only method is reported.
Paolo Dandini, Zbigniew Ulanowski, David Campbell, and Richard Kaye
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1295–1309, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1295-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1295-2019, 2019
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The halo ratio indicates the strength of the 22° cirrus halo and gives valuable information on cloud properties. We obtain it from all-sky images by applying a range of transformations and corrections and averaging brightness azimuthally over sun-centred images. The ratio is then taken at two angles from the sun, 20° and 23°, in variance from previous suggestions. While we find ratios > 1 to be linked to halos, they can also occur under scattered cumuli as artefacts due to cloud edges.
Tobias Kölling, Tobias Zinner, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1155–1166, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1155-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1155-2019, 2019
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Imaging technology allows us to quickly gather information on larger cloud fields. Unlike using lidar or radar, it is difficult to obtain accurate position information about the observed clouds. This work presents a method to retrieve the missing position information using RGB images from an airborne video camera. Using field campaign data, we observe and explain a median offset of 126 m compared to lidar data and show that systematic errors across the measurement swath are well below 50 m.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Moritz Haarig, Jörg Schmidt, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1077–1093, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1077-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1077-2019, 2019
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We propose an extended formalism for a full instrumental characterization of a three-channel lidar system, allowing the retrieval of highly accurate linear depolarization profiles. The results obtained at several depolarizing scenarios, the good agreement with the retrievals of a second collocated calibrated lidar system, and the long-term stability of the calibration parameters corroborate the potential and robustness of the new technique.
Ryan R. Neely III, Lindsay Bennett, Alan Blyth, Chris Collier, David Dufton, James Groves, Daniel Walker, Chris Walden, John Bradford, Barbara Brooks, Freya I. Addison, John Nicol, and Ben Pickering
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6481–6494, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6481-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6481-2018, 2018
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Mobile X-band radars are widely used by atmospheric scientists to observe clouds and make estimates of rainfall. Here we describe the National Centre for Atmospheric Science's mobile X-band dual-polarisation Doppler radar (NXPol). NXPol is the first radar of its kind in the UK. To demonstrate the radar’s capabilities, we present examples of its use in three field campaigns as well as an example from ongoing observations at the National Facility for Atmospheric and Radio Research.
Takuo T. Tsuda, Yuta Hozumi, Kento Kawaura, Keisuke Hosokawa, Hidehiko Suzuki, and Takuji Nakamura
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6163–6168, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6163-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6163-2018, 2018
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Polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) or noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. In this paper, we introduce new PMC observations by the Japanese Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) meteorological satellite Himawari-8, which was launched in October 2014.
Martin Radenz, Johannes Bühl, Volker Lehmann, Ulrich Görsdorf, and Ronny Leinweber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5925–5940, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5925-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5925-2018, 2018
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Ultra-high-frequency radar wind profilers are widely used for remote sensing of horizontal and vertical wind velocity. They emit electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength of 60 cm and receive signals from both falling particles and the air itself. In this paper, we describe a method to separate both signal components with the help of an additional cloud radar system in order to come up with undisturbed measurements of both vertical air velocity and the fall velocity of particles.
Madhu Chandra R. Kalapureddy, Patra Sukanya, Subrata K. Das, Sachin M. Deshpande, Govindan Pandithurai, Andrew L. Pazamany, Jha Ambuj K., Kaustav Chakravarty, Prasad Kalekar, Hari Krishna Devisetty, and Sreenivas Annam
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1417–1436, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1417-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1417-2018, 2018
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A new technique to separate cloud and non-hydrometeor returns from a cloud radar high-resolution reflectivity measurements is proposed. The TEST algorithm potentially identifies cloud height with the theoretical echo sensitivity curves and observed echo statistics for the cloud height tracing. TEST is more robust in identifying and filtering out the biota contributions by constraining further with spectral width and LDR measurements. This algorithm improves the monsoon cloud characterization.
Robert A. Stillwell, Ryan R. Neely III, Jeffrey P. Thayer, Matthew D. Shupe, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 835–859, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-835-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-835-2018, 2018
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This work focuses on making unambiguous measurements of Arctic cloud phase and assessing those measurements within the context of cloud radiative effects. It is found that effects related to lidar data recording systems can cause retrieval ambiguities that alter the interpretation of cloud phase in as much as 30 % of the available data. This misinterpretation of cloud-phase data can cause a misinterpretation of the effect of cloud phase on the surface radiation budget by as much as 10 to 30 %.
Pierre Crispel and Gregory Roberts
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 593–609, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-593-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-593-2018, 2018
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In this study, we use an all-sky stereo camera network to perform geolocation of individual elements of a cloud field in order to track individual clouds and estimate some of their morphological characteristics and their evolution in time. Furthermore, this allows use of cloud geolocation for cloud airborne measurements. For example, in the case of instrumented UAVs, the GPS coordinates of the target cloud may be communicated in real time to the autopilot.
Emily M. McCullough, Robert J. Sica, James R. Drummond, Graeme Nott, Christopher Perro, Colin P. Thackray, Jason Hopper, Jonathan Doyle, Thomas J. Duck, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4253–4277, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4253-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4253-2017, 2017
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CRL lidar in the Canadian High Arctic uses lasers and a telescope to study polar clouds, essential for understanding the changing global climate. Hardware added to CRL allows it to measure the polarization of returned laser light, indicating whether cloud particles are liquid or frozen. Calibrations show that traditional analysis methods work well, although CRL was not originally set up to make this type of measurement. CRL can now measure cloud particle phase every 5 min, every 37.5 m, 24h/day.
Linda Forster, Meinhard Seefeldner, Matthias Wiegner, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2499–2516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2499-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2499-2017, 2017
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Halo displays are produced by scattering of sunlight by smooth, hexagonal ice crystals. Consequently, the presence of a halo should contain information on particle shape. This study presents HaloCam, a novel sun-tracking camera system, and an automated detection algorithm to collect and evaluate long-term halo observations. Two-year HaloCam observations revealed that about 25 % of the detected cirrus clouds occurred together with a 22° halo indicating the presence of smooth, hexagonal crystals.
Stuart Fox, Clare Lee, Brian Moyna, Martin Philipp, Ian Rule, Stuart Rogers, Robert King, Matthew Oldfield, Simon Rea, Manju Henry, Hui Wang, and R. Chawn Harlow
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 477–490, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-477-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-477-2017, 2017
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In this paper we present the ISMAR instrument, a new airborne submillimetre radiometer designed for cloud ice remote sensing. We discuss the instrument calibration and evaluate the main sources of bias and the radiometric sensitivity in different measurement scenarios. We also compare clear-sky zenith measurements from high altitude with radiative transfer simulations to demonstrate the performance of ISMAR in flight.
Bryan Urquhart, Ben Kurtz, and Jan Kleissl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4279–4294, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4279-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4279-2016, 2016
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A model relating the position of objects in the 3-D world to their pixel coordinates has been developed for a fixed-focal length fisheye lens camera. An associated automated method to calibrate model parameters has been developed for a daytime skyward-pointing camera. The position of the sun throughout the day is used as input to the calibration algorithm. The accuracy of the calibration was found to be on the same order as the accuracy of sun position detection in an image.
Edward R. Niple, Herman E. Scott, John A. Conant, Stephen H. Jones, Frank J. Iannarilli, and Wellesley E. Pereira
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4167–4179, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4167-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4167-2016, 2016
Penny M. Rowe, Christopher J. Cox, and Von P. Walden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3641–3659, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3641-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3641-2016, 2016
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Clouds play an important role in the rapid climate change occurring in polar regions, yet cloud measurements are challenging in such harsh, remote environments. Here we explore how well a proposed low-power infrared spectrometer, which would be highly portable, could be used to determine cloud height. Using simulated data, we estimate retrieval accuracy, finding that such an instrument would be able to constrain cloud height, particular for low, thick clouds, which are common in polar region.
Martin de Graaf, Holger Sihler, Lieuwe G. Tilstra, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 3607–3618, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3607-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-3607-2016, 2016
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The shapes and sizes of the FoV from the OMI satellite instrument were determined with extensive lab tests but never verified after launch. Here, collocated measurements from MODIS, flying in formation, were used to find the most optimal shape of the OMI FoV. This shape is not quadrangular, as suggested by the provided corner coordinates of a pixel, but rather super-Gaussian shaped and overlapping with the FoV of neighbouring pixels.
Luis Millán, Matthew Lebsock, Nathaniel Livesey, and Simone Tanelli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2633–2646, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2633-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2633-2016, 2016
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We discuss the theoretical capabilities of a radar technique to measure profiles of water vapor in cloudy/precipitating areas. The method uses two radar pulses at different frequencies near the 183 GHz H2O absorption line to determine water vapor profiles by measuring the differential absorption on and off the line. Results of inverting synthetic data assuming a satellite radar are presented.
Quentin Libois, Christian Proulx, Liviu Ivanescu, Laurence Coursol, Ludovick S. Pelletier, Yacine Bouzid, Francesco Barbero, Éric Girard, and Jean-Pierre Blanchet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1817–1832, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1817-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1817-2016, 2016
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Here we present a radiometer, FIRR, aimed at measuring atmospheric radiation in the far infrared, an underexplored region of the Earth spectrum. The FIRR is a prototype for the planned TICFIRE satellite mission dedicated to studying thin ice clouds in polar regions. Preliminary in situ measurements compare well with radiative transfer simulations. This highlights the high sensitivity of the FIRR to water vapor content and cloud physical properties, paving the way for new retrieval algorithms.
Kerry Meyer, Yuekui Yang, and Steven Platnick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1785–1797, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1785-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1785-2016, 2016
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This paper presents the expected uncertainties of a single-channel cloud opacity retrieval technique and a temperature-based cloud phase approach in support of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission; DSCOVR cloud products will be derived from Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observations. Results show that, for ice clouds, retrieval errors are minimal (< 2 %), while for liquid clouds the error is limited to within 10 %, although for thin clouds the error can be higher.
Bomidi Lakshmi Madhavan, John Kalisch, and Andreas Macke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1153–1166, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1153-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1153-2016, 2016
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As part of the High Definition Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE), a high-density network of pyranometer stations (99 nos.) was set up around Jülich (10 km × 12 km area) from April to July 2013 to capture the small-scale variability of cloud-induced radiation fields at the surface. This paper provides the details of this unique setup of the network, data, quality control, uncertainty estimation and discussion of some case days.
A. Myagkov, P. Seifert, M. Bauer-Pfundstein, and U. Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 469–489, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-469-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-469-2016, 2016
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In this paper a newly developed scanning 35 GHz cloud radar MIRA-35 is described. The issues concerned with implementation, polarization calibration, and data processing are considered. Also, an algorithm for a characterization of shape and orientation distribution based on polarimetric observations from the cloud radar is presented. For demonstration, the developed retrieval technique is applied to a cloud system containing ice crystals with different habits.
J. Bühl, R. Leinweber, U. Görsdorf, M. Radenz, A. Ansmann, and V. Lehmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3527–3536, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3527-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3527-2015, 2015
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Case studies of combined vertical-velocity measurements of Doppler lidar, cloud radar and wind profiler are presented. The measurements were taken at the Meteorological Observatory, Lindenberg, Germany. Synergistic products are presented that are derived from the vertical-velocity measurements of the three instruments: a comprehensive classification mask of vertically moving atmospheric targets and the terminal fall velocity of water droplets and ice crystals corrected for vertical air motion.
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Short summary
The new spectrometer of the Munich Aerosol Cloud Scanner (specMACS) is a
multipurpose hyperspectral cloud and sky imager which is designated, but not limited, to investigations of cloud-aerosol interactions in Earth's atmosphere. This paper describes the specMACS instrument's hardware and software design and
characterizes the instrument performance. Initial measurements of cloud sides are presented which demonstrate the wide applicability of the instrument.
The new spectrometer of the Munich Aerosol Cloud Scanner (specMACS) is a
multipurpose...
