Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) B1, Version 6

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) from derived International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) B1 observations of tropical cyclones worldwide. The B1 data...

Alpine cloud climatology using long-term NOAA-AVHRR satellite data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaestner, M.; Kriebel, K.T.

2000-07-01

Three different climates have been identified by our evaluation of AVHRR (advanced very high resolution radiometer) data using APOLLO (AVHRR processing scheme over land, clouds and ocean) for a five-years cloud climatology of the Alpine region. The cloud cover data from four layers were spatially averaged in boxes of 15 km by 14 km. The study area only comprises 540 km by 560 km, but contains regions with moderate, Alpine and Mediterranean climate. Data from the period July 1989 until December 1996 have been considered. The temporal resolution is one scene per day, the early afternoon pass, yielding monthly means of satellite derived cloud coverages 5% to 10% above the daily mean compared to conventional surface observation. At nonvegetated sites the cloudiness is sometimes significantly overestimated. Averaging high resolution cloud data seems to be superior to low resolution measurements of cloud properties and averaging is favourable in topographical homogeneous regions only. The annual course of cloud cover reveals typical regional features as foehn or temporal singularities as the so-called Christmas thaw. The cloud cover maps in spatially high resolution show local luff/lee features which outline the orography. Less cloud cover is found over the Alps than over the forelands in winter, an accumulation of thick cirrus is found over the High Alps and an accumulation of thin cirrus north of the Alps. (orig.)

Introduction to Global Urban Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Varquez, A. C. G.; Kanda, M.; Kawano, N.; Darmanto, N. S.; Dong, Y.

2016-12-01

Urban heat island (UHI) is a widely investigated phenomenon in the field of urban climate characterized by the warming of urban areas relative to its surrounding rural environs. Being able to understand the mechanism behind the UHI formation of a city and distinguish its impact from that of global climate change is indispensable when identifying adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the lack of UHI studies many cities especially for developing countries makes it difficult to generalize the mechanism for UHI formation. Thus, there is an impending demand for studies that focus on the simultaneous analyses of UHI and its trends throughout the world. Hence, we propose a subfield of urban climatology, called "global urban climatology" (GUC), which mainly focuses on the uniform understanding of urban climates across all cities, globally. By using globally applicable methodologies to quantify and compare urban heat islands of cities with diverse backgrounds, including their geography, climate, socio-demography, and other factors, a universal understanding of the mechanisms underlying the formation of the phenomenon can be established. The implementation of GUC involves the use of globally acquired historical observation networks, gridded meteorological parameters from climate models, global geographic information system datasets; the construction of a distributed urban parameter database; and the development of techniques necessary to model the urban climate. Research under GUC can be categorized into three approaches. The collaborative approach (1st) relies on the collection of data from micro-scale experiments conducted worldwide with the aid or development of professional social networking platforms; the analytical approach (2nd) relies on the use of global weather station datasets and their corresponding objectively analysed global outputs; and the numerical approach (3rd) relies on the global estimation of high-resolution urban-representative parameters as

Galactic cosmic ray and El Nino Southern Oscillation trends in International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project D2 low-cloud properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, N.; Svensmark, Henrik

2003-01-01

[1] The recently reported correlation between clouds and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) implies the existence of a previously unknown process linking solar variability and climate. An analysis of the interannual variability of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project D2 (ISCCP-D2) low-cloud...... a strong correlation with GCR, which suggests that low-cloud properties observed in these regions are less likely to be contaminated from overlying cloud. The GCR-low cloud correlation cannot easily be explained by internal climate processes, changes in direct solar forcing, or UV-ozone interactions...... properties over the period July 1983 to August 1994 suggests that low clouds are statistically related to two processes, (1) GCR and (2) El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with GCR explaining a greater percentage of the total variance. Areas where satellites have an unobstructed view of low cloud possess...

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Combined Precipitation Dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Huffman, George J.; Adler, Robert F.; Arkin, Philip; Chang, Alfred; Ferraro, Ralph; Gruber, Arnold; Janowiak, John; McNab, Alan; Rudolf, Bruno; Schneider, Udo

1997-01-01

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) has released the GPCP Version 1 Combined Precipitation Data Set, a global, monthly precipitation dataset covering the period July 1987 through December 1995. The primary product in the dataset is a merged analysis incorporating precipitation estimates from low-orbit-satellite microwave data, geosynchronous-orbit -satellite infrared data, and rain gauge observations. The dataset also contains the individual input fields, a combination of the microwave and infrared satellite estimates, and error estimates for each field. The data are provided on 2.5 deg x 2.5 deg latitude-longitude global grids. Preliminary analyses show general agreement with prior studies of global precipitation and extends prior studies of El Nino-Southern Oscillation precipitation patterns. At the regional scale there are systematic differences with standard climatologies.

Seven years of global retrieval of cloud properties using space-borne data of GOME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Lelli

2012-07-01

Full Text Available We present a global and regional multi-annual (June 1996–May 2003 analysis of cloud properties (spherical cloud albedo – CA, cloud optical thickness – COT and cloud top height – CTH of optically thick (COT > 5 clouds, derived using measurements from the GOME instrument on board the ESA ERS-2 space platform. We focus on cloud top height, which is obtained from top-of-atmosphere backscattered solar light measurements in the O₂ A-band using the Semi-Analytical CloUd Retrieval Algorithm SACURA. The physical framework relies on the asymptotic equations of radiative transfer. The dataset has been validated against independent ground- and satellite-based retrievals and is aimed to support trace-gases retrievals as well as to create a robust long-term climatology together with SCIAMACHY and GOME-2 ensuing retrievals. We observed the El Niño-Southern Oscillation anomaly in the 1997–1998 record through CTH values over the Pacific Ocean. The global average CTH as derived from GOME is 5.6 ± 3.2 km, for a corresponding average COT of 19.1 ± 13.9.

New Satellite Estimates of Mixed-Phase Cloud Properties: A Synergistic Approach for Application to Global Satellite Imager Data

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, W. L., Jr.; Spangenberg, D.; Fleeger, C.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chen, Y.; Minnis, P.

2016-12-01

Determining accurate cloud properties horizontally and vertically over a full range of time and space scales is currently next to impossible using data from either active or passive remote sensors or from modeling systems. Passive satellite imagers provide horizontal and temporal resolution of clouds, but little direct information on vertical structure. Active sensors provide vertical resolution but limited spatial and temporal coverage. Cloud models embedded in NWP can produce realistic clouds but often not at the right time or location. Thus, empirical techniques that integrate information from multiple observing and modeling systems are needed to more accurately characterize clouds and their impacts. Such a strategy is employed here in a new cloud water content profiling technique developed for application to satellite imager cloud retrievals based on VIS, IR and NIR radiances. Parameterizations are developed to relate imager retrievals of cloud top phase, optical depth, effective radius and temperature to ice and liquid water content profiles. The vertical structure information contained in the parameterizations is characterized climatologically from cloud model analyses, aircraft observations, ground-based remote sensing data, and from CloudSat and CALIPSO. Thus, realistic cloud-type dependent vertical structure information (including guidance on cloud phase partitioning) circumvents poor assumptions regarding vertical homogeneity that plague current passive satellite retrievals. This paper addresses mixed phase cloud conditions for clouds with glaciated tops including those associated with convection and mid-latitude storm systems. Novel outcomes of our approach include (1) simultaneous retrievals of ice and liquid water content and path, which are validated with active sensor, microwave and in-situ data, and yield improved global cloud climatologies, and (2) new estimates of super-cooled LWC, which are demonstrated in aviation safety applications and

Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily), Version 3

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-Daily) dataset integrates daily climate observations from approximately 30 different data sources. Version 3...

Variability in modeled cloud feedback tied to differences in the climatological spatial pattern of clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Siler, Nicholas; Po-Chedley, Stephen; Bretherton, Christopher S.

2018-02-01

Despite the increasing sophistication of climate models, the amount of surface warming expected from a doubling of atmospheric CO_2 (equilibrium climate sensitivity) remains stubbornly uncertain, in part because of differences in how models simulate the change in global albedo due to clouds (the shortwave cloud feedback). Here, model differences in the shortwave cloud feedback are found to be closely related to the spatial pattern of the cloud contribution to albedo (α) in simulations of the current climate: high-feedback models exhibit lower (higher) α in regions of warm (cool) sea-surface temperatures, and therefore predict a larger reduction in global-mean α as temperatures rise and warm regions expand. The spatial pattern of α is found to be strongly predictive (r=0.84) of a model's global cloud feedback, with satellite observations indicating a most-likely value of 0.58± 0.31 Wm^{-2} K^{-1} (90% confidence). This estimate is higher than the model-average cloud feedback of 0.43 Wm^{-2} K^{-1}, with half the range of uncertainty. The observational constraint on climate sensitivity is weaker but still significant, suggesting a likely value of 3.68 ± 1.30 K (90% confidence), which also favors the upper range of model estimates. These results suggest that uncertainty in model estimates of the global cloud feedback may be substantially reduced by ensuring a realistic distribution of clouds between regions of warm and cool SSTs in simulations of the current climate.

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) - Daily, Version 1.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) comprises a total of 27 products. The Version 1.2 Daily product covers the period October 1998 to the present,...

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) - Pentad, Version 2.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) comprises a total of 27 products. The Version 2.2 Pentad product covers the period January 1979 to the present,...

Sensitive study of the climatological SST by using ATSR global SST data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Yong; Lawrence, Sean P.; Llewellyn-Jones, David T.

1995-12-01

Climatological sea surface temperature (SST) is an initial step for global climate processing monitoring. A comparison has been made by using Oberhuber's SST data set and two years monthly averaged SST from ATSR thermal band data to force the OGCM. In the eastern Pacific Ocean, these make only a small difference to model SST. In the western Pacific Ocean, the use of Oberhuber's data set gives higher climatological SST than that using ATSR data. The SSTs were also simulated for 1992 using climatological SSTs from two years monthly averaged ATSR data and Oberhuber data. The forcing with SST from ATSR data was found to give better SST simulation than that from Oberhuber's data. Our study has confirmed that ATSR can provide accurate monthly averaged global SST for global climate processing monitoring.

The Global Climatology Network Precipitation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, T.C.; Easterling, D.R.; Eischeid, J.K.

1993-01-01

Several years ago, in response to growing concern about global climate change, the US National Climatic Data Center and the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center undertook an effort to create a baseline global land surface climate data set called the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN, Vose et al., 1992). GHCN was created by merging several large existing climate data sets into one data base. Fifteen separate data sets went into the creation of the GHCN version 1.0. GHCN version 1.0 was released in 1992. It has 7,533 precipitation stations, but the number of stations varies with time. A slight majority (55%) have records in excess of 50 years, and a significant proportion (13%) have records in excess of 100 years. The longest period of record for any given station is 291 years (1697--1987 for Kew, United Kingdom)

An updated climatology of surface dimethlysulfide concentrations and emission fluxes in the global ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Lana, A.; Bell, T. G.; Simó, R.; Vallina, S. M.; Ballabrera-Poy, J.; Kettle, A. J.; Dachs, J.; Bopp, L.; Saltzman, E. S.; Stefels, J.; Johnson, J. E.; Liss, P. S.

2011-03-01

The potentially significant role of the biogenic trace gas dimethylsulfide (DMS) in determining the Earth's radiation budget makes it necessary to accurately reproduce seawater DMS distribution and quantify its global flux across the sea/air interface. Following a threefold increase of data (from 15,000 to over 47,000) in the global surface ocean DMS database over the last decade, new global monthly climatologies of surface ocean DMS concentration and sea-to-air emission flux are presented as updates of those constructed 10 years ago. Interpolation/extrapolation techniques were applied to project the discrete concentration data onto a first guess field based on Longhurst's biogeographic provinces. Further objective analysis allowed us to obtain the final monthly maps. The new climatology projects DMS concentrations typically in the range of 1-7 nM, with higher levels occurring in the high latitudes, and with a general trend toward increasing concentration in summer. The increased size and distribution of the observations in the DMS database have produced in the new climatology substantially lower DMS concentrations in the polar latitudes and generally higher DMS concentrations in regions that were severely undersampled 10 years ago, such as the southern Indian Ocean. Using the new DMS concentration climatology in conjunction with state-of-the-art parameterizations for the sea/air gas transfer velocity and climatological wind fields, we estimate that 28.1 (17.6-34.4) Tg of sulfur are transferred from the oceans into the atmosphere annually in the form of DMS. This represents a global emission increase of 17% with respect to the equivalent calculation using the previous climatology. This new DMS climatology represents a valuable tool for atmospheric chemistry, climate, and Earth System models.

Estimating Climatological Bias Errors for the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP)

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert; Gu, Guojun; Huffman, George

2012-01-01

A procedure is described to estimate bias errors for mean precipitation by using multiple estimates from different algorithms, satellite sources, and merged products. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) monthly product is used as a base precipitation estimate, with other input products included when they are within +/- 50% of the GPCP estimates on a zonal-mean basis (ocean and land separately). The standard deviation s of the included products is then taken to be the estimated systematic, or bias, error. The results allow one to examine monthly climatologies and the annual climatology, producing maps of estimated bias errors, zonal-mean errors, and estimated errors over large areas such as ocean and land for both the tropics and the globe. For ocean areas, where there is the largest question as to absolute magnitude of precipitation, the analysis shows spatial variations in the estimated bias errors, indicating areas where one should have more or less confidence in the mean precipitation estimates. In the tropics, relative bias error estimates (s/m, where m is the mean precipitation) over the eastern Pacific Ocean are as large as 20%, as compared with 10%-15% in the western Pacific part of the ITCZ. An examination of latitudinal differences over ocean clearly shows an increase in estimated bias error at higher latitudes, reaching up to 50%. Over land, the error estimates also locate regions of potential problems in the tropics and larger cold-season errors at high latitudes that are due to snow. An empirical technique to area average the gridded errors (s) is described that allows one to make error estimates for arbitrary areas and for the tropics and the globe (land and ocean separately, and combined). Over the tropics this calculation leads to a relative error estimate for tropical land and ocean combined of 7%, which is considered to be an upper bound because of the lack of sign-of-the-error canceling when integrating over different areas with a

Assessment of Global Cloud Datasets from Satellites: Project and Database Initiated by the GEWEX Radiation Panel

Science.gov (United States)

Stubenrauch, C. J.; Rossow, W. B.; Kinne, S.; Ackerman, S.; Cesana, G.; Chepfer, H.; Getzewich, B.; Di Girolamo, L.; Guignard, A.; Heidinger, A.;

A global climatology for equatorial plasma bubbles in the topside ionosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. C. Gentile

2006-03-01

Full Text Available We have developed a global climatology of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB occurrence based on evening sector plasma density measurements from polar-orbiting Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP spacecraft during 1989-2004. EPBs are irregular plasma density depletions in the post-sunset ionosphere that degrade communication and navigation signals. More than 14400 EPBs were identified in ~134000 DMSP orbits. DMSP observations basically agree with Tsunoda's (1985 hypothesis that EPB rates peak when the terminator is aligned with the Earth's magnetic field, but there are also unpredicted offsets in many longitude sectors. We present an updated climatology for the full database from 1989-2004 along with new plots for specific phases of the solar cycle: maximum 1989-1992 and 1999-2002, minimum 1994-1997, and transition years 1993, 1998, and 2003. As expected, there are significant differences between the climatologies for solar maximum and minimum and between the two solar maximum phases as well. We also compare DMSP F12, F14, F15, and F16 observations at slightly different local times during 2000-2004 to examine local time effects on EPB rates. The global climatologies developed using the DMSP EPB database provide an environmental context for the long-range prediction tools under development for the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS mission.

Trends in the Indian Ocean Climatology due to anthropogenic induced global warming

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meyer, AA

2009-09-01

Full Text Available clearly show that due to global warming the South West Indian Ocean Climatology has been changing and that this changing trend will continue into the future as global warming continues. The impacts of regional oceanic climate change on the regions coastal...

A Ten-Year Global Record of Absorbing Aerosols Above Clouds from OMI's Near-UV Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Jethva, Hiren; Torres, Omar; Ahn, Changwoo

2016-01-01

Aerosol-cloud interaction continues to be one of the leading uncertain components of climate models, primarily due to the lack of an adequate knowledge of the complex microphysical and radiative processes associated with the aerosol-cloud system. The situations when aerosols and clouds are found in the same atmospheric column, for instance, when light-absorbing aerosols such as biomass burning generated carbonaceous particles or wind-blown dust overlay low-level cloud decks, are commonly found over several regional of the world. Contrary to the cloud-free scenario over dark surface, for which aerosols are known to produce a net cooling effect (negative radiative forcing) on climate, the overlapping situation of absorbing aerosols over cloud can potentially exert a significant level of atmospheric absorption and produces a positive radiative forcing at top-of-atmosphere. The magnitude of direct radiative effects of aerosols above cloud depends directly on the aerosol loading, microphysical-optical properties of the aerosol layer and the underlying cloud deck, and geometric cloud fraction. We help in addressing this problem by introducing a novel product of optical depth of absorbing aerosols above clouds retrieved from near-UV observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board NASA's Aura platform. The presence of absorbing aerosols above cloud reduces the upwelling radiation reflected by cloud and produces a strong 'color ratio' effect in the near-UV region, which can be unambiguously detected in the OMI measurements. Physically based on this effect, the OMACA algorithm retrieves the optical depths of aerosols and clouds simultaneously under a prescribed state of atmosphere. The algorithm architecture and results from a ten-year global record including global climatology of frequency of occurrence and above-cloud aerosol optical depth, and a discussion on related future field campaigns are presented.

Monthly Summaries of the Global Historical Climatology Network - Daily (GHCN-D)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Monthly Summaries of Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)-Daily is a dataset derived from GHCN-Daily. The data are produced by computing simple averages or...

A daytime climatological distribution of high opaque ice cloud classes over the Indian summer monsoon region observed from 25-year AVHRR data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Devasthale

2009-06-01

Full Text Available A daytime climatological spatio-temporal distribution of high opaque ice cloud (HOIC classes over the Indian subcontinent (0–40° N, 60° E–100° E is presented using 25-year data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRRs for the summer monsoon months. The HOICs are important for regional radiative balance, precipitation and troposphere-stratosphere exchange. In this study, HOICs are sub-divided into three classes based on their cloud top brightness temperatures (BT. Class I represents very deep convection (BT<220 K. Class II represents deep convection (220 K<=BT<233 K and Class III background convection (233 K<=BT<253 K. Apart from presenting finest spatial resolution (0.1×0.1 degrees and long-term climatology of such cloud classes from AVHRRs to date, this study for the first time illustrates on (1 how these three cloud classes are climatologically distributed during monsoon months, and (2 how their distribution changes during active and break monsoon conditions. It is also investigated that how many deep convective clouds reach the tropopause layer during individual monsoon months. It is seen that Class I and Class II clouds dominate the Indian subcontinent during monsoon. The movement of monsoon over continent is very well reflected in these cloud classes. During monsoon breaks strong suppression of convective activity is observed over the Arabian Sea and the western coast of India. On the other hand, the presence of such convective activity is crucial for active monsoon conditions and all-India rainfall. It is found that a significant fraction of HOICs (3–5% reach the tropopause layer over the Bay of Bengal during June and over the north and northeast India during July and August. Many cases are observed when clouds penetrate the tropopause layer and reach the lower stratosphere. Such cases mostly occur during June compared to the other months.

A Global Ozone Climatology from Ozone Soundings via Trajectory Mapping: A Stratospheric Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, J. J.; Tarasick, D. W.; Fioletov, V. E.; McLinden, C.; Zhao, T.; Gong, S.; Sioris, G.; Jin, J. J.; Liu, G.; Moeini, O.

2013-01-01

This study explores a domain-filling trajectory approach to generate a global ozone climatology from sparse ozonesonde data. Global ozone soundings of 51,898 profiles at 116 stations over 44 years (1965-2008) are used, from which forward and backward trajectories are performed for 4 days, driven by a set of meteorological reanalysis data. Ozone mixing ratios of each sounding from the surface to 26 km altitude are assigned to the entire path along the trajectory. The resulting global ozone climatology is archived monthly for five decades from the 1960s to the 2000s with grids of 5 degree 5 degree 1 km (latitude, longitude, and altitude). It is also archived yearly from 1965 to 2008. This climatology is validated at 20 ozonesonde stations by comparing the actual ozone sounding profile with that found through the trajectories, using the ozone soundings at all the stations except one being tested. The two sets of profiles are in good agreement, both individually with correlation coefficients between 0.975 and 0.998 and root mean square (RMS) differences of 87 to 482 ppbv, and overall with a correlation coefficient of 0.991 and an RMS of 224 ppbv. The ozone climatology is also compared with two sets of satellite data, from the Satellite Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) and the Optical Spectrography and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS). Overall, the ozone climatology compares well with SAGE and OSIRIS data by both seasonal and zonal means. The mean difference is generally under 20 above 15 km. The comparison is better in the northern hemisphere, where there are more ozonesonde stations, than in the southern hemisphere; it is also better in the middle and high latitudes than in the tropics, where assimilated winds are imperfect in some regions. This ozone climatology can capture known features in the stratosphere, as well as seasonal and decadal variations of these features. Furthermore, it provides a wealth of detail about longitudinal variations in the stratosphere such

Global variability of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Makkonen, Risto; Krüger, Olaf

2017-04-01

Atmospheric aerosols can influence cloud optical and dynamical processes by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Globally, these indirect aerosol effects are significant to the radiative budget as well as a source of high uncertainty in anthropogenic radiative forcing. While historically many global climate models have fixed CCN concentrations to a certain level, most state-of-the-art models calculate aerosol-cloud interactions with sophisticated methodologies based on interactively simulated aerosol size distributions. However, due to scarcity of atmospheric observations simulated global CCN concentrations remain poorly constrained. Here we assess global CCN variability with a climate model, and attribute potential trends during 2000-2010 to changes in emissions and meteorological fields. Here we have used ECHAM5.5-HAM2 with model M7 microphysical aerosol model. The model has been upgraded with a secondary organic aerosol (SOA) scheme including ELVOCs. Dust and sea salt emissions are calculated online, based on wind speed and hydrology. Each experiment is 11 years, analysed after a 6-month spin-up period. The MODIS CCN product (Terra platform) is used to evaluate model performance throughout 2000-2010. While optical remote observation of CCN column includes several deficiencies, the products serves as a proxy for changes during the simulation period. In our analysis we utilize the observed and simulated vertical column integrated CCN concentration, and limit our analysis only over marine regions. Simulated annual CCN column densities reach 2ṡ108 cm-2 near strong source regions in central Africa, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and China sea. The spatial concentration gradient in CCN(0.2%) is steep, and column densities drop to coasts. While the spatial distribution of CCN at 0.2% supersaturation is closer to that of MODIS proxy, as opposed to 1.0% supersaturation, the overall column integrated CCN are too low. Still, we can compare the relative response of CCN

Estimating total solar radiation in different climatological of region in Iran using cloud factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jafarpour, Kh.; Karshenas, M.

2002-01-01

Iran is among the countries located on the belt pertaining to lands with a high rate of solar insolation. Statistics shows that, for instance, the solar energy which hi ted the Iranian contention al land just in the year of 1990, was more than 1600 times that of the energy exported by Iran in the same year. This high rate of solar insolation, on the one hand and the limitation of fossil-fuel reservoirs (specially, utilizing energy from such sources is polluting the environment) on the other hand, show that harnessing the solar energy is not anymore a choice of decision but rather on obligation. To fulfill this obligation one needs solar insolation data to be able to design and evaluate solar energy utilizing systems and other uses under different climatological conditions of Iran. As a first step, this article provides total solar radiation data for various cities in Iran under different climatological conditions using cloud factor as a parameter

Low Cloud Feedback to Surface Warming in the World's First Global Climate Model with Explicit Embedded Boundary Layer Turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Parishani, H.; Pritchard, M. S.; Bretherton, C. S.; Wyant, M. C.; Khairoutdinov, M.; Singh, B.

2017-12-01

Biases and parameterization formulation uncertainties in the representation of boundary layer clouds remain a leading source of possible systematic error in climate projections. Here we show the first results of cloud feedback to +4K SST warming in a new experimental climate model, the ``Ultra-Parameterized (UP)'' Community Atmosphere Model, UPCAM. We have developed UPCAM as an unusually high-resolution implementation of cloud superparameterization (SP) in which a global set of cloud resolving arrays is embedded in a host global climate model. In UP, the cloud-resolving scale includes sufficient internal resolution to explicitly generate the turbulent eddies that form marine stratocumulus and trade cumulus clouds. This is computationally costly but complements other available approaches for studying low clouds and their climate interaction, by avoiding parameterization of the relevant scales. In a recent publication we have shown that UP, while not without its own complexity trade-offs, can produce encouraging improvements in low cloud climatology in multi-month simulations of the present climate and is a promising target for exascale computing (Parishani et al. 2017). Here we show results of its low cloud feedback to warming in multi-year simulations for the first time. References: Parishani, H., M. S. Pritchard, C. S. Bretherton, M. C. Wyant, and M. Khairoutdinov (2017), Toward low-cloud-permitting cloud superparameterization with explicit boundary layer turbulence, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 9, doi:10.1002/2017MS000968.

Thermal structure of intense convective clouds derived from GPS radio occultations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biondi, Riccardo; Randel, W. J.; Ho, S. -P.

2012-01-01

Thermal structure associated with deep convective clouds is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation measurements. GPS data are insensitive to the presence of clouds, and provide high vertical resolution and high accuracy measurements to identify associated temperature...... behavior. Deep convective systems are identified using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) satellite data, and cloud tops are accurately measured using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIPSO) lidar observations; we focus on 53 cases of near-coincident GPS...

Thermal structure of intense convective clouds derived from GPS radio occultations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biondi, Riccardo; Randel, W. J.; Ho, S.-P.

2011-01-01

Thermal structure associated with deep convective clouds is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation measurements. GPS data are insensitive to the presence of clouds, and provide high vertical resolution and high accuracy measurements to identify associated temperature...... behavior. Deep convective systems are identified using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) satellite data, and cloud tops are accurately measured using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIPSO) lidar observations; we focus on 53 cases of near-coincident GPS...

Ten Years of Cloud Properties from MODIS: Global Statistics and Use in Climate Model Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Platnick, Steven E.

2011-01-01

The NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), launched onboard the Terra and Aqua spacecrafts, began Earth observations on February 24, 2000 and June 24,2002, respectively. Among the algorithms developed and applied to this sensor, a suite of cloud products includes cloud masking/detection, cloud-top properties (temperature, pressure), and optical properties (optical thickness, effective particle radius, water path, and thermodynamic phase). All cloud algorithms underwent numerous changes and enhancements between for the latest Collection 5 production version; this process continues with the current Collection 6 development. We will show example MODIS Collection 5 cloud climatologies derived from global spatial . and temporal aggregations provided in the archived gridded Level-3 MODIS atmosphere team product (product names MOD08 and MYD08 for MODIS Terra and Aqua, respectively). Data sets in this Level-3 product include scalar statistics as well as 1- and 2-D histograms of many cloud properties, allowing for higher order information and correlation studies. In addition to these statistics, we will show trends and statistical significance in annual and seasonal means for a variety of the MODIS cloud properties, as well as the time required for detection given assumed trends. To assist in climate model evaluation, we have developed a MODIS cloud simulator with an accompanying netCDF file containing subsetted monthly Level-3 statistical data sets that correspond to the simulator output. Correlations of cloud properties with ENSO offer the potential to evaluate model cloud sensitivity; initial results will be discussed.

Eight Year Climatologies from Observational (AIRS) and Model (MERRA) Data

Science.gov (United States)

Hearty, Thomas; Savtchenko, Andrey; Won, Young-In; Theobalk, Mike; Vollmer, Bruce; Manning, Evan; Smith, Peter; Ostrenga, Dana; Leptoukh, Greg

2010-01-01

We examine climatologies derived from eight years of temperature, water vapor, cloud, and trace gas observations made by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument flying on the Aqua satellite and compare them to similar climatologies constructed with data from a global assimilation model, the Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA). We use the AIRS climatologies to examine anomalies and trends in the AIRS data record. Since sampling can be an issue for infrared satellites in low earth orbit, we also use the MERRA data to examine the AIRS sampling biases. By sampling the MERRA data at the AIRS space-time locations both with and without the AIRS quality control we estimate the sampling bias of the AIRS climatology and the atmospheric conditions where AIRS has a lower sampling rate. While the AIRS temperature and water vapor sampling biases are small at low latitudes, they can be more than a few degrees in temperature or 10 percent in water vapor at higher latitudes. The largest sampling biases are over desert. The AIRS and MERRA data are available from the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). The AIRS climatologies we used are available for analysis with the GIOVANNI data exploration tool. (see, http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov).

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Climate Data Record (CDR), Version 2.3 (Monthly)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) consists of monthly satellite-gauge and associated precipitation error estimates and covers the period January...

Formation of giant molecular clouds in global spiral structures: the role of orbital dynamics and cloud-cloud collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, W.W. Jr.; Stewart, G.R.

1987-01-01

The different roles played by orbital dynamics and dissipative cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in a global spiral structure are investigated. The interstellar medium (ISM) is simulated by a system of particles, representing clouds, which orbit in a spiral-perturbed, galactic gravitational field. The overall magnitude and width of the global cloud density distribution in spiral arms is very similar in the collisional and collisionless simulations. The results suggest that the assumed number density and size distribution of clouds and the details of individual cloud-cloud collisions have relatively little effect on these features. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions play an important steadying role for the cloud system's global spiral structure. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions also damp the relative velocity dispersion of clouds in massive associations and thereby aid in the effective assembling of GMC-like complexes

A Climatology of Polar Stratospheric Cloud Types by MIPAS-Envisat

Science.gov (United States)

Spang, Reinhold; Hoffmann, Lars; Griessbach, Sabine; Orr, Andrew; Höpfner, Michael; Müller, Rolf

2015-04-01

For Chemistry Climate Models (CCM) it is still a challenging task to properly represent the evolution of the polar vortices over the entire winter season. The models usually do not include comprehensive microphysical modules to evolve the formation of different types of polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) over the winter. Consequently, predictions on the development and recovery of the future ozone hole have relatively large uncertainties. A climatological record of hemispheric measurement of PSC types could help to better validate and improve the PSC schemes in CCMs. The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument onboard the ESA Envisat satellite operated from July 2002 to April 2012. The infra-red limb emission measurements compile a unique dataset of day and night measurements of polar stratospheric clouds up to the poles. From the spectral measurements in the 4.15-14.6 microns range it is possible to select a number of atmospheric window regions and spectral signatures to classify PSC cloud types like nitric acid hydrates, sulfuric ternary solution droplets, and ice particles. The cloud detection sensitivity is similar to space borne lidars, but MIPAS adds complementary information due to its different measurement technique (limb instead of nadir) and wavelength region. Here we will describe a new classification method for PSCs based on the combination of multiple brightness temperature differences (BTD) and colour ratios. Probability density functions (PDF) of the MIPAS measurements in conjunction with a database of radiative transfer model calculations of realistic PSC particle size distributions enable the definition of regions attributed to specific or mixed types clouds. Applying a naive bias classifier for independent criteria to all defined classes in four 2D PDF distributions, it is possible to assign the most likely PSC type to any measured cloud spectrum. Statistical Monte Carlo test have been applied to quantify

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Science.gov (United States)

Spang, Reinhold; Hoffmann, Lars; Müller, Rolf; Grooß, Jens-Uwe; Tritscher, Ines; Höpfner, Michael; Pitts, Michael; Orr, Andrew; Riese, Martin

2018-04-01

The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) instrument aboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Envisat satellite operated from July 2002 to April 2012. The infrared limb emission measurements provide a unique dataset of day and night observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) up to both poles. A recent classification method for PSC types in infrared (IR) limb spectra using spectral measurements in different atmospheric window regions has been applied to the complete mission period of MIPAS. The method uses a simple probabilistic classifier based on Bayes' theorem with a strong independence assumption on a combination of a well-established two-colour ratio method and multiple 2-D probability density functions of brightness temperature differences. The Bayesian classifier distinguishes between solid particles of ice, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT), and liquid droplets of supercooled ternary solution (STS), as well as mixed types. A climatology of MIPAS PSC occurrence and specific PSC classes has been compiled. Comparisons with results from the classification scheme of the spaceborne lidar Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the Cloud-Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite show excellent correspondence in the spatial and temporal evolution for the area of PSC coverage (APSC) even for each PSC class. Probability density functions of the PSC temperature, retrieved for each class with respect to equilibrium temperature of ice and based on coincident temperatures from meteorological reanalyses, are in accordance with the microphysical knowledge of the formation processes with respect to temperature for all three PSC types.This paper represents unprecedented pole-covering day- and nighttime climatology of the PSC distributions and their composition of different particle types. The dataset allows analyses on the temporal and spatial development of the PSC formation process over

A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Spang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS instrument aboard the European Space Agency (ESA Envisat satellite operated from July 2002 to April 2012. The infrared limb emission measurements provide a unique dataset of day and night observations of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs up to both poles. A recent classification method for PSC types in infrared (IR limb spectra using spectral measurements in different atmospheric window regions has been applied to the complete mission period of MIPAS. The method uses a simple probabilistic classifier based on Bayes' theorem with a strong independence assumption on a combination of a well-established two-colour ratio method and multiple 2-D probability density functions of brightness temperature differences. The Bayesian classifier distinguishes between solid particles of ice, nitric acid trihydrate (NAT, and liquid droplets of supercooled ternary solution (STS, as well as mixed types. A climatology of MIPAS PSC occurrence and specific PSC classes has been compiled. Comparisons with results from the classification scheme of the spaceborne lidar Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP on the Cloud-Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO satellite show excellent correspondence in the spatial and temporal evolution for the area of PSC coverage (APSC even for each PSC class. Probability density functions of the PSC temperature, retrieved for each class with respect to equilibrium temperature of ice and based on coincident temperatures from meteorological reanalyses, are in accordance with the microphysical knowledge of the formation processes with respect to temperature for all three PSC types.This paper represents unprecedented pole-covering day- and nighttime climatology of the PSC distributions and their composition of different particle types. The dataset allows analyses on the temporal and spatial development of the PSC formation

A satellite and model based flood inundation climatology of Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Schumann, G.; Andreadis, K.; Castillo, C. J.

2013-12-01

To date there is no coherent and consistent database on observed or simulated flood event inundation and magnitude at large scales (continental to global). The only compiled data set showing a consistent history of flood inundation area and extent at a near global scale is provided by the MODIS-based Dartmouth Flood Observatory. However, MODIS satellite imagery is only available from 2000 and is hampered by a number of issues associated with flood mapping using optical images (e.g. classification algorithms, cloud cover, vegetation). Here, we present for the first time a proof-of-concept study in which we employ a computationally efficient 2-D hydrodynamic model (LISFLOOD-FP) complemented with a sub-grid channel formulation to generate a complete flood inundation climatology of the past 40 years (1973-2012) for the entire Australian continent. The model was built completely from freely available SRTM-derived data, including channel widths, bank heights and floodplain topography, which was corrected for vegetation canopy height using a global ICESat canopy dataset. Channel hydraulics were resolved using actual channel data and bathymetry was estimated within the model using hydraulic geometry. On the floodplain, the model simulated the flow paths and inundation variables at a 1 km resolution. The developed model was run over a period of 40 years and a floodplain inundation climatology was generated and compared to satellite flood event observations. Our proof-of-concept study demonstrates that this type of model can reliably simulate past flood events with reasonable accuracies both in time and space. The Australian model was forced with both observed flow climatology and VIC-simulated flows in order to assess the feasibility of a model-based flood inundation climatology at the global scale.

Determining Cloud Thermodynamic Phase from Micropulse Lidar Network Data

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Jasper R.; Campbell, James; Lolli, Simone; Tan, Ivy; Welton, Ellsworth J.

2017-01-01

Determining cloud thermodynamic phase is a critical factor in studies of Earth's radiation budget. Here we use observations from the NASA Micro Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) and thermodynamic profiles from the Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5) to distinguish liquid water, mixed-phase, and ice water clouds. The MPLNET provides sparse global, autonomous, and continuous measurements of clouds and aerosols which have been used in a number of scientific investigations to date. The use of a standardized instrument and a common suite of data processing algorithms with thorough uncertainty characterization allows for straightforward comparisons between sites. Lidars with polarization capabilities have recently been incorporated into the MPLNET project which allows, for the first time, the ability to infer a cloud thermodynamic phase. This presentation will look specifically at the occurrence of ice and mixed phase clouds in the temperature region of -10 C to -40 C for different climatological regions and seasons. We compare MPLNET occurrences of mixed-phase clouds to an historical climatology based on observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft.

Processing of Cloud Databases for the Development of an Automated Global Cloud Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

1991-06-30

cloud amounts in each DOE grid box. The actual population values were coded into one- and two- digit codes primarily for printing purposes. For example...IPIALES 72652 43.07 -95.53 0423 PICKSTOWNE S.D. 80110 6.22 -75.60 1498 MEDELLIN 72424 37.90 -85.97 0233 FT. KNOX KY 80069 7.00 -74.72 0610 AMALFI...12 According to Lund, Grantham, and Davis (1980), the quality of the whole sky photographs used in producing the WSP digital data ensemble was

The global mean energy balance under cloud-free conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Martin; Hakuba, Maria; Folini, Dois; Ott, Patricia; Long, Charles

2017-04-01

A long standing problem of climate models is their overestimation of surface solar radiation not only under all-sky, but also under clear-sky conditions (Wild et al. 1995, Wild et al. 2006). This overestimation reduced over time in consecutive model generations due to the simulation of stronger atmospheric absorption. Here we analyze the clear sky fluxes of the latest climate model generation from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) against an expanded and updated set of direct observations from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). Clear sky climatologies from these sites have been composed based on the Long and Ackermann (2000) clear sky detection algorithm (Hakuba et al. 2017), and sampling issues when comparing with model simulated clear sky fluxes have been analyzed in Ott (2017). Overall, the overestimation of clear sky insolation in the CMIP5 models is now merely 1-2 Wm-2 in the multimodel mean, compared to 4 Wm-2 in CMIP3 and 6 Wm-2 in AMIPII (Wild et al. 2006). Still a considerable spread in the individual model biases is apparent, ranging from -2 Wm-2 to 10 Wm-2 when averaged over 53 globally distributed BSRN sites. This bias structure is used to infer best estimates for present day global mean clear sky insolation, following an approach developped in Wild et al. (2013, 2015, Clim. Dyn.) for all sky fluxes. Thereby the flux biases in the various models are linearly related to their respective global means. A best estimate can then be inferred from the linear regression at the intersect where the bias against the surface observations becomes zero. This way we obtain a best estimate of 247 Wm-2 for the global mean insolation at the Earth surface under cloud free conditions, and a global mean absorbed solar radiation of 214 Wm-2 in the cloud-free atmosphere, assuming a global mean surface albedo of 13.5%. Combined with a best estimate for the net influx of solar radiation at the Top of Atmosphere under cloud free conditions

SST Anomaly, NOAA POES AVHRR, Casey and Cornillon Climatology, 0.1 degrees, Global

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NOAA CoastWatch distributes SST anomaly data using a combination of the POES AVHRR Global Area Coverage data, and data from a climatological database by Casey and...

Toward low-cloud-permitting cloud superparameterization with explicit boundary layer turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Parishani, Hossein; Pritchard, Michael S.; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Wyant, Matthew C.; Khairoutdinov, Marat

2017-07-01

Systematic biases in the representation of boundary layer (BL) clouds are a leading source of uncertainty in climate projections. A variation on superparameterization (SP) called "ultraparameterization" (UP) is developed, in which the grid spacing of the cloud-resolving models (CRMs) is fine enough (250 × 20 m) to explicitly capture the BL turbulence, associated clouds, and entrainment in a global climate model capable of multiyear simulations. UP is implemented within the Community Atmosphere Model using 2° resolution (˜14,000 embedded CRMs) with one-moment microphysics. By using a small domain and mean-state acceleration, UP is computationally feasible today and promising for exascale computers. Short-duration global UP hindcasts are compared with SP and satellite observations of top-of-atmosphere radiation and cloud vertical structure. The most encouraging improvement is a deeper BL and more realistic vertical structure of subtropical stratocumulus (Sc) clouds, due to stronger vertical eddy motions that promote entrainment. Results from 90 day integrations show climatological errors that are competitive with SP, with a significant improvement in the diurnal cycle of offshore Sc liquid water. Ongoing concerns with the current UP implementation include a dim bias for near-coastal Sc that also occurs less prominently in SP and a bright bias over tropical continental deep convection zones. Nevertheless, UP makes global eddy-permitting simulation a feasible and interesting alternative to conventionally parameterized GCMs or SP-GCMs with turbulence parameterizations for studying BL cloud-climate and cloud-aerosol feedback.

Development and Testing of the New Surface LER Climatology for OMI UV Aerosol Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Pawan; Torres, Omar; Jethva, Hiren; Ahn, Changwoo

2014-01-01

Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard Aura satellite retrieved aerosols properties using UV part of solar spectrum. The OMI near UV aerosol algorithm (OMAERUV) is a global inversion scheme which retrieves aerosol properties both over ocean and land. The current version of the algorithm makes use of TOMS derived Lambertian Equivalent Reflectance (LER) climatology. A new monthly climatology of surface LER at 354 and 388 nm have been developed. This will replace TOMS LER (380 nm and 354nm) climatology in OMI near UV aerosol retrieval algorithm. The main objectives of this study is to produce high resolution (quarter degree) surface LER sets as compared to existing one degree TOMS surface LERs, to product instrument and wavelength consistent surface climatology. Nine years of OMI observations have been used to derive monthly climatology of surface LER. MODIS derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) have been used to make aerosol corrections on OMI wavelengths. MODIS derived BRDF adjusted reflectance product has been also used to capture seasonal changes in the surface characteristics. Finally spatial and temporal averaging techniques have been used to fill the gaps around the globes, especially in the regions with consistent cloud cover such as Amazon. After implementation of new surface data in the research version of algorithm, comparisons of AOD and single scattering albedo (SSA) have been performed over global AERONET sites for year 2007. Preliminary results shows improvements in AOD retrievals globally but more significance improvement were observed over desert and bright locations. We will present methodology of deriving surface data sets and will discuss the observed changes in retrieved aerosol properties with respect to reference AERONET measurements.

The Version 2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present)

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George J.; Chang, Alfred; Ferraro, Ralph; Xie, Ping-Ping; Janowiak, John; Rudolf, Bruno; Schneider, Udo; Curtis, Scott; Bolvin, David

2003-01-01

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Version 2 Monthly Precipitation Analysis is described. This globally complete, monthly analysis of surface precipitation at 2.5 degrees x 2.5 degrees latitude-longitude resolution is available from January 1979 to the present. It is a merged analysis that incorporates precipitation estimates from low-orbit-satellite microwave data, geosynchronous-orbit-satellite infrared data, and rain gauge observations. The merging approach utilizes the higher accuracy of the low-orbit microwave observations to calibrate, or adjust, the more frequent geosynchronous infrared observations. The data set is extended back into the premicrowave era (before 1987) by using infrared-only observations calibrated to the microwave-based analysis of the later years. The combined satellite-based product is adjusted by the raingauge analysis. This monthly analysis is the foundation for the GPCP suite of products including those at finer temporal resolution, satellite estimate, and error estimates for each field. The 23-year GPCP climatology is characterized, along with time and space variations of precipitation.

4 km NODC/RSMAS AVHRR Pathfinder Cloud Screened Version 5.0 Monthly Climatologies (1985-2006) (NODC Accession 0110657)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This accession contains a global, 4km monthly sea surface temperature climatology derived from harmonic analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 sea surface...

GEWEX cloud assessment: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Stubenrauch, Claudia; Rossow, William B.; Kinne, Stefan; Ackerman, Steve; Cesana, Gregory; Chepfer, Hélène; Di Girolamo, Larry; Getzewich, Brian; Guignard, Anthony; Heidinger, Andy; Maddux, Brent; Menzel, Paul; Minnis, Patrick; Pearl, Cindy; Platnick, Steven; Poulsen, Caroline; Riedi, Jérôme; Sayer, Andrew; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Walther, Andi; Winker, Dave; Zeng, Shen; Zhao, Guangyu

2013-05-01

Clouds cover about 70% of the Earth's surface and play a dominant role in the energy and water cycle of our planet. Only satellite observations provide a continuous survey of the state of the atmosphere over the entire globe and across the wide range of spatial and temporal scales that comprise weather and climate variability. Satellite cloud data records now exceed more than 25 years; however, climatologies compiled from different satellite datasets can exhibit systematic biases. Questions therefore arise as to the accuracy and limitations of the various sensors. The Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment, initiated in 2005 by the GEWEX Radiation Panel, provides the first coordinated intercomparison of publicly available, global cloud products (gridded, monthly statistics) retrieved from measurements of multi-spectral imagers (some with multi-angle view and polarization capabilities), IR sounders and lidar. Cloud properties under study include cloud amount, cloud height (in terms of pressure, temperature or altitude), cloud radiative properties (optical depth or emissivity), cloud thermodynamic phase and bulk microphysical properties (effective particle size and water path). Differences in average cloud properties, especially in the amount of high-level clouds, are mostly explained by the inherent instrument measurement capability for detecting and/or identifying optically thin cirrus, especially when overlying low-level clouds. The study of long-term variations with these datasets requires consideration of many factors. The monthly, gridded database presented here facilitates further assessments, climate studies, and the evaluation of climate models.

Extended-range prediction trials using the global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new ocean-coupled version NICOCO

Science.gov (United States)

Miyakawa, Tomoki

2017-04-01

The global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new fully-coupled version NICOCO is run on one of the worlds top-tier supercomputers, the K computer. NICOCO couples the full-3D ocean component COCO of the general circulation model MIROC using a general-purpose coupler Jcup. We carried out multiple MJO simulations using NICAM and the new ocean-coupled version NICOCO to examine their extended-range MJO prediction skills and the impact of ocean coupling. NICAM performs excellently in terms of MJO prediction, maintaining a valid skill up to 27 days after the model is initialized (Miyakawa et al 2014). As is the case in most global models, ocean coupling frees the model from being anchored by the observed SST and allows the model climate to drift away further from reality compared to the atmospheric version of the model. Thus, it is important to evaluate the model bias, and in an initial value problem such as the seasonal extended-range prediction, it is essential to be able to distinguish the actual signal from the early transition of the model from the observed state to its own climatology. Since NICAM is a highly resource-demanding model, evaluation and tuning of the model climatology (order of years) is challenging. Here we focus on the initial 100 days to estimate the early drift of the model, and subsequently evaluate MJO prediction skills of NICOCO. Results show that in the initial 100 days, NICOCO forms a La-Nina like SST bias compared to observation, with a warmer Maritime Continent warm pool and a cooler equatorial central Pacific. The enhanced convection over the Maritime Continent associated with this bias project on to the real-time multi-variate MJO indices (RMM, Wheeler and Hendon 2004), and contaminates the MJO skill score. However, the bias does not appear to demolish the MJO signal severely. The model maintains a valid MJO prediction skill up to nearly 4 weeks when evaluated after linearly removing the early drift component estimated from

Global simulations of aerosol processing in clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Hoose

2008-12-01

Full Text Available An explicit and detailed representation of in-droplet and in-crystal aerosol particles in stratiform clouds has been introduced in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The new scheme allows an evaluation of the cloud cycling of aerosols and an estimation of the relative contributions of nucleation and collision scavenging, as opposed to evaporation of hydrometeors in the global aerosol processing by clouds. On average an aerosol particle is cycled through stratiform clouds 0.5 times. The new scheme leads to important changes in the simulated fraction of aerosol scavenged in clouds, and consequently in the aerosol wet deposition. In general, less aerosol is scavenged into clouds with the new prognostic treatment than what is prescribed in standard ECHAM5-HAM. Aerosol concentrations, size distributions, scavenged fractions and cloud droplet concentrations are evaluated and compared to different observations. While the scavenged fraction and the aerosol number concentrations in the marine boundary layer are well represented in the new model, aerosol optical thickness, cloud droplet number concentrations in the marine boundary layer and the aerosol volume in the accumulation and coarse modes over the oceans are overestimated. Sensitivity studies suggest that a better representation of below-cloud scavenging, higher in-cloud collision coefficients, or a reduced water uptake by seasalt aerosols could reduce these biases.

OMI/Aura Surface Reflectance Climatology Level 3 Global 0.5deg Lat/Lon Grid V003

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The OMI Earth Surface Reflectance Climatology product, OMLER (Global 0.5deg Lat/Lon grid) which is based on Version 003 Level-1B top of atmosphere upwelling radiance...

Evaluation of global climate models for Indian monsoon climatology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodra, Evan; Ganguly, Auroop R; Ghosh, Subimal

2012-01-01

The viability of global climate models for forecasting the Indian monsoon is explored. Evaluation and intercomparison of model skills are employed to assess the reliability of individual models and to guide model selection strategies. Two dominant and unique patterns of Indian monsoon climatology are trends in maximum temperature and periodicity in total rainfall observed after 30 yr averaging over India. An examination of seven models and their ensembles reveals that no single model or model selection strategy outperforms the rest. The single-best model for the periodicity of Indian monsoon rainfall is the only model that captures a low-frequency natural climate oscillator thought to dictate the periodicity. The trend in maximum temperature, which most models are thought to handle relatively better, is best captured through a multimodel average compared to individual models. The results suggest a need to carefully evaluate individual models and model combinations, in addition to physical drivers where possible, for regional projections from global climate models. (letter)

Aerosol effects on cloud water amounts were successfully simulated by a global cloud-system resolving model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Yousuke; Goto, Daisuke; Michibata, Takuro; Suzuki, Kentaroh; Takemura, Toshihiko; Tomita, Hirofumi; Nakajima, Teruyuki

2018-03-07

Aerosols affect climate by modifying cloud properties through their role as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei, called aerosol-cloud interactions. In most global climate models (GCMs), the aerosol-cloud interactions are represented by empirical parameterisations, in which the mass of cloud liquid water (LWP) is assumed to increase monotonically with increasing aerosol loading. Recent satellite observations, however, have yielded contradictory results: LWP can decrease with increasing aerosol loading. This difference implies that GCMs overestimate the aerosol effect, but the reasons for the difference are not obvious. Here, we reproduce satellite-observed LWP responses using a global simulation with explicit representations of cloud microphysics, instead of the parameterisations. Our analyses reveal that the decrease in LWP originates from the response of evaporation and condensation processes to aerosol perturbations, which are not represented in GCMs. The explicit representation of cloud microphysics in global scale modelling reduces the uncertainty of climate prediction.

Cloud-to-ground lightning over Mexico and adjacent oceanic regions. A preliminary climatology using the WWLLN dataset

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kucienska, B.; Raga, G.B. [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico). Centro de Ciencias de la Atmosfera; Rodriguez, O. [Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua, Morelos (Mexico)

2010-07-01

This work constitutes the first climatological study of lightning over Mexico and adjacent oceanic areas for the period 2005-2009. Spatial and temporal distributions of cloud to ground lightning are presented and the processes that contribute to the lightning variability are analysed. The data are retrieved from theWorldWide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) dataset. The current WWLL network includes 40 stations which cover much of the globe and detect very low frequency radiation (''spherics'') associated with lightning. The spatial distribution of the average yearly lightning over the continental region of Mexico shows the influence of orographic forcing in producing convective clouds with high lightning activity. However, a very high number of strikes is also observed in the States of Tabasco and Campeche, which are low-lying areas. This maximum is related to the climatological maximum of precipitation for the country and it may be associated with a region of persistent low-level convergence and convection in the southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The maps of correlation between rainfall and lightning provide insight into the microphysical processes occurring within the clouds. The maritime clouds close to the coastline exhibit similar properties to continental clouds as they produce very high lightning activity. The seasonal cycle of lightning registered by WWLLN is consistent with the LIS/OTD dataset for the selected regions. In terms of the annual distribution of cloud-to-ground strikes, July, August and September exhibit the highest number of strikes over continental Mexico. The diurnal cycle indicates that the maximum number of strikes over the continent is observed between 6 and 9 p.m. LT. The surrounding oceanic regions were subdivided into four distinct sectors: Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Subtropical Pacific and Tropical Pacific. The Gulf of Mexico has the broadest seasonal distribution, since during winter lightning associated

Global distributions of cloud properties for CERES

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, S.; Minnis, P.; Heck, P.; Young, D.

2003-04-01

The microphysical and macrophysical properties of clouds play a crucial role in the earth's radiation budget. Simultaneous measurement of the radiation and cloud fields on a global basis has long been recognized as a key component in understanding and modeling the interaction between clouds and radiation at the top of the atmosphere, at the surface, and within the atmosphere. With the implementation of the NASA Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) in 1998, this need is being met. Broadband shortwave and longwave radiance measurements taken by the CERES scanners at resolutions between 10 and 20 km on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Terra, and Aqua satellites are matched to simultaneous retrievals of cloud height, phase, particle size, water path, and optical depth from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua. The combined cloud-radiation product has already been used for developing new, highly accurate anisotropic directional models for converting broadband radiances to flux. They also provide a consistent measure of cloud properties at different times of day over the globe since January 1998. These data will be valuable for determining the indirect effects of aerosols and for linking cloud water to cloud radiation. This paper provides an overview of the CERES cloud products from the three satellites including the retrieval methodology, validation, and global distributions. Availability and access to the datasets will also be discussed.

Progress Toward a Global, EOS-Era Aerosol Air Mass Type Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Kahn, Ralph A.

2012-01-01

The MISR and MODIS instruments aboard the NASA Earth Observing System's Terra Satellite have been collecting data containing information about the state of Earth's atmosphere and surface for over eleven years. Data from these instruments have been used to develop a global, monthly climatology of aerosol amount that is widely used as a constraint on climate models, including those used for the 2007 IPCC assessment report. The next frontier in assessing aerosol radiative forcing of climate is aerosol type, and in particular, the absorption properties of major aerosol air masses. This presentation will focus on the prospects for constraining aerosol type globally, and the steps we are taking to apply a combination of satellite and suborbital data to this challenge.

Effects of aerosol/cloud interactions on the global radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuang, C.C.; Penner, J.E.

1994-01-01

Aerosols may modify the microphysics of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), thereby enhancing the cloud reflectivity. Aerosols may also alter precipitation development by affecting the mean droplet size, thereby influencing cloud lifetimes and modifying the hydrological cycle. Clouds have a major effect on climate, but aerosol/cloud interactions have not been accounted for in past climate model simulations. However, the worldwide steady rise of global pollutants and emissions makes it imperative to investigate how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds and the global radiation budget. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between aerosol and cloud drop size distributions by using a detailed micro-physical model. They parameterize the cloud nucleation process in terms of local aerosol characteristics and updraft velocity for use in a coupled climate/chemistry model to predict the magnitude of aerosol cloud forcing. Their simulations indicate that aerosol/cloud interactions may result in important increases in reflected solar radiation, which would mask locally the radiative forcing from increased greenhouse gases. This work is aimed at improving the assessment of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud optical properties and the global radiation budget

Differences in liquid cloud droplet effective radius and number concentration estimates between MODIS collections 5.1 and 6 over global oceans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Rausch

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Differences in cloud droplet effective radius and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC estimates inferred from the Aqua–MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer collections 5.1 (C5.1 and 6 (C6 cloud products (MYD06 are examined for warm clouds over global oceans for the year 2008. Individual pixel level retrievals for both collections are aggregated to 1°  ×  1° and compared globally and regionally for the three main spectral channel pairs used for MODIS cloud optical property retrievals. Comparisons between both collections are performed for cases in which all three effective radii retrievals are classified by the MODIS cloud product as valid. The contribution to the observed differences of several key MYD06 Collection 6 algorithm updates are also explored, with a focus on changes to the surface reflectance model, assumed solar irradiance, above-cloud emission, cloud-top pressure (CTP, and pixel registration. Global results show a neutral to positive (> 50 cm−3 change for C6-derived CDNC relative to C5.1 for the 1.6 and 2.1 µm channel retrievals, corresponding to a neutral to −2 µm difference in droplet effective radius (re. For 3.7 µm retrievals, CDNC results show a negative change in the tropics, with differences transitioning toward positive values with increasing latitude spanning −25 to +50 cm−3 related to a +2.5 to −1 µm transition in effective radius. Cloud optical thickness (τ differences were small relative to effective radius and found to not significantly impact CDNC estimates. Regionally, the magnitude and behavior of the annual CDNC cycle are compared for each effective radius retrieval. Results from this study indicate significant inter-collection differences in aggregated values of effective radius due to changes to the precomputed retrieval lookup tables (LUTs for ocean scenes, changes to retrieved cloud-top pressure, solar irradiance, or above-cloud thermal emission

Global two-channel AVHRR aerosol climatology: effects of stratospheric aerosols and preliminary comparisons with MODIS and MISR retrievals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geogdzhayev, Igor V.; Mishchenko, Michael I.; Liu Li; Remer, Lorraine

2004-01-01

We present an update on the status of the global climatology of the aerosol column optical thickness and Angstrom exponent derived from channel-1 and -2 radiances of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) in the framework of the Global Aerosol Climatology Project (GACP). The latest version of the climatology covers the period from July 1983 to September 2001 and is based on an adjusted value of the diffuse component of the ocean reflectance as derived from extensive comparisons with ship sun-photometer data. We use the updated GACP climatology and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) data to analyze how stratospheric aerosols from major volcanic eruptions can affect the GACP aerosol product. One possible retrieval strategy based on the AVHRR channel-1 and -2 data alone is to infer both the stratospheric and the tropospheric aerosol optical thickness while assuming fixed microphysical models for both aerosol components. The second approach is to use the SAGE stratospheric aerosol data in order to constrain the AVHRR retrieval algorithm. We demonstrate that the second approach yields a consistent long-term record of the tropospheric aerosol optical thickness and Angstrom exponent. Preliminary comparisons of the GACP aerosol product with MODerate resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer aerosol retrievals show reasonable agreement, the GACP global monthly optical thickness being lower than the MODIS one by approximately 0.03. Larger differences are observed on a regional scale. Comparisons of the GACP and MODIS Angstrom exponent records are less conclusive and require further analysis

A global boundary-layer height climatology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dop, H. van; Krol, M.; Holtslag, B. [Inst. for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, IMAU, Utrecht (Netherlands)

1997-10-01

In principle the ABL (atmospheric boundary layer) height can be retrieved from atmospheric global circulation models since they contain algorithms which determine the intensity of the turbulence as a function of height. However, these data are not routinely available, or on a (vertical) resolution which is too crude in view of the application. This justifies the development of a separate algorithm in order to define the ABL. The algorithm should include the generation of turbulence by both shear and buoyancy and should be based on readily available atmospheric parameters. There is obviously a wide application for boundary heights in off-line global and regional chemistry and transport modelling. It is also a much used parameter in air pollution meteorology. In this article we shall present a theory which is based on current insights in ABL dynamics. The theory is applicable over land and sea surfaces in all seasons. The theory is (for various reasons) not valid in mountainous areas. In areas where boundary-layer clouds or deep cumulus convection are present the theory does not apply. However, the same global atmospheric circulation models contain parameterizations for shallow and deep convection from which separate estimates can be obtained for the extent of vertical mixing. (au)

Global Software Development with Cloud Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Yara, Pavan; Ramachandran, Ramaseshan; Balasubramanian, Gayathri; Muthuswamy, Karthik; Chandrasekar, Divya

Offshore and outsourced distributed software development models and processes are facing challenges, previously unknown, with respect to computing capacity, bandwidth, storage, security, complexity, reliability, and business uncertainty. Clouds promise to address these challenges by adopting recent advances in virtualization, parallel and distributed systems, utility computing, and software services. In this paper, we envision a cloud-based platform that addresses some of these core problems. We outline a generic cloud architecture, its design and our first implementation results for three cloud forms - a compute cloud, a storage cloud and a cloud-based software service- in the context of global distributed software development (GSD). Our ”compute cloud” provides computational services such as continuous code integration and a compile server farm, ”storage cloud” offers storage (block or file-based) services with an on-line virtual storage service, whereas the on-line virtual labs represent a useful cloud service. We note some of the use cases for clouds in GSD, the lessons learned with our prototypes and identify challenges that must be conquered before realizing the full business benefits. We believe that in the future, software practitioners will focus more on these cloud computing platforms and see clouds as a means to supporting a ecosystem of clients, developers and other key stakeholders.

OW Levitus Climatology

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The dataset consists of global temperature and salinity climatologies with a spatial resolution of 1x1 degree, and consists of 19 levels (surface - 5000m). It was...

A global space-based stratospheric aerosol climatology: 1979-2016

Science.gov (United States)

Thomason, Larry W.; Ernest, Nicholas; Millán, Luis; Rieger, Landon; Bourassa, Adam; Vernier, Jean-Paul; Manney, Gloria; Luo, Beiping; Arfeuille, Florian; Peter, Thomas

2018-03-01

We describe the construction of a continuous 38-year record of stratospheric aerosol optical properties. The Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology, or GloSSAC, provided the input data to the construction of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project stratospheric aerosol forcing data set (1979-2014) and we have extended it through 2016 following an identical process. GloSSAC focuses on the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) series of instruments through mid-2005, and on the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data thereafter. We also use data from other space instruments and from ground-based, air, and balloon borne instruments to fill in key gaps in the data set. The end result is a global and gap-free data set focused on aerosol extinction coefficient at 525 and 1020 nm and other parameters on an "as available" basis. For the primary data sets, we developed a new method for filling the post-Pinatubo eruption data gap for 1991-1993 based on data from the Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer. In addition, we developed a new method for populating wintertime high latitudes during the SAGE period employing a latitude-equivalent latitude conversion process that greatly improves the depiction of aerosol at high latitudes compared to earlier similar efforts. We report data in the troposphere only when and where it is available. This is primarily during the SAGE II period except for the most enhanced part of the Pinatubo period. It is likely that the upper troposphere during Pinatubo was greatly enhanced over non-volcanic periods and that domain remains substantially under-characterized. We note that aerosol levels during the OSIRIS/CALIPSO period in the lower stratosphere at mid- and high latitudes is routinely higher than what we observed during the SAGE II period. While this period had nearly continuous low-level volcanic activity, it

Using MODIS Cloud Regimes to Sort Diagnostic Signals of Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Cho, Nayeong; Lee, Dongmin

2017-05-27

Coincident multi-year measurements of aerosol, cloud, precipitation and radiation at near-global scales are analyzed to diagnose their apparent relationships as suggestive of interactions previously proposed based on theoretical, observational, and model constructs. Specifically, we examine whether differences in aerosol loading in separate observations go along with consistently different precipitation, cloud properties, and cloud radiative effects. Our analysis uses a cloud regime (CR) framework to dissect and sort the results. The CRs come from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor and are defined as distinct groups of cloud systems with similar co-variations of cloud top pressure and cloud optical thickness. Aerosol optical depth used as proxy for aerosol loading comes from two sources, MODIS observations, and the MERRA-2 re-analysis, and its variability is defined with respect to local seasonal climatologies. The choice of aerosol dataset impacts our results substantially. We also find that the responses of the marine and continental component of a CR are frequently quite disparate. Overall, CRs dominated by warm clouds tend to exhibit less ambiguous signals, but also have more uncertainty with regard to precipitation changes. Finally, we find weak, but occasionally systematic co-variations of select meteorological indicators and aerosol, which serves as a sober reminder that ascribing changes in cloud and cloud-affected variables solely to aerosol variations is precarious.

Using satellites and global models to investigate aerosol-cloud interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Gryspeerdt, E.; Quaas, J.; Goren, T.; Sourdeval, O.; Mülmenstädt, J.

2017-12-01

Aerosols are known to impact liquid cloud properties, through both microphysical and radiative processes. Increasing the number concentration of aerosol particles can increase the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC). Through impacts on precipitation processes, this increase in CDNC may also be able to impact the cloud fraction (CF) and the cloud liquid water path (LWP). Several studies have looked into the effect of aerosols on the CDNC, but as the albedo of a cloudy scene depends much more strongly on LWP and CF, an aerosol influence on these properties could generate a significant radiative forcing. While the impact of aerosols on cloud properties can be seen in case studies involving shiptracks and volcanoes, producing a global estimate of these effects remains challenging due to the confounding effect of local meteorology. For example, relative humidity significantly impacts the aerosol optical depth (AOD), a common satellite proxy for CCN, as well as being a strong control on cloud properties. This can generate relationships between AOD and cloud properties, even when there is no impact of aerosol-cloud interactions. In this work, we look at how aerosol-cloud interactions can be distinguished from the effect of local meteorology in satellite studies. With a combination global climate models and multiple sources of satellite data, we show that the choice of appropriate mediating variables and case studies can be used to develop constraints on the aerosol impact on CF and LWP. This will lead to improved representations of clouds in global climate models and help to reduce the uncertainty in the global impact of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud properties.

Investigating the frequency and interannual variability in global above-cloud aerosol characteristics with CALIOP and OMI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Alfaro-Contreras

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Seven and a half years (June 2006 to November 2013 of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP aerosol and cloud layer products are compared with collocated Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI aerosol index (AI data and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS cloud products in order to investigate variability in estimates of biannual and monthly above-cloud aerosol (ACA events globally. The active- (CALIOP and passive-based (OMI-MODIS techniques have their advantages and caveats for ACA detection, and thus both are used to derive a thorough and robust comparison of daytime cloudy-sky ACA distribution and climatology. For the first time, baseline above-cloud aerosol optical depth (ACAOD and AI thresholds are derived and examined (AI  =  1.0, ACAOD  =  0.015 for each sensor. Both OMI-MODIS and CALIOP-based daytime spatial distributions of ACA events show similar patterns during both study periods (December–May and (June–November. Divergence exists in some regions, however, such as Southeast Asia during June through November, where daytime cloudy-sky ACA frequencies of up to 10 % are found from CALIOP yet are non-existent from the OMI-based method. Conversely, annual cloudy-sky ACA frequencies of 20–30 % are reported over northern Africa from the OMI-based method yet are largely undetected by the CALIOP-based method. Using a collocated OMI-MODIS-CALIOP data set, our study suggests that the cloudy-sky ACA frequency differences between the OMI-MODIS- and CALIOP-based methods are mostly due to differences in cloud detection capability between MODIS and CALIOP as well as QA flags used. An increasing interannual variability of  ∼  0.3–0.4 % per year (since 2009 in global monthly cloudy-sky ACA daytime frequency of occurrence is found using the OMI-MODIS-based method. Yet, CALIOP-based global daytime ACA frequencies exhibit a near-zero interannual variability. Further analysis suggests

Normalization and calibration of geostationary satellite radiances for the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project

Science.gov (United States)

Desormeaux, Yves; Rossow, William B.; Brest, Christopher L.; Campbell, G. G.

1993-01-01

Procedures are described for normalizing the radiometric calibration of image radiances obtained from geostationary weather satellites that contributed data to the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project. The key step is comparison of coincident and collocated measurements made by each satellite and the concurrent AVHRR on the 'afternoon' NOAA polar-orbiting weather satellite at the same viewing geometry. The results of this comparison allow transfer of the AVHRR absolute calibration, which has been established over the whole series, to the radiometers on the geostationary satellites. Results are given for Meteosat-2, 3, and 4, for GOES-5, 6, and 7, for GMS-2, 3, and 4 and for Insat-1B. The relative stability of the calibrations of these radiance data is estimated to be within +/- 3 percent; the uncertainty of the absolute calibrations is estimated to be less than 10 percent. The remaining uncertainties are at least two times smaller than for the original radiance data.

Aerosol-cloud interactions from urban, regional to global scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yuan

2015-01-01

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.

Aerosol-cloud interactions from urban, regional to global scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yuan [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States). Seismological Lab.

2015-10-01

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.

Constructing an AIRS Climatology for Data Visualization and Analysis to Serve the Climate Science and Application Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Feng; Keim, Elaine; Hearty, Thomas J.; Wei, Jennifer; Savtchenko, Andrey; Theobald, Michael; Vollmer, Bruce

2016-01-01

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) is the home of processing, archiving, and distribution services for NASA sounders: the present Aqua AIRS mission and the succeeding SNPP CrIS mission. The AIRS mission is entering its 15th year of global observations of the atmospheric state, including temperature and humidity profiles, outgoing longwave radiation, cloud properties, and trace gases. The GES DISC, in collaboration with the AIRS Project, released product from the version 6 algorithm in early 2013. Giovanni, a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC, provides a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data without having to download the data. Most important variables from version 6 AIRS product are available in Giovanni. We are developing a climatology product using 14-year AIRS retrievals. The study can be a good start for the long term climatology from NASA sounders: the AIRS and the succeeding CrIS. This presentation will show the impacts to the climatology product from different aggregation methods. The climatology can serve climate science and application communities in data visualization and analysis, which will be demonstrated using a variety of functions in version 4 Giovanni. The highlights of these functions include user-defined monthly and seasonal climatology, inter annual seasonal time series, anomaly analysis.

Evolution in Cloud Population Statistics of the MJO: From AMIE Field Observations to Global Cloud-Permiting Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Chidong [Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL (United States)

2016-08-14

Motivated by the success of the AMIE/DYNAMO field campaign, which collected unprecedented observations of cloud and precipitation from the tropical Indian Ocean in Octber 2011 – March 2012, this project explored how such observations can be applied to assist the development of global cloud-permitting models through evaluating and correcting model biases in cloud statistics. The main accomplishment of this project were made in four categories: generating observational products for model evaluation, using AMIE/DYNAMO observations to validate global model simulations, using AMIE/DYNAMO observations in numerical studies of cloud-permitting models, and providing leadership in the field. Results from this project provide valuable information for building a seamless bridge between DOE ASR program’s component on process level understanding of cloud processes in the tropics and RGCM focus on global variability and regional extremes. In particular, experience gained from this project would be directly applicable to evaluation and improvements of ACME, especially as it transitions to a non-hydrostatic variable resolution model.

Assessment of a global climatology of oceanic dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations based on SeaWiFS imagery (1998-2001)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belviso, S; Moulin, C; Bopp, L; Stefels, J

A method is developed to estimate sea-surface particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP(p)) and dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations from sea-surface concentrations of chlorophyll a (Chl a). When compared with previous studies, the 1degrees x 1degrees global climatology of oceanic DMS

Using Long-Term Satellite Observations to Identify Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effects for Liquid Clouds Over Global Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xuepeng; Liu, Yangang; Yu, Fangquan; Heidinger, Andrew K.

2018-01-01

Long-term (1981-2011) satellite climate data records of clouds and aerosols are used to investigate the aerosol-cloud interaction of marine water cloud from a climatology perspective. Our focus is on identifying the regimes and regions where the aerosol indirect effects (AIEs) are evident in long-term averages over the global oceans through analyzing the correlation features between aerosol loading and the key cloud variables including cloud droplet effective radius (CDER), cloud optical depth (COD), cloud water path (CWP), cloud top height (CTH), and cloud top temperature (CTT). An aerosol optical thickness (AOT) range of 0.13 change of long-term averaged CDER appears only in limited oceanic regions. The signature of aerosol invigoration of water clouds as revealed by the increase of cloud cover fraction (CCF) and CTH with increasing AOT at the middle/high latitudes of both hemispheres is identified for a pristine atmosphere (AOT polluted marine atmosphere (AOT > 0.3) in the tropical convergence zones. The regions where the second AIE is likely to manifest in the CCF change are limited to several oceanic areas with high CCF of the warm water clouds near the western coasts of continents. The second AIE signature as represented by the reduction of the precipitation efficiency with increasing AOT is more likely to be observed in the AOT regime of 0.08 < AOT < 0.4. The corresponding AIE active regions manifested themselves as the decline of the precipitation efficiency are mainly limited to the oceanic areas downwind of continental aerosols. The sensitive regime of the conventional AIE identified in this observational study is likely associated with the transitional regime from the aerosol-limited regime to the updraft-limited regime identified for aerosol-cloud interaction in cloud model simulations.

Derivation of Tropospheric Ozone Climatology and Trends from TOMS Data

Science.gov (United States)

Newchurch, Michael J.; McPeters, Rich; Logan, Jennifer; Kim, Jae-Hwan

2002-01-01

This research addresses the following three objectives: (1) Derive tropospheric ozone columns from the TOMS instruments by computing the difference between total-ozone columns over cloudy areas and over clear areas in the tropics; (2) Compute secular trends in Nimbus-7 derived tropospheric Ozone column amounts and associated potential trends in the decadal-scale tropical cloud climatology; (3) Explain the occurrence of anomalously high ozone retrievals over high ice clouds.

Climatology and Interannual Variability of Quasi-Global Intense Precipitation Using Satellite Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ricko, Martina; Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George J.

2016-01-01

Climatology and variations of recent mean and intense precipitation over a near-global (50 deg. S 50 deg. N) domain on a monthly and annual time scale are analyzed. Data used to derive daily precipitation to examine the effects of spatial and temporal coverage of intense precipitation are from the current Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42 version 7 precipitation product, with high spatial and temporal resolution during 1998 - 2013. Intense precipitation is defined by several different parameters, such as a 95th percentile threshold of daily precipitation, a mean precipitation that exceeds that percentile, or a fixed threshold of daily precipitation value [e.g., 25 and 50 mm day(exp -1)]. All parameters are used to identify the main characteristics of spatial and temporal variation of intense precipitation. High correlations between examined parameters are observed, especially between climatological monthly mean precipitation and intense precipitation, over both tropical land and ocean. Among the various parameters examined, the one best characterizing intense rainfall is a fraction of daily precipitation Great than or equal to 25 mm day(exp. -1), defined as a ratio between the intense precipitation above the used threshold and mean precipitation. Regions that experience an increase in mean precipitation likely experience a similar increase in intense precipitation, especially during the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Improved knowledge of this intense precipitation regime and its strong connection to mean precipitation given by the fraction parameter can be used for monitoring of intense rainfall and its intensity on a global to regional scale.

The Global and Local Characters of Mars Perihelion Cloud Trails

Science.gov (United States)

Clancy, R. T.; Wolff, M. J.; Smith, M. D.; Cantor, B. A.; Spiga, A.

2014-12-01

We present the seasonal and spatial distribution of Mars perihelion cloud trails as mapped from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) MARCI (Mars Color Imager) imaging observations in 2 ultraviolet and 3 visible filters. The extended 2007-2013 period of MARCI daily global image maps reveals the widespread distribution of these high altitude clouds, which are somewhat paradoxically associated with specific surface regions. They appear as longitudinally extended (300-700 km) cloud trails with distinct leading plumes of substantial ice cloud optical depths (0.02-0.2) for such high altitudes of occurrence (40-50 km, from cloud surface shadow measurements). These plumes generate small ice particles (Reff~1 to reflect locally elevated mesospheric water ice formation that may impact the global expression of mesospheric water ice aerosols.

The global climatology of an interannually varying air-sea flux data set

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Large, W.G.; Yeager, S.G. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

2009-08-15

The air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat, freshwater and their components have been computed globally from 1948 at frequencies ranging from 6-hourly to monthly. All fluxes are computed over the 23 years from 1984 to 2006, but radiation prior to 1984 and precipitation before 1979 are given only as climatological mean annual cycles. The input data are based on NCEP reanalysis only for the near surface vector wind, temperature, specific humidity and density, and on a variety of satellite based radiation, sea surface temperature, sea-ice concentration and precipitation products. Some of these data are adjusted to agree in the mean with a variety of more reliable satellite and in situ measurements, that themselves are either too short a duration, or too regional in coverage. The major adjustments are a general increase in wind speed, decrease in humidity and reduction in tropical solar radiation. The climatological global mean air-sea heat and freshwater fluxes (1984-2006) then become 2 W/m{sup 2} and -0.1 mg/m{sup 2} per second, respectively, down from 30 W/m{sup 2} and 3.4 mg/m{sup 2} per second for the unaltered data. However, decadal means vary from 7.3 W/m{sup 2} (1977-1986) to -0.3 W/m{sup 2} (1997-2006). The spatial distributions of climatological fluxes display all the expected features. A comparison of zonally averaged wind stress components across ocean sub-basins reveals large differences between available products due both to winds and to the stress calculation. Regional comparisons of the heat and freshwater fluxes reveal an alarming range among alternatives; typically 40 W/m{sup 2} and 10 mg/m{sup 2} per second, respectively. The implied ocean heat transports are within the uncertainty of estimates from ocean observations in both the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific basins. They show about 2.4 PW of tropical heating, of which 80% is transported to the north, mostly in the Atlantic. There is similar good agreement in freshwater transport at many latitudes in both

A global space-based stratospheric aerosol climatology: 1979–2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. W. Thomason

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We describe the construction of a continuous 38-year record of stratospheric aerosol optical properties. The Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology, or GloSSAC, provided the input data to the construction of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project stratospheric aerosol forcing data set (1979–2014 and we have extended it through 2016 following an identical process. GloSSAC focuses on the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE series of instruments through mid-2005, and on the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO data thereafter. We also use data from other space instruments and from ground-based, air, and balloon borne instruments to fill in key gaps in the data set. The end result is a global and gap-free data set focused on aerosol extinction coefficient at 525 and 1020 nm and other parameters on an "as available" basis. For the primary data sets, we developed a new method for filling the post-Pinatubo eruption data gap for 1991–1993 based on data from the Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer. In addition, we developed a new method for populating wintertime high latitudes during the SAGE period employing a latitude-equivalent latitude conversion process that greatly improves the depiction of aerosol at high latitudes compared to earlier similar efforts. We report data in the troposphere only when and where it is available. This is primarily during the SAGE II period except for the most enhanced part of the Pinatubo period. It is likely that the upper troposphere during Pinatubo was greatly enhanced over non-volcanic periods and that domain remains substantially under-characterized. We note that aerosol levels during the OSIRIS/CALIPSO period in the lower stratosphere at mid- and high latitudes is routinely higher than what we observed during the SAGE II period. While this period had nearly continuous low

The global historical climatology network: Long-term monthly temperature, precipitation, and pressure data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vose, R.S.; Schmoyer, R.L.; Peterson, T.C.; Steurer, P.M.; Heim, R.R. Jr.; Karl, T.R.; Eischeid, J.K.

1992-01-01

Interest in global climate change has risen dramatically during the past several decades. In a similar fashion, the number of data sets available to study global change has also increased. Unfortunately, many different organizations and researchers have compiled these data sets, making it confusing and time consuming for individuals to acquire the most comprehensive data. In response to this rapid growth in the number of global data sets, DOE's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) established the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) project. The purpose of this project is to compile an improved data set of long-term monthly mean temperature, precipitation, sea level pressure, and station pressure for as dense a network of global stations as possible. Specifically, the GHCN project seeks to consolidate the numerous preexisting national-, regional-, and global-scale data sets into a single global data base; to subject the data to rigorous quality control; and to update, enhance, and distribute the data set at regular intervals. The purpose of this paper is to describe the compilation and contents of the GHCN data base (i.e., GHCN Version 1.0)

Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. V. Spracklen

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Black carbon in carbonaceous combustion aerosol warms the climate by absorbing solar radiation, meaning reductions in black carbon emissions are often perceived as an attractive global warming mitigation option. However, carbonaceous combustion aerosol can also act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN so they also cool the climate by increasing cloud albedo. The net radiative effect of carbonaceous combustion aerosol is uncertain because their contribution to CCN has not been evaluated on the global scale. By combining extensive observations of CCN concentrations with the GLOMAP global aerosol model, we find that the model is biased low (normalised mean bias = −77 % unless carbonaceous combustion aerosol act as CCN. We show that carbonaceous combustion aerosol accounts for more than half (52–64 % of global CCN with the range due to uncertainty in the emitted size distribution of carbonaceous combustion particles. The model predicts that wildfire and pollution (fossil fuel and biofuel carbonaceous combustion aerosol causes a global mean cloud albedo aerosol indirect effect of −0.34 W m⁻², with stronger cooling if we assume smaller particle emission size. We calculate that carbonaceous combustion aerosol from pollution sources cause a global mean aerosol indirect effect of −0.23 W m⁻². The small size of carbonaceous combustion particles from fossil fuel sources means that whilst pollution sources account for only one-third of the emitted mass they cause two-thirds of the cloud albedo aerosol indirect effect that is due to carbonaceous combustion aerosol. This cooling effect must be accounted for, along with other cloud effects not studied here, to ensure that black carbon emissions controls that reduce the high number concentrations of fossil fuel particles have the desired net effect on climate.

Global aerosol transport and consequences for the radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newiger, M.; Grassl, H.; Schussel, P.; Rehkopf, J.

1984-01-01

Man's activities may influence global climate by changing the atmospheric composition and surface characteristics and by waste heat. Most prominent within this discussion is the increase or decrease of radiatively active trace gases like CO/sub 2/, N/sub 2/O, O/sub 3/, and others. The general opinion is converging towards a greenhouse effect as a combined action of all trace gases, whose exact magnitude is uncertain mainly because of the unknown reaction of water cycle. The aim of our global 2-D (resolving latitude and height) aerosol transport model is the calculation of aerosol particle number density profiles as a function of latitude for present natural plus anthropogenic emissions. The aerosol transport model uses prescribed meridonal circulation, diffusivity factors and cloud climatology for January as well as July. All these latitude and height dependent input parameters were taken from well known sources. The fixed climatology excludes the feedback of aerosol particle parameter changes on mean circulation. However, the radiative parameters of six clouds types are modified, although they possess by adoption of the Telegadas and London (1954) cloud climatology prescribed amount and height. The inclusion of the feedback on mean circulation seems premature at present. Adding particles either accounting for natural emissions or natural anthropogenic emission and removing particles by all known sinks outside and within clouds gives us - for the stationary state - vertical profiles of aerosol number density in three sizes classes as a function of latitude. These profiles in turn are input for radiation flux calculations in clear and cloudy areas in order to assess net flux changes caused by the present aerosol load in comparison to a scenario without anthropogenic emissions. The net flux changes finally are compared to those calculated for increased CO/sub 2/ levels

Global sea-to-air flux climatology for bromoform, dibromomethane and methyl iodide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Ziska

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Volatile halogenated organic compounds containing bromine and iodine, which are naturally produced in the ocean, are involved in ozone depletion in both the troposphere and stratosphere. Three prominent compounds transporting large amounts of marine halogens into the atmosphere are bromoform (CHBr3, dibromomethane (CH2Br2 and methyl iodide (CH3I. The input of marine halogens to the stratosphere has been estimated from observations and modelling studies using low-resolution oceanic emission scenarios derived from top-down approaches. In order to improve emission inventory estimates, we calculate data-based high resolution global sea-to-air flux estimates of these compounds from surface observations within the HalOcAt (Halocarbons in the Ocean and Atmosphere database (https://halocat.geomar.de/. Global maps of marine and atmospheric surface concentrations are derived from the data which are divided into coastal, shelf and open ocean regions. Considering physical and biogeochemical characteristics of ocean and atmosphere, the open ocean water and atmosphere data are classified into 21 regions. The available data are interpolated onto a 1°×1° grid while missing grid values are interpolated with latitudinal and longitudinal dependent regression techniques reflecting the compounds' distributions. With the generated surface concentration climatologies for the ocean and atmosphere, global sea-to-air concentration gradients and sea-to-air fluxes are calculated. Based on these calculations we estimate a total global flux of 1.5/2.5 Gmol Br yr−1 for CHBr3, 0.78/0.98 Gmol Br yr−1 for CH2Br2 and 1.24/1.45 Gmol Br yr−1 for CH3I (robust fit/ordinary least squares regression techniques. Contrary to recent studies, negative fluxes occur in each sea-to-air flux climatology, mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. "Hot spots" for global polybromomethane emissions are located in the equatorial region, whereas methyl iodide emissions are enhanced in the

Cloud Compute for Global Climate Station Summaries

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, R.; May, B.; Cogbill, P.

2017-12-01

Global Climate Station Summaries are simple indicators of observational normals which include climatic data summarizations and frequency distributions. These typically are statistical analyses of station data over 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-year or longer time periods. The summaries are computed from the global surface hourly dataset. This dataset totaling over 500 gigabytes is comprised of 40 different types of weather observations with 20,000 stations worldwide. NCEI and the U.S. Navy developed these value added products in the form of hourly summaries from many of these observations. Enabling this compute functionality in the cloud is the focus of the project. An overview of approach and challenges associated with application transition to the cloud will be presented.

GPM GROUND VALIDATION OKLAHOMA CLIMATOLOGICAL SURVEY MESONET MC3E V1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The GPM Ground Validation Oklahoma Climatological Survey Mesonet MC3E data were collected during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) in...

Combining observations and models to reduce uncertainty in the cloud response to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, J. R.; Myers, T.; Chellappan, S.

2017-12-01

Currently there is large uncertainty on how subtropical low-level clouds will respond to global warming and whether they will act as a positive feedback or negative feedback. Global climate models substantially agree on what changes in atmospheric structure and circulation will occur with global warming but greatly disagree over how clouds will respond to these changes in structure and circulation. An examination of models with the most realistic simulations of low-level cloudiness indicates that the model cloud response to atmospheric changes associated with global warming is quantitatively similar to the model cloud response to atmospheric changes at interannual time scales. For these models, the cloud response to global warming predicted by multilinear regression using coefficients derived from interannual time scales is quantitatively similar to the cloud response to global warming directly simulated by the model. Since there is a large spread among cloud response coefficients even among models with the most realistic cloud simulations, substitution of coefficients derived from satellite observations reduces the uncertainty range of the low-level cloud feedback. Increased sea surface temperature associated with global warming acts to reduce low-level cloudiness, which is partially offset by increased lower tropospheric stratification that acts to enhance low-level cloudiness. Changes in free-tropospheric relative humidity, subsidence, and horizontal advection have only a small impact on low-level cloud. The net reduction in subtropical low-level cloudiness increases absorption of solar radiation by the climate system, thus resulting in a weak positive feedback.

16-year Climatology of Cirrus cloud properties using ground-based Lidar over Gadanki (13.45˚N, 79.18˚E)

Science.gov (United States)

Pandit, Amit Kumar; Raghunath, Karnam; Jayaraman, Achuthan; Venkat Ratnam, Madineni; Gadhavi, Harish

Cirrus clouds are ubiquitous high level cold clouds predominantly consisting of ice-crystals. With their highest coverage over the tropics, these are one of the most vital and complex components of Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) due to their strong radiative feedback and dehydration in upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) regions. The continuous changes in their coverage, position, thickness, and ice-crystal size and shape distributions bring uncertainties in the estimates of cirrus cloud radiative forcing. Long-term changes in the distribution of aerosols and water vapour in the TTL can influence cirrus properties. This necessitates long-term studies of tropical cirrus clouds, which are only few. The present study provides 16-year climatology of physical and optical properties of cirrus clouds observed using a ground-based Lidar located at Gadanki (13.45(°) N, 79.18(°) ˚E and 375 m amsl) in south-India. In general, cirrus clouds occurred for about 44% of the total Lidar observation time. Owing to the increased convective activities, the occurrence of cirrus clouds during the southwest-monsoon season is highest while it is lowest during the winter. Altitude distribution of cirrus clouds reveals that the peak occurrence was about 25% at 14.5 km. The most probable base and top height of cirrus clouds are 14 and 15.5 km, respectively. This is also reflected in the bulk extinction coefficient profile (at 532 nm) of cirrus clouds. These results are compared with the CALIPSO observations. Most of the time cirrus clouds are located within the TTL bounded by convective outflow level and cold-point tropopause. Cirrus clouds are thick during the monsoon season as compared to that during winter. An inverse relation between the thickness of cirrus clouds and TTL thickness is found. The occurrence of cirrus clouds at an altitude close to the tropopause (16 km) showed an increase of 8.4% in the last 16 years. Base and top heights of cirrus clouds also showed

Clouds and the extratropical circulation response to global warming in a hierarchy of global atmosphere models

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, A.

2017-12-01

Climate models project that global warming will lead to substantial changes in extratropical jet streams. Yet, many quantitative aspects of warming-induced jet stream changes remain uncertain, and recent work has indicated an important role of clouds and their radiative interactions. Here, I will investigate how cloud-radiative changes impact the zonal-mean extratropical circulation response under global warming using a hierarchy of global atmosphere models. I will first focus on aquaplanet setups with prescribed sea-surface temperatures (SSTs), which reproduce the model spread found in realistic simulations with interactive SSTs. Simulations with two CMIP5 models MPI-ESM and IPSL-CM5A and prescribed clouds show that half of the circulation response can be attributed to cloud changes. The rise of tropical high-level clouds and the upward and poleward movement of midlatitude high-level clouds lead to poleward jet shifts. High-latitude low-level cloud changes shift the jet poleward in one model but not in the other. The impact of clouds on the jet operates via the atmospheric radiative forcing that is created by the cloud changes and is qualitatively reproduced in a dry Held-Suarez model, although the latter is too sensitive because of its simplified treatment of diabatic processes. I will then show that the aquaplanet results also hold when the models are used in a realistic setup that includes continents and seasonality. I will further juxtapose these prescribed-SST simulations with interactive-SST simulations and show that atmospheric and surface cloud-radiative interactions impact the jet poleward jet shifts in about equal measure. Finally, I will discuss the cloud impact on regional and seasonal circulation changes.

A cosmic ray-climate link and cloud observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunne Eimear M.

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Despite over 35 years of constant satellite-based measurements of cloud, reliable evidence of a long-hypothesized link between changes in solar activity and Earth’s cloud cover remains elusive. This work examines evidence of a cosmic ray cloud link from a range of sources, including satellite-based cloud measurements and long-term ground-based climatological measurements. The satellite-based studies can be divided into two categories: (1 monthly to decadal timescale analysis and (2 daily timescale epoch-superpositional (composite analysis. The latter analyses frequently focus on sudden high-magnitude reductions in the cosmic ray flux known as Forbush decrease events. At present, two long-term independent global satellite cloud datasets are available (ISCCP and MODIS. Although the differences between them are considerable, neither shows evidence of a solar-cloud link at either long or short timescales. Furthermore, reports of observed correlations between solar activity and cloud over the 1983–1995 period are attributed to the chance agreement between solar changes and artificially induced cloud trends. It is possible that the satellite cloud datasets and analysis methods may simply be too insensitive to detect a small solar signal. Evidence from ground-based studies suggests that some weak but statistically significant cosmic ray-cloud relationships may exist at regional scales, involving mechanisms related to the global electric circuit. However, a poor understanding of these mechanisms and their effects on cloud makes the net impacts of such links uncertain. Regardless of this, it is clear that there is no robust evidence of a widespread link between the cosmic ray flux and clouds.

Role of orbital dynamics and cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of giant molecular clouds in global spiral structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, W.W. Jr.; Stewart, G.R.

1987-01-01

The role of orbit crowding and cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of GMCs and their organization in global spiral structure is investigated. Both N-body simulations of the cloud system and a detailed analysis of individual particle orbits are used to develop a conceptual understanding of how individual clouds participate in the collective density response. Detailed comparisons are made between a representative cloud-particle simulation in which the cloud particles collide inelastically with one another and give birth to and subsequently interact with young star associations and stripped down simulations in which the cloud particles are allowed to follow ballistic orbits in the absence of cloud-cloud collisions or any star formation processes. Orbit crowding is then related to the behavior of individual particle trajectories in the galactic potential field. The conceptual picture of how GMCs are formed in the clumpy ISMs of spiral galaxies is formulated, and the results are compared in detail with those published by other authors. 68 references

A CERES-like Cloud Property Climatology Using AVHRR Data

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, P.; Bedka, K. M.; Yost, C. R.; Trepte, Q.; Bedka, S. T.; Sun-Mack, S.; Doelling, D.

2015-12-01

Clouds affect the climate system by modulating the radiation budget and distributing precipitation. Variations in cloud patterns and properties are expected to accompany changes in climate. The NASA Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Project developed an end-to-end analysis system to measure broadband radiances from a radiometer and retrieve cloud properties from collocated high-resolution MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to generate a long-term climate data record of clouds and clear-sky properties and top-of-atmosphere radiation budget. The first MODIS was not launched until 2000, so the current CERES record is only 15 years long at this point. The core of the algorithms used to retrieve the cloud properties from MODIS is based on the spectral complement of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which has been aboard a string of satellites since 1978. The CERES cloud algorithms were adapted for application to AVHRR data and have been used to produce an ongoing CERES-like cloud property and surface temperature product that includes an initial narrowband-based radiation budget. This presentation will summarize this new product, which covers nearly 37 years, and its comparability with cloud parameters from CERES, CALIPSO, and other satellites. Examples of some applications of this dataset are given and the potential for generating a long-term radiation budget CDR is also discussed.

A GLOBAL REGISTRATION ALGORITHM OF THE SINGLE-CLOSED RING MULTI-STATIONS POINT CLOUD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Aimed at the global registration problem of the single-closed ring multi-stations point cloud, a formula in order to calculate the error of rotation matrix was constructed according to the definition of error. The global registration algorithm of multi-station point cloud was derived to minimize the error of rotation matrix. And fast-computing formulas of transformation matrix with whose implementation steps and simulation experiment scheme was given. Compared three different processing schemes of multi-station point cloud, the experimental results showed that the effectiveness of the new global registration method was verified, and it could effectively complete the global registration of point cloud.

A global climatology of the mesospheric sodium layer from GOMOS data during the 2002–2008 period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Fussen

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a climatology of the mesospheric sodium layer built from the processing of 7 years of GOMOS data. With respect to preliminary results already published for the year 2003, a more careful analysis was applied to the averaging of occultations inside the climatological bins (10° in latitude-1 month. Also, the slant path absorption lines of the Na doublet around 589 nm shows evidence of partial saturation that was responsible for an underestimation of the Na concentration in our previous results. The sodium climatology has been validated with respect to the Fort Collins lidar measurements and, to a lesser extent, to the OSIRIS 2003–2004 data. Despite the important natural sodium variability, we have shown that the Na vertical column has a marked semi-annual oscillation at low latitudes that merges into an annual oscillation in the polar regions,a spatial distribution pattern that was unreported so far. The sodium layer seems to be clearly influenced by the mesospheric global circulation and the altitude of the layer shows clear signs of subsidence during polar winter. The climatology has been parameterized by time-latitude robust fits to allow for easy use. Taking into account the non-linearity of the transmittance due to partial saturation, an experimental approach is proposed to derive mesospheric temperatures from limb remote sounding measurements.

Assessing Measurements of QoS for global Cloud Computing Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Riaz, M. Tahir; Júnior, Joaquim Celestino

2011-01-01

Many global distributed cloud computing applications and services running over the Internet, between globally dispersed clients and servers, will require certain levels of Quality of Service (QoS) in order to deliver and give a sufficiently smooth user experience. This would be essential for real......-time streaming multimedia applications like online gaming and watching movies on a pay as you use basis hosted in a cloud computing environment. However, guaranteeing or even predicting QoS in global and diverse networks supporting complex hosting of application services is a very challenging issue that needs...... a stepwise refinement approach to be solved as the technology of cloud computing matures. In this paper, we investigate if latency in terms of simple Ping measurements can be used as an indicator for other QoS parameters such as jitter and throughput. The experiments were carried out on a global scale...

A Global Climatology of Tropospheric and Stratospheric Ozone Derived from Aura OMI and MLS Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Ziemke, J.R.; Chandra, S.; Labow, G.; Bhartia, P. K.; Froidevaux, L.; Witte, J. C.

2011-01-01

A global climatology of tropospheric and stratospheric column ozone is derived by combining six years of Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ozone measurements for the period October 2004 through December 2010. The OMI/MLS tropospheric ozone climatology exhibits large temporal and spatial variability which includes ozone accumulation zones in the tropical south Atlantic year-round and in the subtropical Mediterranean! Asia region in summer months. High levels of tropospheric ozone in the northern hemisphere also persist in mid-latitudes over the eastern North American and Asian continents extending eastward over the Pacific Ocean. For stratospheric ozone climatology from MLS, largest ozone abundance lies in the northern hemisphere in the latitude range 70degN-80degN in February-April and in the southern hemisphere around 40degS-50degS during months August-October. The largest stratospheric ozone abundances in the northern hemisphere lie over North America and eastern Asia extending eastward across the Pacific Ocean and in the southern hemisphere south of Australia extending eastward across the dateline. With the advent of many newly developing 3D chemistry and transport models it is advantageous to have such a dataset for evaluating the performance of the models in relation to dynamical and photochemical processes controlling the ozone distributions in the troposphere and stratosphere.

The Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom): Comparing the Chemical Climatology of Reactive Species and Air Parcels from Measurements and Global Models

Science.gov (United States)

Prather, M. J.; Flynn, C.; Wennberg, P. O.; Kim, M. J.; Ryerson, T. B.; Hanisco, T. F.; Diskin, G. S.; Daube, B. C.; Commane, R.; McKain, K.; Apel, E. C.; Blake, N. J.; Blake, D. R.; Elkins, J. W.; Hall, S.; Steenrod, S.; Strahan, S. E.; Lamarque, J. F.; Fiore, A. M.; Horowitz, L. W.; Murray, L. T.; Mao, J.; Shindell, D. T.; Wofsy, S. C.

2017-12-01

The NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) is building a photochemical climatology of the remote troposphere based on objective sampling and profiling transects over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. These statistics provide direct tests of chemistry-climate models. The choice of species focuses on those controlling primary reactivity (a.k.a. oxidative state) of the troposphere, specifically chemical tendencies of O3 and CH4. These key species include, inter alia, O3, CH4, CO, C2H6, other alkanes, alkenes, aromatics, NOx, HNO3, HO2NO2, PAN, other organic nitrates, H2O, HCHO, H2O2, CH3OOH. Three of the four ATom deployments are now complete, and data from the first two (ATom-1 & -2) have been released as of this talk (see espoarchive.nasa.gov/archive/browse/atom). The statistical distributions of key species are presented as 1D and 2D probability densities (PDs) and we focus here on the tropical and mid-latitude regions of the Pacific during ATom-1 (Aug) and -2 (Feb). PDs are computed from ATom observations and 6 global chemistry models over the tropospheric depth (0-12 km) and longitudinal extent of the observations. All data are weighted to achieve equal mass-weighting by latitude regimes to account for spatial sampling biases. The models are used to calculate the reactivity in each ATom air parcel. Reweighting parcels with loss of CH4 or production of O3, for example, allows us to identify which air parcels are most influential, including assessment of the importance of fine pollution layers in the most remote troposphere. Another photochemical climatology developed from ATom, and used to test models, includes the effect of clouds on photolysis rates. The PDs and reactivity-weighted PDs reveal important seasonal differences and similarities between the two campaigns and also show which species may be most important in controlling reactivities. They clearly identify some very specific failings in the modeled climatologies and help us evaluate the chemical

Global analysis of cloud field coverage and radiative properties, using morphological methods and MODIS observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Z. Bar-Or

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The recently recognized continuous transition zone between detectable clouds and cloud-free atmosphere ("the twilight zone" is affected by undetectable clouds and humidified aerosol. In this study, we suggest to distinguish cloud fields (including the detectable clouds and the surrounding twilight zone from cloud-free areas, which are not affected by clouds. For this classification, a robust and simple-to-implement cloud field masking algorithm which uses only the spatial distribution of clouds, is presented in detail. A global analysis, estimating Earth's cloud field coverage (50° S–50° N for 28 July 2008, using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS data, finds that while the declared cloud fraction is 51%, the global cloud field coverage reaches 88%. The results reveal the low likelihood for finding a cloud-free pixel and suggest that this likelihood may decrease as the pixel size becomes larger. A global latitudinal analysis of cloud fields finds that unlike oceans, which are more uniformly covered by cloud fields, land areas located under the subsidence zones of the Hadley cell (the desert belts, contain proper areas for investigating cloud-free atmosphere as there is 40–80% probability to detect clear sky over them. Usually these golden-pixels, with higher likelihood to be free of clouds, are over deserts. Independent global statistical analysis, using MODIS aerosol and cloud products, reveals a sharp exponential decay of the global mean aerosol optical depth (AOD as a function of the distance from the nearest detectable cloud, both above ocean and land. Similar statistical analysis finds an exponential growth of mean aerosol fine-mode fraction (FMF over oceans when the distance from the nearest cloud increases. A 30 km scale break clearly appears in several analyses here, suggesting this is a typical natural scale of cloud fields. This work shows different microphysical and optical properties of cloud fields

Land surface skin temperature climatology: benefitting from the strengths of satellite observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Menglin; Dickinson, Robert E

2010-01-01

Surface skin temperature observations (T skin ), as obtained by satellite remote sensing, provide useful climatological information of high spatial resolution and global coverage that enhances the traditional ground observations of surface air temperature (T air ) and so, reveal new information about land surface characteristics. This letter analyzes nine years of moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) skin temperature observations to present monthly skin temperature diurnal, seasonal, and inter-annual variations at a 0.05 deg. latitude/longitude grid over the global land surface and combines these measurements with other MODIS-based variables in an effort to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for T skin variations. In particular, skin temperature variations are found to be closely related to vegetation cover, clouds, and water vapor, but to differ from 2 m surface T air in terms of both physical meaning and magnitude. Therefore, the two temperatures (T skin and T air ) are complementary in their contribution of valuable information to the study of climate change.

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinsley, B A

2008-01-01

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J z , on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J z . Variations in J z affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J z changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the inferred global

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tinsley, B A [Physics Department and Center for Space Sciences, WT15, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021 (United States)], E-mail: Tinsley@UTDallas.edu

2008-06-15

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J{sub z}, on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J{sub z}. Variations in J{sub z} affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J{sub z} changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the

Global Historical Climatology Network - Monthly (GHCN-M), Version 3

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Please note, GHCN-Monthly provides climatological observations for four elements; monthly mean maximum temperature, minimum temperature, mean temperature, and...

Global Lightning Climatology from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and the Optical Transient Detector (OTD)

Science.gov (United States)

Cecil, Daniel J.; Buechler, Dennis E.; Blakeslee, Richard J.

2015-01-01

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) has been collecting observations of total lightning in the global tropics and subtropics (roughly 38 deg S - 38 deg N) since December 1997. A similar instrument, the Optical Transient Detector, operated from 1995-2000 on another low earth orbit satellite that also saw high latitudes. Lightning data from these instruments have been used to create gridded climatologies and time series of lightning flash rate. These include a 0.5 deg resolution global annual climatology, and lower resolution products describing the annual cycle and the diurnal cycle. These products are updated annually. Results from the update through 2013 will be shown at the conference. The gridded products are publicly available for download. Descriptions of how each product can be used will be discussed, including strengths, weaknesses, and caveats about the smoothing and sampling used in various products.

Cloud manufacturing distributed computing technologies for global and sustainable manufacturing

CERN Document Server

Mehnen, Jörn

2013-01-01

Global networks, which are the primary pillars of the modern manufacturing industry and supply chains, can only cope with the new challenges, requirements and demands when supported by new computing and Internet-based technologies. Cloud Manufacturing: Distributed Computing Technologies for Global and Sustainable Manufacturing introduces a new paradigm for scalable service-oriented sustainable and globally distributed manufacturing systems.   The eleven chapters in this book provide an updated overview of the latest technological development and applications in relevant research areas.  Following an introduction to the essential features of Cloud Computing, chapters cover a range of methods and applications such as the factors that actually affect adoption of the Cloud Computing technology in manufacturing companies and new geometrical simplification method to stream 3-Dimensional design and manufacturing data via the Internet. This is further supported case studies and real life data for Waste Electrical ...

A climatological study of sea breeze clouds in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (Alicante, Spain)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azorin-Molina, C. [Grupo de Climatologia, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Cataluna (Spain)]. E-mail: cazorin@ceam.es; Sanchez-Lorenzo, A. [Grupo de Climatologia, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Cataluna (Spain); Calbo, J. [Grupo de Fisica Ambiental, Universidad de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Cataluna (Spain)

2009-01-15

Sea breezes blow under anticyclonic weather types, weak surface pressure gradients, intense solar radiation and relatively cloud-free skies. Generally, total cloud cover must be less than 4/8 in order to cause a thermal and pressure difference between land and sea air which allows the development of this local wind circulation. However, many numerical and observational studies have analyzed the ability of sea breezes to generate clouds in the convective internal boundary layer and in the sea breeze convergence zone. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to statistically analyze the impact of sea breezes on cloud types in the convective internal boundary layer and in the sea breeze convergence zone. The study area is located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (province of Alicante, Spain) and the survey corresponds to a 6-yr study period (2000-2005). This climatological study is mainly based on surface cloud observations at the Alicante-Ciudad Jardin station (central coastal plain) and on an extensive cloud observation field campaign at the Villena-Ciudad station (Prebetic mountain ranges) over a 3-yr study period (2003-2005). The results confirm the hypothesis that the effect of sea breezes on cloud genera is to increase the frequency of low (Stratus) and convective (Cumulus) clouds. Sea breezes trigger the formation of thunderstorm clouds (Cumulonimbus) at the sea breeze convergence zone, which also have a secondary impact on high-level (Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus), medium-level (Altostratus, Altocumulus) and low-level clouds (Stratus, Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus) associated with the Cumulonimbus clouds (e.g., Cumulonimbus anvil). [Spanish] Las brisas marinas soplan bajo tipos de tiempo anticiclonicos, debiles gradientes de presion atmosferica, radiacion solar intensa y cielos practicamente despejados. Por lo general, la cobertura nubosa total debe ser inferior a 4/8 para que se genere un diferencial termico y de presion entre el aire sobre las

Frequency of Deep Convective Clouds and Global Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Aumann, Hartmut H.; Teixeira, Joao

2008-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the effect of global warming on the formation of Deep Convective Clouds (DCC). It concludes that nature responds to global warming with an increase in strong convective activity. The frequency of DCC increases with global warming at the rate of 6%/decade. The increased frequency of DCC with global warming alone increases precipitation by 1.7%/decade. It compares the state of the art climate models' response to global warming, and concludes that the parametrization of climate models need to be tuned to more closely emulate the way nature responds to global warming.

A global lightning parameterization based on statistical relationships among environmental factors, aerosols, and convective clouds in the TRMM climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Stolz, Douglas C.; Rutledge, Steven A.; Pierce, Jeffrey R.; van den Heever, Susan C.

2017-07-01

The objective of this study is to determine the relative contributions of normalized convective available potential energy (NCAPE), cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations, warm cloud depth (WCD), vertical wind shear (SHEAR), and environmental relative humidity (RH) to the variability of lightning and radar reflectivity within convective features (CFs) observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Our approach incorporates multidimensional binned representations of observations of CFs and modeled thermodynamics, kinematics, and CCN as inputs to develop approximations for total lightning density (TLD) and the average height of 30 dBZ radar reflectivity (AVGHT30). The results suggest that TLD and AVGHT30 increase with increasing NCAPE, increasing CCN, decreasing WCD, increasing SHEAR, and decreasing RH. Multiple-linear approximations for lightning and radar quantities using the aforementioned predictors account for significant portions of the variance in the binned data set (R2 ≈ 0.69-0.81). The standardized weights attributed to CCN, NCAPE, and WCD are largest, the standardized weight of RH varies relative to other predictors, while the standardized weight for SHEAR is comparatively small. We investigate these statistical relationships for collections of CFs within various geographic areas and compare the aerosol (CCN) and thermodynamic (NCAPE and WCD) contributions to variations in the CF population in a partial sensitivity analysis based on multiple-linear regression approximations computed herein. A global lightning parameterization is developed; the average difference between predicted and observed TLD decreases from +21.6 to +11.6% when using a hybrid approach to combine separate approximations over continents and oceans, thus highlighting the need for regionally targeted investigations in the future.

The role of clouds and oceans in global greenhouse warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffert, M.I.

1992-12-01

During the past three years we have conducted several studies using models and a combination of satellite data, in situ meteorological and oceanic data, and paleoclimate reconstructions, under the DoE program, ''Quantifying the Link Between Change in Radiative Balance and Atmospheric Temperature''. Our goals were to investigate effects of global cloudiness variations on global climate and their implications for cloud feedback and continue development and application of NYU transient climate/ocean models, with emphasis on coupled effects of greenhouse warming and feedbacks by both the clouds and oceans. Our original research plan emphasized the use of cloud, surface temperature and ocean data sets interpreted by focused climate/ocean models to develop a cloud radiative forcing scenario for the past 100 years and to assess the transient climate response; to narrow key uncertainties in the system; and to identify those aspects of the climate system most likely to be affected by greenhouse warming over short, medium and long time scales

The Global Influence of Cloud Optical Thickness on Terrestrial Carbon Uptake

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, P.; Cheng, S. J.; Keppel-Aleks, G.; Butterfield, Z.; Steiner, A. L.

2016-12-01

Clouds play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate. One important way is by changing the type and intensity of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, which impacts plant photosynthesis. Specifically, the presence of clouds modifies photosynthesis rates by influencing the amount of diffuse radiation as well as the spectral distribution of solar radiation. Satellite-derived cloud optical thickness (COT) may provide the observational constraint necessary to assess the role of clouds on ecosystems and terrestrial carbon uptake across the globe. Previous studies using ground-based observations at individual sites suggest that below a COT of 7, there is a greater increase in light use efficiency than at higher COT values, providing evidence for higher carbon uptake rates than expected given the reduction in radiation by clouds. However, the strength of the COT-terrestrial carbon uptake correlation across the globe remains unknown. In this study, we investigate the influence of COT on terrestrial carbon uptake on a global scale, which may provide insights into cloud conditions favorable for plant photosynthesis and improve our estimates of the land carbon sink. Global satellite-derived MODIS data show that tropical and subtropical regions tend to have COT values around or below the threshold during growing seasons. We find weak correlations between COT and GPP with Fluxnet MTE global GPP data, which may be due to the uncertainty of upscaling GPP from individual site measurements. Analysis with solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) as a proxy for GPP is also evaluated. Overall, this work constructs a global picture of the role of COT on terrestrial carbon uptake, including its temporal and spatial variations.

Using Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Climatologies to Initialize Gridded Lightning Threat Forecasts for East Central Florida

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Winnie; Sharp, David; Spratt, Scott; Volkmer, Matthew

2005-01-01

Each morning, the forecasters at the National Weather Service in Melbourn, FL (NWS MLB) produce an experimental cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning threat index map for their county warning area (CWA) that is posted to their web site (http://www.srh.weather.gov/mlb/ghwo/lightning.shtml) . Given the hazardous nature of lightning in central Florida, especially during the warm season months of May-September, these maps help users factor the threat of lightning, relative to their location, into their daily plans. The maps are color-coded in five levels from Very Low to Extreme, with threat level definitions based on the probability of lightning occurrence and the expected amount of CG activity. On a day in which thunderstorms are expected, there are typically two or more threat levels depicted spatially across the CWA. The locations of relative lightning threat maxima and minima often depend on the position and orientation of the low-level ridge axis, forecast propagation and interaction of sea/lake/outflow boundaries, expected evolution of moisture and stability fields, and other factors that can influence the spatial distribution of thunderstorms over the CWA. The lightning threat index maps are issued for the 24-hour period beginning at 1200 UTC (0700 AM EST) each day with a grid resolution of 5 km x 5 km. Product preparation is performed on the AWIPS Graphical Forecast Editor (GFE), which is the standard NWS platform for graphical editing. Currently, the forecasters create each map manually, starting with a blank map. To improve efficiency of the forecast process, NWS MLB requested that the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) create gridded warm season lightning climatologies that could be used as first-guess inputs to initialize lightning threat index maps. The gridded values requested included CG strike densities and frequency of occurrence stratified by synoptic-scale flow regime. The intent is to increase consistency between forecasters while enabling them to focus on

Remotely Sensed High-Resolution Global Cloud Dynamics for Predicting Ecosystem and Biodiversity Distributions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam M Wilson

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Cloud cover can influence numerous important ecological processes, including reproduction, growth, survival, and behavior, yet our assessment of its importance at the appropriate spatial scales has remained remarkably limited. If captured over a large extent yet at sufficiently fine spatial grain, cloud cover dynamics may provide key information for delineating a variety of habitat types and predicting species distributions. Here, we develop new near-global, fine-grain (≈1 km monthly cloud frequencies from 15 y of twice-daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS satellite images that expose spatiotemporal cloud cover dynamics of previously undocumented global complexity. We demonstrate that cloud cover varies strongly in its geographic heterogeneity and that the direct, observation-based nature of cloud-derived metrics can improve predictions of habitats, ecosystem, and species distributions with reduced spatial autocorrelation compared to commonly used interpolated climate data. These findings support the fundamental role of remote sensing as an effective lens through which to understand and globally monitor the fine-grain spatial variability of key biodiversity and ecosystem properties.

Radiative effects of global MODIS cloud regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Cho, Nayeong; Lee, Dongmin; Kato, Seiji

2018-01-01

We update previously published MODIS global cloud regimes (CRs) using the latest MODIS cloud retrievals in the Collection 6 dataset. We implement a slightly different derivation method, investigate the composition of the regimes, and then proceed to examine several aspects of CR radiative appearance with the aid of various radiative flux datasets. Our results clearly show the CRs are radiatively distinct in terms of shortwave, longwave and their combined (total) cloud radiative effect. We show that we can clearly distinguish regimes based on whether they radiatively cool or warm the atmosphere, and thanks to radiative heating profiles to discern the vertical distribution of cooling and warming. Terra and Aqua comparisons provide information about the degree to which morning and afternoon occurrences of regimes affect the symmetry of CR radiative contribution. We examine how the radiative discrepancies among multiple irradiance datasets suffering from imperfect spatiotemporal matching depend on CR, and whether they are therefore related to the complexity of cloud structure, its interpretation by different observational systems, and its subsequent representation in radiative transfer calculations. PMID:29619289

Radiative Effects of Global MODIS Cloud Regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Oraiopoulos, Lazaros; Cho, Nayeong; Lee, Dong Min; Kato, Seiji

2016-01-01

We update previously published MODIS global cloud regimes (CRs) using the latest MODIS cloud retrievals in the Collection 6 dataset. We implement a slightly different derivation method, investigate the composition of the regimes, and then proceed to examine several aspects of CR radiative appearance with the aid of various radiative flux datasets. Our results clearly show the CRs are radiatively distinct in terms of shortwave, longwave and their combined (total) cloud radiative effect. We show that we can clearly distinguish regimes based on whether they radiatively cool or warm the atmosphere, and thanks to radiative heating profiles to discern the vertical distribution of cooling and warming. Terra and Aqua comparisons provide information about the degree to which morning and afternoon occurrences of regimes affect the symmetry of CR radiative contribution. We examine how the radiative discrepancies among multiple irradiance datasets suffering from imperfect spatiotemporal matching depend on CR, and whether they are therefore related to the complexity of cloud structure, its interpretation by different observational systems, and its subsequent representation in radiative transfer calculations.

Climatology analysis of cirrus cloud in ARM site: South Great Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Olayinka, K.

2017-12-01

Cirrus cloud play an important role in the atmospheric energy balance and hence in the earth's climate system. The properties of optically thin clouds can be determined from measurements of transmission of the direct solar beam. The accuracy of cloud optical properties determined in this way is compromised by contamination of the direct transmission by light that is scattered into the sensors field of view. With the forward scattering correction method developed by Min et al., (2004), the accuracy of thin cloud retrievals from MFRSR has been improved. Our result shows over 30% of cirrus cloud present in the atmosphere are within optical depth between (1-2). In this study, we do statistics studies on cirrus clouds properties based on multi-years cirrus cloud measurements from MFRSR at ARM site from the South Great Plain (SGP) site due to its relatively easy accessibility, wide variability of climate cloud types and surface flux properties, large seasonal variation in temperature and specific humidity. Through the statistic studies, temporal and spatial variations of cirrus clouds are investigated. Since the presence of cirrus cloud increases the effect of greenhouse gases, we will retrieve the aerosol optical depth in all the cirrus cloud regions using a radiative transfer model for atmospheric correction. Calculate thin clouds optical depth (COD), and aerosol optical depth (AOD) using a radiative transfer model algorithm, e.g.: MODTRAN (MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission)

Climatology of surface ultraviolet-radiation in Valparaiso, Chile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordero, Raul R.; Roth, Pedro; Georgiev, Aleksandar; Silva, Luis da

2005-01-01

Despite the lack of long-term records, it is possible to describe many of the short term characteristics, dependencies and climatology of surface UV irradiance. This paper describes the climatology of on ground UV irradiance at Valparaiso (33.05 deg. S, 71.63 deg. W, sea level), Chile. The dependence of UV-B irradiance on ozone and on other climate variables is discussed with reference to our observations conducted during the last four years. Special attention was paid to detect 'ozone events' by surface UV irradiance measurements. By analyzing time series of the UV-B/UV-A ratio, we suppressed the cloud variability effect and detected events that implied ozone column changes of about 15%. According to our measurements, during the last four years, the ozone column over Valparaiso was not affected negatively by the Antarctic ozone hole phenomenon

Global Electric Circuit Implications of Total Current Measurements over Electrified Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Mach, Douglas M.; Blakeslee, Richard J.; Bateman, Monte G.

2009-01-01

We determined total conduction (Wilson) currents and flash rates for 850 overflights of electrified clouds spanning regions including the Southeastern United States, the Western Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and adjacent oceans, Central Brazil, and the South Pacific. The overflights include storms over land and ocean, with and without lightning, and with positive and negative Wilson currents. We combined these individual storm overflight statistics with global diurnal lightning variation data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD) to estimate the thunderstorm and electrified shower cloud contributions to the diurnal variation in the global electric circuit. The contributions to the global electric circuit from lightning producing clouds are estimated by taking the mean current per flash derived from the overflight data for land and ocean overflights and combining it with the global lightning rates (for land and ocean) and their diurnal variation derived from the LIS/OTD data. We estimate the contribution of non-lightning producing electrified clouds by assuming several different diurnal variations and total non-electrified storm counts to produce estimates of the total storm currents (lightning and non-lightning producing storms). The storm counts and diurnal variations are constrained so that the resultant total current diurnal variation equals the diurnal variation in the fair weather electric field (+/-15%). These assumptions, combined with the airborne and satellite data, suggest that the total mean current in the global electric circuit ranges from 2.0 to 2.7 kA, which is greater than estimates made by others using other methods.

Albedo enhancement of marine clouds to counteract global warming: impacts on the hydrological cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bala, G. [Indian Institute of Science, Divecha Center for Climate Change, Bangalore (India); Indian Institute of Science, Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Bangalore (India); Caldeira, Ken; Cao, Long; Ban-Weiss, George; Shin, Ho-Jeong [Carnegie Institution, Department of Global Ecology, Stanford, CA (United States); Nemani, Rama [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (United States)

2011-09-15

Recent studies have shown that changes in solar radiation affect the hydrological cycle more strongly than equivalent CO{sub 2} changes for the same change in global mean surface temperature. Thus, solar radiation management ''geoengineering'' proposals to completely offset global mean temperature increases by reducing the amount of absorbed sunlight might be expected to slow the global water cycle and reduce runoff over land. However, proposed countering of global warming by increasing the albedo of marine clouds would reduce surface solar radiation only over the oceans. Here, for an idealized scenario, we analyze the response of temperature and the hydrological cycle to increased reflection by clouds over the ocean using an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a mixed layer ocean model. When cloud droplets are reduced in size over all oceans uniformly to offset the temperature increase from a doubling of atmospheric CO{sub 2}, the global-mean precipitation and evaporation decreases by about 1.3% but runoff over land increases by 7.5% primarily due to increases over tropical land. In the model, more reflective marine clouds cool the atmospheric column over ocean. The result is a sinking motion over oceans and upward motion over land. We attribute the increased runoff over land to this increased upward motion over land when marine clouds are made more reflective. Our results suggest that, in contrast to other proposals to increase planetary albedo, offsetting mean global warming by reducing marine cloud droplet size does not necessarily lead to a drying, on average, of the continents. However, we note that the changes in precipitation, evaporation and P-E are dominated by small but significant areas, and given the highly idealized nature of this study, a more thorough and broader assessment would be required for proposals of altering marine cloud properties on a large scale. (orig.)

An assessment of the quality of aerosol retrievals over the Red Sea and evaluation of the climatological cloud-free dust direct radiative effect in the region

KAUST Repository

Brindley, H.

2015-10-20

Ground-based and satellite observations are used in conjunction with the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTM) to assess climatological aerosol loading and the associated cloud-free aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) over the Red Sea. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) instruments are first evaluated via comparison with ship-based observations. Correlations are typically better than 0.9 with very small root-mean-square and bias differences. Calculations of the DRE along the ship cruises using RRTM also show good agreement with colocated estimates from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument if the aerosol asymmetry parameter is adjusted to account for the presence of large particles. A monthly climatology of AOD over the Red Sea is then created from 5 years of SEVIRI retrievals. This shows enhanced aerosol loading and a distinct north to south gradient across the basin in the summer relative to the winter months. The climatology is used with RRTM to estimate the DRE at the top and bottom of the atmosphere and the atmospheric absorption due to dust aerosol. These climatological estimates indicate that although longwave effects can reach tens of W m−2, shortwave cooling typically dominates the net radiative effect over the Sea, being particularly pronounced in the summer, reaching 120 W m−2 at the surface. The spatial gradient in summertime AOD is reflected in the radiative effect at the surface and in associated differential heating by aerosol within the atmosphere above the Sea. This asymmetric effect is expected to exert a significant influence on the regional atmospheric and oceanic circulation.

An assessment of the quality of aerosol retrievals over the Red Sea and evaluation of the climatological cloud-free dust direct radiative effect in the region

KAUST Repository

Brindley, H.; Osipov, Sergey; Bantges, R.; Smirnov, A.; Banks, J.; Levy, R.; Jish Prakash, P.; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2015-01-01

Ground-based and satellite observations are used in conjunction with the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTM) to assess climatological aerosol loading and the associated cloud-free aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) over the Red Sea. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) instruments are first evaluated via comparison with ship-based observations. Correlations are typically better than 0.9 with very small root-mean-square and bias differences. Calculations of the DRE along the ship cruises using RRTM also show good agreement with colocated estimates from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument if the aerosol asymmetry parameter is adjusted to account for the presence of large particles. A monthly climatology of AOD over the Red Sea is then created from 5 years of SEVIRI retrievals. This shows enhanced aerosol loading and a distinct north to south gradient across the basin in the summer relative to the winter months. The climatology is used with RRTM to estimate the DRE at the top and bottom of the atmosphere and the atmospheric absorption due to dust aerosol. These climatological estimates indicate that although longwave effects can reach tens of W m−2, shortwave cooling typically dominates the net radiative effect over the Sea, being particularly pronounced in the summer, reaching 120 W m−2 at the surface. The spatial gradient in summertime AOD is reflected in the radiative effect at the surface and in associated differential heating by aerosol within the atmosphere above the Sea. This asymmetric effect is expected to exert a significant influence on the regional atmospheric and oceanic circulation.

The role of clouds and oceans in global greenhouse warming. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffert, M.I.

1996-10-01

This research focuses on assessing connections between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and global climatic change. it has been supported since the early 1990s in part by the DOE ``Quantitative Links`` Program (QLP). A three-year effort was originally proposed to the QLP to investigate effects f global cloudiness on global climate and its implications for cloud feedback; and to continue the development and application of climate/ocean models, with emphasis on coupled effects of greenhouse warming and feedbacks by clouds and oceans. It is well-known that cloud and ocean processes are major sources of uncertainty in the ability to predict climatic change from humankind`s greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions. And it has always been the objective to develop timely and useful analytical tools for addressing real world policy issues stemming from anthropogenic climate change.

Lidar Cloud Detection with Fully Convolutional Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Cromwell, E.; Flynn, D.

2017-12-01

The vertical distribution of clouds from active remote sensing instrumentation is a widely used data product from global atmospheric measuring sites. The presence of clouds can be expressed as a binary cloud mask and is a primary input for climate modeling efforts and cloud formation studies. Current cloud detection algorithms producing these masks do not accurately identify the cloud boundaries and tend to oversample or over-represent the cloud. This translates as uncertainty for assessing the radiative impact of clouds and tracking changes in cloud climatologies. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has over 20 years of micro-pulse lidar (MPL) and High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) instrument data and companion automated cloud mask product at the mid-latitude Southern Great Plains (SGP) and the polar North Slope of Alaska (NSA) atmospheric observatory. Using this data, we train a fully convolutional network (FCN) with semi-supervised learning to segment lidar imagery into geometric time-height cloud locations for the SGP site and MPL instrument. We then use transfer learning to train a FCN for (1) the MPL instrument at the NSA site and (2) for the HSRL. In our semi-supervised approach, we pre-train the classification layers of the FCN with weakly labeled lidar data. Then, we facilitate end-to-end unsupervised pre-training and transition to fully supervised learning with ground truth labeled data. Our goal is to improve the cloud mask accuracy and precision for the MPL instrument to 95% and 80%, respectively, compared to the current cloud mask algorithms of 89% and 50%. For the transfer learning based FCN for the HSRL instrument, our goal is to achieve a cloud mask accuracy of 90% and a precision of 80%.

NEWS Climatology Project: The State of the Water Cycle at Continental to Global Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, Matthew; LEcuyer, Tristan; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; Olson, Bill

2011-01-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project is to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project is a multiinstitutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe results of the first stage of the water budget analysis, whose goal was to characterize the current state of the water cycle on mean monthly, continental scales. We examine our success in closing the water budget within the expected uncertainty range and the effects of forcing budget closure as a method for refining individual flux estimates.

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Dunne, Eimear M.; Gordon, Hamish; Carslaw, Kenneth S.

2017-04-01

New particle formation (or nucleation) is acknowledged as a significant source of climate-relevant aerosol throughout the atmosphere. However, performing atmospherically relevant nucleation experiments in a laboratory setting is extremely challenging. As a result, until now, the parameterisations used to represent new particle formation in global aerosol models were largely based on in-situ observations or theoretical nucleation models, and usually only represented the binary H2SO4-H2O system. Several different chemicals can affect particle formation rates, even at extremely low trace concentrations, which are technically challenging to measure directly. Nucleation rates also respond to environmental changes in e.g. temperature in a highly non-linear fashion. The CERN CLOUD experiment was designed to provide the most controlled and accurate nucleation rate measurements to date, over the full range of free tropospheric temperatures and down to sulphuric acid concentrations of the order of 105 cm-3. We will present a parameterisation of inorganic nucleation rates for use in global models, based on these measurements, which includes four separate nucleation pathways: binary neutral, binary ion-induced, ternary neutral, and ternary ion-induced. Both inorganic and organic nucleation parameterisations derived from CLOUD measurements have been implemented in the GLOMAP global aerosol model. The parameterisations depend on temperature and on concentrations of sulphuric acid, ammonia, organic vapours, and ions. One of CLOUD's main original goals was to determine the sensitivity of atmospheric aerosol to changes in the nucleation rate over a solar cycle. We will show that, in a present-day atmosphere, the changes in climate-relevant aerosol (in the form of cloud-level cloud condensation nuclei) over a solar cycle are on average about 0.1%, with local changes of less than 1%. In contrast, anthropogenic changes in ammonia since pre-industrial times were estimated to have a

NASA GLDAS Evapotranspiration Data and Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Rui, Hualan; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; Teng, William L.; Vollmer, Bruce; Rodell, Matthew

2012-01-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the water lost to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration. ET is a shared component in the energy and water budget, therefore, a critical variable for global energy and water cycle and climate change studies. However, direct ET measurements and data acquisition are difficult and expensive, especially at the global level. Therefore, modeling is one common alternative for estimating ET. With the goal to generate optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes, the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) has been generating quality-controlled, spatially and temporally consistent, terrestrial hydrologic data, including ET and other variables that affect evaporation and transpiration, such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, soil moisture, heat flux, and solar radiation. This poster presents the long-term ET climatology (mean and monthly), derived from the 61-year GLDAS-2 monthly 1.0 deg x 1.0 deg. NOAH model Experiment-1 data, and describes the basic characteristics of spatial and seasonal variations of the climatology. The time series of GLDAS-2 precipitation and radiation, and ET are also discussed to show the improvement of GLDAS-2 forcing data and model output over those from GLDAS-1.

Quantifying the climatological cloud-free direct radiative forcing of aerosol over the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Brindley, Helen

2015-04-01

A combination of ground-based and satellite observations are used, in conjunction with column radiative transfer modelling, to assess the climatological aerosol loading and quantify its corresponding cloud-free direct radiative forcing (DRF) over the Red Sea. While there have been campaigns designed to probe aerosol-climate interactions over much of the world, relatively little attention has been paid to this region. Because of the remoteness of the area, satellite retrievals provide a crucial tool for assessing aerosol loading over the Sea. However, agreement between aerosol properties inferred from measurements from different instruments, and even in some cases from the same measurements using different retrieval algorithms can be poor, particularly in the case of mineral dust. Ground based measurements which can be used to evaluate retrievals are thus highly desirable. Here we take advantage of ship-based sun-photometer micro-tops observations gathered from a series of cruises which took place across the Red Sea during 2011 and 2013. To our knowledge these data represent the first set of detailed aerosol measurements from the Sea. They thus provide a unique opportunity to assess the performance of satellite retrieval algorithms in this region. Initially two aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieval algorithms developed for the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) instruments are evaluated via comparison with the co-located cruise observations. These show excellent agreement, with correlations typically better than 0.9 and very small root-mean-square and bias differences. Calculations of radiative fluxes and DRF along one of the cruises using the observed aerosol and meteorological conditions also show good agreement with co-located estimates from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument if the aerosol asymmetry parameter is adjusted to account for the presence of large

Global vertical mass transport by clouds - A two-dimensional model study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olofsson, Mats

1988-05-01

A two-dimensional global dispersion model, where vertical transport in the troposphere carried out by convective as well as by frontal cloud systems is explicitly treated, is developed from an existing diffusion model. A parameterization scheme for the cloud transport, based on global cloud statistics, is presented. The model has been tested by using Kr-85, Rn-222 and SO 2 as tracers. Comparisons have been made with observed distributions of these tracers, but also with model results without the cloud transport, using eddy diffusion as the primary means of vertical transport. The model results indicate that for trace species with a turnover time of days to weeks, the introduction of cloud-transport gives much more realistic simulations of their vertical distribution. Layers of increased mixing ratio with height, which can be found in real atmosphere, are reproduced in our cloud-transport model profiles, but can never be simulated with a pure eddy diffusion model. The horizontal transport in the model, by advection and eddy diffusion, gives a realistic distribution between the hemispheres of the more long-lived tracers (Kr-85). A combination of vertical transport by convective and frontal cloud systems is shown to improve the model simulations, compared to limiting it to convective transport only. The importance of including cumulus clouds in the convective transport scheme, in addition to the efficient transport by cumulonimbus clouds, is discussed. The model results are shown to be more sensitive to the vertical detrainment distribution profile than to the absolute magnitude of the vertical mass transport. The scavenging processes for SO 2 are parameterized without the introduction of detailed chemistry. An enhanced removal, due to the increased contact with droplets in the in-cloud lifting process, is introduced in the model. (author)

Impact of deforestation in the Amazon basin on cloud climatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jingfeng; Chagnon, Frédéric J F; Williams, Earle R; Betts, Alan K; Renno, Nilton O; Machado, Luiz A T; Bisht, Gautam; Knox, Ryan; Bras, Rafael L

2009-03-10

Shallow clouds are prone to appear over deforested surfaces whereas deep clouds, much less frequent than shallow clouds, favor forested surfaces. Simultaneous atmospheric soundings at forest and pasture sites during the Rondonian Boundary Layer Experiment (RBLE-3) elucidate the physical mechanisms responsible for the observed correlation between clouds and land cover. We demonstrate that the atmospheric boundary layer over the forested areas is more unstable and characterized by larger values of the convective available potential energy (CAPE) due to greater humidity than that which is found over the deforested area. The shallow convection over the deforested areas is relatively more active than the deep convection over the forested areas. This greater activity results from a stronger lifting mechanism caused by mesoscale circulations driven by deforestation-induced heterogeneities in land cover.

Evaluation of cloud properties in the NOAA/NCEP global forecast system using multiple satellite products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Hyelim [University of Maryland, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, College Park, MD (United States); Li, Zhanqing [University of Maryland, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, College Park, MD (United States); Beijing Normal University, State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, GCESS, Beijing (China)

2012-12-15

Knowledge of cloud properties and their vertical structure is important for meteorological studies due to their impact on both the Earth's radiation budget and adiabatic heating within the atmosphere. The objective of this study is to evaluate bulk cloud properties and vertical distribution simulated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System (GFS) using three global satellite products. Cloud variables evaluated include the occurrence and fraction of clouds in up to three layers, cloud optical depth, liquid water path, and ice water path. Cloud vertical structure data are retrieved from both active (CloudSat/CALIPSO) and passive sensors and are subsequently compared with GFS model results. In general, the GFS model captures the spatial patterns of hydrometeors reasonably well and follows the general features seen in satellite measurements, but large discrepancies exist in low-level cloud properties. More boundary layer clouds over the interior continents were generated by the GFS model whereas satellite retrievals showed more low-level clouds over oceans. Although the frequencies of global multi-layer clouds from observations are similar to those from the model, latitudinal variations show discrepancies in terms of structure and pattern. The modeled cloud optical depth over storm track region and subtropical region is less than that from the passive sensor and is overestimated for deep convective clouds. The distributions of ice water path (IWP) agree better with satellite observations than do liquid water path (LWP) distributions. Discrepancies in LWP/IWP distributions between observations and the model are attributed to differences in cloud water mixing ratio and mean relative humidity fields, which are major control variables determining the formation of clouds. (orig.)

Spatial relationship between climatologies and changes in global vegetation activity.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jong, Rogier; Schaepman, Michael E; Furrer, Reinhard; de Bruin, Sytze; Verburg, Peter H

2013-06-01

Vegetation forms a main component of the terrestrial biosphere and plays a crucial role in land-cover and climate-related studies. Activity of vegetation systems is commonly quantified using remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI). Extensive reports on temporal trends over the past decades in time series of such indices can be found in literature. However, little remains known about the processes underlying these changes at large spatial scales. In this study, we aimed at quantifying the spatial relationship between changes in potential climatic growth constraints (i.e. temperature, precipitation and incident solar radiation) and changes in vegetation activity (1982-2008). We demonstrate an additive spatial model with 0.5° resolution, consisting of a regression component representing climate-associated effects and a spatially correlated field representing the combined influence of other factors, including land-use change. Little over 50% of the spatial variance could be attributed to changes in climatologies; conspicuously, many greening trends and browning hotspots in Argentina and Australia. The nonassociated model component may contain large-scale human interventions, feedback mechanisms or natural effects, which were not captured by the climatologies. Browning hotspots in this component were especially found in subequatorial Africa. On the scale of land-cover types, strongest relationships between climatologies and vegetation activity were found in forests, including indications for browning under warming conditions (analogous to the divergence issue discussed in dendroclimatology). © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Observational and Dynamical Wave Climatologies. VOS vs Satellite Data

Science.gov (United States)

Grigorieva, Victoria; Badulin, Sergei; Chernyshova, Anna

2013-04-01

The understanding physics of wind-driven waves is crucially important for fundamental science and practical applications. This is why experimental efforts are targeted at both getting reliable information on sea state and elaborating effective tools of the sea wave forecasting. The global Visual Wave Observations and satellite data from the GLOBWAVE project of the European Space Agency are analyzed in the context of these two viewpoints. Within the first "observational" aspect we re-analyze conventional climatologies of all basic wave parameters for the last decades [5]. An alternative "dynamical" climatology is introduced as a tool of prediction of dynamical features of sea waves on global scales. The features of wave dynamics are studied in terms of one-parametric dependencies of wave heights on wave periods following the theoretical concept of self-similar wind-driven seas [3, 1, 4] and recently proposed approach to analysis of Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) data [2]. Traditional "observational" climatologies based on VOS and satellite data collections demonstrate extremely consistent pictures for significant wave heights and dominant periods. On the other hand, collocated satellite and VOS data show significant differences in wave heights, wind speeds and, especially, in wave periods. Uncertainties of visual wave observations can explain these differences only partially. We see the key reason of this inconsistency in the methods of satellite data processing which are based on formal application of data interpolation methods rather than on up-to-date physics of wind-driven waves. The problem is considered within the alternative climatology approach where dynamical criteria of wave height-to-period linkage are used for retrieving wave periods and constructing physically consistent dynamical climatology. The key dynamical parameter - exponent R of one-parametric dependence Hs ~ TR shows dramatically less pronounced latitudinal dependence as compared to observed Hs

Secure Scientific Applications Scheduling Technique for Cloud Computing Environment Using Global League Championship Algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulhamid, Shafi'i Muhammad; Abd Latiff, Muhammad Shafie; Abdul-Salaam, Gaddafi; Hussain Madni, Syed Hamid

2016-01-01

Cloud computing system is a huge cluster of interconnected servers residing in a datacenter and dynamically provisioned to clients on-demand via a front-end interface. Scientific applications scheduling in the cloud computing environment is identified as NP-hard problem due to the dynamic nature of heterogeneous resources. Recently, a number of metaheuristics optimization schemes have been applied to address the challenges of applications scheduling in the cloud system, without much emphasis on the issue of secure global scheduling. In this paper, scientific applications scheduling techniques using the Global League Championship Algorithm (GBLCA) optimization technique is first presented for global task scheduling in the cloud environment. The experiment is carried out using CloudSim simulator. The experimental results show that, the proposed GBLCA technique produced remarkable performance improvement rate on the makespan that ranges between 14.44% to 46.41%. It also shows significant reduction in the time taken to securely schedule applications as parametrically measured in terms of the response time. In view of the experimental results, the proposed technique provides better-quality scheduling solution that is suitable for scientific applications task execution in the Cloud Computing environment than the MinMin, MaxMin, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) scheduling techniques.

Secure Scientific Applications Scheduling Technique for Cloud Computing Environment Using Global League Championship Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulhamid, Shafi’i Muhammad; Abd Latiff, Muhammad Shafie; Abdul-Salaam, Gaddafi; Hussain Madni, Syed Hamid

2016-01-01

Cloud computing system is a huge cluster of interconnected servers residing in a datacenter and dynamically provisioned to clients on-demand via a front-end interface. Scientific applications scheduling in the cloud computing environment is identified as NP-hard problem due to the dynamic nature of heterogeneous resources. Recently, a number of metaheuristics optimization schemes have been applied to address the challenges of applications scheduling in the cloud system, without much emphasis on the issue of secure global scheduling. In this paper, scientific applications scheduling techniques using the Global League Championship Algorithm (GBLCA) optimization technique is first presented for global task scheduling in the cloud environment. The experiment is carried out using CloudSim simulator. The experimental results show that, the proposed GBLCA technique produced remarkable performance improvement rate on the makespan that ranges between 14.44% to 46.41%. It also shows significant reduction in the time taken to securely schedule applications as parametrically measured in terms of the response time. In view of the experimental results, the proposed technique provides better-quality scheduling solution that is suitable for scientific applications task execution in the Cloud Computing environment than the MinMin, MaxMin, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) scheduling techniques. PMID:27384239

Climatology of UVA and ozone variations and the global solar UV-index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, C.R.; Gies, H.P.; Toomey, S.J.

1996-01-01

Human overexposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can result in acute and chronic adverse health effects on both the skin and the eye. Skin cancer (both non-melanoma and malignant melanoma) and cataract impose a huge social and cost burden on many societies throughout the world. Such human health problems can be avoided if the individual reduces their UVR exposure. Unfortunately enlightenment may not help persons who have experienced high episodic exposures during childhood as this appears to be an important causal factor in melanoma. In some countries public educational campaigns have been underway for decades in other countries they are just beginning; the global solar uv-index provides a globally consistent means of reporting or predicting UVR as part of public education on UVR exposure. There are now indications that some of these programs have been effective in halting the climb in melanoma incidence. The UVR, and in particular UVB, reaching the earth's surface varies with both latitude and time (both of the day and year). The transmission of the extraterrestrial radiation through the atmosphere is determined by ozone clouds, aerosols and to a lesser extent, trace gases. In recent decades there has been considerable concern that long-term changes in ozone and perhaps clouds and aerosols may result in changes in the UVB at the earth's surface. (author)

In-cloud oxalate formation in the global troposphere: a 3-D modeling study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Myriokefalitakis

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Organic acids attract increasing attention as contributors to atmospheric acidity, secondary organic aerosol mass and aerosol hygroscopicity. Oxalic acid is globally the most abundant dicarboxylic acid, formed via chemical oxidation of gas-phase precursors in the aqueous phase of aerosols and droplets. Its lifecycle and atmospheric global distribution remain highly uncertain and are the focus of this study. The first global spatial and temporal distribution of oxalate, simulated using a state-of-the-art aqueous-phase chemical scheme embedded within the global 3-dimensional chemistry/transport model TM4-ECPL, is here presented. The model accounts for comprehensive gas-phase chemistry and its coupling with major aerosol constituents (including secondary organic aerosol. Model results are consistent with ambient observations of oxalate at rural and remote locations (slope = 1.16 ± 0.14, r² = 0.36, N = 114 and suggest that aqueous-phase chemistry contributes significantly to the global atmospheric burden of secondary organic aerosol. In TM4-ECPL most oxalate is formed in-cloud and less than 5 % is produced in aerosol water. About 62 % of the oxalate is removed via wet deposition, 30 % by in-cloud reaction with hydroxyl radical, 4 % by in-cloud reaction with nitrate radical and 4 % by dry deposition. The in-cloud global oxalate net chemical production is calculated to be about 21–37 Tg yr⁻¹ with almost 79 % originating from biogenic hydrocarbons, mainly isoprene. This condensed phase net source of oxalate in conjunction with a global mean turnover time against deposition of about 5 days, maintain oxalate's global tropospheric burden of 0.2–0.3 Tg, i.e. 0.05–0.1 Tg-C that is about 5–9 % of model-calculated water soluble organic carbon burden.

Banner clouds observed at Mount Zugspitze

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Wirth

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Systematic observations of banner clouds at Mount Zugspitze in the Bavarian Alps are presented and discussed. One set of observations draws on daily time lapse movies, which were taken over several years at this mountain. Identifying banner clouds with the help of these movies and using simultaneous observations of standard variables at the summit of the mountain provides climatological information regarding the banner clouds. In addition, a week-long measurement campaign with an entire suite of instruments was carried through yielding a comprehensive set of data for two specific banner cloud events.

The duration of banner cloud events has a long-tailed distribution with a mean of about 40 min. The probability of occurrence has both a distinct diurnal and a distinct seasonal cycle, with a maximum in the afternoon and in the warm season, respectively. These cycles appear to correspond closely to analogous cycles of relative humidity, which maximize in the late afternoon and during the warm season. In addition, the dependence of banner cloud occurrence on wind speed is weak. Both results suggest that moisture conditions are a key factor for banner cloud occurrence. The distribution of wind direction during banner cloud events slightly deviates from climatology, suggesting an influence from the specific Zugspitz orography.

The two banner cloud events during the campaign have a number of common features: the windward and the leeward side are characterized by different wind regimes, however, with mean upward flow on both sides; the leeward air is both moister and warmer than the windward air; the background atmosphere has an inversion just above the summit of Mt. Zugspitze; the lifting condensation level increases with altitude. The results are discussed, and it is argued that they are consistent with previous Large Eddy Simulations using idealized orography.

A simple formula for determining globally clear skies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Long, C.N.; George, A.T.; Mace, G.G. [Penn State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

Surface measurements to serve as {open_quotes}ground truth{close_quotes} are of primary importance in the development of retrieval algorithms using satellite measurements to predict surface irradiance. The most basic algorithms of this type deal with clear sky (i.e., cloudless) top-to-surface shortwave (SW) transfer, serving as a necessary prerequisite towards treating both clear and cloudy conditions. Recently, atmosphere SW cloud forcing to infer the possibility of excess atmospheric absorption (compared with model results) in cloudy atmospheres. The surface component of this ratio relies on inferring the expected clear sky SW irradiance to determine the effects of clouds on the SW energy budget. Solar renewable energy applications make use of clear and cloud fraction climatologies to assess solar radiation resources. All of the above depend to some extent on the identification of globally clear sky conditions and the attendant measurements of downwelling SW irradiance.

Investigating a solar influence on cloud cover using the North American Regional Reanalysis data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krahenbuhl Daniel Scott

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The controversial connection between cosmic rays, solar activity, and cloud cover is investigated using a climatological reconstructed reanalysis product: the North American Regional Reanalysis which provides high-resolution, low, mid-level, high, and total cloud cover data over a Lambert conformal conic projection permitting land/ocean discrimination. Pearson’s product-moment regional correlations were obtained between monthly cloud cover data and solar variability indicators, cosmic ray neutron monitors, several climatological indices, including the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO, and between cloud layers. Regions of the mid-latitude oceans exhibited a positive correlation with cosmic ray flux. Additionally, this maritime low cloud cover exhibits the only failed correlation significance with other altitudes. The cross correlation reveals that cloud cover is positively correlated everywhere but for ocean low cloud cover, supporting the unique response of the marine layer. The results of this investigation suggest that with the assumption that solar forcing does impact cloud cover, measurements of solar activity exhibits a slightly higher correlation than GCRs. The only instance where GCRs exhibit a positive regional correlation with cloud cover is for maritime low clouds. The AMO exerts the greatest control of cloud cover in the NARR domain.

Lidar studies of extinction in clouds in the ECLIPS project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, C.; Platt, R.; Young, S.A.; Patterson, G.P.

1992-01-01

The Experimental Cloud Lidar Pilot Study (ECLIPS) project has now had two active phases in 1989 and 1991. A number of laboratories around the world have taken part in the study. The observations have yielded new data on cloud height and structure, and have yielded some useful new information on the retrieval of cloud optical properties, together with the uncertainties involved. Clouds have a major impact on the climate of the earth. They have the effect of reducing the mean surface temperature from 30 C for a cloudless planet to a value of about 15 C for present cloud conditions. However, it is not at all certain how clouds would react to a change in the planetary temperature in the event of climate change due to a radiative forcing from greenhouse gases. Clouds both reflect out sunlight (negative feedback) and enhance the greenhouse effect (positive feedback), but the ultimate sign of cloud feedback is unknown. Because of these uncertainties, campaigns to study clouds intensely were initiated. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology (ISCPP) and the FIRE Campaigns (cirrus and stratocumulus) are examples. The ECLIPS was set up similarly to the above experiments to obtain information specifically on cloud base, but also cloud top (where possible), optical properties, and cloud structure. ECLIPS was designed to allow as many laboratories as possible globally to take part to get the largest range of clouds. It involves observations with elastic backscatter lidar, supported by infrared fluxes at the ground and radiosonde data, as basic instrumentation. More complex experiments using beam filter radiometers, solar pyranometers, and satellite data and often associated with other campaigns were also encouraged to join ECLIPS

A CloudSat-CALIPSO View of Cloud and Precipitation Properties Across Cold Fronts over the Global Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Naud, Catherine M.; Posselt, Derek J.; van den Heever, Susan C.

2015-01-01

The distribution of cloud and precipitation properties across oceanic extratropical cyclone cold fronts is examined using four years of combined CloudSat radar and CALIPSO lidar retrievals. The global annual mean cloud and precipitation distributions show that low-level clouds are ubiquitous in the post frontal zone while higher-level cloud frequency and precipitation peak in the warm sector along the surface front. Increases in temperature and moisture within the cold front region are associated with larger high-level but lower mid-/low level cloud frequencies and precipitation decreases in the cold sector. This behavior seems to be related to a shift from stratiform to convective clouds and precipitation. Stronger ascent in the warm conveyor belt tends to enhance cloudiness and precipitation across the cold front. A strong temperature contrast between the warm and cold sectors also encourages greater post-cold-frontal cloud occurrence. While the seasonal contrasts in environmental temperature, moisture, and ascent strength are enough to explain most of the variations in cloud and precipitation across cold fronts in both hemispheres, they do not fully explain the differences between Northern and Southern Hemisphere cold fronts. These differences are better explained when the impact of the contrast in temperature across the cold front is also considered. In addition, these large-scale parameters do not explain the relatively large frequency in springtime post frontal precipitation.

Global spectroscopic survey of cloud thermodynamic phase at high spatial resolution, 2005-2015

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, David R.; Kahn, Brian H.; Green, Robert O.; Chien, Steve A.; Middleton, Elizabeth M.; Tran, Daniel Q.

2018-02-01

The distribution of ice, liquid, and mixed phase clouds is important for Earth's planetary radiation budget, impacting cloud optical properties, evolution, and solar reflectivity. Most remote orbital thermodynamic phase measurements observe kilometer scales and are insensitive to mixed phases. This under-constrains important processes with outsize radiative forcing impact, such as spatial partitioning in mixed phase clouds. To date, the fine spatial structure of cloud phase has not been measured at global scales. Imaging spectroscopy of reflected solar energy from 1.4 to 1.8 µm can address this gap: it directly measures ice and water absorption, a robust indicator of cloud top thermodynamic phase, with spatial resolution of tens to hundreds of meters. We report the first such global high spatial resolution survey based on data from 2005 to 2015 acquired by the Hyperion imaging spectrometer onboard NASA's Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) spacecraft. Seasonal and latitudinal distributions corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). For extratropical cloud systems, just 25 % of variance observed at GCM grid scales of 100 km was related to irreducible measurement error, while 75 % was explained by spatial correlations possible at finer resolutions.

Cloud Particles Differential Evolution Algorithm: A Novel Optimization Method for Global Numerical Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a new optimization algorithm inspired by the formation and change of the cloud in nature, referred to as Cloud Particles Differential Evolution (CPDE algorithm. The cloud is assumed to have three states in the proposed algorithm. Gaseous state represents the global exploration. Liquid state represents the intermediate process from the global exploration to the local exploitation. Solid state represents the local exploitation. The best solution found so far acts as a nucleus. In gaseous state, the nucleus leads the population to explore by condensation operation. In liquid state, cloud particles carry out macrolocal exploitation by liquefaction operation. A new mutation strategy called cloud differential mutation is introduced in order to solve a problem that the misleading effect of a nucleus may cause the premature convergence. In solid state, cloud particles carry out microlocal exploitation by solidification operation. The effectiveness of the algorithm is validated upon different benchmark problems. The results have been compared with eight well-known optimization algorithms. The statistical analysis on performance evaluation of the different algorithms on 10 benchmark functions and CEC2013 problems indicates that CPDE attains good performance.

Global solar radiation in Trieste (Italy)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anane-Fenin, K.

1986-04-01

Global irradiation data recorded at Trieste (CNR - Istituto Talassografico di Trieste) during 11-year period are grouped into ''summer'' and ''winter'' periods and are compared with values generated from seven different models and empirical correlations proposed by earlier investigations. Climatological parameters like sunshine duration, relative humidity, cloud cover and maximum air temperature are the models input. The calculated values obtained from correlations according to Angstrom and Black give better agreement with measured data in summer. Agreements are within +-3% and +-4%. In winter a quadratic equation is in better agreement with measured values. Agreement is within +7%

Atmospheric transport, clouds and the Arctic longwave radiation paradox

Science.gov (United States)

Sedlar, Joseph

2016-04-01

Clouds interact with radiation, causing variations in the amount of electromagnetic energy reaching the Earth's surface, or escaping the climate system to space. While globally clouds lead to an overall cooling radiative effect at the surface, over the Arctic, where annual cloud fractions are high, the surface cloud radiative effect generally results in a warming. The additional energy input from absorption and re-emission of longwave radiation by the clouds to the surface can have a profound effect on the sea ice state. Anomalous atmospheric transport of heat and moisture into the Arctic, promoting cloud formation and enhancing surface longwave radiation anomalies, has been identified as an important mechanism in preconditioning Arctic sea ice for melt. Longwave radiation is emitted equally in all directions, and changes in the atmospheric infrared emission temperature and emissivity associated with advection of heat and moisture over the Arctic should correspondingly lead to an anomalous signal in longwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). To examine the role of atmospheric heat and moisture transport into the Arctic on TOA longwave radiation, infrared satellite sounder observations from AIRS during 2003-2014 are analyzed for summer (JJAS). Thermodynamic metrics are developed to identify months characterized by a high frequency of warm and moist advection into the Arctic, and segregate the 2003-14 time period into climatological and anomalously warm, moist summer months. We find that anomalously warm, moist months result in a significant TOA longwave radiative cooling, which is opposite the forcing signal that the surface experiences during these months. At the timescale of the advective events, 3-10 days, the TOA cooling can be as large as the net surface energy budget during summer. When averaged on the monthly time scale, and over the full Arctic basin (poleward of 75°N), summer months experiencing frequent warm, moist advection events are

Cloud radiative effects and changes simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sun-Hee; Kim, Ok-Yeon; Kim, Dongmin; Lee, Myong-In

2017-07-01

Using 32 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models, this study examines the veracity in the simulation of cloud amount and their radiative effects (CREs) in the historical run driven by observed external radiative forcing for 1850-2005, and their future changes in the RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 4.5 scenario runs for 2006-2100. Validation metrics for the historical run are designed to examine the accuracy in the representation of spatial patterns for climatological mean, and annual and interannual variations of clouds and CREs. The models show large spread in the simulation of cloud amounts, specifically in the low cloud amount. The observed relationship between cloud amount and the controlling large-scale environment are also reproduced diversely by various models. Based on the validation metrics, four models—ACCESS1.0, ACCESS1.3, HadGEM2-CC, and HadGEM2-ES—are selected as best models, and the average of the four models performs more skillfully than the multimodel ensemble average. All models project global-mean SST warming at the increase of the greenhouse gases, but the magnitude varies across the simulations between 1 and 2 K, which is largely attributable to the difference in the change of cloud amount and distribution. The models that simulate more SST warming show a greater increase in the net CRE due to reduced low cloud and increased incoming shortwave radiation, particularly over the regions of marine boundary layer in the subtropics. Selected best-performing models project a significant reduction in global-mean cloud amount of about -0.99% K-1 and net radiative warming of 0.46 W m-2 K-1, suggesting a role of positive feedback to global warming.

GEWEX - The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Chahine, Moustafa T.

1992-01-01

GEWEX, which is part of the World Climate Research Program, has as its goal an order-of-magnitude improvement in the ability to model global precipitation and evaporation and furnish an accurate assessment of the sensitivity of atmospheric radiation and clouds. Attention will also be given to the response of the hydrological cycle and water resources to climate change. GEWEX employs a single program to coordinate all aspects of climatology from model development to the deployment and operation of observational systems. GEWEX will operate over the next two decades.

Up-to-date probabilistic temperature climatologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krakauer, Nir Y; Devineni, Naresh

2015-01-01

With ongoing global warming, climatologies based on average past temperatures are increasingly recognized as imperfect guides for current conditions, yet there is no consensus on alternatives. Here, we compare several approaches to deriving updated expected values of monthly mean temperatures, including moving average, exponentially weighted moving average, and piecewise linear regression. We go beyond most previous work by presenting updated climate normals as probability distributions rather than only point estimates, enabling estimation of the changing likelihood of hot and cold extremes. We show that there is a trade-off between bias and variance in these approaches, but that bias can be mitigated by an additive correction based on a global average temperature series, which has much less interannual variability than a single-station series. Using thousands of monthly temperature time series from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), we find that the exponentially weighted moving average with a timescale of 15 years and global bias correction has good overall performance in hindcasting temperatures over the last 30 years (1984–2013) compared with the other methods tested. Our results suggest that over the last 30 years, the likelihood of extremely hot months (above the 99th percentile of the temperature probability distribution as of the early 1980s) has increased more than fourfold across the GHCN stations, whereas the likelihood of very cold months (under the 1st percentile) has decreased by over two-thirds. (letter)

The role of aerosols in cloud drop parameterizations and its applications in global climate models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chuang, C.C.; Penner, J.E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1996-04-01

The characteristics of the cloud drop size distribution near cloud base are initially determined by aerosols that serve as cloud condensation nuclei and the updraft velocity. We have developed parameterizations relating cloud drop number concentration to aerosol number and sulfate mass concentrations and used them in a coupled global aerosol/general circulation model (GCM) to estimate the indirect aerosol forcing. The global aerosol model made use of our detailed emissions inventories for the amount of particulate matter from biomass burning sources and from fossil fuel sources as well as emissions inventories of the gas-phase anthropogenic SO{sub 2}. This work is aimed at validating the coupled model with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program measurements and assessing the possible magnitude of the aerosol-induced cloud effects on climate.

The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, M.; Beaudoing, H. K.; L'Ecuyer, T.; Olson, W. S.

2012-12-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

The NEWS Water Cycle Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Rodell, Matthew; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; William, Olson

2012-01-01

NASA's Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) program fosters collaborative research towards improved quantification and prediction of water and energy cycle consequences of climate change. In order to measure change, it is first necessary to describe current conditions. The goal of the first phase of the NEWS Water and Energy Cycle Climatology project was to develop "state of the global water cycle" and "state of the global energy cycle" assessments based on data from modern ground and space based observing systems and data integrating models. The project was a multi-institutional collaboration with more than 20 active contributors. This presentation will describe the results of the water cycle component of the first phase of the project, which include seasonal (monthly) climatologies of water fluxes over land, ocean, and atmosphere at continental and ocean basin scales. The requirement of closure of the water budget (i.e., mass conservation) at various scales was exploited to constrain the flux estimates via an optimization approach that will also be described. Further, error assessments were included with the input datasets, and we examine these in relation to inferred uncertainty in the optimized flux estimates in order to gauge our current ability to close the water budget within an expected uncertainty range.

Clouds in ECMWF's 30 KM Resolution Global Atmospheric Forecast Model (TL639)

Science.gov (United States)

Cahalan, R. F.; Morcrette, J. J.

1999-01-01

Global models of the general circulation of the atmosphere resolve a wide range of length scales, and in particular cloud structures extend from planetary scales to the smallest scales resolvable, now down to 30 km in state-of-the-art models. Even the highest resolution models do not resolve small-scale cloud phenomena seen, for example, in Landsat and other high-resolution satellite images of clouds. Unresolved small-scale disturbances often grow into larger ones through non-linear processes that transfer energy upscale. Understanding upscale cascades is of crucial importance in predicting current weather, and in parameterizing cloud-radiative processes that control long term climate. Several movie animations provide examples of the temporal and spatial variation of cloud fields produced in 4-day runs of the forecast model at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading, England, at particular times and locations of simultaneous measurement field campaigns. model resolution is approximately 30 km horizontally (triangular truncation TL639) with 31 vertical levels from surface to stratosphere. Timestep of the model is about 10 minutes, but animation frames are 3 hours apart, at timesteps when the radiation is computed. The animations were prepared from an archive of several 4-day runs at the highest available model resolution, and archived at ECMWF. Cloud, wind and temperature fields in an approximately 1000 km X 1000 km box were retrieved from the archive, then approximately 60 Mb Vis5d files were prepared with the help of Graeme Kelly of ECMWF, and were compressed into MPEG files each less than 3 Mb. We discuss the interaction of clouds and radiation in the model, and compare the variability of cloud liquid as a function of scale to that seen in cloud observations made in intensive field campaigns. Comparison of high-resolution global runs to cloud-resolving models, and to lower resolution climate models is leading to better

Precipitation Climatology on Titan-like Exomoons.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokano, Tetsuya

2015-06-01

The availability of liquid water on the surface on Earth's continents in part relies on the precipitation of water. This implies that the habitability of exomoons has to consider not only the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure for the presence of liquid water, but also the global precipitation climatology. This study explores the sensitivity of the precipitation climatology of Titan-like exomoons to these moons' orbital configuration using a global climate model. The precipitation rate primarily depends on latitude and is sensitive to the planet's obliquity and the moon's rotation rate. On slowly rotating moons the precipitation shifts to higher latitudes as obliquity is increased, whereas on quickly rotating moons the latitudinal distribution does not strongly depend on obliquity. Stellar eclipse can cause a longitudinal variation in the mean surface temperature and surface pressure between the subplanetary and antiplanetary side if the planet's obliquity and the moon's orbital distance are small. In this particular condition the antiplanetary side generally receives more precipitation than the subplanetary side. However, precipitation on exomoons with dense atmospheres generally occurs at any longitude in contrast to tidally locked exoplanets.

Life in the clouds: are tropical montane cloud forests responding to changes in climate?

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jia; Riveros-Iregui, Diego A

2016-04-01

The humid tropics represent only one example of the many places worldwide where anthropogenic disturbance and climate change are quickly affecting the feedbacks between water and trees. In this article, we address the need for a more long-term perspective on the effects of climate change on tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) in order to fully assess the combined vulnerability and long-term response of tropical trees to changes in precipitation regimes, including cloud immersion. We first review the ecophysiological benefits that cloud water interception offers to trees in TMCF and then examine current climatological evidence that suggests changes in cloud base height and impending changes in cloud immersion for TMCF. Finally, we propose an experimental approach to examine the long-term dynamics of tropical trees in TMCF in response to environmental conditions on decade-to-century time scales. This information is important to assess the vulnerability and long-term response of TMCF to changes in cloud cover and fog frequency and duration.

Using latency as a QoS indicator for global cloud computing services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Riaz, Tahir; Dubalski, Bozydar

2013-01-01

Many globally distributed cloud computing (CC) applications and services running over the Internet, between globally dispersed clients and servers, will require certain levels of QoS in order to deliver and give a sufficiently smooth user experience. This would be essential for real-time streaming...

Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation footprint on global high cloud cover

Science.gov (United States)

Vaideanu, Petru; Dima, Mihai; Voiculescu, Mirela

2017-12-01

Due to the complexity of the physical processes responsible for cloud formation and to the relatively short satellite database of continuous data records, cloud behavior in a warming climate remains uncertain. Identifying physical links between climate modes and clouds would contribute not only to a better understanding of the physical processes governing their formation and dynamics, but also to an improved representation of the clouds in climate models. Here, we identify the global footprint of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on high cloud cover, with focus on the tropical and North Atlantic, tropical Pacific and on the circum-Antarctic sector. In the tropical band, the sea surface temperature (SST) and high cloud cover (HCC) anomalies are positively correlated, indicating a dominant role played by convection in mediating the influence of the AMO-related SST anomalies on the HCC field. The negative SST-HCC correlation observed in North Atlantic could be explained by the reduced meridional temperature gradient induced by the AMO positive phase, which would be reflected in less storms and negative HCC anomalies. A similar negative SST-HCC correlation is observed around Antarctica. The corresponding negative correlation around Antarctica could be generated dynamically, as a response to the intensified upward motion in the Ferrel cell. Despite the inherent imperfection of the observed and reanalysis data sets, the AMO footprint on HCC is found to be robust to the choice of dataset, statistical method, and specific time period considered.

Brightening of the global cloud field by nitric acid and the associated radiative forcing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Makkonen

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Clouds cool Earth's climate by reflecting 20% of the incoming solar energy, while also trapping part of the outgoing radiation. The effect of human activities on clouds is poorly understood, but the present-day anthropogenic cooling via changes of cloud albedo and lifetime could be of the same order as warming from anthropogenic addition in CO₂. Soluble trace gases can increase water condensation to particles, possibly leading to activation of smaller aerosols and more numerous cloud droplets. We have studied the effect of nitric acid on the aerosol indirect effect with the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5.5-HAM2. Including the nitric acid effect in the model increases cloud droplet number concentrations globally by 7%. The nitric acid contribution to the present-day cloud albedo effect was found to be −0.32 W m⁻² and to the total indirect effect −0.46 W m⁻². The contribution to the cloud albedo effect is shown to increase to −0.37 W m⁻² by the year 2100, if considering only the reductions in available cloud condensation nuclei. Overall, the effect of nitric acid can play a large part in aerosol cooling during the following decades with decreasing SO₂ emissions and increasing NO_x and greenhouse gases.

A Madden-Julian oscillation event realistically simulated by a global cloud-resolving model.

Science.gov (United States)

Miura, Hiroaki; Satoh, Masaki; Nasuno, Tomoe; Noda, Akira T; Oouchi, Kazuyoshi

2007-12-14

A Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a massive weather event consisting of deep convection coupled with atmospheric circulation, moving slowly eastward over the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Despite its enormous influence on many weather and climate systems worldwide, it has proven very difficult to simulate an MJO because of assumptions about cumulus clouds in global meteorological models. Using a model that allows direct coupling of the atmospheric circulation and clouds, we successfully simulated the slow eastward migration of an MJO event. Topography, the zonal sea surface temperature gradient, and interplay between eastward- and westward-propagating signals controlled the timing of the eastward transition of the convective center. Our results demonstrate the potential making of month-long MJO predictions when global cloud-resolving models with realistic initial conditions are used.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Surface Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, B.; Minnis, P.

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility (SCF) are analyzed to determine the monthly and hourly variations of cloud fraction and radiative forcing between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layered low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (more than 6 km) using ARM SCG ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) fluxes are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements with uncertainties of approximately 10 Wm(exp -2). The annual averages of total, and single-layered low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Both total and low cloud amounts peak during January and February and reach a minimum during July and August, high clouds occur more frequently than other types of clouds with a peak in summer. The average annual downwelling surface SW fluxes for total and low clouds (151 and 138 Wm(exp-2), respectively) are less than those under middle and high clouds (188 and 201 Wm(exp -2), respectively), but the downwelling LW fluxes (349 and 356 Wm(exp -2)) underneath total and low clouds are greater than those from middle and high clouds (337 and 333 Wm(exp -2)). Low clouds produce the largest LW warming (55 Wm(exp -2) and SW cooling (-91 Wm(exp -2)) effects with maximum and minimum absolute values in spring and summer, respectively. High clouds have the smallest LW warming (17 Wm(exp -2)) and SW cooling (-37 Wm(exp -2)) effects at the surface. All-sky SW CRF decreases and LW CRF increases with increasing cloud fraction with mean slopes of -0.984 and 0.616 Wm(exp -2)%(exp -1), respectively. Over the entire diurnal cycle, clouds deplete the amount of surface insolation more than they add to the downwelling LW flux. The calculated CRFs do not appear to be significantly

Advancing cloud lifecycle representation in numerical models using innovative analysis methods that bridge arm observations over a breadth of scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tselioudis, George [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

2016-03-04

From its location on the subtropics-midlatitude boundary, the Azores is influenced by both the subtropical high pressure and the midlatitude baroclinic storm regimes, and therefore experiences a wide range of cloud structures, from fair-weather scenes to stratocumulus sheets to deep convective systems. This project combined three types of data sets to study cloud variability in the Azores: a satellite analysis of cloud regimes, a reanalysis characterization of storminess, and a 19-month field campaign that occurred on Graciosa Island. Combined analysis of the three data sets provides a detailed picture of cloud variability and the respective dynamic influences, with emphasis on low clouds that constitute a major uncertainty source in climate model simulations. The satellite cloud regime analysis shows that the Azores cloud distribution is similar to the mean global distribution and can therefore be used to evaluate cloud simulation in global models. Regime analysis of low clouds shows that stratocumulus decks occur under the influence of the Azores high-pressure system, while shallow cumulus clouds are sustained by cold-air outbreaks, as revealed by their preference for post-frontal environments and northwesterly flows. An evaluation of CMIP5 climate model cloud regimes over the Azores shows that all models severely underpredict shallow cumulus clouds, while most models also underpredict the occurrence of stratocumulus cloud decks. It is demonstrated that carefully selected case studies can be related through regime analysis to climatological cloud distributions, and a methodology is suggested utilizing process-resolving model simulations of individual cases to better understand cloud-dynamics interactions and attempt to explain and correct climate model cloud deficiencies.

Multi-satellite climatologies of fundamental atmospheric variables from Radio Occulation and their validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pirscher, B.

2010-01-01

Monitoring of global climate change requires high quality observations not only on the Earths surface but also in the free atmosphere. Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) observations are known to have the potential to deliver very accurate, precise, and long-term stable measurements between about 8 km and 30 km altitude.This thesis investigates the suitability of RO observations to serve as climate benchmark record by validating the consistency of RO data provided by different satellites. The main focus lies on systematic differences of RO climatologies, originating from different data processing, data quality, spatio-temporal sampling, and particular orbit characteristics. Data of six RO satellite missions (including one multi-satellite constellation) are analyzed. Largest disagreements of RO climatologies are observed when comparing data provided by different processing centers. Mean absolute temperature differences between 8 km and 30 km altitude amount to 0.5 K, while climate time series of temperature changes agree much closer.Utilizing RO data from the same data center and considering space-temporal sampling yields remarkable consistency of temperature climatologies with mean differences being smaller than 0.1 K. Disagreements are found to be largest at 35 km, where they exceed 0.2 K. This results from different data quality and its utilization within the processing scheme. Climatologies, which are derived from data with the same quality agree to within 0.02 K also at high altitudes. The measurements local time, which depends on the satellites orbit, has a minor but clearly understandable influence on differences in RO climatologies. The results underline the utility of RO data for long-term monitoring of the global climate. (author) [de

A long-term time series of global and diffuse photosynthetically active radiation in the Mediterranean: interannual variability and cloud effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Trisolino

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Measurements of global and diffuse photosynthetically active radiation (PAR have been carried out on the island of Lampedusa, in the central Mediterranean Sea, since 2002. PAR is derived from observations made with multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometers (MFRSRs by comparison with a freshly calibrated PAR sensor and by relying on the on-site Langley plots. In this way, a long-term calibrated record covering the period 2002–2016 is obtained and is presented in this work. The monthly mean global PAR peaks in June, with about 160 W m−2, while the diffuse PAR reaches 60 W m−2 in spring or summer. The global PAR displays a clear annual cycle with a semi amplitude of about 52 W m−2. The diffuse PAR annual cycle has a semi amplitude of about 12 W m−2. A simple method to retrieve the cloud-free PAR global and diffuse irradiances in days characterized by partly cloudy conditions has been implemented and applied to the dataset. This method allows retrieval of the cloud-free evolution of PAR and calculation of the cloud radiative effect, CRE, for downwelling PAR. The cloud-free monthly mean global PAR reaches 175 W m−2 in summer, while the diffuse PAR peaks at about 40 W m−2. The cloud radiative effect, CRE, on global and diffuse PAR is calculated as the difference between all-sky and cloud-free measurements. The annual average CRE is about −14.7 W m−2 for the global PAR and +8.1 W m−2 for the diffuse PAR. The smallest CRE is observed in July, due to the high cloud-free condition frequency. Maxima (negative for the global, and positive for the diffuse component occur in March–April and in October, due to the combination of elevated PAR irradiances and high occurrence of cloudy conditions. Summer clouds appear to be characterized by a low frequency of occurrence, low altitude, and low optical thickness, possibly linked to the peculiar marine boundary layer structure. These properties also contribute

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Central Facility. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Minnis, Patrick

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) central facility are analyzed for determining the variability of cloud fraction and radiative forcing at several temporal scales between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layer low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (greater than 6 km) using ARM SGP ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW), longwave (LW), and net cloud radiative forcings (CRF) are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements. The annual averages of total, and single-layer, nonoverlapped low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Total and low cloud amounts were greatest from December through March and least during July and August. The monthly variation of high cloud amount is relatively small with a broad maximum from May to August. During winter, total cloud cover varies diurnally with a small amplitude, mid-morning maximum and early evening minimum, and during summer it changes by more than 0.14 over the daily cycle with a pronounced early evening minimum. The diurnal variations of mean single-layer cloud cover change with season and cloud height. Annual averages of all-sky, total, and single-layer high, middle, and low LW CRFs are 21.4, 40.2, 16.7, 27.2, and 55.0 Wm(sup -2), respectively; and their SW CRFs are -41.5, -77.2, -37.0, -47.0, and -90.5 Wm(sup -2). Their net CRFs range from -20 to -37 Wm(sup -2). For all-sky, total, and low clouds, the maximum negative net CRFs of -40.1, -70, and -69.5 Wm(sup -2), occur during April; while the respective minimum values of -3.9, -5.7, and -4.6 Wm(sup -2), are found during December. July is the month having maximum negative net CRF of -46.2 Wm(sup -2) for middle clouds, and May has the maximum value of -45.9 Wm(sup -2) for high clouds. An

THE GLOBAL EVOLUTION OF GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUDS. II. THE ROLE OF ACCRETION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldbaum, Nathan J.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Matzner, Christopher D.; McKee, Christopher F.

2011-01-01

We present virial models for the global evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Focusing on the presence of an accretion flow and accounting for the amount of mass, momentum, and energy supplied by accretion and star formation feedback, we are able to follow the growth, evolution, and dispersal of individual GMCs. Our model clouds reproduce the scaling relations observed in both galactic and extragalactic clouds. We find that accretion and star formation contribute roughly equal amounts of turbulent kinetic energy over the lifetime of the cloud. Clouds attain virial equilibrium and grow in such a way as to maintain roughly constant surface densities, with typical surface densities of order 50-200 M sun pc -2 , in good agreement with observations of GMCs in the Milky Way and nearby external galaxies. We find that as clouds grow, their velocity dispersion and radius must also increase, implying that the linewidth-size relation constitutes an age sequence. Lastly, we compare our models to observations of GMCs and associated young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and find good agreement between our model clouds and the observed relationship between H II regions, young star clusters, and GMCs.

Understanding the drivers of marine liquid-water cloud occurrence and properties with global observations using neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Andersen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The role of aerosols, clouds and their interactions with radiation remain among the largest unknowns in the climate system. Even though the processes involved are complex, aerosol–cloud interactions are often analyzed by means of bivariate relationships. In this study, 15 years (2001–2015 of monthly satellite-retrieved near-global aerosol products are combined with reanalysis data of various meteorological parameters to predict satellite-derived marine liquid-water cloud occurrence and properties by means of region-specific artificial neural networks. The statistical models used are shown to be capable of predicting clouds, especially in regions of high cloud variability. On this monthly scale, lower-tropospheric stability is shown to be the main determinant of cloud fraction and droplet size, especially in stratocumulus regions, while boundary layer height controls the liquid-water amount and thus the optical thickness of clouds. While aerosols show the expected impact on clouds, at this scale they are less relevant than some meteorological factors. Global patterns of the derived sensitivities point to regional characteristics of aerosol and cloud processes.

Fast cloud parameter retrievals of MIPAS/Envisat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Spang

2012-08-01

and tropospheric clouds similar to that of space- and ground-based lidars, with a tendency for higher cloud top heights and consequently higher sensitivity for some of the MIPAS detection methods. For the high cloud amount (HCA, pressure levels below 440 hPa on global scales the sensitivity of MIPAS is significantly greater than that of passive nadir viewers. This means that the high cloud fraction will be underestimated in the ISCCP dataset compared to the amount of high clouds deduced by MIPAS. Good correspondence in seasonal variability and geographical distribution of cloud occurrence and zonal means of cloud top height is found in a detailed comparison with a climatology for subvisible cirrus clouds from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II limb sounder. Overall, validation with various sensors shows the need to consider differences in sensitivity, and especially the viewing geometries and field-of-view size, to make the datasets comparable (e.g. applying integration along the limb path through nadir cloud fields. The simulation of the limb path integration will be an important issue for comparisons with cloud-resolving global circulation or chemical transport models.

The ARM Cloud Radar Simulator for Global Climate Models: Bridging Field Data and Climate Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuying [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Xie, Shaocheng [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Klein, Stephen A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Marchand, Roger [University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Kollias, Pavlos [Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York; Clothiaux, Eugene E. [The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; Lin, Wuyin [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Johnson, Karen [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Swales, Dustin [CIRES and NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado; Bodas-Salcedo, Alejandro [Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom; Tang, Shuaiqi [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Haynes, John M. [Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere/Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Collis, Scott [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois; Jensen, Michael [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Bharadwaj, Nitin [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington; Hardin, Joseph [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington; Isom, Bradley [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington

2018-01-01

Clouds play an important role in Earth’s radiation budget and hydrological cycle. However, current global climate models (GCMs) have had difficulties in accurately simulating clouds and precipitation. To improve the representation of clouds in climate models, it is crucial to identify where simulated clouds differ from real world observations of them. This can be difficult, since significant differences exist between how a climate model represents clouds and what instruments observe, both in terms of spatial scale and the properties of the hydrometeors which are either modeled or observed. To address these issues and minimize impacts of instrument limitations, the concept of instrument “simulators”, which convert model variables into pseudo-instrument observations, has evolved with the goal to improve and to facilitate the comparison of modeled clouds with observations. Many simulators have (and continue to be developed) for a variety of instruments and purposes. A community satellite simulator package, the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulator Package (COSP; Bodas-Salcedo et al. 2011), contains several independent satellite simulators and is being widely used in the global climate modeling community to exploit satellite observations for model cloud evaluation (e.g., Klein et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2010). This article introduces a ground-based cloud radar simulator developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program for comparing climate model clouds with ARM observations from its vertically pointing 35-GHz radars. As compared to CloudSat radar observations, ARM radar measurements occur with higher temporal resolution and finer vertical resolution. This enables users to investigate more fully the detailed vertical structures within clouds, resolve thin clouds, and quantify the diurnal variability of clouds. Particularly, ARM radars are sensitive to low-level clouds, which are

Climatological Distributions of pH, pCO2, Total CO2, Alkalinity, and CaCO3 Saturation in the Global Surface Ocean (NCEI accession 01645680) (NCEI Accession 0164568)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Climatological mean monthly distributions of pH in the total H+ scale, total CO2 concentration (TCO2), and the degree of CaCO3 saturation for the global surface...

Double-moment cloud microphysics scheme for the deep convection parameterization in the GFDL AM3

Science.gov (United States)

Belochitski, A.; Donner, L.

2014-12-01

A double-moment cloud microphysical scheme originally developed by Morrision and Gettelman (2008) for the stratiform clouds and later adopted for the deep convection by Song and Zhang (2011) has been implemented in to the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's atmospheric general circulation model AM3. The scheme treats cloud drop, cloud ice, rain, and snow number concentrations and mixing ratios as diagnostic variables and incorporates processes of autoconversion, self-collection, collection between hydrometeor species, sedimentation, ice nucleation, drop activation, homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing, and the Bergeron-Findeisen process. Such detailed representation of microphysical processes makes the scheme suitable for studying the interactions between aerosols and convection, as well as aerosols' indirect effects on clouds and their roles in climate change. The scheme is first tested in the single column version of the GFDL AM3 using forcing data obtained at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurment project's Southern Great Planes site. Scheme's impact on SCM simulations is discussed. As the next step, runs of the full atmospheric GCM incorporating the new parameterization are compared to the unmodified version of GFDL AM3. Global climatological fields and their variability are contrasted with those of the original version of the GCM. Impact on cloud radiative forcing and climate sensitivity is investigated.

Influence of Ice Particle Surface Roughening on the Global Cloud Radiative Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Bingqi; Yang, Ping; Baum, Bryan A.; LEcuyer, Tristan; Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Mlawer, Eli J.; Heymsfield, Andrew J.; Liou, Kuo-Nan

2013-01-01

Ice clouds influence the climate system by changing the radiation budget and large-scale circulation. Therefore, climate models need to have an accurate representation of ice clouds and their radiative effects. In this paper, new broadband parameterizations for ice cloud bulk scattering properties are developed for severely roughened ice particles. The parameterizations are based on a general habit mixture that includes nine habits (droxtals, hollow/solid columns, plates, solid/hollow bullet rosettes, aggregate of solid columns, and small/large aggregates of plates). The scattering properties for these individual habits incorporate recent advances in light-scattering computations. The influence of ice particle surface roughness on the ice cloud radiative effect is determined through simulations with the Fu-Liou and the GCM version of the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTMG) codes and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Atmosphere Model (CAM, version 5.1). The differences in shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiative effect at both the top of the atmosphere and the surface are determined for smooth and severely roughened ice particles. While the influence of particle roughening on the single-scattering properties is negligible in the LW, the results indicate that ice crystal roughness can change the SW forcing locally by more than 10 W m(exp -2) over a range of effective diameters. The global-averaged SW cloud radiative effect due to ice particle surface roughness is estimated to be roughly 1-2 W m(exp -2). The CAM results indicate that ice particle roughening can result in a large regional SW radiative effect and a small but nonnegligible increase in the global LW cloud radiative effect.

Evaluating cloudiness in an AGCM with Cloud Vertical Structure classes and their radiative effects

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, D.; Cho, N.; Oreopoulos, L.; Barahona, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds are recognized not only as the main modulator of Earth's Radiation Budget but also as the atmospheric constituent carrying the largest uncertainty in future climate projections. The presentation will showcase a new framework for evaluating clouds and their radiative effects in Atmospheric Global Climate Models (AGCMs) using Cloud Vertical Structure (CVS) classes. We take advantage of a new CVS reference dataset recently created from CloudSat's 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR product and which assigns observed cloud vertical configurations to nine simplified CVS classes based on cloud co-occurrence in three standard atmospheric layers. These CVS classes can also be emulated in GEOS-5 using the subcolumn cloud generator currently paired with the RRTMG radiation package as an implementation of the McICA scheme. Comparisons between the observed and modeled climatologies of the frequency of occurrence of the various CVS classes provide a new vantage point for assessing the realism of GEOS-5 clouds. Furthermore, a comparison between observed and modeled cloud radiative effects according to their CVS is also possible thanks to the availability of CloudSat's 2B-FLXHR-LIDAR product and our ability to composite radiative fluxes by CVS class - both in the observed and modeled realm. This latter effort enables an investigation of whether the contribution of the various CVS classes to the Earth's radiation budget is represented realistically in GEOS-5. Making this new pathway of cloud evaluation available to the community is a major step towards the improved representation of clouds in climate models.

A Climatology of Surface Cloud Radiative Effects at the ARM Tropical Western Pacific Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McFarlane, Sally A.; Long, Charles N.; Flaherty, Julia E.

2013-04-01

Cloud radiative effects on surface downwelling fluxes are investigated using long-term datasets from the three Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites in the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) region. The Nauru and Darwin sites show significant variability in sky cover, downwelling radiative fluxes, and surface cloud radiative effect (CRE) due to El Niño and the Australian monsoon, respectively, while the Manus site shows little intra-seasonal or interannual variability. Cloud radar measurement of cloud base and top heights are used to define cloud types so that the effect of cloud type on the surface CRE can be examined. Clouds with low bases contribute 71-75% of the surface shortwave (SW) CRE and 66-74% of the surface longwave (LW) CRE at the three TWP sites, while clouds with mid-level bases contribute 8-9% of the SW CRE and 12-14% of the LW CRE, and clouds with high bases contribute 16-19% of the SW CRE and 15-21% of the LW CRE.

Adjoint sensitivity of global cloud droplet number to aerosol and dynamical parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Karydis

2012-10-01

Full Text Available We present the development of the adjoint of a comprehensive cloud droplet formation parameterization for use in aerosol-cloud-climate interaction studies. The adjoint efficiently and accurately calculates the sensitivity of cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC to all parameterization inputs (e.g., updraft velocity, water uptake coefficient, aerosol number and hygroscopicity with a single execution. The adjoint is then integrated within three dimensional (3-D aerosol modeling frameworks to quantify the sensitivity of CDNC formation globally to each parameter. Sensitivities are computed for year-long executions of the NASA Global Modeling Initiative (GMI Chemical Transport Model (CTM, using wind fields computed with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS Global Circulation Model (GCM II', and the GEOS-Chem CTM, driven by meteorological input from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS of the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO. We find that over polluted (pristine areas, CDNC is more sensitive to updraft velocity and uptake coefficient (aerosol number and hygroscopicity. Over the oceans of the Northern Hemisphere, addition of anthropogenic or biomass burning aerosol is predicted to increase CDNC in contrast to coarse-mode sea salt which tends to decrease CDNC. Over the Southern Oceans, CDNC is most sensitive to sea salt, which is the main aerosol component of the region. Globally, CDNC is predicted to be less sensitive to changes in the hygroscopicity of the aerosols than in their concentration with the exception of dust where CDNC is very sensitive to particle hydrophilicity over arid areas. Regionally, the sensitivities differ considerably between the two frameworks and quantitatively reveal why the models differ considerably in their indirect forcing estimates.

Carbon monoxide climatology derived from the trajectory mapping of global MOZAIC-IAGOS data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. K. Osman

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A three-dimensional gridded climatology of carbon monoxide (CO has been developed by trajectory mapping of global MOZAIC-IAGOS in situ measurements from commercial aircraft data. CO measurements made during aircraft ascent and descent, comprising nearly 41 200 profiles at 148 airports worldwide from December 2001 to December 2012, are used. Forward and backward trajectories are calculated from meteorological reanalysis data in order to map the CO measurements to other locations and so to fill in the spatial domain. This domain-filling technique employs 15 800 000 calculated trajectories to map otherwise sparse MOZAIC-IAGOS data into a quasi-global field. The resulting trajectory-mapped CO data set is archived monthly from 2001 to 2012 on a grid of 5° longitude  ×  5° latitude  ×  1 km altitude, from the surface to 14 km altitude.The mapping product has been carefully evaluated, firstly by comparing maps constructed using only forward trajectories and using only backward trajectories. The two methods show similar global CO distribution patterns. The magnitude of their differences is most commonly 10 % or less and found to be less than 30 % for almost all cases. Secondly, the method has been validated by comparing profiles for individual airports with those produced by the mapping method when data from that site are excluded. While there are larger differences below 2 km, the two methods agree very well between 2 and 10 km with the magnitude of biases within 20 %. Finally, the mapping product is compared with global MOZAIC-IAGOS cruise-level data, which were not included in the trajectory-mapped data set, and with independent data from the NOAA aircraft flask sampling program. The trajectory-mapped MOZAIC-IAGOS CO values show generally good agreement with both independent data sets.Maps are also compared with version 6 data from the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT satellite instrument

Climatology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoenwiese, C.D.

1994-01-01

Climatology is an important field of continuing interest in nearly all fields of science and beyond. In view of this interdisciplinary role, the textbook gives an accurate and intelligible introduction to the fundamentals and modern aspects of general climatology. It covers the basic concepts of climate elements, the physical processes, atmospheric circulation and further components of the ''climate system'' (ocean, ice, continents), as well as an explanation of the observed field characteristics of the climate, problems of climate modelling fundamentals of bioclimatology, and, last but not least, key aspects of climate history and anthropogenic effects on climate. (orig.) [de

Influence which masses of clouds have on the global solar radiation at Salamanca (Spain)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pablo-Davila, F. de; Labajo, J.L.; Tomas-Sanchez, C.

1991-01-01

It has been shown the influence which masses of clouds, (and more specifically for each group of cloud types: high, middle and low clauds), has on the global solar radiation recorded at Matacan (Salamanca), within the period 1977-1985. For this purpose, cloud observation were made every three hours; daily records of sunshine and solar radiation were continually taken too. It has also been, both graphically and numerically, the influence of each cloud type for monthly and seasonal periods. Futhermore, different statistical parameters have been presented in order to describe the method developed. Finally, the results have been analysed and evaluated. They have been explaines according to the composition, structure and radiative properties of clouds.(Author)

Rate of non-linearity in DMS aerosol-cloud-climate interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Thomas

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The degree of non-linearity in DMS-cloud-climate interactions is assessed using the ECHAM5-HAMMOZ model by taking into account end-to-end aerosol chemistry-cloud microphysics link. The evaluation is made over the Southern oceans in austral summer, a region of minimal anthropogenic influence. In this study, we compare the DMS-derived changes in the aerosol and cloud microphysical properties between a baseline simulation with the ocean DMS emissions from a prescribed climatology, and a scenario where the DMS emissions are doubled. Our results show that doubling the DMS emissions in the current climate results in a non-linear response in atmospheric DMS burden and subsequently, in SO₂ and H₂SO₄ burdens due to inadequate OH oxidation. The aerosol optical depth increases by only ~20 % in the 30° S–75° S belt in the SH summer months. This increases the vertically integrated cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC by 25 %. Since the vertically integrated liquid water vapor is constant in our model simulations, an increase in CDNC leads to a reduction in cloud droplet radius of 3.4 % over the Southern oceans in summer. The equivalent increase in cloud liquid water path is 10.7 %. The above changes in cloud microphysical properties result in a change in global annual mean radiative forcing at the TOA of −1.4 W m⁻². The results suggest that the DMS-cloud microphysics link is highly non-linear. This has implications for future studies investigating the DMS-cloud climate feedbacks in a warming world and for studies evaluating geoengineering options to counteract warming by modulating low level marine clouds.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, D. L.

2009-12-01

Since both greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds strongly affect outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) with no affect or less affect on solar radiation, respectively, an attempt to delay global warming to buy time for emission reduction strategies to work might naturally target cirrus clouds. Cirrus having optical depths competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing via GCM simulations are more negative than -2.8 W m-2 and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO2 doubling (3.7 W m-2). This cirrus engineered net forcing is due to (1) reduced cirrus coverage and (2) reduced upper tropospheric water vapor, due to enhanced ice sedimentation. The implementation of this climate engineering could use the airline industry to disperse the seeding material. Commercial airliners typically fly at temperatures between -40 and -60 deg. C (where homogeneous freezing nucleation dominates). Weather modification research has developed ice nucleating substances that are extremely effective at these cold temperatures, are non-toxic and are relatively inexpensive. The seeding material could be released in both clear and cloudy conditions to build up a background concentration of efficient ice nuclei so that non-contrail cirrus will experience these nuclei and grow larger ice crystals. Flight corridors are denser in the high- and mid-latitudes where global warming is more severe. A risk with any geoengineering experiment is that it could affect climate in unforeseen ways, causing more harm than good. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are 1-2 weeks, the climate might return back to its normal state within a few months after stopping the geoengineering. A drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It may not have many of the draw-backs that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has, such as ozone destruction, decreased solar radiation possibly altering the

A Cloud-Based Global Flood Disaster Community Cyber-Infrastructure: Development and Demonstration

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Zhanming; Hong, Yang; Khan, Sadiq; Gourley, Jonathan; Flamig, Zachary; Kirschbaum, Dalia; Tang, Guoqiang

2014-01-01

Flood disasters have significant impacts on the development of communities globally. This study describes a public cloud-based flood cyber-infrastructure (CyberFlood) that collects, organizes, visualizes, and manages several global flood databases for authorities and the public in real-time, providing location-based eventful visualization as well as statistical analysis and graphing capabilities. In order to expand and update the existing flood inventory, a crowdsourcing data collection methodology is employed for the public with smartphones or Internet to report new flood events, which is also intended to engage citizen-scientists so that they may become motivated and educated about the latest developments in satellite remote sensing and hydrologic modeling technologies. Our shared vision is to better serve the global water community with comprehensive flood information, aided by the state-of-the- art cloud computing and crowdsourcing technology. The CyberFlood presents an opportunity to eventually modernize the existing paradigm used to collect, manage, analyze, and visualize water-related disasters.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, David L; Finnegan, William

2009-01-01

Greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds regulate outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and cirrus cloud coverage is predicted to be sensitive to the ice fall speed which depends on ice crystal size. The higher the cirrus, the greater their impact is on OLR. Thus by changing ice crystal size in the coldest cirrus, OLR and climate might be modified. Fortunately the coldest cirrus have the highest ice supersaturation due to the dominance of homogeneous freezing nucleation. Seeding such cirrus with very efficient heterogeneous ice nuclei should produce larger ice crystals due to vapor competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing are more negative than -2.8 W m -2 and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO 2 doubling (3.7 W m -2 ). A potential delivery mechanism for the seeding material is already in place: the airline industry. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are relatively short, the climate might return to its normal state within months after stopping the geoengineering experiment. The main known drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It does not have many of the drawbacks that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, David L; Finnegan, William, E-mail: david.mitchell@dri.ed [Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512-1095 (United States)

2009-10-15

Greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds regulate outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and cirrus cloud coverage is predicted to be sensitive to the ice fall speed which depends on ice crystal size. The higher the cirrus, the greater their impact is on OLR. Thus by changing ice crystal size in the coldest cirrus, OLR and climate might be modified. Fortunately the coldest cirrus have the highest ice supersaturation due to the dominance of homogeneous freezing nucleation. Seeding such cirrus with very efficient heterogeneous ice nuclei should produce larger ice crystals due to vapor competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing are more negative than -2.8 W m{sup -2} and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO{sub 2} doubling (3.7 W m{sup -2}). A potential delivery mechanism for the seeding material is already in place: the airline industry. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are relatively short, the climate might return to its normal state within months after stopping the geoengineering experiment. The main known drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It does not have many of the drawbacks that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has.

Climate Impacts of CALIPSO-Guided Corrections to Black Carbon Aerosol Vertical Distributions in a Global Climate Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovilakam, Mahesh; Mahajan, Salil; Saravanan, R.; Chang, Ping

2017-01-01

Here, we alleviate the bias in the tropospheric vertical distribution of black carbon aerosols (BC) in the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM4) using the Cloud-Aerosol and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO)-derived vertical profiles. A suite of sensitivity experiments are conducted with 1x, 5x, and 10x the present-day model estimated BC concentration climatology, with (corrected, CC) and without (uncorrected, UC) CALIPSO-corrected BC vertical distribution. The globally averaged top of the atmosphere radiative flux perturbation of CC experiments is ~8–50% smaller compared to uncorrected (UC) BC experiments largely due to an increase in low-level clouds. The global average surface temperature increases, the global average precipitation decreases, and the ITCZ moves northward with the increase in BC radiative forcing, irrespective of the vertical distribution of BC. Further, tropical expansion metrics for the poleward extent of the Northern Hemisphere Hadley cell (HC) indicate that simulated HC expansion is not sensitive to existing model biases in BC vertical distribution.

The potential negative impacts of global climate change on tropical montane cloud forests

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Pru

2001-10-01

Nearly every aspect of the cloud forest is affected by regular cloud immersion, from the hydrological cycle to the species of plants and animals within the forest. Since the altitude band of cloud formation on tropical mountains is limited, the tropical montane cloud forest occurs in fragmented strips and has been likened to island archipelagoes. This isolation and uniqueness promotes explosive speciation, exceptionally high endemism, and a great sensitivity to climate. Global climate change threatens all ecosystems through temperature and rainfall changes, with a typical estimate for altitude shifts in the climatic optimum for mountain ecotones of hundreds of meters by the time of CO 2 doubling. This alone suggests complete replacement of many of the narrow altitude range cloud forests by lower altitude ecosystems, as well as the expulsion of peak residing cloud forests into extinction. However, the cloud forest will also be affected by other climate changes, in particular changes in cloud formation. A number of global climate models suggest a reduction in low level cloudiness with the coming climate changes, and one site in particular, Monteverde, Costa Rica, appears to already be experiencing a reduction in cloud immersion. The coming climate changes appear very likely to upset the current dynamic equilibrium of the cloud forest. Results will include biodiversity loss, altitude shifts in species' ranges and subsequent community reshuffling, and possibly forest death. Difficulties for cloud forest species to survive in climate-induced migrations include no remaining location with a suitable climate, no pristine location to colonize, migration rates or establishment rates that cannot keep up with climate change rates and new species interactions. We review previous cloud forest species redistributions in the paleo-record in light of the coming changes. The characteristic epiphytes of the cloud forest play an important role in the light, hydrological and nutrient

The application of time series models to cloud field morphology analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Roland T.; Jau, Jack Y. C.; Weinman, James A.

1987-01-01

A modeling method for the quantitative description of remotely sensed cloud field images is presented. A two-dimensional texture modeling scheme based on one-dimensional time series procedures is adopted for this purpose. The time series procedure used is the seasonal autoregressive, moving average (ARMA) process in Box and Jenkins. Cloud field properties such as directionality, clustering and cloud coverage can be retrieved by this method. It has been demonstrated that a cloud field image can be quantitatively defined by a small set of parameters and synthesized surrogates can be reconstructed from these model parameters. This method enables cloud climatology to be studied quantitatively.

High-Resolution Global Modeling of the Effects of Subgrid-Scale Clouds and Turbulence on Precipitating Cloud Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogenschutz, Peter [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Moeng, Chin-Hoh [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

2015-10-13

The PI’s at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Chin-Hoh Moeng and Peter Bogenschutz, have primarily focused their time on the implementation of the Simplified-Higher Order Turbulence Closure (SHOC; Bogenschutz and Krueger 2013) to the Multi-scale Modeling Framework (MMF) global model and testing of SHOC on deep convective cloud regimes.

Accounting for the Effects of Surface BRDF on Satellite Cloud and Trace-Gas Retrievals: A New Approach Based on Geometry-Dependent Lambertian-Equivalent Reflectivity Applied to OMI Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Vasilkov, Alexander; Qin, Wenhan; Krotkov, Nickolay; Lamsal, Lok; Spurr, Robert; Haffner, David; Joiner, Joanna; Yang, Eun-Su; Marchenko, Sergey

2017-01-01

Most satellite nadir ultraviolet and visible cloud, aerosol, and trace-gas algorithms make use of climatological surface reflectivity databases. For example, cloud and NO2 retrievals for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) use monthly gridded surface reflectivity climatologies that do not depend upon the observation geometry. In reality, reflection of incoming direct and diffuse solar light from land or ocean surfaces is sensitive to the sun-sensor geometry. This dependence is described by the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). To account for the BRDF, we propose to use a new concept of geometry-dependent Lambertian equivalent reflectivity (LER). Implementation within the existing OMI cloud and NO2 retrieval infrastructure requires changes only to the input surface reflectivity database. The geometry-dependent LER is calculated using a vector radiative transfer model with high spatial resolution BRDF information from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) over land and the Cox-Munk slope distribution over ocean with a contribution from water-leaving radiance. We compare the geometry-dependent and climatological LERs for two wavelengths, 354 and 466 nm, that are used in OMI cloud algorithms to derive cloud fractions. A detailed comparison of the cloud fractions and pressures derived with climatological and geometry-dependent LERs is carried out. Geometry-dependent LER and corresponding retrieved cloud products are then used as inputs to our OMI NO2 algorithm. We find that replacing the climatological OMI-based LERs with geometry-dependent LERs can increase NO2 vertical columns by up to 50% in highly polluted areas; the differences include both BRDF effects and biases between the MODIS and OMI-based surface reflectance data sets. Only minor changes to NO2 columns (within 5 %) are found over unpolluted and overcast areas.

Accounting for the effects of surface BRDF on satellite cloud and trace-gas retrievals: a new approach based on geometry-dependent Lambertian equivalent reflectivity applied to OMI algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Vasilkov, Alexander; Qin, Wenhan; Krotkov, Nickolay; Lamsal, Lok; Spurr, Robert; Haffner, David; Joiner, Joanna; Yang, Eun-Su; Marchenko, Sergey

2017-01-01

Most satellite nadir ultraviolet and visible cloud, aerosol, and trace-gas algorithms make use of climatological surface reflectivity databases. For example, cloud and NO2 retrievals for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) use monthly gridded surface reflectivity climatologies that do not depend upon the observation geometry. In reality, reflection of incoming direct and diffuse solar light from land or ocean surfaces is sensitive to the sun-sensor geometry. This dependence is described by the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). To account for the BRDF, we propose to use a new concept of geometry-dependent Lambertian equivalent reflectivity (LER). Implementation within the existing OMI cloud and NO2 retrieval infrastructure requires changes only to the input surface reflectivity database. The geometry-dependent LER is calculated using a vector radiative transfer model with high spatial resolution BRDF information from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) over land and the Cox-Munk slope distribution over ocean with a contribution from water-leaving radiance. We compare the geometry-dependent and climatological LERs for two wavelengths, 354 and 466 nm, that are used in OMI cloud algorithms to derive cloud fractions. A detailed comparison of the cloud fractions and pressures derived with climatological and geometry-dependent LERs is carried out. Geometry-dependent LER and corresponding retrieved cloud products are then used as inputs to our OMI NO2 algorithm. We find that replacing the climatological OMI-based LERs with geometry-dependent LERs can increase NO2 vertical columns by up to 50 % in highly polluted areas; the differences include both BRDF effects and biases between the MODIS and OMI-based surface reflectance data sets. Only minor changes to NO2 columns (within 5 %) are found over unpolluted and overcast areas.

LBA Regional Monthly Climatology for the 20th Century (New et al.)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set is a subset of "Global Monthly Climatology for the 20th Century (New et al.)" (2000a). This subset characterizes mean monthly surface climate...

Evaluating Global Aerosol Models and Aerosol and Water Vapor Properties Near Clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, David, D.; Ferrare, Richard, A.

2011-07-06

The 'Evaluating Global Aerosol Models and Aerosol and Water Vapor Properties Near Clouds' project focused extensively on the analysis and utilization of water vapor and aerosol profiles derived from the ARM Raman lidar at the Southern Great Plains ARM site. A wide range of different tasks were performed during this project, all of which improved quality of the data products derived from the lidar or advanced the understanding of atmospheric processes over the site. These activities included: upgrading the Raman lidar to improve its sensitivity; participating in field experiments to validate the lidar aerosol and water vapor retrievals; using the lidar aerosol profiles to evaluate the accuracy of the vertical distribution of aerosols in global aerosol model simulations; examining the correlation between relative humidity and aerosol extinction, and how these change, due to horizontal distance away from cumulus clouds; inferring boundary layer turbulence structure in convective boundary layers from the high-time-resolution lidar water vapor measurements; retrieving cumulus entrainment rates in boundary layer cumulus clouds; and participating in a field experiment that provided data to help validate both the entrainment rate retrievals and the turbulent profiles derived from lidar observations.

SeaWiFS Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Thickness Monthly Level 3 Climatology Data Gridded at 0.5 Degrees V004

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The SeaWiFS Deep Blue Level 3 Monthly Climatology Product contains monthly global climatology gridded (0.5 x 0.5 deg) data derived from SeaWiFS Deep Blue Level 3...

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part I; Low-Level Cloud Macrophysical, Microphysical, and Radiative Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Xi, Baike

2005-01-01

A record of single-layer and overcast low cloud (stratus) properties has been generated using approximately 4000 hours of data collected from January 1997 to December 2002 at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains Central Facility (SCF). The cloud properties include liquid-phase and liquid-dominant, mixed-phase, low cloud macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties including cloud-base and -top heights and temperatures, and cloud physical thickness derived from a ground-based radar and lidar pair, and rawinsonde sounding; cloud liquid water path (LWP) and content (LWC), and cloud-droplet effective radius (r(sub e)) and number concentration (N) derived from the macrophysical properties and radiometer data; and cloud optical depth (tau), effective solar transmission (gamma), and cloud/top-of-atmosphere albedos (R(sub cldy)/R(sub TOA)) derived from Eppley precision spectral pyranometer measurements. The cloud properties were analyzed in terms of their seasonal, monthly, and hourly variations. In general, more stratus clouds occur during winter and spring than in summer. Cloud-layer altitudes and physical thicknesses were higher and greater in summer than in winter with averaged physical thicknesses of 0.85 km and 0.73 km for day and night, respectively. The seasonal variations of LWP, LWC, N. tau, R(sub cldy), and R(sub TOA) basically follow the same pattern with maxima and minima during winter and summer, respectively. There is no significant variation in mean r(sub e), however, despite a summertime peak in aerosol loading, Although a considerable degree of variability exists, the 6-yr average values of LWP, LWC, r(sub e), N, tau, gamma, R(sub cldy) and R(sub TOA) are 150 gm(exp -2) (138), 0.245 gm(exp -3) (0.268), 8.7 micrometers (8.5), 213 cm(exp -3) (238), 26.8 (24.8), 0.331, 0.672, 0.563 for daytime (nighttime). A new conceptual model of midlatitude continental low clouds at the ARM SGP site has been developed from this study

LBA Regional Monthly Climatology for the 20th Century (New et al.)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set is a subset of "Global Monthly Climatology for the 20th Century (New et al.)" (2000a). This subset characterizes mean monthly surface climate over the...

Validation of Satellite Derived Cloud Properties Over the Southeastern Pacific

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, J.; Minnis, P.; Zuidema, P.; Sun-Mack, S.; Palikonda, R.; Nguyen, L.; Fairall, C.

2005-12-01

Satellite measurements of cloud properties and the radiation budget are essential for understanding meso- and large-scale processes that determine the variability in climate over the southeastern Pacific. Of particular interest in this region is the prevalent stratocumulus cloud deck. The stratocumulus albedos are directly related to cloud microphysical properties that need to be accurately characterized in Global Climate Models (GCMs) to properly estimate the Earth's radiation budget. Meteorological observations in this region are sparse causing large uncertainties in initialized model fields. Remote sensing from satellites can provide a wealth of information about the clouds in this region, but it is vital to validate the remotely sensed parameters and to understand their relationship to other parameters that are not directly observed by the satellites. The variety of measurements from the R/V Roger Revelle during the 2003 STRATUS cruise and from the R/V Ron Brown during EPIC 2001 and the 2004 STRATUS cruises are suitable for validating and improving the interpretation of the satellite derived cloud properties. In this study, satellite-derived cloud properties including coverage, height, optical depth, and liquid water path are compared with in situ measurements taken during the EPIC and STRATUS cruises. The remotely sensed values are derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imager data, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data from the Terra and Aqua satellites, and from the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The products from this study will include regional monthly cloud climatologies derived from the GOES data for the 2003 and 2004 cruises as well as micro and macro physical cloud property retrievals centered over the ship tracks from MODIS and VIRS.

The Impact of Time Difference between Satellite Overpass and Ground Observation on Cloud Cover Performance Statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jędrzej S. Bojanowski

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cloud property data sets derived from passive sensors onboard the polar orbiting satellites (such as the NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer have global coverage and now span a climatological time period. Synoptic surface observations (SYNOP are often used to characterize the accuracy of satellite-based cloud cover. Infrequent overpasses of polar orbiting satellites combined with the 3- or 6-h SYNOP frequency lead to collocation time differences of up to 3 h. The associated collocation error degrades the cloud cover performance statistics such as the Hanssen-Kuiper’s discriminant (HK by up to 45%. Limiting the time difference to 10 min, on the other hand, introduces a sampling error due to a lower number of corresponding satellite and SYNOP observations. This error depends on both the length of the validated time series and the SYNOP frequency. The trade-off between collocation and sampling error call for an optimum collocation time difference. It however depends on cloud cover characteristics and SYNOP frequency, and cannot be generalized. Instead, a method is presented to reconstruct the unbiased (true HK from HK affected by the collocation differences, which significantly (t-test p < 0.01 improves the validation results.

Ranking Of The Performance Of Some Climatological Parameters In The Easement Of Solar Radiation In The Mina Environment Central Nigeria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abubakar, S.Y.

2004-01-01

Four models each based on a single climatological factors were proposed to evaluate the strength of the performance of each parameter in estimating solar radiation in Minna. The climatological parameters are percentage of sunshine hours, temperature ratio, humidity and cloud cover. Based on the MAB and RMSE method the sunshine hours duration was found to be the most efficient parameter for predicting the monthly and annual performance of models compared with the model based on the temperature ratio closely follow the model based on sunshine data while model based on the cloud cover was found to have the worst performance. Generally the model based on the sunshine hours performed better than the rest during the rainy season while the model based on the temperature ratio outperformed the rest of the models during the harmattan season. However both models based on the sunshine hours and temperature ratio were equally found to have good performance during the dry season

Long-term global distribution of earth's shortwave radiation budget at the top of atmosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Hatzianastassiou

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The mean monthly shortwave (SW radiation budget at the top of atmosphere (TOA was computed on 2.5° longitude-latitude resolution for the 14-year period from 1984 to 1997, using a radiative transfer model with long-term climatological data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-D2 supplemented by data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction – National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR Global Reanalysis project, and other global data bases such as TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS and Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS. The model radiative fluxes at TOA were validated against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE S4 scanner satellite data (1985–1989. The model is able to predict the seasonal and geographical variation of SW TOA fluxes. On a mean annual and global basis, the model is in very good agreement with ERBE, overestimating the outgoing SW radiation at TOA (OSR by 0.93 Wm-2 (or by 0.92%, within the ERBE uncertainties. At pixel level, the OSR differences between model and ERBE are mostly within ±10 Wm-2, with ±5 Wm-2 over extended regions, while there exist some geographic areas with differences of up to 40 Wm-2, associated with uncertainties in cloud properties and surface albedo. The 14-year average model results give a planetary albedo equal to 29.6% and a TOA OSR flux of 101.2 Wm-2. A significant linearly decreasing trend in OSR and planetary albedo was found, equal to 2.3 Wm-2 and 0.6% (in absolute values, respectively, over the 14-year period (from January 1984 to December 1997, indicating an increasing solar planetary warming. This planetary SW radiative heating occurs in the tropical and sub-tropical areas (20° S–20° N, with clouds being the most likely cause. The computed global mean OSR anomaly ranges within ±4 Wm-2, with signals from El Niño and La Niña events or Pinatubo eruption, whereas significant negative OSR anomalies, starting from year 1992, are also

General Climatology 3

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, Dennis L.

General Climatology 3 is volume 3 of the series World Survey of Climatology, which consists of 15 volumes containing review articles on a broad range of topics. General Climatology 3 contains four chapters: ‘Human Bioclimatology,’ ‘Agricultural Climatology,’ ‘City Climate,’ and ‘Technical Climatology.’ Each of these chapters will be briefly described here.‘Human Bioclimatology,’ the first chapter, was authored by E. Flach and provides a survey of the effects on the human organism of the physical conditions at the earth's surface. It contains four main sections. A section entitled ‘Light and Life’ deals with the effects of solar radiation on man and contains much interesting information on the response of the human eye and human skin to radiation at various frequencies. ‘Air and Life’ discusses the composition of air and its effect on human health and performance, including discussions of the effects of altitude, aerosols, and noxious trace gases. ‘Temperature and Life’ discusses how the body responds to temperature and how it maintains its heat budget under the variety of conditions to which it falls subject and considerable discussion is given to objective ways to characterize air conditions that give an accurate measure of their impact on the body. This discussion leads naturally into the final section, ‘Bioclimatological Evaluation Systems,’ which addresses the problem of how to classify a particular site according to its overall suitability to human habitation.

Interactions Between Atmospheric Aerosols and Marine Boundary Layer Clouds on Regional and Global Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhen

Airborne aerosols are crucial atmospheric constituents that are involved in global climate change and human life qualities. Understanding the nature and magnitude of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions is critical in model predictions for atmospheric radiation budget and the water cycle. The interactions depend on a variety of factors including aerosol physicochemical complexity, cloud types, meteorological and thermodynamic regimes and data processing techniques. This PhD work is an effort to quantify the relationships among aerosol, clouds, and precipitation on both global and regional scales by using satellite retrievals and aircraft measurements. The first study examines spatial distributions of conversion rate of cloud water to rainwater in warm maritime clouds over the globe by using NASA A-Train satellite data. This study compares the time scale of the onset of precipitation with different aerosol categories defined by values of aerosol optical depth, fine mode fraction, and Angstrom Exponent. The results indicate that conversion time scales are actually quite sensitive to lower tropospheric static stability (LTSS) and cloud liquid water path (LWP), in addition to aerosol type. Analysis shows that tropical Pacific Ocean is dominated by the highest average conversion rate while subtropical warm cloud regions (far northeastern Pacific Ocean, far southeastern Pacific Ocean, Western Africa coastal area) exhibit the opposite result. Conversion times are mostly shorter for lower LTSS regimes. When LTSS condition is fixed, higher conversion rates coincide with higher LWP and lower aerosol index categories. After a general global view of physical property quantifications, the rest of the presented PhD studies is focused on regional airborne observations, especially bulk cloud water chemistry and aerosol aqueous-phase reactions during the summertime off the California coast. Local air mass origins are categorized into three distinct types (ocean, ships, and land

Climatology of lightning in the Czech Republic

Science.gov (United States)

Novák, Petr; Kyznarová, Hana

2011-06-01

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) has utilized lightning data from the Central European Lightning Detection Network (CELDN) since 1999. The CELDN primarily focuses on the detection of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning but intra-cloud (IC) lightning detection is also available. Lightning detection is used by the CHMI forecasters as an additional source to radar and satellite data for nowcasting of severe storms. Lightning data are also quantitatively used in automatic nowcasting applications. The quality of lightning data can be evaluated using their climatological characteristics. Climatological characteristics are also useful for defining decision thresholds that are valuable for human forecasters as well as for automatic nowcasting applications. The seven-year period from 2002 to 2008, which had relatively even-quality lightning data, was used to calculate the spatial and temporal distributions of lightning. The monthly number of CG strokes varies depending on the season. The highest number of CG strokes occurs during summer, with more than 20 days of at least five detected CG strokes on the Czech Republic territory in June and July. The least number of CG stokes occurs in winter, with less than three days per month having at least five detected CG stokes. The mean diurnal distribution of CG strokes peaks between 1500 and 1600 UTC and reaches a minimum between 0500 and 0800 UTC. The average spatial distribution of CG strokes shows sharp local maxima corresponding with the locations of the TV broadcast towers. The average spatial distribution of CG flash density, calculated on a 20 × 20 km grid, shows the maximum (3.23 flashes km - 2 year - 1 ) in the western part of Czech Republic and the minimum (0.92 flashes km - 2 year - 1 ) in the south-southeast of the Czech Republic. In addition, lightning characteristics related to the identified convective cells, such as distribution of the lightning stroke rates or relation to the radar derived by Vertically

Integrated cloud-aerosol-radiation product using CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Chen, Yan; Gibson, Sharon; Yi, Yuhong; Trepte, Qing; Wielicki, Bruce; Kato, Seiji; Winker, Dave; Stephens, Graeme; Partain, Philip

2007-10-01

This paper documents the development of the first integrated data set of global vertical profiles of clouds, aerosols, and radiation using the combined NASA A-Train data from the Aqua Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and CloudSat. As part of this effort, cloud data from the CALIPSO lidar and the CloudSat radar are merged with the integrated column cloud properties from the CERES-MODIS analyses. The active and passive datasets are compared to determine commonalities and differences in order to facilitate the development of a 3-dimensional cloud and aerosol dataset that will then be integrated into the CERES broadband radiance footprint. Preliminary results from the comparisons for April 2007 reveal that the CERES-MODIS global cloud amounts are, on average, 0.14 less and 0.15 greater than those from CALIPSO and CloudSat, respectively. These new data will provide unprecedented ability to test and improve global cloud and aerosol models, to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing, and to validate the accuracy of global aerosol, cloud, and radiation data sets especially in polar regions and for multi-layered cloud conditions.

An Uncertainty Data Set for Passive Microwave Satellite Observations of Warm Cloud Liquid Water Path

Science.gov (United States)

Greenwald, Thomas J.; Bennartz, Ralf; Lebsock, Matthew; Teixeira, João.

2018-04-01

The first extended comprehensive data set of the retrieval uncertainties in passive microwave observations of cloud liquid water path (CLWP) for warm oceanic clouds has been created for practical use in climate applications. Four major sources of systematic errors were considered over the 9-year record of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E): clear-sky bias, cloud-rain partition (CRP) bias, cloud-fraction-dependent bias, and cloud temperature bias. Errors were estimated using a unique merged AMSR-E/Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Level 2 data set as well as observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization and the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar. To quantify the CRP bias more accurately, a new parameterization was developed to improve the inference of CLWP in warm rain. The cloud-fraction-dependent bias was found to be a combination of the CRP bias, an in-cloud bias, and an adjacent precipitation bias. Globally, the mean net bias was 0.012 kg/m2, dominated by the CRP and in-cloud biases, but with considerable regional and seasonal variation. Good qualitative agreement between a bias-corrected AMSR-E CLWP climatology and ship observations in the Northeast Pacific suggests that the bias estimates are reasonable. However, a possible underestimation of the net bias in certain conditions may be due in part to the crude method used in classifying precipitation, underscoring the need for an independent method of detecting rain in warm clouds. This study demonstrates the importance of combining visible-infrared imager data and passive microwave CLWP observations for estimating uncertainties and improving the accuracy of these observations.

The magnitude and causes of uncertainty in global model simulations of cloud condensation nuclei

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. A. Lee

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Aerosol–cloud interaction effects are a major source of uncertainty in climate models so it is important to quantify the sources of uncertainty and thereby direct research efforts. However, the computational expense of global aerosol models has prevented a full statistical analysis of their outputs. Here we perform a variance-based analysis of a global 3-D aerosol microphysics model to quantify the magnitude and leading causes of parametric uncertainty in model-estimated present-day concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN. Twenty-eight model parameters covering essentially all important aerosol processes, emissions and representation of aerosol size distributions were defined based on expert elicitation. An uncertainty analysis was then performed based on a Monte Carlo-type sampling of an emulator built for each model grid cell. The standard deviation around the mean CCN varies globally between about ±30% over some marine regions to ±40–100% over most land areas and high latitudes, implying that aerosol processes and emissions are likely to be a significant source of uncertainty in model simulations of aerosol–cloud effects on climate. Among the most important contributors to CCN uncertainty are the sizes of emitted primary particles, including carbonaceous combustion particles from wildfires, biomass burning and fossil fuel use, as well as sulfate particles formed on sub-grid scales. Emissions of carbonaceous combustion particles affect CCN uncertainty more than sulfur emissions. Aerosol emission-related parameters dominate the uncertainty close to sources, while uncertainty in aerosol microphysical processes becomes increasingly important in remote regions, being dominated by deposition and aerosol sulfate formation during cloud-processing. The results lead to several recommendations for research that would result in improved modelling of cloud–active aerosol on a global scale.

Influence of cirrus clouds on weather and climate processes A global perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, K.-N.

1986-01-01

Current understanding and knowledge of the composition and structure of cirrus clouds are reviewed and documented in this paper. In addition, the radiative properties of cirrus clouds as they relate to weather and climate processes are described in detail. To place the relevance and importance of cirrus composition, structure and radiative properties into a global perspective, pertinent results derived from simulation experiments utilizing models with varying degrees of complexity are presented; these have been carried out for the investigation of the influence of cirrus clouds on the thermodynamics and dynamics of the atmosphere. In light of these reviews, suggestions are outlined for cirrus-radiation research activities aimed toward the development and improvement of weather and climate models for a physical understanding of cause and effect relationships and for prediction purposes.

Effects of Surface BRDF on the OMI Cloud and NO2 Retrievals: A New Approach Based on Geometry-Dependent Lambertian Equivalent Reflectivity (GLER) Derived from MODIS

Science.gov (United States)

Vasilkov, Alexander; Qin, Wenhan; Krotkov, Nickolay; Lamsal, Lok; Spurr, Robert; Haffner, David; Joiner, Joanna; Yang, Eun-Su; Marchenko, Sergey

2017-01-01

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) cloud and NO2 algorithms use a monthly gridded surface reflectivity climatology that does not depend upon the observation geometry. In reality, reflection of incoming direct and diffuse solar light from land or ocean surfaces is sensitive to the sun sensor geometry. This dependence is described by the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). To account for the BRDF, we propose to use a new concept of geometry-dependent Lambertian equivalent reflectivity (GLER). Implementation within the existing OMI cloud and NO2 retrieval infrastructure requires changes only to the input surface reflectivity database. GLER is calculated using a vector radiative transfer model with high spatial resolution BRDF information from MODIS over land and the Cox Munk slope distribution over ocean with a contribution from water-leaving radiance. We compare GLER and climatological LER at 466 nm, which is used in the OMI O2-O2cloud algorithm to derive effective cloud fractions. A detailed comparison of the cloud fractions and pressures derived with climatological and GLERs is carried out. GLER and corresponding retrieved cloud products are then used as input to the OMI NO2 algorithm. We find that replacing the climatological OMI-based LERs with GLERs can increase NO2 vertical columns by up to 50 % in highly polluted areas; the differences include both BRDF effects and biases between the MODIS and OMI-based surface reflectance data sets. Only minor changes to NO2 columns (within 5 %) are found over unpolluted and overcast areas.

Spacebased Observation of Water Balance Over Global Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, W.; Xie, X.

2008-12-01

We demonstrated that ocean surface fresh water flux less the water discharge into the ocean from river and ice melt balances the mass loss in the ocean both in magnitude and in the phase of annual variation. The surface water flux was computed from the divergence of the water transport integrated over the depth of the atmosphere. The atmospheric water transport is estimated from the precipitable water measured by Special Sensor Microwave Imager, the surface wind vector by QuikSCAT, and the NOAA cloud drift wind through a statistical model. The transport has been extensively validated using global radiosonde and data and operational numerical weather prediction results. Its divergence has been shown to agree with the difference between evaporation estimated from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer data and the precipitation measured by Tropical Rain Measuring Mission over the global tropical and subtropical oceans both in magnitude and geographical distribution for temporal scales ranging from intraseasonal to interannual. The water loss rate in the ocean is estimated by two methods, one is from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and the other is by subtracting the climatological steric change from the sea level change measured by radar altimeter on Jason. Only climatological river discharge and ice melt from in situ measurements are available and the lack of temporal variation may contribute to discrepancies in the balance. We have successfully used the spacebased surface fluxes to estimate to climatological mean heat transport in the Atlantic ocean and is attempting to estimate the meridional fresh water (or salt) transport from the surface flux. The approximate closure of the water balance gives a powerful indirect validation of the spacebased products.

Metrological challenges for measurements of key climatological observables: oceanic salinity and pH, and atmospheric humidity. Part 1: overview

Science.gov (United States)

Feistel, R.; Wielgosz, R.; Bell, S. A.; Camões, M. F.; Cooper, J. R.; Dexter, P.; Dickson, A. G.; Fisicaro, P.; Harvey, A. H.; Heinonen, M.; Hellmuth, O.; Kretzschmar, H.-J.; Lovell-Smith, J. W.; McDougall, T. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Ridout, P.; Seitz, S.; Spitzer, P.; Stoica, D.; Wolf, H.

2016-02-01

Water in its three ambient phases plays the central thermodynamic role in the terrestrial climate system. Clouds control Earth’s radiation balance, atmospheric water vapour is the strongest ‘greenhouse’ gas, and non-equilibrium relative humidity at the air-sea interface drives evaporation and latent heat export from the ocean. On climatic time scales, melting ice caps and regional deviations of the hydrological cycle result in changes of seawater salinity, which in turn may modify the global circulation of the oceans and their ability to store heat and to buffer anthropogenically produced carbon dioxide. In this paper, together with three companion articles, we examine the climatologically relevant quantities ocean salinity, seawater pH and atmospheric relative humidity, noting fundamental deficiencies in the definitions of those key observables, and their lack of secure foundation on the International System of Units, the SI. The metrological histories of those three quantities are reviewed, problems with their current definitions and measurement practices are analysed, and options for future improvements are discussed in conjunction with the recent seawater standard TEOS-10. It is concluded that the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, BIPM, in cooperation with the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam, IAPWS, along with other international organizations and institutions, can make significant contributions by developing and recommending state-of-the-art solutions for these long standing metrological problems in climatology.

Counting the clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randall, David A

2005-01-01

Cloud processes are very important for the global circulation of the atmosphere. It is now possible, though very expensive, to simulate the global circulation of the atmosphere using a model with resolution fine enough to explicitly represent the larger individual clouds. An impressive preliminary calculation of this type has already been performed by Japanese scientists, using the Earth Simulator. Within the next few years, such global cloud-resolving models (GCRMs) will be applied to weather prediction, and later they will be used in climatechange simulations. The tremendous advantage of GCRMs, relative to conventional lowerresolution global models, is that GCRMs can avoid many of the questionable 'parameterizations' used to represent cloud effects in lower-resolution global models. Although cloud microphysics, turbulence, and radiation must still be parameterized in GCRMs, the high resolution of a GCRM simplifies these problems considerably, relative to conventional models. The United States currently has no project to develop a GCRM, although we have both the computer power and the expertise to do it. A research program aimed at development and applications of GCRMs is outlined

Simulating a 40-year flood event climatology of Australia with a view to ocean-land teleconnections

Science.gov (United States)

Schumann, Guy J.-P.; Andreadis, Konstantinos; Stampoulis, Dimitrios; Bates, Paul

2015-04-01

We develop, for the first time, a proof-of-concept version for a high-resolution global flood inundation model to generate a flood inundation climatology of the past 40 years (1973-2012) for the entire Australian continent at a native 1 km resolution. The objectives of our study includes (1) deriving an inundation climatology for a continent (Australia) as a demonstrator case to understand the requirements for expanding globally; (2) developing a test bed to assess the potential and value of current and future satellite missions (GRACE, SMAP, ICESat-2, AMSR-2, Sentinels and SWOT) in flood monitoring; and (3) answering science questions such as the linking of inundation to ocean circulation teleconnections. We employ the LISFLOOD-FP hydrodynamic model to generate a flood inundation climatology. The model will be built from freely available SRTM-derived data (channel widths, bank heights and floodplain topography corrected for vegetation canopy using ICESat canopy heights). Lakes and reservoirs are represented and channel hydraulics are resolved using actual channel data with bathymetry inferred from hydraulic geometry. Simulations are run with gauged flows and floodplain inundation climatology are compared to observations from GRACE, flood maps from Landsat, SAR, and MODIS. Simulations have been completed for the entire Australian continent. Additionally, changes in flood inundation have been correlated with indices related to global ocean circulation, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation index. We will produce data layers on flood event climatology and other derived (default) products from the proposed model including channel and floodplain depths, flow direction, velocity vectors, floodplain water volume, shoreline extent and flooded area. These data layers will be in the form of simple vector and raster formats. Since outputs will be large in size we propose to upload them onto Google Earth under the GEE API license.

Hydro-climatology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The hydro-climatological approach of this volume illustrates the scientific and practical value of considering hydrological phenomena and processes in a climate context to improve understanding of controls, process interaction, and past and future variability/change. Contributions deal with under......The hydro-climatological approach of this volume illustrates the scientific and practical value of considering hydrological phenomena and processes in a climate context to improve understanding of controls, process interaction, and past and future variability/change. Contributions deal...... considered. The interdisciplinary approach reveals information and perspective that go beyond the study of cli ate and hydro gy alone...

Climatology 2011: An MLS and Sonde Derived Ozone Climatology for Satellite Retrieval Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

McPeters, Richard D.; Labow, Gordon J.

2012-01-01

The ozone climatology used as the a priori for the version 8 Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) retrieval algorithms has been updated. The Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument on Aura has excellent latitude coverage and measures ozone daily from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere. The new climatology consists of monthly average ozone profiles for ten degree latitude zones covering pressure altitudes from 0 to 65 km. The climatology was formed by combining data from Aura MLS (2004-2010) with data from balloon sondes (1988-2010). Ozone below 8 km (below 12 km at high latitudes) is based on balloons sondes, while ozone above 16 km (21 km at high latitudes) is based on MLS measurements. Sonde and MLS data are blended in the transition region. Ozone accuracy in the upper troposphere is greatly improved because of the near uniform coverage by Aura MLS, while the addition of a large number of balloon sonde measurements improves the accuracy in the lower troposphere, in the tropics and southern hemisphere in particular. The addition of MLS data also improves the accuracy of climatology in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere. The revised climatology has been used for the latest reprocessing of SBUV and TOMS satellite ozone data.

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunne, Eimear M; Gordon, Hamish; Kürten, Andreas; Almeida, João; Duplissy, Jonathan; Williamson, Christina; Ortega, Ismael K; Pringle, Kirsty J; Adamov, Alexey; Baltensperger, Urs; Barmet, Peter; Benduhn, Francois; Bianchi, Federico; Breitenlechner, Martin; Clarke, Antony; Curtius, Joachim; Dommen, Josef; Donahue, Neil M; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Flagan, Richard C; Franchin, Alessandro; Guida, Roberto; Hakala, Jani; Hansel, Armin; Heinritzi, Martin; Jokinen, Tuija; Kangasluoma, Juha; Kirkby, Jasper; Kulmala, Markku; Kupc, Agnieszka; Lawler, Michael J; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Makhmutov, Vladimir; Mann, Graham; Mathot, Serge; Merikanto, Joonas; Miettinen, Pasi; Nenes, Athanasios; Onnela, Antti; Rap, Alexandru; Reddington, Carly L S; Riccobono, Francesco; Richards, Nigel A D; Rissanen, Matti P; Rondo, Linda; Sarnela, Nina; Schobesberger, Siegfried; Sengupta, Kamalika; Simon, Mario; Sipilä, Mikko; Smith, James N; Stozkhov, Yuri; Tomé, Antonio; Tröstl, Jasmin; Wagner, Paul E; Wimmer, Daniela; Winkler, Paul M; Worsnop, Douglas R; Carslaw, Kenneth S

2016-12-02

Fundamental questions remain about the origin of newly formed atmospheric aerosol particles because data from laboratory measurements have been insufficient to build global models. In contrast, gas-phase chemistry models have been based on laboratory kinetics measurements for decades. We built a global model of aerosol formation by using extensive laboratory measurements of rates of nucleation involving sulfuric acid, ammonia, ions, and organic compounds conducted in the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber. The simulations and a comparison with atmospheric observations show that nearly all nucleation throughout the present-day atmosphere involves ammonia or biogenic organic compounds, in addition to sulfuric acid. A considerable fraction of nucleation involves ions, but the relatively weak dependence on ion concentrations indicates that for the processes studied, variations in cosmic ray intensity do not appreciably affect climate through nucleation in the present-day atmosphere. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The climatology of the Red Sea - part 1: the wind

KAUST Repository

Langodan, Sabique

2017-05-12

The wind climatology of the Red Sea is described based on a 30-year high-resolution regional reanalysis generated using the Advanced Weather Research Forecasting model. The model was reinitialized on a daily basis with ERA-Interim global data and regional observations were assimilated using a cyclic three-dimensional variational approach. The reanalysis products were validated against buoy and scatterometers data. We describe the wind climatology and identify four major systems that determine the wind patterns in the Red Sea. Each system has a well-defined origin, and consequently different characteristics along the year. After analysing the relevant features of the basin in terms of their climatology, we investigate possible long-term trends in each system. It is found that there is a definite tendency towards lowering the strength of the wind speed, but at a different rate for different systems and periods of the year.

The climatology of the Red Sea - part 1: the wind

KAUST Repository

Langodan, Sabique; Cavaleri, Luigi; Vishwanadhapalli, Yesubabu; Pomaro, Angela; Bertotti, Luciana; Hoteit, Ibrahim

2017-01-01

The wind climatology of the Red Sea is described based on a 30-year high-resolution regional reanalysis generated using the Advanced Weather Research Forecasting model. The model was reinitialized on a daily basis with ERA-Interim global data and regional observations were assimilated using a cyclic three-dimensional variational approach. The reanalysis products were validated against buoy and scatterometers data. We describe the wind climatology and identify four major systems that determine the wind patterns in the Red Sea. Each system has a well-defined origin, and consequently different characteristics along the year. After analysing the relevant features of the basin in terms of their climatology, we investigate possible long-term trends in each system. It is found that there is a definite tendency towards lowering the strength of the wind speed, but at a different rate for different systems and periods of the year.

Collaborative Research: Cloudiness transitions within shallow marine clouds near the Azores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mechem, David B. [Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States). Atmospheric Science Program. Dept. of Geography and Atmospheric Science; de Szoeke, Simon P. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Yuter, Sandra E. [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

2017-01-15

Marine stratocumulus clouds are low, persistent, liquid phase clouds that cover large areas and play a significant role in moderating the climate by reflecting large quantities of incoming solar radiation. The deficiencies in simulating these clouds in global climate models are widely recognized. Much of the uncertainty arises from sub-grid scale variability in the cloud albedo that is not accurately parameterized in climate models. The Clouds, Aerosol and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP–MBL) observational campaign and the ongoing ARM site measurements on Graciosa Island in the Azores aim to sample the Northeast Atlantic low cloud regime. These data represent, the longest continuous research quality cloud radar/lidar/radiometer/aerosol data set of open-ocean shallow marine clouds in existence. Data coverage from CAP–MBL and the series of cruises to the southeast Pacific culminating in VOCALS will both be of sufficient length to contrast the two low cloud regimes and explore the joint variability of clouds in response to several environmental factors implicated in cloudiness transitions. Our research seeks to better understand cloud system processes in an underexplored but climatologically important maritime region. Our primary goal is an improved physical understanding of low marine clouds on temporal scales of hours to days. It is well understood that aerosols, synoptic-scale forcing, surface fluxes, mesoscale dynamics, and cloud microphysics all play a role in cloudiness transitions. However, the relative importance of each mechanism as a function of different environmental conditions is unknown. To better understand cloud forcing and response, we are documenting the joint variability of observed environmental factors and associated cloud characteristics. In order to narrow the realm of likely parameter ranges, we assess the relative importance of parameter conditions based primarily on two criteria: how often the condition occurs (frequency

TRMM-Based Lightning Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Cecil, Daniel J.; Buechler, Dennis E.; Blakeslee, Richard J.

2011-01-01

Gridded climatologies of total lightning flash rates seen by the spaceborne Optical Transient Detector (OTD) and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) have been updated. OTD collected data from May 1995 to March 2000. LIS data (equatorward of about 38 deg) has been added for 1998-2010. Flash counts from each instrument are scaled by the best available estimates of detection efficiency. The long LIS record makes the merged climatology most robust in the tropics and subtropics, while the high latitude data is entirely from OTD. The mean global flash rate from the merged climatology is 46 flashes per second. The peak annual flash rate at 0.5 deg scale is 160 fl/square km/yr in eastern Congo. The peak monthly average flash rate at 2.5 scale is 18 fl/square km/mo, from early April to early May in the Brahmaputra Valley of far eastern India. Lightning decreases in this region during the monsoon season, but increases further north and west. A monthly average peak from early August to early September in northern Pakistan also exceeds any monthly averages from Africa, despite central Africa having the greatest yearly average. Most continental regions away from the equator have an annual cycle with lightning flash rates peaking in late spring or summer. The main exceptions are India and southeast Asia, with springtime peaks in April and May. For landmasses near the equator, flash rates peak near the equinoxes. For many oceanic regions, the peak flash rates occur in autumn. This is particularly noticeable for the Mediterranean and North Atlantic. Landmasses have a strong diurnal cycle of lightning, with flash rates generally peaking between 3-5 pm local solar time. The central United States flash rates peak later, in late evening or early night. Flash rates peak after midnight in northern Argentina. These regions are known for large, intense, long-lived mesoscale convective systems.

An efficient global energy optimization approach for robust 3D plane segmentation of point clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zhen; Yang, Bisheng; Hu, Pingbo; Scherer, Sebastian

2018-03-01

Automatic 3D plane segmentation is necessary for many applications including point cloud registration, building information model (BIM) reconstruction, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and point cloud compression. However, most of the existing 3D plane segmentation methods still suffer from low precision and recall, and inaccurate and incomplete boundaries, especially for low-quality point clouds collected by RGB-D sensors. To overcome these challenges, this paper formulates the plane segmentation problem as a global energy optimization because it is robust to high levels of noise and clutter. First, the proposed method divides the raw point cloud into multiscale supervoxels, and considers planar supervoxels and individual points corresponding to nonplanar supervoxels as basic units. Then, an efficient hybrid region growing algorithm is utilized to generate initial plane set by incrementally merging adjacent basic units with similar features. Next, the initial plane set is further enriched and refined in a mutually reinforcing manner under the framework of global energy optimization. Finally, the performances of the proposed method are evaluated with respect to six metrics (i.e., plane precision, plane recall, under-segmentation rate, over-segmentation rate, boundary precision, and boundary recall) on two benchmark datasets. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method obtained good performances both in high-quality TLS point clouds (i.e., http://SEMANTIC3D.NET)

Clouds in the Martian Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Määttänen, Anni; Montmessin, Franck

2018-01-01

Although resembling an extremely dry desert, planet Mars hosts clouds in its atmosphere. Every day somewhere on the planet a part of the tiny amount of water vapor held by the atmosphere can condense as ice crystals to form cirrus-type clouds. The existence of water ice clouds has been known for a long time, and they have been studied for decades, leading to the establishment of a well-known climatology and understanding of their formation and properties. Despite their thinness, they have a clear impact on the atmospheric temperatures, thus affecting the Martian climate. Another, more exotic type of clouds forms as well on Mars. The atmospheric temperatures can plunge to such frigid values that the major gaseous component of the atmosphere, CO2, condenses as ice crystals. These clouds form in the cold polar night where they also contribute to the formation of the CO2 ice polar cap, and also in the mesosphere at very high altitudes, near the edge of space, analogously to the noctilucent clouds on Earth. The mesospheric clouds are a fairly recent discovery and have put our understanding of the Martian atmosphere to a test. On Mars, cloud crystals form on ice nuclei, mostly provided by the omnipresent dust. Thus, the clouds link the three major climatic cycles: those of the two major volatiles, H2O and CO2; and that of dust, which is a major climatic agent itself.

Importance of including ammonium sulfate ((NH42SO4 aerosols for ice cloud parameterization in GCMs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. S. Bhattacharjee

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A common deficiency of many cloud-physics parameterizations including the NASA's microphysics of clouds with aerosol-cloud interactions (hereafter called McRAS-AC is that they simulate lesser (larger than the observed ice cloud particle number (size. A single column model (SCM of McRAS-AC physics of the GEOS4 Global Circulation Model (GCM together with an adiabatic parcel model (APM for ice-cloud nucleation (IN of aerosols were used to systematically examine the influence of introducing ammonium sulfate (NH42SO4 aerosols in McRAS-AC and its influence on the optical properties of both liquid and ice clouds. First an (NH42SO4 parameterization was included in the APM to assess its effect on clouds vis-à-vis that of the other aerosols. Subsequently, several evaluation tests were conducted over the ARM Southern Great Plain (SGP and thirteen other locations (sorted into pristine and polluted conditions distributed over marine and continental sites with the SCM. The statistics of the simulated cloud climatology were evaluated against the available ground and satellite data. The results showed that inclusion of (NH42SO4 into McRAS-AC of the SCM made a remarkable improvement in the simulated effective radius of ice cloud particulates. However, the corresponding ice-cloud optical thickness increased even more than the observed. This can be caused by lack of horizontal cloud advection not performed in the SCM. Adjusting the other tunable parameters such as precipitation efficiency can mitigate this deficiency. Inclusion of ice cloud particle splintering invoked empirically further reduced simulation biases. Overall, these changes make a substantial improvement in simulated cloud optical properties and cloud distribution particularly over the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ in the GCM.

An Integrated Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Product Using CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO and CloudSat Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, S.; Gibson, S.; Chen, Y.; Wielicki, B.; Minnis, P.

2006-12-01

The goal of this paper is to provide the first integrated data set of global vertical profiles of aerosols, clouds, and radiation using the combined NASA A-Train data from Aqua CERES and MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat. All of these instruments are flying in formation as part of the Aqua Train, or A-Train. This paper will present the preliminary results of merging aerosol and cloud data from the CALIPSO active lidar, cloud data from CloudSat, integrated column aerosol and cloud data from the MODIS CERES analyses, and surface and top-of-atmosphere broadband radiation fluxes from CERES. These new data will provide unprecedented ability to test and improve global cloud and aerosol models, to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing, and to validate the accuracy of global aerosol, cloud, and radiation data sets especially in polar regions and for multi-layered cloud conditions.

Aerosol activation and cloud processing in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. J. Roelofs

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A parameterization for cloud processing is presented that calculates activation of aerosol particles to cloud drops, cloud drop size, and pH-dependent aqueous phase sulfur chemistry. The parameterization is implemented in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The cloud processing parameterization uses updraft speed, temperature, and aerosol size and chemical parameters simulated by ECHAM5-HAM to estimate the maximum supersaturation at the cloud base, and subsequently the cloud drop number concentration (CDNC due to activation. In-cloud sulfate production occurs through oxidation of dissolved SO2 by ozone and hydrogen peroxide. The model simulates realistic distributions for annually averaged CDNC although it is underestimated especially in remote marine regions. On average, CDNC is dominated by cloud droplets growing on particles from the accumulation mode, with smaller contributions from the Aitken and coarse modes. The simulations indicate that in-cloud sulfate production is a potentially important source of accumulation mode sized cloud condensation nuclei, due to chemical growth of activated Aitken particles and to enhanced coalescence of processed particles. The strength of this source depends on the distribution of produced sulfate over the activated modes. This distribution is affected by uncertainties in many parameters that play a direct role in particle activation, such as the updraft velocity, the aerosol chemical composition and the organic solubility, and the simulated CDNC is found to be relatively sensitive to these uncertainties.

Evaluation of factors controlling global secondary organic aerosol production from cloud processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. He

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Secondary organic aerosols (SOA exert a significant influence on ambient air quality and regional climate. Recent field, laboratorial and modeling studies have confirmed that in-cloud processes contribute to a large fraction of SOA production with large space-time heterogeneity. This study evaluates the key factors that govern the production of cloud-process SOA (SOA_cld on a global scale based on the GFDL coupled chemistry-climate model AM3 in which full cloud chemistry is employed. The association between SOA_cld production rate and six factors (i.e., liquid water content (LWC, total carbon chemical loss rate (TC_loss, temperature, VOC/NO_x, OH, and O₃ is examined. We find that LWC alone determines the spatial pattern of SOA_cld production, particularly over the tropical, subtropical and temperate forest regions, and is strongly correlated with SOA_cld production. TC_loss ranks the second and mainly represents the seasonal variability of vegetation growth. Other individual factors are essentially uncorrelated spatiotemporally to SOA_cld production. We find that the rate of SOA_cld production is simultaneously determined by both LWC and TC_loss, but responds linearly to LWC and nonlinearly (or concavely to TC_loss. A parameterization based on LWC and TC_loss can capture well the spatial and temporal variability of the process-based SOA_cld formation (R² = 0.5 and can be easily applied to global three dimensional models to represent the SOA production from cloud processes.

Mesoscale to Synoptic Scale Cloud Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Rossow, William B.

1998-01-01

The atmospheric circulation and its interaction with the oceanic circulation involve non-linear and non-local exchanges of energy and water over a very large range of space and time scales. These exchanges are revealed, in part, by the related variations of clouds, which occur on a similar range of scales as the atmospheric motions that produce them. Collection of comprehensive measurements of the properties of the atmosphere, clouds and surface allows for diagnosis of some of these exchanges. The use of a multi-satellite-network approach by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) comes closest to providing complete coverage of the relevant range space and time scales over which the clouds, atmosphere and ocean vary. A nearly 15-yr dataset is now available that covers the range from 3 hr and 30 km to decade and planetary. This paper considers three topics: (1) cloud variations at the smallest scales and how they may influence radiation-cloud interactions, and (2) cloud variations at "moderate" scales and how they may cause natural climate variability, and (3) cloud variations at the largest scales and how they affect the climate. The emphasis in this discussion is on the more mature subject of cloud-radiation interactions. There is now a need to begin similar detailed diagnostic studies of water exchange processes.

Climatology and Impact of Convection on the Tropical Tropopause Layer

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Franklin; Pittman, Jasna

2007-01-01

Water vapor plays an important role in controlling the radiative balance and the chemical composition of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL). Mechanisms ranging from slow transport and dehydration under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions to fast transport in convection have been proposed as regulators of the amount of water vapor in this layer. However,.details of these mechanisms and their relative importance remain poorly understood, The recently completed Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4) campaign had the opportunity to sample the.TTL over the Eastern Tropical Pacific using ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne instruments. The main goal of this study is to provide the climatological context for this campaign of deep and overshooting convective activity using various satellite observations collected during the summertime. We use the Microwave Humidity Sensor (MRS) aboard the NOAA-18 satellite to investigate the horizontal extent.and the frequency of convection reaching and penetrating into the TTL. We use the Moderate Resolution I1l1aging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite to investigate the frequency distribution of daytime cirrus clouds. We use the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) and CloudSat to investigate the vertical structure and distribution of hydrometeors in the convective cells, In addition to cloud measurements; we investigate the impact that convection has on the concentration of radiatively important gases such as water vapor and ozone in the TTL by examining satellite measurement obtained from the Microwave Limb Sounder(MLS) aboard the Aura satellite.

Direct and semi-direct effects of aerosol climatologies on long-term climate simulations over Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Schultze, Markus; Rockel, Burkhardt

2017-08-01

This study compares the direct and semi-direct aerosol effects of different annual cycles of tropospheric aerosol loads for Europe from 1950 to 2009 using the regional climate model COSMO-CLM, which is laterally forced by reanalysis data and run using prescribed, climatological aerosol optical properties. These properties differ with respect to the analysis strategy and the time window, and are then used for the same multi-decadal period. Five simulations with different aerosol loads and one control simulation without any tropospheric aerosols are integrated and compared. Two common limitations of our simulation strategy, to fully assess direct and semi-direct aerosol effects, are the applied observed sea surface temperatures and sea ice conditions, and the lack of short-term variations in the aerosol load. Nevertheless, the impact of different aerosol climatologies on common regional climate model simulations can be assessed. The results of all aerosol-including simulations show a distinct reduction in solar irradiance at the surface compared with that in the control simulation. This reduction is strongest in the summer season and is balanced primarily by a weakening of turbulent heat fluxes and to a lesser extent by a decrease in longwave emissions. Consequently, the seasonal mean surface cooling is modest. The temperature profile responses are characterized by a shallow near-surface cooling and a dominant warming up to the mid-troposphere caused by aerosol absorption. The resulting stabilization of stratification leads to reduced cloud cover and less precipitation. A decrease in cloud water and ice content over Central Europe in summer possibly reinforce aerosol absorption and thus strengthen the vertical warming. The resulting radiative forcings are positive. The robustness of the results was demonstrated by performing a simulation with very strong aerosol forcing, which lead to qualitatively similar results. A distinct added value over the default aerosol

Black Sea Mixed Layer Sensitivity to Various Wind and Thermal Forcing Products on Climatological Time Scales

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kara, A. B; Jurlburt, Harley; Wallcraft, Alan; Bourassa, Mark

2005-01-01

This study describes atmospheric forcing parameters constructed from different global climatologies, applied to the Black Sea, and investigates the sensitivity of HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM...

A Global Survey of Cloud Thermodynamic Phase using High Spatial Resolution VSWIR Spectroscopy, 2005-2015

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, D. R.; Kahn, B. H.; Green, R. O.; Chien, S.; Middleton, E.; Tran, D. Q.

2017-12-01

Clouds' variable ice and liquid content significantly influences their optical properties, evolution, and radiative forcing potential (Tan and Storelvmo, J. Atmos. Sci, 73, 2016). However, most remote measurements of thermodynamic phase have spatial resolutions of 1 km or more and are insensitive to mixed phases. This under-constrains important processes, such as spatial partitioning within mixed phase clouds, that carry outsize radiative forcing impacts. These uncertainties could shift Global Climate Model (GCM) predictions of future warming by over 1 degree Celsius (Tan et al., Science 352:6282, 2016). Imaging spectroscopy of reflected solar energy from the 1.4 - 1.8 μm shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectral range can address this observational gap. These observations can distinguish ice and water absorption, providing a robust and sensitive measurement of cloud top thermodynamic phase including mixed phases. Imaging spectrometers can resolve variations at scales of tens to hundreds of meters (Thompson et al., JGR-Atmospheres 121, 2016). We report the first such global high spatial resolution (30 m) survey, based on data from 2005-2015 acquired by the Hyperion imaging spectrometer onboard NASA's EO-1 spacecraft (Pearlman et al., Proc. SPIE 4135, 2001). Estimated seasonal and latitudinal distributions of cloud thermodynamic phase generally agree with observations made by other satellites such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). Variogram analyses reveal variability at different spatial scales. Our results corroborate previously observed zonal distributions, while adding insight into the spatial scales of processes governing cloud top thermodynamic phase. Figure: Thermodynamic phase retrievals. Top: Example of a cloud top thermodynamic phase map from the EO-1/Hyperion. Bottom: Latitudinal distributions of pure and mixed phase clouds, 2005-2015, showing Liquid Thickness Fraction (LTF). LTF=0 corresponds to pure ice absorption, while LTF=1 is pure liquid. The

ARM Cloud Radar Simulator Package for Global Climate Models Value-Added Product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuying [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Xie, Shaocheng [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-05-01

It has been challenging to directly compare U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility ground-based cloud radar measurements with climate model output because of limitations or features of the observing processes and the spatial gap between model and the single-point measurements. To facilitate the use of ARM radar data in numerical models, an ARM cloud radar simulator was developed to converts model data into pseudo-ARM cloud radar observations that mimic the instrument view of a narrow atmospheric column (as compared to a large global climate model [GCM] grid-cell), thus allowing meaningful comparison between model output and ARM cloud observations. The ARM cloud radar simulator value-added product (VAP) was developed based on the CloudSat simulator contained in the community satellite simulator package, the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulator Package (COSP) (Bodas-Salcedo et al., 2011), which has been widely used in climate model evaluation with satellite data (Klein et al., 2013, Zhang et al., 2010). The essential part of the CloudSat simulator is the QuickBeam radar simulator that is used to produce CloudSat-like radar reflectivity, but is capable of simulating reflectivity for other radars (Marchand et al., 2009; Haynes et al., 2007). Adapting QuickBeam to the ARM cloud radar simulator within COSP required two primary changes: one was to set the frequency to 35 GHz for the ARM Ka-band cloud radar, as opposed to 94 GHz used for the CloudSat W-band radar, and the second was to invert the view from the ground to space so as to attenuate the beam correctly. In addition, the ARM cloud radar simulator uses a finer vertical resolution (100 m compared to 500 m for CloudSat) to resolve the more detailed structure of clouds captured by the ARM radars. The ARM simulator has been developed following the COSP workflow (Figure 1) and using the capabilities available in COSP

Variation of cosmic-ray flux and global cloud-coverage

CERN Document Server

Svensmark, H

1998-01-01

There has long been a search for a physical link between solar activity and the earth's climate. The most direct way the Sun could affect the Earth's climate would be through temporal changes in its luminosity, but observations have shown that these small to explain the observed temperature changes. This does not, however exclude the possibility of an indirect physical mechanism. In the talk it will be shown that the excellent correlations observed between solar activity parameters and climate c link between cosmic ray flux and global cloud cover.

Characterization of AVHRR global cloud detection sensitivity based on CALIPSO-CALIOP cloud optical thickness information: demonstration of results based on the CM SAF CLARA-A2 climate data record

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Karl-Göran; Håkansson, Nina

2018-02-01

The sensitivity in detecting thin clouds of the cloud screening method being used in the CM SAF cloud, albedo and surface radiation data set from AVHRR data (CLARA-A2) cloud climate data record (CDR) has been evaluated using cloud information from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard the CALIPSO satellite. The sensitivity, including its global variation, has been studied based on collocations of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and CALIOP measurements over a 10-year period (2006-2015). The cloud detection sensitivity has been defined as the minimum cloud optical thickness for which 50 % of clouds could be detected, with the global average sensitivity estimated to be 0.225. After using this value to reduce the CALIOP cloud mask (i.e. clouds with optical thickness below this threshold were interpreted as cloud-free cases), cloudiness results were found to be basically unbiased over most of the globe except over the polar regions where a considerable underestimation of cloudiness could be seen during the polar winter. The overall probability of detecting clouds in the polar winter could be as low as 50 % over the highest and coldest parts of Greenland and Antarctica, showing that a large fraction of optically thick clouds also remains undetected here. The study included an in-depth analysis of the probability of detecting a cloud as a function of the vertically integrated cloud optical thickness as well as of the cloud's geographical position. Best results were achieved over oceanic surfaces at mid- to high latitudes where at least 50 % of all clouds with an optical thickness down to a value of 0.075 were detected. Corresponding cloud detection sensitivities over land surfaces outside of the polar regions were generally larger than 0.2 with maximum values of approximately 0.5 over the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula. For polar land surfaces the values were close to 1 or higher with maximum values of 4.5 for the parts

Comparison of TRMM and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Precipitation Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George J.; Bolvin, David; Nelkin, Eric; Curtis, Scott

1999-01-01

This paper describes recent results of using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) (launched in November 1997) information as the key calibration tool in a merged analysis on a 1 x 1' latitude/longitude monthly scale based on multiple satellite sources and raingauge analyses. The TRMM-based product is compared with the community-based Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) results. The long-term GPCP analysis is compared to the new TRMM-based analysis which uses the most accurate TRMM information to calibrate the estimates from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and geosynchronous IR observations and merges those estimates together with the TRMM and gauge information to produce accurate rainfall estimates with the increased sampling provided by the combined satellite information. The comparison with TRMM results on a month-to-month basis should clarify the strengths and weaknesses of the long-term GPCP product in the tropics and point to how to improve the monitoring analysis. Preliminary results from the TRMM merged satellite analysis indicates fairly close agreement with the GPCP estimates. The GPCP analysis is done at 2.5 degree latitude/longitude resolution and interpolated to a 1 degree grid for comparison with the TRMM analysis. As expected the same features are evident in both panels, but there are subtle differences in the magnitudes. Focusing on the Pacific Ocean Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) one can see the TRMM-based estimates having higher peak values and lower values in the ITCZ periphery. These attributes also show up in the statistics, where GPCP>TRMM at low values (below 10 mm/d) and TRMM>GPCP at high values (greater than 15 mm/d). The area in the Indian Ocean which shows consistently higher values of TRMM over GPCP needs to be examined carefully to determine if the lack of geosynchronous data has led to a difference in the two analyses. By the time of the meeting over a year of TRMM products will be available for

Spectral Longwave Cloud Radiative Forcing as Observed by AIRS

Science.gov (United States)

Blaisdell, John M.; Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae N.; Iredell, Lena

2016-01-01

AIRS V6 products contain the spectral contributions to Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR), clear-sky OLR (OLR(sub CLR)), and Longwave Cloud Radiative Forcing (LWCRF) in 16 bands from 100 cm(exp -1) to 3260 cm(exp -1). We show climatologies of selected spectrally resolved AIRS V6 products over the period of September 2002 through August 2016. Spectrally resolved LWCRF can better describe the response of the Earth system to cloud and cloud feedback processes. The spectral LWCRF enables us to estimate the fraction of each contributing factor to cloud forcing, i.e.: surface temperature, mid to upper tropospheric water vapor, and tropospheric temperature. This presentation also compares the spatial characteristics of LWCRF from AIRS, CERES_EBAF Edition-2.8, and MERRA-2. AIRS and CERES LWCRF products show good agreement. The OLR bias between AIRS and CERES is very close to that of OLR(sub CLR). This implies that both AIRS and CERES OLR products accurately account for the effect of clouds on OLR.

Large-Scale, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Hybrid Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2015-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, MODIS, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. HySDS is a Hybrid-Cloud Science Data System that has been developed and applied under NASA AIST, MEaSUREs, and ACCESS grants. HySDS uses the SciFlow workflow engine to partition analysis workflows into parallel tasks (e.g. segmenting by time or space) that are pushed into a durable job queue. The tasks are "pulled" from the queue by worker Virtual Machines (VM's) and executed in an on-premise Cloud (Eucalyptus or OpenStack) or at Amazon in the public Cloud or govCloud. In this way, years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the transferred data. We are using HySDS to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of HySDS, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing datasets on our own nodes and in the Amazon Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. Our system demonstrates how one can pull A-Train variables (Levels 2 & 3) on-demand into the Amazon Cloud, and cache only those variables that are heavily used, so that any number of compute jobs can be

Vertical Cloud Climatology During TC4 Derived from High-Altitude Aircraft Merged Lidar and Radar Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Hlavka, Dennis; Tian, Lin; Hart, William; Li, Lihua; McGill, Matthew; Heymsfield, Gerald

2009-01-01

Aircraft lidar works by shooting laser pulses toward the earth and recording the return time and intensity of any of the light returning to the aircraft after scattering off atmospheric particles and/or the Earth s surface. The scattered light signatures can be analyzed to tell the exact location of cloud and aerosol layers and, with the aid of a few optical assumptions, can be analyzed to retrieve estimates of optical properties such as atmospheric transparency. Radar works in a similar fashion except it sends pulses toward earth at a much larger wavelength than lidar. Radar records the return time and intensity of cloud or rain reflection returning to the aircraft. Lidar can measure scatter from optically thin cirrus and aerosol layers whose particles are too small for the radar to detect. Radar can provide reflection profiles through thick cloud layers of larger particles that lidar cannot penetrate. Only after merging the two instrument products can accurate measurements of the locations of all layers in the full atmospheric column be achieved. Accurate knowledge of the vertical distribution of clouds is important information for understanding the Earth/atmosphere radiative balance and for improving weather/climate forecast models. This paper describes one such merged data set developed from the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) experiment based in Costa Rica in July-August 2007 using the nadir viewing Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and the Cloud Radar System (CRS) on board the NASA ER-2 aircraft. Statistics were developed concerning cloud probability through the atmospheric column and frequency of the number of cloud layers. These statistics were calculated for the full study area, four sub-regions, and over land compared to over ocean across all available flights. The results are valid for the TC4 experiment only, as preferred cloud patterns took priority during mission planning. The TC4 Study Area was a very cloudy region, with cloudy

Macrophysical and optical properties of midlatitude cirrus clouds from four ground-based lidars and collocated CALIOP observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dupont, Jean-Charles; Haeffelin, M.; Morille, Y.; Noel, V.; Keckhut, P.; Winker, D.; Comstock, Jennifer M.; Chervet, P.; Roblin, A.

2010-05-27

Ground-based lidar and CALIOP datasets gathered over four mid-latitude sites, two US and two French sites, are used to evaluate the consistency of cloud macrophysical and optical property climatologies that can be derived by such datasets. The consistency in average cloud height (both base and top height) between the CALIOP and ground datasets ranges from -0.4km to +0.5km. The cloud geometrical thickness distributions vary significantly between the different datasets, due in part to the original vertical resolutions of the lidar profiles. Average cloud geometrical thicknesses vary from 1.2 to 1.9km, i.e. by more than 50%. Cloud optical thickness distributions in subvisible, semi-transparent and moderate intervals differ by more than 50% between ground and space-based datasets. The cirrus clouds with 2 optical thickness below 0.1 (not included in historical cloud climatologies) represent 30-50% of the non-opaque cirrus class. The differences in average cloud base altitude between ground and CALIOP datasets of 0.0-0.1 km, 0.0-0.2 km and 0.0-0.2 km can be attributed to irregular sampling of seasonal variations in the ground-based data, to day-night differences in detection capabilities by CALIOP, and to the restriction to situations without low-level clouds in ground-based data, respectively. The cloud geometrical thicknesses are not affected by irregular sampling of seasonal variations in the ground-based data, while up to 0.0-0.2 km and 0.1-0.3 km differences can be attributed to day-night differences in detection capabilities by CALIOP, and to the restriction to situations without lowlevel clouds in ground-based data, respectively.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Data Fusion in the Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.

2012-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over periods of years to decades. However, moving from predominantly single-instrument studies to a multi-sensor, measurement-based model for long-duration analysis of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and data fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another instrument (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over years of AIRS data. To perform such an analysis, one must discover & access multiple datasets from remote sites, find the space/time "matchups" between instruments swaths and model grids, understand the quality flags and uncertainties for retrieved physical variables, assemble merged datasets, and compute fused products for further scientific and statistical analysis. To efficiently assemble such decade-scale datasets in a timely manner, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. "SciReduce" is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, in which simple tuples (keys & values) are passed between the map and reduce functions, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Thus, SciReduce uses the native datatypes (geolocated grids, swaths, and points) that geo-scientists are familiar with. We are deploying within Sci

U.S. Local Climatological Data (LCD)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Local Climatological Data (LCD) are summaries of climatological conditions from airport and other prominent weather stations managed by NWS, FAA, and DOD. The...

Cloud retrievals from satellite data using optimal estimation: evaluation and application to ATSR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. A. Poulsen

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Clouds play an important role in balancing the Earth's radiation budget. Hence, it is vital that cloud climatologies are produced that quantify cloud macro and micro physical parameters and the associated uncertainty. In this paper, we present an algorithm ORAC (Oxford-RAL retrieval of Aerosol and Cloud which is based on fitting a physically consistent cloud model to satellite observations simultaneously from the visible to the mid-infrared, thereby ensuring that the resulting cloud properties provide both a good representation of the short-wave and long-wave radiative effects of the observed cloud. The advantages of the optimal estimation method are that it enables rigorous error propagation and the inclusion of all measurements and any a priori information and associated errors in a rigorous mathematical framework. The algorithm provides a measure of the consistency between retrieval representation of cloud and satellite radiances. The cloud parameters retrieved are the cloud top pressure, cloud optical depth, cloud effective radius, cloud fraction and cloud phase.

The algorithm can be applied to most visible/infrared satellite instruments. In this paper, we demonstrate the applicability to the Along-Track Scanning Radiometers ATSR-2 and AATSR. Examples of applying the algorithm to ATSR-2 flight data are presented and the sensitivity of the retrievals assessed, in particular the algorithm is evaluated for a number of simulated single-layer and multi-layer conditions. The algorithm was found to perform well for single-layer cloud except when the cloud was very thin; i.e., less than 1 optical depths. For the multi-layer cloud, the algorithm was robust except when the upper ice cloud layer is less than five optical depths. In these cases the retrieved cloud top pressure and cloud effective radius become a weighted average of the 2 layers. The sum of optical depth of multi-layer cloud is retrieved well until the cloud becomes thick

Development of multi-sensor global cloud and radiance composites for earth radiation budget monitoring from DSCOVR

Science.gov (United States)

Khlopenkov, Konstantin; Duda, David; Thieman, Mandana; Minnis, Patrick; Su, Wenying; Bedka, Kristopher

2017-10-01

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) enables analysis of the daytime Earth radiation budget via the onboard Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). Radiance observations and cloud property retrievals from low earth orbit and geostationary satellite imagers have to be co-located with EPIC pixels to provide scene identification in order to select anisotropic directional models needed to calculate shortwave and longwave fluxes. A new algorithm is proposed for optimal merging of selected radiances and cloud properties derived from multiple satellite imagers to obtain seamless global hourly composites at 5-km resolution. An aggregated rating is employed to incorporate several factors and to select the best observation at the time nearest to the EPIC measurement. Spatial accuracy is improved using inverse mapping with gradient search during reprojection and bicubic interpolation for pixel resampling. The composite data are subsequently remapped into EPIC-view domain by convolving composite pixels with the EPIC point spread function defined with a half-pixel accuracy. PSF-weighted average radiances and cloud properties are computed separately for each cloud phase. The algorithm has demonstrated contiguous global coverage for any requested time of day with a temporal lag of under 2 hours in over 95% of the globe.

Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number density of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements

OpenAIRE

Y. Hu; M. Vaughan; C. McClain; M. Behrenfeld; H. Maring; D. Anderson; S. Sun-Mack; D. Flittner; J. Huang; B. Wielicki; P. Minnis; C. Weimer; C. Trepte; R. Kuehn

2007-01-01

International audience; This study presents an empirical relation that links layer integrated depolarization ratios, the extinction coefficients, and effective radii of water clouds, based on Monte Carlo simulations of CALIPSO lidar observations. Combined with cloud effective radius retrieved from MODIS, cloud liquid water content and effective number density of water clouds are estimated from CALIPSO lidar depolarization measurements in this study. Global statistics of the cloud liquid water...

Effect of retreating sea ice on Arctic cloud cover in simulated recent global warming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Abe

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the effect of sea ice reduction on Arctic cloud cover in historical simulations with the coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model MIROC5. Arctic sea ice has been substantially retreating since the 1980s, particularly in September, under simulated global warming conditions. The simulated sea ice reduction is consistent with satellite observations. On the other hand, Arctic cloud cover has been increasing in October, with about a 1-month lag behind the sea ice reduction. The delayed response leads to extensive sea ice reductions because the heat and moisture fluxes from the underlying open ocean into the atmosphere are enhanced. Sensitivity experiments with the atmospheric part of MIROC5 clearly show that sea ice reduction causes increases in cloud cover. Arctic cloud cover increases primarily in the lower troposphere, but it decreases in the near-surface layers just above the ocean; predominant temperature rises in these near-surface layers cause drying (i.e., decreases in relative humidity, despite increasing moisture flux. Cloud radiative forcing due to increases in cloud cover in autumn brings an increase in the surface downward longwave radiation (DLR by approximately 40–60 % compared to changes in clear-sky surface DLR in fall. These results suggest that an increase in Arctic cloud cover as a result of reduced sea ice coverage may bring further sea ice retreat and enhance the feedback processes of Arctic warming.

Methanogenesis, Mesospheric Clouds, and Global Habitability

Science.gov (United States)

Pueschel, Rudolf F.; Condon, Estelle P. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Hyperthermophilic methanogens can exist in a deep hot biosphere up to 110 C, or 10 km deep. Methane (CH4) itself is thermodynamically stable to depths of 300 km. Geologic (microbial plus abiogenic thermal) methane is transported upward, attested to by its association with helium, to form petroleum pools. Near or at the surface, geologic CH4 mixes with other natural and with anthropogenic CH4 yielding annual emissions into the atmosphere of 500 Tg, of which 200 Tg are natural and 300 Tg are man-made. The atmospheric lifetime of CH4, a greenhouse gas 20 times more effective than CO2 in raising global temperatures, is approximately 10 years. It is removed from the atmosphere mainly by reactions with hydroxyl radical (OH) to form CO2, but also by dry soil and by conversion to H2O in the stratosphere and middle atmosphere. A sudden rise in atmospheric temperatures by 9-12 C some 55 million years ago has been explained by the release in a few thousand years of three trillion tons of CH4 out of 15 trillion tons that had formed beneath the sea floor. What prevented this CH4-induced greenhouse effect from running away? An analog to the CH4-burp of 55 million years ago is the CH4-doubling over the past century which resulted in a increase in upper level H2O from 4.3 ppmv to 6 ppmv. This 30% increase in H2O vapor yielded a tenfold increase in brightness of polar mesospheric clouds because of a strong dependence of the ice particle nucleation rate on the water saturation ratios. Models show that at a given temperature the optical depth of mesospheric clouds scales as [H2O]beta with beta varying between 4 and 8. Radiative transfer tools applied to mesospheric particles suggest that an optical depth of approximately one, or 1000 times the current mesospheric cloud optical depth, would result in tropospheric cooling of about 10 K. Assuming beta=6, a thousandfold increase in optical thickness would require a three-fold increase of H2O, or a 20-fold increase of CH4. At the current

Spectral Dependence of MODIS Cloud Droplet Effective Radius Retrievals for Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhibo; Platnick, Steven E.; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Cho, Hyoun-Myoung

2014-01-01

Low-level warm marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds cover large regions of Earth's surface. They have a significant role in Earth's radiative energy balance and hydrological cycle. Despite the fundamental role of low-level warm water clouds in climate, our understanding of these clouds is still limited. In particular, connections between their properties (e.g. cloud fraction, cloud water path, and cloud droplet size) and environmental factors such as aerosol loading and meteorological conditions continue to be uncertain or unknown. Modeling these clouds in climate models remains a challenging problem. As a result, the influence of aerosols on these clouds in the past and future, and the potential impacts of these clouds on global warming remain open questions leading to substantial uncertainty in climate projections. To improve our understanding of these clouds, we need continuous observations of cloud properties on both a global scale and over a long enough timescale for climate studies. At present, satellite-based remote sensing is the only means of providing such observations.

Action spectra affect variability of the climatology of biologically effective ultraviolet radiation on cloud-free days.

Science.gov (United States)

Grifoni, D; Zipoli, G; Sabatini, F; Messeri, G; Bacci, L

2013-12-01

Action spectrum (AS) describes the relative effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in producing biological effects and allows spectral UV irradiance to be weighted in order to compute biologically effective UV radiation (UVBE). The aim of this research was to study the seasonal and latitudinal distribution over Europe of daily UVBE doses responsible for various biological effects on humans and plants. Clear sky UV radiation spectra were computed at 30-min time intervals for the first day of each month of the year for Rome, Potsdam and Trondheim using a radiative transfer model fed with climatological data. Spectral data were weighted using AS for erythema, vitamin D synthesis, cataract and photokeratitis for humans, while the generalised plant damage and the plant damage AS were used for plants. The daily UVBE doses for the above-mentioned biological processes were computed and are analysed in this study. The patterns of variation due to season (for each location) and latitude (for each date) resulted as being specific for each adopted AS. The biological implications of these results are briefly discussed highlighting the importance of a specific UVBE climatology for each biological process.

Action spectra affect variability of the climatology of biologically effective ultraviolet radiation on cloud-free days

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grifoni, D.; Zipoli, G.; Sabatini, F.; Messeri, G.; Bacci, L.

2013-01-01

Action spectrum (AS) describes the relative effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in producing biological effects and allows spectral UV irradiance to be weighted in order to compute biologically effective UV radiation (UVBE). The aim of this research was to study the seasonal and latitudinal distribution over Europe of daily UVBE doses responsible for various biological effects on humans and plants. Clear sky UV radiation spectra were computed at 30-min time intervals for the first day of each month of the year for Rome, Potsdam and Trondheim using a radiative transfer model fed with climatological data. Spectral data were weighted using AS for erythema, vitamin D synthesis, cataract and photo-keratitis for humans, while the generalised plant damage and the plant damage AS were used for plants. The daily UVBE doses for the above-mentioned biological processes were computed and are analysed in this study. The patterns of variation due to season (for each location) and latitude (for each date) resulted as being specific for each adopted AS. The biological implications of these results are briefly discussed highlighting the importance of a specific UVBE climatology for each biological process. (authors)

A 19-Month Climatology of Marine Aerosol-Cloud-Radiation Properties Derived From DOE ARM AMF Deployment at the Azores: Part I: Cloud Fraction and Single-Layered MBL Cloud Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Kennedy, Aaron; Minnis, Patrick; Wood, Robert

2013-01-01

A 19-month record of total, and single-layered low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high (> 6 km) cloud fractions (CFs), and the single-layered marine boundary layer (MBL) cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties has been generated from ground-based measurements taken at the ARM Azores site between June 2009 and December 2010. It documents the most comprehensive and longest dataset on marine cloud fraction and MBL cloud properties to date. The annual means of total CF, and single-layered low, middle, and high CFs derived from ARM radar-lidar observations are 0.702, 0.271, 0.01 and 0.106, respectively. More total and single-layered high CFs occurred during winter, while single-layered low CFs were greatest during summer. The diurnal cycles for both total and low CFs are stronger during summer than during winter. The CFs are bimodally distributed in the vertical with a lower peak at approx. 1 km and higher one between 8 and 11 km during all seasons, except summer, when only the low peak occurs. The persistent high pressure and dry conditions produce more single-layered MBL clouds and fewer total clouds during summer, while the low pressure and moist air masses during winter generate more total and multilayered-clouds, and deep frontal clouds associated with midlatitude cyclones.

Surface radiation budget in the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) effort and in the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX)

Science.gov (United States)

Charlock, Thomas P.; Smith, G. L.; Rose, Fred G.

1990-01-01

The surface radiation budget (SRB) and the atmospheric radiative flux divergence (ARD) are vital components of the weather and climate system. The importance of radiation in a complex international scientific endeavor, the GEWEX of the World Climate Research Programme is explained. The radiative transfer techniques and satellite instrumentation that will be used to retrieve the SRB and ARD later in this decade with the CERES are discussed; CERES is a component of the Earth Observing System satellite program. Examples of consistent SRB and ARD retrievals made with Nimbus-7 and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data from July 1983 are presented.

Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number density of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Y.; Vaughan, M.; McClain, C.; Behrenfeld, M.; Maring, H.; Anderson, D.; Sun-Mack, S.; Flittner, D.; Huang, J.; Wielicki, B.; Minnis, P.; Weimer, C.; Trepte, C.; Kuehn, R.

2007-03-01

This study presents an empirical relation that links layer integrated depolarization ratios, the extinction coefficients, and effective radii of water clouds, based on Monte Carlo simulations of CALIPSO lidar observations. Combined with cloud effective radius retrieved from MODIS, cloud liquid water content and effective number density of water clouds are estimated from CALIPSO lidar depolarization measurements in this study. Global statistics of the cloud liquid water content and effective number density are presented.

Diurnal Variation of Tropical Ice Cloud Microphysics inferred from Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GPM-GMI)'s Polarimetric Measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, J.; Zeng, X.; Wu, D. L.; Li, X.

2017-12-01

Diurnal variation of tropical ice cloud has been well observed and examined in terms of the area of coverage, occurring frequency, and total mass, but rarely on ice microphysical parameters (habit, size, orientation, etc.) because of lack of direct measurements of ice microphysics on a high temporal and spatial resolutions. This accounts for a great portion of the uncertainty in evaluating ice cloud's role on global radiation and hydrological budgets. The design of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's procession orbit gives us an unprecedented opportunity to study the diurnal variation of ice microphysics on the global scale for the first time. Dominated by cloud ice scattering, high-frequency microwave polarimetric difference (PD, namely the brightness temperature difference between vertically- and horizontally-polarized paired channel measurements) from the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) has been proven by our previous study to be very valuable to infer cloud ice microphysical properties. Using one year of PD measurements at 166 GHz, we found that cloud PD exhibits a strong diurnal cycle in the tropics (25S-25N). The peak PD amplitude varies as much as 35% over land, compared to only 6% over ocean. The diurnal cycle of the peak PD value is strongly anti-correlated with local ice cloud occurring frequency and the total ice mass with a leading period of 3 hours for the maximum correlation. The observed PD diurnal cycle can be explained by the change of ice crystal axial ratio. Using a radiative transfer model, we can simulate the observed 166 GHz PD-brightness temperature curve as well as its diurnal variation using different axial ratio values, which can be caused by the diurnal variation of ice microphysical properties including particle size, percentage of horizontally-aligned non-spherical particles, and ice habit. The leading of the change of PD ahead of ice cloud mass and occurring frequency implies the important role microphysics play in the

Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in the South-East Atlantic: Knowledge Gaps, Planned Observations to Address Them, and Implications for Global Climate Change Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Redemann, Jens; Wood, R.; Zuidema, P.; Haywood, J.; Luna, B.; Abel, S.

2015-01-01

Southern Africa produces almost a third of the Earth's biomass burning (BB) aerosol particles, yet the fate of these particles and their influence on regional and global climate is poorly understood. Particles lofted into the mid-troposphere are transported westward over the South-East (SE) Atlantic, home to one of the three permanent subtropical Stratocumulus (Sc) cloud decks in the world. The stratocumulus "climate radiators" are critical to the regional and global climate system. They interact with dense layers of BB aerosols that initially overlay the cloud deck, but later subside and are mixed into the clouds. These interactions include adjustments to aerosol-induced solar heating and microphysical effects. As emphasized in the latest IPCC report, the global representation of these aerosol-cloud interaction processes in climate models is one of the largest uncertainty in estimates of future climate. Hence, new observations over the SE Atlantic have significant implications for global climate change scenarios. We discuss the current knowledge of aerosol and cloud property distributions based on satellite observations and sparse suborbital sampling, and describe planned field campaigns in the region. Specifically, we describe the scientific objectives and implementation of the following four synergistic, international research activities aimed at providing a process-level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions over the SE Atlantic: 1) ORACLES (Observations of Aerosols above Clouds and their interactions), a five-year investigation between 2015 and 2019 with three Intensive Observation Periods (IOP), recently funded by the NASA Earth-Venture Suborbital Program, 2) CLARIFY-2016 (Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Interactions and Forcing: Year 2016), a comprehensive observational and modeling programme funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and supported by the UK Met Office. 3) LASIC (Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds), a funded

The MJO Transition from Shallow to Deep Convection in CloudSat/CALIPSO Data and GISS GCM Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

DelGenio, Anthony G.; Chen, Yonghua; Kim, Daehyun; Yao, Mao-Sung

2013-01-01

The relationship between convective penetration depth and tropospheric humidity is central to recent theories of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). It has been suggested that general circulation models (GCMs) poorly simulate the MJO because they fail to gradually moisten the troposphere by shallow convection and simulate a slow transition to deep convection. CloudSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) data are analyzed to document the variability of convection depth and its relation to water vapor during the MJO transition from shallow to deep convection and to constrain GCM cumulus parameterizations. Composites of cloud occurrence for 10MJO events show the following anticipatedMJO cloud structure: shallow and congestus clouds in advance of the peak, deep clouds near the peak, and upper-level anvils after the peak. Cirrus clouds are also frequent in advance of the peak. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EarthObserving System (EOS) (AMSR-E) columnwater vapor (CWV) increases by;5 mmduring the shallow- deep transition phase, consistent with the idea of moisture preconditioning. Echo-top height of clouds rooted in the boundary layer increases sharply with CWV, with large variability in depth when CWV is between;46 and 68 mm. International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project cloud classifications reproduce these climatological relationships but correctly identify congestus-dominated scenes only about half the time. A version of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Model E2 (GISS-E2) GCM with strengthened entrainment and rain evaporation that produces MJO-like variability also reproduces the shallow-deep convection transition, including the large variability of cloud-top height at intermediate CWV values. The variability is due to small grid-scale relative humidity and lapse rate anomalies for similar values of CWV. 1.

Toward Improving the Representation of Convection and Cloud-Radiation Interaction for Global Climate Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, X.; Song, X.; Deng, L.; Park, S.; Liang, X.; Zhang, G. J.

2006-05-01

Despite the significant progress made in developing general circulation models (GCMs), major uncertainties related to the parameterization of convection, cloud and radiation processes still remain. The current GCM credibility of seasonal-interannual climate predictions or climate change projections is limited. In particular, the following long-standing biases, common to most GCMs, need to be reduced: 1) over-prediction of high-level cloud amounts although GCMs realistically simulating the global radiation budget; 2) general failure to reproduce the seasonal variation and migration of the ITCZ precipitation; 3) incomplete representation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO); and 4) false production of an excessive cold tone of sea surface temperature across the Pacific basin and a double ITCZ structure in precipitation when the atmosphere and ocean are fully coupled. The development of cloud-resolving models (CRMs) provides a unique opportunity to address issues aimed to reduce these biases. The statistical analysis of CRM simulations together with the theoretical consideration of subgrid-scale processes will enable us to develop physically-based parameterization of convection, clouds, radiation and their interactions.

Trend Analysis of Evapotranspiration over India- Observed from ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

3

Future studies on the effects of ET changes on the hydrological cycle .... VI is useful for long-term monitoring of the land surface and climate related processes. .... were applied spatially using AVHRR Global Inventory Modelling and .... SRB uses cloud properties derived from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project.

Solar variability and clouds

CERN Document Server

Kirkby, Jasper

2000-01-01

Satellite observations have revealed a surprising imprint of the 11- year solar cycle on global low cloud cover. The cloud data suggest a correlation with the intensity of Galactic cosmic rays. If this apparent connection between cosmic rays and clouds is real, variations of the cosmic ray flux caused by long-term changes in the solar wind could have a significant influence on the global energy radiation budget and the climate. However a direct link between cosmic rays and clouds has not been unambiguously established and, moreover, the microphysical mechanism is poorly understood. New experiments are being planned to find out whether cosmic rays can affect cloud formation, and if so how. (37 refs).

A parameterization of cloud droplet nucleation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghan, S.J.; Chuang, C.; Penner, J.E.

1993-01-01

Droplet nucleation is a fundamental cloud process. The number of aerosols activated to form cloud droplets influences not only the number of aerosols scavenged by clouds but also the size of the cloud droplets. Cloud droplet size influences the cloud albedo and the conversion of cloud water to precipitation. Global aerosol models are presently being developed with the intention of coupling with global atmospheric circulation models to evaluate the influence of aerosols and aerosol-cloud interactions on climate. If these and other coupled models are to address issues of aerosol-cloud interactions, the droplet nucleation process must be adequately represented. Here we introduce a droplet nucleation parametrization that offers certain advantages over the popular Twomey (1959) parameterization

A novel tropopause-related climatology of ozone profiles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sofieva, V.F.; Tamminen, J.; Kyrola, E.; Mielonen, T.; Veefkind, J.P.; Hassler, B.; Bodeker, G.E.

2014-01-01

A new ozone climatology, based on ozonesonde and satellite measurements, spanning the altitude region between the earth's surface and ~60 km is presented (TpO3 climatology). This climatology is novel in that the ozone profiles are categorized according to calendar month, latitude and local

Study of the relations between cloud properties and atmospheric conditions using ground-based digital images

Science.gov (United States)

Bakalova, Kalinka

The aerosol constituents of the earth atmosphere are of great significance for the radiation budget and global climate of the planet. They are the precursors of clouds that in turn play an essential role in these processes and in the hydrological cycle of the Earth. Understanding the complex aerosol-cloud interactions requires a detailed knowledge of the dynamical processes moving the water vapor through the atmosphere, and of the physical mechanisms involved in the formation and growth of cloud particles. Ground-based observations on regional and short time scale provide valuable detailed information about atmospheric dynamics and cloud properties, and are used as a complementary tool to the global satellite observations. The objective of the present paper is to study the physical properties of clouds as displayed in ground-based visible images, and juxtapose them to the specific surface and atmospheric meteorological conditions. The observations are being carried out over the urban area of the city of Sofia, Bulgaria. The data obtained from visible images of clouds enable a quantitative description of texture and morphological features of clouds such as shape, thickness, motion, etc. These characteristics are related to cloud microphysical properties. The changes of relative humidity and the horizontal visibility are considered to be representative of the variations of the type (natural/manmade) and amount of the atmospheric aerosols near the earth surface, and potentially, the cloud drop number concentration. The atmospheric dynamics is accounted for by means of the values of the atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind velocity, etc., observed at the earth's surface. The advantage of ground-based observations of clouds compared to satellite ones is in the high spatial and temporal resolution of the obtained data about the lowermost cloud layer, which in turn is sensitive to the meteorological regimes that determine cloud formation and evolution. It turns out

Observations of regional and local variability in the optical properties of maritime clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, A.B. [Univ. of Colorado at Boulder/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO (United States); Fairall, C.W. [Environmental Technology Lab., Boulder, CO (United States)

1996-04-01

White and Fairall (1995) calculated the optical properties of the marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds observed during the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) and compared their results with the results obtained by Fairall et al. for the MBL clouds observed during the First International Satellite Climatology Program (ISSCP) Regional Experiment (FIRE). They found a factor of two difference in the optical depth versus liquid water relationship that applies to the clouds observed in each case. In the present study, we present evidence to support this difference. We also investigate the local variability exhibited in the ASTEX optical properties using measurements of the boundary layer aerosol concentration.

Cloud cover over the equatorial eastern Pacific derived from July 1983 International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data using a hybrid bispectral threshold method

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, Patrick; Harrison, Edwin F.; Gibson, Gary G.

1987-01-01

A set of visible and IR data obtained with GOES from July 17-31, 1983 is analyzed using a modified version of the hybrid bispectral threshold method developed by Minnis and Harrison (1984). This methodology can be divided into a set of procedures or optional techniques to determine the proper contaminate clear-sky temperature or IR threshold. The various optional techniques are described; the options are: standard, low-temperature limit, high-reflectance limit, low-reflectance limit, coldest pixel and thermal adjustment limit, IR-only low-cloud temperature limit, IR clear-sky limit, and IR overcast limit. Variations in the cloud parameters and the characteristics and diurnal cycles of trade cumulus and stratocumulus clouds over the eastern equatorial Pacific are examined. It is noted that the new method produces substantial changes in about one third of the cloud amount retrieval; and low cloud retrievals are affected most by the new constraints.

Analysis of high-resolution simulations for the Black Forest region from a point of view of tourism climatology - a comparison between two regional climate models (REMO and CLM)

Science.gov (United States)

Endler, Christina; Matzarakis, Andreas

2011-03-01

An analysis of climate simulations from a point of view of tourism climatology based on two regional climate models, namely REMO and CLM, was performed for a regional domain in the southwest of Germany, the Black Forest region, for two time frames, 1971-2000 that represents the twentieth century climate and 2021-2050 that represents the future climate. In that context, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios A1B and B1 are used. The analysis focuses on human-biometeorological and applied climatologic issues, especially for tourism purposes - that means parameters belonging to thermal (physiologically equivalent temperature, PET), physical (precipitation, snow, wind), and aesthetic (fog, cloud cover) facets of climate in tourism. In general, both models reveal similar trends, but differ in their extent. The trend of thermal comfort is contradicting: it tends to decrease in REMO, while it shows a slight increase in CLM. Moreover, REMO reveals a wider range of future climate trends than CLM, especially for sunshine, dry days, and heat stress. Both models are driven by the same global coupled atmosphere-ocean model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. Because both models are not able to resolve meso- and micro-scale processes such as cloud microphysics, differences between model results and discrepancies in the development of even those parameters (e.g., cloud formation and cover) are due to different model parameterization and formulation. Climatic changes expected by 2050 are small compared to 2100, but may have major impacts on tourism as for example, snow cover and its duration are highly vulnerable to a warmer climate directly affecting tourism in winter. Beyond indirect impacts are of high relevance as they influence tourism as well. Thus, changes in climate, natural environment, demography, tourists' demands, among other things affect economy in general. The analysis of the CLM results and its comparison with the REMO results complete the analysis performed

Preliminary laboratory studies of the optical scattering properties of the crystal clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Saunders

Full Text Available Ice crystal clouds have an influence on the radiative budget of the earth; however, the exact size and nature of this influence has yet to be determined. A laboratory cloud chamber experiment has been set up to provide data on the optical scattering behaviour of ice crystals at a visible wavelength in order to gain information which can be used in climate models concerning the radiative characteristics of cirrus clouds. A PMS grey-scale probe is used to monitor simultaneously the cloud microphysical properties in order to correlate these closely with the observed radiative properties. Preliminary results show that ice crystals scatter considerably more at 90° than do water droplets, and that the halo effects are visible in a laboratory-generated cloud when the ice crystal concentration is sufficiently small to prevent masking from multiple scattering.

Key words. Meteorology and atmosphere dynamics · Climatology · Radiative process · Atmospheric composition and structure · Cloud physics and chemistry

Development of Multi-Sensor Global Cloud and Radiance Composites for DSCOVR EPIC Imager with Subpixel Definition

Science.gov (United States)

Khlopenkov, K. V.; Duda, D. P.; Thieman, M. M.; Sun-Mack, S.; Su, W.; Minnis, P.; Bedka, K. M.

2017-12-01

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) is designed to study the daytime Earth radiation budget by means of onboard Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR). EPIC imager observes in several shortwave bands (317-780 nm), while NISTAR measures the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) whole-disk radiance in shortwave and total broadband windows. Calculation of albedo and outgoing longwave flux requires a high-resolution scene identification such as the radiance observations and cloud property retrievals from low earth orbit and geostationary satellite imagers. These properties have to be co-located with EPIC imager pixels to provide scene identification and to select anisotropic directional models, which are then used to adjust the NISTAR-measured radiance and subsequently obtain the global daytime shortwave and longwave fluxes. This work presents an algorithm for optimal merging of selected radiances and cloud properties derived from multiple satellite imagers to obtain seamless global hourly composites at 5-km resolution. The highest quality observation is selected by means of an aggregated rating which incorporates several factors such as the nearest time relative to EPIC observation, lowest viewing zenith angle, and others. This process provides a smoother transition and avoids abrupt changes in the merged composite data. Higher spatial accuracy in the composite product is achieved by using the inverse mapping with gradient search during reprojection and bicubic interpolation for pixel resampling. The composite data are subsequently remapped into the EPIC-view domain by convolving composite pixels with the EPIC point spread function (PSF) defined with a half-pixel accuracy. Within every EPIC footprint, the PSF-weighted average radiances and cloud properties are computed for each cloud phase and then stored within five data subsets (clear-sky, water cloud, ice cloud, total cloud, and no

Time dependent charging of layer clouds in the global electric circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Limin; Tinsley, Brian A.

2012-09-01

There is much observational data consistent with the hypothesis that the ionosphere-earth current density (Jz) in the global electric circuit, which is modulated by both solar activity and thunderstorm activity, affects atmospheric dynamics and cloud cover. One candidate mechanism involves Jz causing the accumulation of space charge on droplets and aerosol particles, that affects the rate of scavenging of the latter, notably those of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) and Ice Forming Nuclei (IFN) (Tinsley, 2008, 2010). Space charge is the difference, per unit volume, between total positive and total negative electrical charge that is on droplets, aerosol particles (including the CCN and IFN) and air ions. The cumulative effects of the scavenging in stratiform clouds and aerosol layers in an air mass over the lifetime of the aerosol particles of 1-10 days affects the concentration and size distribution of the CCN, so that in subsequent episodes of cloud formation (including deep convective clouds) there can be effects on droplet size distribution, coagulation, precipitation processes, and even storm dynamics.Because the time scales for charging for some clouds can be long compared to cloud lifetimes, the amount of charge at a given time, and its effect on scavenging, depend more on the charging rate than on the equilibrium charge that would eventually be attained. To evaluate this, a new time-dependent charging model has been developed. The results show that for typical altostratus clouds with typical droplet radii 10 μm and aerosol particles of radius of 0.04 μm, the time constant for charging in response to a change in Jz is about 800 s, which is comparable to cloud formation and dissipation timescales for some cloud situations. The charging timescale is found to be strong functions of altitude and aerosol concentration, with the time constant for droplet charging at 2 km in air with a high concentration of aerosols being about an hour, and for clouds at 10 km in

Toward GEOS-6, A Global Cloud System Resolving Atmospheric Model

Science.gov (United States)

Putman, William M.

2010-01-01

NASA is committed to observing and understanding the weather and climate of our home planet through the use of multi-scale modeling systems and space-based observations. Global climate models have evolved to take advantage of the influx of multi- and many-core computing technologies and the availability of large clusters of multi-core microprocessors. GEOS-6 is a next-generation cloud system resolving atmospheric model that will place NASA at the forefront of scientific exploration of our atmosphere and climate. Model simulations with GEOS-6 will produce a realistic representation of our atmosphere on the scale of typical satellite observations, bringing a visual comprehension of model results to a new level among the climate enthusiasts. In preparation for GEOS-6, the agency's flagship Earth System Modeling Framework [JDl] has been enhanced to support cutting-edge high-resolution global climate and weather simulations. Improvements include a cubed-sphere grid that exposes parallelism; a non-hydrostatic finite volume dynamical core, and algorithm designed for co-processor technologies, among others. GEOS-6 represents a fundamental advancement in the capability of global Earth system models. The ability to directly compare global simulations at the resolution of spaceborne satellite images will lead to algorithm improvements and better utilization of space-based observations within the GOES data assimilation system

A climatology of visible surface reflectance spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zoogman, Peter; Liu, Xiong; Chance, Kelly; Sun, Qingsong; Schaaf, Crystal; Mahr, Tobias; Wagner, Thomas

2016-01-01

We present a high spectral resolution climatology of visible surface reflectance as a function of wavelength for use in satellite measurements of ozone and other atmospheric species. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument is planned to measure backscattered solar radiation in the 290–740 nm range, including the ultraviolet and visible Chappuis ozone bands. Observation in the weak Chappuis band takes advantage of the relative transparency of the atmosphere in the visible to achieve sensitivity to near-surface ozone. However, due to the weakness of the ozone absorption features this measurement is more sensitive to errors in visible surface reflectance, which is highly variable. We utilize reflectance measurements of individual plant, man-made, and other surface types to calculate the primary modes of variability of visible surface reflectance at a high spectral resolution, comparable to that of TEMPO (0.6 nm). Using the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Bidirection Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)/albedo product and our derived primary modes we construct a high spatial resolution climatology of wavelength-dependent surface reflectance over all viewing scenes and geometries. The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment–2 (GOME-2) Lambertian Equivalent Reflectance (LER) product provides complementary information over water and snow scenes. Preliminary results using this approach in multispectral ultraviolet+visible ozone retrievals from the GOME-2 instrument show significant improvement to the fitting residuals over vegetated scenes. - Highlights: • Our goals was visible surface reflectance for satellite trace gas measurements. • Captured the range of surface reflectance spectra through EOF analysis. • Used satellite surface reflectance products for each given scene to anchor EOFs. • Generated a climatology of time/geometry dependent surface reflectance spectra. • Demonstrated potential to

Effects of stratocumulus, cumulus, and cirrus clouds on the UV-B diffuse to global ratio: Experimental and modeling results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

López, María Laura; Palancar, Gustavo G.; Toselli, Beatriz M.

2012-01-01

Broadband measurements of global and diffuse UV-B irradiance (280-315 nm) together with modeled and measured diffuse to global ratios (DGR) have been used to characterize the influence of different types of clouds on irradiance at the surface. Measurements were carried out during 2000-2001 in Córdoba City, Argentina. The Tropospheric Ultraviolet Visible (TUV) model was used to analyze the behavior of the modeled DGRs for different cloud optical depths and at different altitudes and solar zenith angles (SZA). Different cloud altitudes were also tested, although only the results for a cloud placed at 1.5-2.5 km of altitude are shown. A total of 16 day with stratocumulus, 12 with cumulus, and 16 with cirrus have been studied and compared among them and also against 21 clear sky days. Different behaviors were clearly detected and also differentiated through the analysis of the averages and the standard deviations of the DGRs: 1.02±0.06 for stratocumulus, 0.74±0.18 for cumulus, 0.63±0.12 for cirrus, and 0.60±0.13 for the clear sky days, respectively. Stratocumulus clouds showed a low variability in the DGR values, which were concentrated close to one at all SZAs. DGR values for cumulus clouds presented a large variability at all SZAs, mostly associated with the different optical depths. Finally, the closeness between the DGR values for cirrus clouds and the DGR values for clear days showed that these clouds generally do not strongly affect the UV-B irradiance at the surface at any SZA. In the opposite side, stratocumulus clouds were identified as those with the largest effects, at all SZAs, on the UV-B irradiance at the surface.

New dynamic NNORSY ozone profile climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Kaifel, A. K.; Felder, M.; Declercq, C.; Lambert, J.-C.

2012-01-01

Climatological ozone profile data are widely used as a-priori information for total ozone using DOAS type retrievals as well as for ozone profile retrieval using optimal estimation, for data assimilation or evaluation of 3-D chemistry-transport models and a lot of other applications in atmospheric sciences and remote sensing. For most applications it is important that the climatology represents not only long term mean values but also the links between ozone and dynamic input parameters. These dynamic input parameters should be easily accessible from auxiliary datasets or easily measureable, and obviously should have a high correlation with ozone. For ozone profile these parameters are mainly total ozone column and temperature profile data. This was the outcome of a user consultation carried out in the framework of developing a new, dynamic ozone profile climatology. The new ozone profile climatology is based on the Neural Network Ozone Retrieval System (NNORSY) widely used for ozone profile retrieval from UV and IR satellite sounder data. NNORSY allows implicit modelling of any non-linear correspondence between input parameters (predictors) and ozone profile target vector. This paper presents the approach, setup and validation of a new family of ozone profile climatologies with static as well as dynamic input parameters (total ozone and temperature profile). The neural network training relies on ozone profile measurement data of well known quality provided by ground based (ozonesondes) and satellite based (SAGE II, HALOE, and POAM-III) measurements over the years 1995-2007. In total, four different combinations (modes) for input parameters (date, geolocation, total ozone column and temperature profile) are available. The geophysical validation spans from pole to pole using independent ozonesonde, lidar and satellite data (ACE-FTS, AURA-MLS) for individual and time series comparisons as well as for analysing the vertical and meridian structure of different modes of

Coupled fvGCM-GCE Modeling System, 3D Cloud-Resolving Model and Cloud Library

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wei-Kuo

2005-01-01

Recent GEWEX Cloud System Study (GCSS) model comparison projects have indicated that cloud- resolving models (CRMs) agree with observations better than traditional single-column models in simulating various types of clouds and cloud systems from different geographic locations. Current and future NASA satellite programs can provide cloud, precipitation, aerosol and other data at very fine spatial and temporal scales. It requires a coupled global circulation model (GCM) and cloud-scale model (termed a super-parameterization or multi-scale modeling framework, MMF) to use these satellite data to improve the understanding of the physical processes that are responsible for the variation in global and regional climate and hydrological systems. The use of a GCM will enable global coverage, and the use of a CRM will allow for better and more sophisticated physical parameterization. NASA satellite and field campaign cloud related datasets can provide initial conditions as well as validation for both the MMF and CRMs. A seed fund is available at NASA Goddard to build a MMF based on the 2D Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model and the Goddard finite volume general circulation model (fvGCM). A prototype MMF in being developed and production runs will be conducted at the beginning of 2005. In this talk, I will present: (1) A brief review on GCE model and its applications on precipitation processes, ( 2 ) The Goddard MMF and the major difference between two existing MMFs (CSU MMF and Goddard MMF), (3) A cloud library generated by Goddard MMF, and 3D GCE model, and (4) A brief discussion on the GCE model on developing a global cloud simulator.

The Increasing Use of Remote Sensing Data in Studying the Climatological Impacts on Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Kempler, Steven; Benedict, Karl; Ceccato, Pietro; Golden, Meredith; Maxwell, Susan; Morian, Stan; Soebiyanto, Radina; Tong, Daniel

2011-01-01

One of the more fortunate outcomes of the capture and transformation of remote sensing data into applied information is their usefulness and impacts to better understanding climatological impacts on public health. Today, with petabytes of remote sensing data providing global coverage of climatological parameters, public health research and policy decision makers have an unprecedented (and growing) data record that relates the effects of climatic parameters, such as rainfall, heat, soil moisture, etc. to incidences and spread of disease, as well as predictive modeling. In addition, tools and services that specifically serve public health researchers and respondents have grown in response to needs of the these information users.

Cirrus cloud-temperature interactions over a tropical station, Gadanki from lidar and satellite observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

S, Motty G; Satyanarayana, M.; Krishnakumar, V.; Dhaman, Reji k.

2014-01-01

The cirrus clouds play an important role in the radiation budget of the earth's atmospheric system and are important to characterize their vertical structure and optical properties. LIDAR measurements are obtained from the tropical station Gadanki (13.5 0 N, 79.2 0 E), India, and meteorological indicators derived from Radiosonde data. Most of the cirrus clouds are observed near to the tropopause, which substantiates the strength of the tropical convective processes. The height and temperature dependencies of cloud height, optical depth, and depolarization ratio were investigated. Cirrus observations made using CALIPSO satellite are compared with lidar data for systematic statistical study of cirrus climatology

Impact of cloud microphysics on cloud-radiation interactions in the CSU general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fowler, L.D.; Randall, D.A.

1995-04-01

Our ability to study and quantify the impact of cloud-radiation interactions in studying global scale climate variations strongly relies upon the ability of general circulation models (GCMs) to simulate the coupling between the spatial and temporal variations of the model-generated cloudiness and atmospheric moisture budget components. In particular, the ability of GCMs to reproduce the geographical distribution of the sources and sinks of the planetary radiation balance depends upon their representation of the formation and dissipation of cloudiness in conjunction with cloud microphysics processes, and the fractional amount and optical characteristics of cloudiness in conjunction with the mass of condensate stored in the atmosphere. A cloud microphysics package which encompasses five prognostic variables for the mass of water vapor, cloud water, cloud ice, rain, and snow has been implemented in the Colorado State University General Circulation Model (CSU GCM) to simulate large-scale condensation processes. Convection interacts with the large-scale environment through the detrainment of cloud water and cloud ice at the top of cumulus towers. The cloud infrared emissivity and cloud optical depth of the model-generated cloudiness are interactive and depend upon the mass of cloud water and cloud ice suspended in the atmosphere. The global atmospheric moisture budget and planetary radiation budget of the CSU GCM obtained from a perpetual January simulation are discussed. Geographical distributions of the atmospheric moisture species are presented. Global maps of the top-of-atmosphere outgoing longwave radiation and planetary albedo are compared against Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) satellite data.

MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Monthly L3 Global 1Deg CMG V006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Monthly L3 Global 1Deg CMG (MOD08_M3). MODIS was launched aboard the Terra satellite on December 18, 1999 (10:30 am...

Characterizing synoptic and cloud variability in the northern atlantic using self-organizing maps

Science.gov (United States)

Fish, Carly

Low-level clouds have a significant influence on the Earth's radiation budget and it is thus imperative to understand their behavior within the marine boundary layer (MBL). The cloud properties in the Northeast Atlantic region are highly variable in space and time and are a research focus for many atmospheric scientists. Characterizing the synoptic patterns in the region through the implementation of self-organizing maps (SOMs) enables a climatological grasp of cloud and atmospheric fields. ERA -- Interim and MODIS provide the platform to explore the variability in the Northeast Atlantic for over 30 years of data. Station data comes from CAP -- MBL on Graciosa Island in the Azores, which lies in a strong gradient of cloud and other atmospheric fields, offer an opportunity to incorporate an observational aspect for the years of 2009 and 2010.

Cloud CCN feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hudson, J.G.

1992-01-01

Cloud microphysics affects cloud albedo precipitation efficiency and the extent of cloud feedback in response to global warming. Compared to other cloud parameters, microphysics is unique in its large range of variability and the fact that much of the variability is anthropogenic. Probably the most important determinant of cloud microphysics is the spectra of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) which display considerable variability and have a large anthropogenic component. When analyzed in combination three field observation projects display the interrelationship between CCN and cloud microphysics. CCN were measured with the Desert Research Institute (DRI) instantaneous CCN spectrometer. Cloud microphysical measurements were obtained with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Lockheed Electra. Since CCN and cloud microphysics each affect the other a positive feedback mechanism can result

MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Daily L3 Global 1Deg CMG V006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — MODIS/Terra Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Daily L3 Global 1Deg CMG (MOD08_D3). MODIS was launched aboard the Terra satellite on December 18, 1999 (10:30 am equator...

MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Daily L3 Global 1Deg CMG V006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone Daily L3 Global 1Deg CMG (MYD08_D3). MODIS was launched aboard the Aqua satellite on May 04, 2002 (1:30 pm equator...

Improvements of top-of-atmosphere and surface irradiance computations with CALIPSO-, CloudSat-, and MODIS-derived cloud and aerosol properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Seiji; Rose, Fred G.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Miller, Walter F.; Chen, Yan; Rutan, David A.; Stephens, Graeme L.; Loeb, Norman G.; Minnis, Patrick; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Winker, David M.; Charlock, Thomas P.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Xu, Kuan-Man; Collins, William D.

2011-10-01

One year of instantaneous top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface shortwave and longwave irradiances are computed using cloud and aerosol properties derived from instruments on the A-Train Constellation: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite, the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), and the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). When modeled irradiances are compared with those computed with cloud properties derived from MODIS radiances by a Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) cloud algorithm, the global and annual mean of modeled instantaneous TOA irradiances decreases by 12.5 W m-2 (5.0%) for reflected shortwave and 2.5 W m-2 (1.1%) for longwave irradiances. As a result, the global annual mean of instantaneous TOA irradiances agrees better with CERES-derived irradiances to within 0.5W m-2 (out of 237.8 W m-2) for reflected shortwave and 2.6W m-2 (out of 240.1 W m-2) for longwave irradiances. In addition, the global annual mean of instantaneous surface downward longwave irradiances increases by 3.6 W m-2 (1.0%) when CALIOP- and CPR-derived cloud properties are used. The global annual mean of instantaneous surface downward shortwave irradiances also increases by 8.6 W m-2 (1.6%), indicating that the net surface irradiance increases when CALIOP- and CPR-derived cloud properties are used. Increasing the surface downward longwave irradiance is caused by larger cloud fractions (the global annual mean by 0.11, 0.04 excluding clouds with optical thickness less than 0.3) and lower cloud base heights (the global annual mean by 1.6 km). The increase of the surface downward longwave irradiance in the Arctic exceeds 10 W m-2 (˜4%) in winter because CALIOP and CPR detect more clouds in comparison with the cloud detection by the CERES cloud algorithm during polar night. The global annual mean surface downward longwave irradiance of

High Performance Networks From Supercomputing to Cloud Computing

CERN Document Server

Abts, Dennis

2011-01-01

Datacenter networks provide the communication substrate for large parallel computer systems that form the ecosystem for high performance computing (HPC) systems and modern Internet applications. The design of new datacenter networks is motivated by an array of applications ranging from communication intensive climatology, complex material simulations and molecular dynamics to such Internet applications as Web search, language translation, collaborative Internet applications, streaming video and voice-over-IP. For both Supercomputing and Cloud Computing the network enables distributed applicati

Comparison Between CCCM and CloudSat Radar-Lidar (RL) Cloud and Radiation Products

Science.gov (United States)

Ham, Seung-Hee; Kato, Seiji; Rose, Fred G.; Sun-Mack, Sunny

2015-01-01

To enhance cloud properties, LaRC and CIRA developed each combination algorithm for obtained properties from passive, active and imager in A-satellite constellation. When comparing global cloud fraction each other, LaRC-produced CERES-CALIPSO-CloudSat-MODIS (CCCM) products larger low-level cloud fraction over tropic ocean, while CIRA-produced Radar-Lidar (RL) shows larger mid-level cloud fraction for high latitude region. The reason for different low-level cloud fraction is due to different filtering method of lidar-detected cloud layers. Meanwhile difference in mid-level clouds is occurred due to different priority of cloud boundaries from lidar and radar.

How important is biological ice nucleation in clouds on a global scale?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoose, C; Kristjansson, J E; Burrows, S M

2010-01-01

The high ice nucleating ability of some biological particles has led to speculations about living and dead organisms being involved in cloud ice and precipitation formation, exerting a possibly significant influence on weather and climate. In the present study, the role of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) as heterogeneous ice nuclei is investigated with a global model. Emission parametrizations for bacteria, fungal spores and pollen based on recent literature are introduced, as well as an immersion freezing parametrization based on classical nucleation theory and laboratory measurements. The simulated contribution of PBAPs to the global average ice nucleation rate is only 10 -5 %, with an uppermost estimate of 0.6%. At the same time, observed PBAP concentrations in air and biological ice nucleus concentrations in snow are reasonably well captured by the model. This implies that 'bioprecipitation' processes (snow and rain initiated by PBAPs) are of minor importance on the global scale.

Fast Molecular Cloud Destruction Requires Fast Cloud Formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark [American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 (United States); Burkert, Andreas [Universitäts Sternwarte München, Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität, D-81679 München (Germany); Ibáñez-Mejía, Juan C., E-mail: mordecai@amnh.org, E-mail: burkert@usm.lmu.de, E-mail: ibanez@ph1.uni-koeln.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany)

2017-09-20

A large fraction of the gas in the Galaxy is cold, dense, and molecular. If all this gas collapsed under the influence of gravity and formed stars in a local free-fall time, the star formation rate in the Galaxy would exceed that observed by more than an order of magnitude. Other star-forming galaxies behave similarly. Yet, observations and simulations both suggest that the molecular gas is indeed gravitationally collapsing, albeit hierarchically. Prompt stellar feedback offers a potential solution to the low observed star formation rate if it quickly disrupts star-forming clouds during gravitational collapse. However, this requires that molecular clouds must be short-lived objects, raising the question of how so much gas can be observed in the molecular phase. This can occur only if molecular clouds form as quickly as they are destroyed, maintaining a global equilibrium fraction of dense gas. We therefore examine cloud formation timescales. We first demonstrate that supernova and superbubble sweeping cannot produce dense gas at the rate required to match the cloud destruction rate. On the other hand, Toomre gravitational instability can reach the required production rate. We thus argue that, although dense, star-forming gas may last only around a single global free-fall time; the dense gas in star-forming galaxies can globally exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium between formation by gravitational instability and disruption by stellar feedback. At redshift z ≳ 2, the Toomre instability timescale decreases, resulting in a prediction of higher molecular gas fractions at early times, in agreement with the observations.

Historical Climatology Series

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Historical Climatology Series (HCS) is a set of climate-related publications published by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center beginning in 1978. HCS is...

Insights from a Regime Decomposition Approach on CERES and CloudSat-inferred Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, L.; Cho, N.; Lee, D.

2015-12-01

Our knowledge of the Cloud Radiative Effect (CRE) not only at the Top-of-the-Atmosphere (TOA), but also (with the help of some modeling) at the surface (SFC) and within the atmospheric column (ATM) has been steadily growing in recent years. Not only do we have global values for these CREs, but we can now also plot global maps of their geographical distribution. The next step in our effort to advance our knowledge of CRE is to systematically assess the contributions of prevailing cloud systems to the global values. The presentation addresses this issue directly. We identify the world's prevailing cloud systems, which we call "Cloud Regimes" (CRs) via clustering analysis of MODIS (Aqua-Terra) daily joint histograms of Cloud Top Pressure and Cloud Optical Thickness (TAU) at 1 degree scales. We then composite CERES diurnal values of CRE (TOA, SFC, ATM) separately for each CR by averaging these values for each CR occurrence, and thus find the contribution of each CR to the global value of CRE. But we can do more. We can actually decompose vertical profiles of inferred instantaneous CRE from CloudSat/CALIPSO (2B-FLXHR-LIDAR product) by averaging over Aqua CR occurrences (since A-Train formation flying allows collocation). Such an analysis greatly enhances our understanding of the radiative importance of prevailing cloud mixtures at different atmospheric levels. We can, for example, in addition to examining whether the CERES findings on which CRs contribute to radiative cooling and warming of the atmospheric column are consistent with CloudSat, also gain insight on why and where exactly this happens from the shape of the full instantaneous CRE vertical profiles.

Reference Climatological Stations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Reference Climatological Stations (RCS) network represents the first effort by NOAA to create and maintain a nationwide network of stations located only in areas...

Global Distribution and Vertical Structure of Clouds Revealed by CALIPSO

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Y.; Minnis, P.; Winker, D.; Huang, J.; Sun-Mack, S.; Ayers, K.

2007-12-01

Understanding the effects of clouds on Earth's radiation balance, especially on longwave fluxes within the atmosphere, depends on having accurate knowledge of cloud vertical location within the atmosphere. The Cloud- Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite mission provides the opportunity to measure the vertical distribution of clouds at a greater detail than ever before possible. The CALIPSO cloud layer products from June 2006 to June 2007 are analyzed to determine the occurrence frequency and thickness of clouds as functions of time, latitude, and altitude. In particular, the latitude-longitude and vertical distributions of single- and multi-layer clouds and the latitudinal movement of cloud cover with the changing seasons are examined. The seasonal variablities of cloud frequency and geometric thickness are also analyzed and compared with similar quantities derived from the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) using the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) cloud retrieval algorithms. The comparisons provide an estimate of the errors in cloud fraction, top height, and thickness incurred by passive algorithms.

Evaluation of cloud prediction and determination of critical relative humidity for a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seaman, N.L.; Guo, Z.; Ackerman, T.P. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

1996-04-01

Predictions of cloud occurrence and vertical location from the Pennsylvannia State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research nonhydrostatic mesoscale model (MM5) were evaluated statistically using cloud observations obtained at Coffeyville, Kansas, as part of the Second International satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment campaign. Seventeen cases were selected for simulation during a November-December 1991 field study. MM5 was used to produce two sets of 36-km simulations, one with and one without four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA), and a set of 12-km simulations without FDDA, but nested within the 36-km FDDA runs.

The global influence of dust mineralogical composition on heterogeneous ice nucleation in mixed-phase clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoose, C; Lohmann, U; Erdin, R; Tegen, I

2008-01-01

Mineral dust is the dominant natural ice nucleating aerosol. Its ice nucleation efficiency depends on the mineralogical composition. We show the first sensitivity studies with a global climate model and a three-dimensional dust mineralogy. Results show that, depending on the dust mineralogical composition, coating with soluble material from anthropogenic sources can lead to quasi-deactivation of natural dust ice nuclei. This effect counteracts the increased cloud glaciation by anthropogenic black carbon particles. The resulting aerosol indirect effect through the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds by black carbon particles is small (+0.1 W m -2 in the shortwave top-of-the-atmosphere radiation in the northern hemisphere)

A globally calibrated scheme for generating daily meteorology from monthly statistics: Global-WGEN (GWGEN) v1.0

Science.gov (United States)

Sommer, Philipp S.; Kaplan, Jed O.

2017-10-01

While a wide range of Earth system processes occur at daily and even subdaily timescales, many global vegetation and other terrestrial dynamics models historically used monthly meteorological forcing both to reduce computational demand and because global datasets were lacking. Recently, dynamic land surface modeling has moved towards resolving daily and subdaily processes, and global datasets containing daily and subdaily meteorology have become available. These meteorological datasets, however, cover only the instrumental era of the last approximately 120 years at best, are subject to considerable uncertainty, and represent extremely large data files with associated computational costs of data input/output and file transfer. For periods before the recent past or in the future, global meteorological forcing can be provided by climate model output, but the quality of these data at high temporal resolution is low, particularly for daily precipitation frequency and amount. Here, we present GWGEN, a globally applicable statistical weather generator for the temporal downscaling of monthly climatology to daily meteorology. Our weather generator is parameterized using a global meteorological database and simulates daily values of five common variables: minimum and maximum temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and wind speed. GWGEN is lightweight, modular, and requires a minimal set of monthly mean variables as input. The weather generator may be used in a range of applications, for example, in global vegetation, crop, soil erosion, or hydrological models. While GWGEN does not currently perform spatially autocorrelated multi-point downscaling of daily weather, this additional functionality could be implemented in future versions.

Several thoughts for using new satellite remote sensing and global modeling for aerosol and cloud climate studies

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Teruyuki; Hashimoto, Makiko; Takenaka, Hideaki; Goto, Daisuke; Oikawa, Eiji; Suzuki, Kentaroh; Uchida, Junya; Dai, Tie; Shi, Chong

2017-04-01

The rapid growth of satellite remote sensing technologies in the last two decades widened the utility of satellite data for understanding climate impacts of aerosols and clouds. The climate modeling community also has received the benefit of the earth observation and nowadays closed-collaboration of the two communities make us possible to challenge various applications for societal problems, such as for global warming and global-scale air pollution and others. I like to give several thoughts of new algorithm developments, model use of satellite data for climate impact studies and societal applications related with aerosols and clouds. Important issues are 1) Better aerosol detection and solar energy application using expanded observation ability of the third generation geostationary satellites, i.e. Himawari-8, GOES-R and future MTG, 2) Various observation functions by directional, polarimetric, and high resolution near-UV band by MISR, POLDER&PARASOL, GOSAT/CAI and future GOSAT2/CAI2, 3) Various applications of general purpose-imagers, MODIS, VIIRS and future GCOM-C/SGLI, and 4) Climate studies of aerosol and cloud stratification and convection with active and passive sensors, especially climate impact of BC aerosols using CLOUDSAT&CALIPSO and future Earth Explorer/EarthCARE.

Tropical cloud and precipitation regimes as seen from near-simultaneous TRMM, CloudSat, and CALIPSO observations and comparison with ISCCP

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Zhengzhao Johnny; Anderson, Ricardo C.; Rossow, William B.; Takahashi, Hanii

2017-06-01

Although Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and CloudSat/CALIPSO fly in different orbits, they frequently cross each other so that for the period between 2006 and 2010, a total of 15,986 intersect lines occurred within 20 min of each other from 30°S to 30°N, providing a rare opportunity to study tropical cloud and precipitation regimes and their internal vertical structure from near-simultaneous measurements by these active sensors. A k-means cluster analysis of TRMM and CloudSat matchups identifies three tropical cloud and precipitation regimes: the first two regimes correspond to, respectively, organized deep convection with heavy rain and cirrus anvils with moderate rain; the third regime is a convectively suppressed regime that can be further divided into three subregimes, which correspond to, respectively, stratocumulus clouds with drizzle, cirrus overlying low clouds, and nonprecipitating cumulus. Inclusion of CALIPSO data adds to the dynamic range of cloud properties and identifies one more cluster; subcluster analysis further identifies a thin, midlevel cloud regime associated with tropical mountain ranges. The radar-lidar cloud regimes are compared with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) weather states (WSs) for the extended tropics. Focus is placed on the four convectively active WSs, namely, WS1-WS4. ISCCP WS1 and WS2 are found to be counterparts of Regime 1 and Regime 2 in radar-lidar observations, respectively. ISCCP WS3 and WS4, which are mainly isolated convection and broken, detached cirrus, do not have a strong association with any individual radar and lidar regimes, a likely effect of the different sampling strategies between ISCCP and active sensors and patchy cloudiness of these WSs.

A stochastic cloud model for cloud and ozone retrievals from UV measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Efremenko, Dmitry S.; Schüssler, Olena; Doicu, Adrian; Loyola, Diego

2016-01-01

The new generation of satellite instruments provides measurements in and around the Oxygen A-band on a global basis and with a relatively high spatial resolution. These data are commonly used for the determination of cloud properties. A stochastic model and radiative transfer model, previously developed by the authors, is used as the forward model component in retrievals of cloud parameters and ozone total and partial columns. The cloud retrieval algorithm combines local and global optimization routines, and yields a retrieval accuracy of about 1% and a fast computational time. Retrieved parameters are the cloud optical thickness and the cloud-top height. It was found that the use of the independent pixel approximation instead of the stochastic cloud model leads to large errors in the retrieved cloud parameters, as well as, in the retrieved ozone height resolved partial columns. The latter can be reduced by using the stochastic cloud model to compute the optimal value of the regularization parameter in the framework of Tikhonov regularization. - Highlights: • A stochastic radiative transfer model for retrieving clouds/ozone is designed. • Errors of independent pixel approximation (IPA) for O3 total column are small. • The error of IPA for ozone profile retrieval may become large. • The use of stochastic model reduces the error of ozone profile retrieval.

Characterization of the Cloud-Topped Boundary Layer at the Synoptic Scale Using AVHRR Observations during the SEMAPHORE Experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathieu, A.; Sèze, G.; Lahellec, A.; Guerin, C.; Weill, A.

2003-12-01

Satellite platforms NOAA-11 and -12 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data are used during the daytime to study large sheets of stratocumulus over the North Atlantic Ocean. The application concerns an anticyclonic period of the Structure des Echanges Mer Atmosphère, Propriétés des Hétérogénéités Océaniques: Recherché Expérimentale (SEMAPHORE) campaign (10 17 November 1993). In the region of interest, the satellite images are recorded under large solar zenith angles. Extending the SEMAPHORE area, a region of about 3000 × 3000 km2 is studied to characterize the atmospheric boundary layer. A statistical cloud classification method is applied to discriminate for low-level and optically thick clouds. For AVHRR pixels covered with thick clouds, brightness temperatures are used to evaluate the boundary layer cloud-top temperature (CTT). The objective is to obtain accurate CTT maps for evaluation of a global model. In this application, the full-resolution fields are reduced to match model grid size. An estimate of overall temperature uncertainty associated with each grid point is also derived, which incorporates subgrid variability of the fields and quality of the temperature retrieval. Results are compared with the SEMAPHORE campaign measurements. A comparison with “DX” products obtained with the same dataset, but at lower resolution, is also presented. The authors claim that such instantaneous CTT maps could be as intensively used as classical SST maps, and both could be efficiently complemented with gridpoint error-bar maps. They may be used for multiple applications: (i) to provide a means to improve numerical weather prediction and climatological reanalyses, (ii) to represent a boundary layer global characterization to analyze the synoptic situation of field experiments, and (iii) to allow validation and to test development of large-scale and mesoscale models.

Climatological variability in regional air pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shannon, J.D.; Trexler, E.C. Jr.

1995-01-01

Although some air pollution modeling studies examine events that have already occurred (e.g., the Chernobyl plume) with relevant meteorological conditions largely known, most pollution modeling studies address expected or potential scenarios for the future. Future meteorological conditions, the major pollutant forcing function other than emissions, are inherently uncertain although much relevant information is contained in past observational data. For convenience in our discussions of regional pollutant variability unrelated to emission changes, we define meteorological variability as short-term (within-season) pollutant variability and climatological variability as year-to-year changes in seasonal averages and accumulations of pollutant variables. In observations and in some of our simulations the effects are confounded because for seasons of two different years both the mean and the within-season character of a pollutant variable may change. Effects of climatological and meteorological variability on means and distributions of air pollution parameters, particularly those related to regional visibility, are illustrated. Over periods of up to a decade climatological variability may mask or overstate improvements resulting from emission controls. The importance of including climatological uncertainties in assessing potential policies, particularly when based partly on calculated source-receptor relationships, is highlighted

Cloud properties derived from two lidars over the ARM SGP site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dupont, Jean-Charles; Haeffelin, Martial; Morille, Y.; Comstock, Jennifer M.; Flynn, Connor J.; Long, Charles N.; Sivaraman, Chitra; Newsom, Rob K.

2011-02-16

[1] Active remote sensors such as lidars or radars can be used with other data to quantify the cloud properties at regional scale and at global scale (Dupont et al., 2009). Relative to radar, lidar remote sensing is sensitive to very thin and high clouds but has a significant limitation due to signal attenuation in the ability to precisely quantify the properties of clouds with a 20 cloud optical thickness larger than 3. In this study, 10-years of backscatter lidar signal data are analysed by a unique algorithm called STRucture of ATmosphere (STRAT, Morille et al., 2007). We apply the STRAT algorithm to data from both the collocated Micropulse lidar (MPL) and a Raman lidar (RL) at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site between 1998 and 2009. Raw backscatter lidar signal is processed and 25 corrections for detector deadtime, afterpulse, and overlap are applied. (Campbell et al.) The cloud properties for all levels of clouds are derived and distributions of cloud base height (CBH), top height (CTH), physical cloud thickness (CT), and optical thickness (COT) from local statistics are compared. The goal of this study is (1) to establish a climatology of macrophysical and optical properties for all levels of clouds observed over the ARM SGP site 30 and (2) to estimate the discrepancies induced by the two remote sensing systems (pulse energy, sampling, resolution, etc.). Our first results tend to show that the MPLs, which are the primary ARM lidars, have a distinctly limited range where all of these cloud properties are detectable, especially cloud top and cloud thickness, but even actual cloud base especially during summer daytime period. According to the comparisons between RL and MPL, almost 50% of situations show a signal to noise ratio too low (smaller than 3) for the MPL in order to detect clouds higher than 7km during daytime period in summer. Consequently, the MPLderived annual cycle of cirrus cloud base (top) altitude is

An Updated TRMM Composite Climatology of Tropical Rainfall and Its Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jian-Jian; Adler, Robert F.; Huffman, George; Bolvin, David

2013-01-01

An updated 15-yr Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) composite climatology (TCC) is presented and evaluated. This climatology is based on a combination of individual rainfall estimates made with data from the primaryTRMMinstruments: theTRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and the precipitation radar (PR). This combination climatology of passive microwave retrievals, radar-based retrievals, and an algorithm using both instruments simultaneously provides a consensus TRMM-based estimate of mean precipitation. The dispersion of the three estimates, as indicated by the standard deviation sigma among the estimates, is presented as a measure of confidence in the final estimate and as an estimate of the uncertainty thereof. The procedures utilized by the compositing technique, including adjustments and quality-control measures, are described. The results give a mean value of the TCC of 4.3mm day(exp -1) for the deep tropical ocean beltbetween 10 deg N and 10 deg S, with lower values outside that band. In general, the TCC values confirm ocean estimates from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) analysis, which is based on passive microwave results adjusted for sampling by infrared-based estimates. The pattern of uncertainty estimates shown by sigma is seen to be useful to indicate variations in confidence. Examples include differences between the eastern and western portions of the Pacific Ocean and high values in coastal and mountainous areas. Comparison of the TCC values (and the input products) to gauge analyses over land indicates the value of the radar-based estimates (small biases) and the limitations of the passive microwave algorithm (relatively large biases). Comparison with surface gauge information from western Pacific Ocean atolls shows a negative bias (16%) for all the TRMM products, although the representativeness of the atoll gauges of open-ocean rainfall is still in question.

Water mass census in the Nordic seas using climatological and observational data sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piacsek, S.; Allard, R.; McClean, J.

2008-01-01

We have compared and evaluated the water mass census in the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian (Gin) Sea area from climatologies, observational data sets and model output. The four climatologies evaluated were: the 1998 and 2001 versions of the World Ocean Atlas (WOA98, WOA01), and the United States Navy's GDEM90 (Generalized Digital Environmental Model) and MODAS01 (Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System) climatologies. Three observational data sets were examined: the multidecadal (1965-1995) set contained on the National Oceano- graphic Data Centre's (NODC) WOD98 (World Ocean Data) Cd-Rom, and two seasonal data sets extracted from observations taken on six cruises by the SACLANT Research Center (SACLANTCEN) of NATO/Italy between 1986-1989. The model data is extracted from a global model run at 1/3 degree resolution for the years 1983-1997, using the Pop (Parallel Ocean Program) model of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The census computations focused on the Norwegian Sea, in the southern part of the Gin Sea, between 10 0 W-10 0 E and 60 0 N-70 0 N, especially for comparisons with the hydro casts and the model. Cases of such evaluation computations included: (a) short term comparisons with quasi-synoptic CTD surveys carried out over a 4-year period in the southeastern Gin Sea; (b) climatological comparisons utilizing all available casts from the WOD98 Cd-Rom, with four climatologies; and (c) a comparison between the WOA01 climatology and the Pop model output ending in 1997. In this region in the spring, the fraction of ocean water that has salinity above 34.85 is ∼94%, and that has temperatures above 0 0 C is ∼33%. Three principal water masses dominated the census: the Atlantic water A W, the deep water D W and an intermediate water mass defined as Lower Arctic Intermediate Water (LAIW). Besides these classes, both the climatologies and the observations exhibited the significant presence of deep water masses with T-S characteristics that do not fall into the named

IO strategies and data services for petascale data sets from a global cloud resolving model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuchardt, K L; Palmer, B J; Daily, J A; Elsethagen, T O; Koontz, A S

2007-01-01

Global cloud resolving models at resolutions of 4km or less create significant challenges for simulation output, data storage, data management, and post-simulation analysis and visualization. To support efficient model output as well as data analysis, new methods for IO and data organization must be evaluated. The model we are supporting, the Global Cloud Resolving Model being developed at Colorado State University, uses a geodesic grid. The non-monotonic nature of the grid's coordinate variables requires enhancements to existing data processing tools and community standards for describing and manipulating grids. The resolution, size and extent of the data suggest the need for parallel analysis tools and allow for the possibility of new techniques in data mining, filtering and comparison to observations. We describe the challenges posed by various aspects of data generation, management, and analysis, our work exploring IO strategies for the model, and a preliminary architecture, web portal, and tool enhancements which, when complete, will enable broad community access to the data sets in familiar ways to the community

Gulf of Mexico Regional Climatology (NCEI Accession 0123320)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Gulf of Mexico Regional Climatology is a set of objectively analyzed climatological fields of temperature, salinity, oxygen, phosphate, silicate, and nitrate at...

Potential for a biogenic influence on cloud microphysics over the ocean: a correlation study with satellite-derived data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Lana

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Aerosols have a large potential to influence climate through their effects on the microphysics and optical properties of clouds and, hence, on the Earth's radiation budget. Aerosol–cloud interactions have been intensively studied in polluted air, but the possibility that the marine biosphere plays an important role in regulating cloud brightness in the pristine oceanic atmosphere remains largely unexplored. We used 9 yr of global satellite data and ocean climatologies to derive parameterizations of the temporal variability of (a production fluxes of sulfur aerosols formed by the oxidation of the biogenic gas dimethylsulfide emitted from the sea surface; (b production fluxes of secondary organic aerosols from biogenic organic volatiles; (c emission fluxes of biogenic primary organic aerosols ejected by wind action on sea surface; and (d emission fluxes of sea salt also lifted by the wind upon bubble bursting. Series of global monthly estimates of these fluxes were correlated to series of potential cloud condensation nuclei (CCN numbers derived from satellite (MODIS. More detailed comparisons among weekly series of estimated fluxes and satellite-derived cloud droplet effective radius (r_e data were conducted at locations spread among polluted and clean regions of the oceanic atmosphere. The outcome of the statistical analysis was that positive correlation to CCN numbers and negative correlation to r_e were common at mid and high latitude for sulfur and organic secondary aerosols, indicating both might be important in seeding cloud droplet activation. Conversely, primary aerosols (organic and sea salt showed widespread positive correlations to CCN only at low latitudes. Correlations to r_e were more variable, non-significant or positive, suggesting that, despite contributing to large shares of the marine aerosol mass, primary aerosols are not widespread major drivers of the variability of cloud

Simulation of low clouds in the Southeast Pacific by the NCEP GFS: sensitivity to vertical mixing

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, R.; Moorthi, S.; Xiao, H.; Mechoso, C. R.

2010-12-01

The NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS) model has an important systematic error shared by many other models: stratocumuli are missed over the subtropical eastern oceans. It is shown that this error can be alleviated in the GFS by introducing a consideration of the low-level inversion and making two modifications in the model's representation of vertical mixing. The modifications consist of (a) the elimination of background vertical diffusion above the inversion and (b) the incorporation of a stability parameter based on the cloud-top entrainment instability (CTEI) criterion, which limits the strength of shallow convective mixing across the inversion. A control simulation and three experiments are performed in order to examine both the individual and combined effects of modifications on the generation of the stratocumulus clouds. Individually, both modifications result in enhanced cloudiness in the Southeast Pacific (SEP) region, although the cloudiness is still low compared to the ISCCP climatology. If the modifications are applied together, however, the total cloudiness produced in the southeast Pacific has realistic values. This nonlinearity arises as the effects of both modifications reinforce each other in reducing the leakage of moisture across the inversion. Increased moisture trapped below the inversion than in the control run without modifications leads to an increase in cloud amount and cloud-top radiative cooling. Then a positive feedback due to enhanced turbulent mixing in the planetary boundary layer by cloud-top radiative cooling leads to and maintains the stratocumulus cover. Although the amount of total cloudiness obtained with both modifications has realistic values, the relative contributions of low, middle, and high layers tend to differ from the observations. These results demonstrate that it is possible to simulate realistic marine boundary clouds in large-scale models by implementing direct and physically based improvements in the model

MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone 8-Day L3 Global 1Deg CMG V006

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Cloud Water Vapor Ozone 8-Day L3 Global 1Deg CMG (MYD08_E3). MODIS was launched aboard the Aqua satellite on May 04, 2002 (1:30 pm equator...

Cloud occurrences and cloud radiative effects (CREs) from CERES-CALIPSO-CloudSat-MODIS (CCCM) and CloudSat radar-lidar (RL) products

Science.gov (United States)

Ham, Seung-Hee; Kato, Seiji; Rose, Fred G.; Winker, David; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; Mace, Gerald G.; Painemal, David; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Chen, Yan; Miller, Walter F.

2017-08-01

Two kinds of cloud products obtained from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), CloudSat, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are compared and analyzed in this study: Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)-CALIPSO-CloudSat-MODIS (CCCM) product and CloudSat radar-lidar products such as GEOPROF-LIDAR and FLXHR-LIDAR. Compared to GEOPROF-LIDAR, low-level (40°). The difference occurs when hydrometeors are detected by CALIPSO lidar but are undetected by CloudSat radar. In the comparison of cloud radiative effects (CREs), global mean differences between CCCM and FLXHR-LIDAR are mostly smaller than 5 W m-2, while noticeable regional differences are found. For example, CCCM shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) CREs are larger than FXLHR-LIDAR along the west coasts of Africa and America because the GEOPROF-LIDAR algorithm misses shallow marine boundary layer clouds. In addition, FLXHR-LIDAR SW CREs are larger than the CCCM counterpart over tropical oceans away from the west coasts of America. Over midlatitude storm-track regions, CCCM SW and LW CREs are larger than the FLXHR-LIDAR counterpart.

The Adaptive Ecosystem Climatology (AEC): Design and Development

Science.gov (United States)

deRada, S.; Penta, B.; McCarthy, S.; Gould, R. W., Jr.

2016-02-01

The concept of ecosystem-based management (EBM), recently introduced to rectify the shortcomings of single-species management policies, has been widely accepted as a basis for the conservation and management of natural resources. In line with NOAA's Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) Program, EBM is an integrated approach that considers the entire ecosystem and the interactions among species rather than focusing on individual components. This integrative approach relies on heterogeneous data, physical as well as biogeochemical data, among many others. Relative to physical data, however, marine biogeochemical records, also critical in IEA and EBM, are still lacking, both in terms of mature models and in terms of observational data availability. TheAdaptive Ecosystem Climatology (AEC) was conceived as a novel approach to address these limitations, mitigating the shortcomings of the individual components and combining their strengths to enhance decision-making activities. AEC is designed on the concept that a high-frequency climatology can be used as a baseline into which available observational data can be ingested to produce a higher accuracy product. In the absence of observations, the climatology acts as a best estimate. AEC was developed using a long-term simulation of a coupled biophysical numerical model configured for the Gulf of Mexico. Using the model results, we constructed a three-dimensional, dynamically balanced, gridded, static climatology for each calendar day. Using this `static' climatology as a background `first guess', observations from a particular date are ingested via optimal interpolation to `nudge' the climatology toward current conditions, thus providing representative fields for that date (adaptive climatology). With this adaptive approach, AEC can support a variety of EBM objectives, from fisheries, to resource management, to coastal resilience.

Comparison of Cloud Detection Using the CERES-MODIS Ed4 and LaRC AVHRR Cloud Masks and CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask

Science.gov (United States)

Trepte, Q. Z.; Minnis, P.; Palikonda, R.; Bedka, K. M.; Sun-Mack, S.

2011-12-01

Accurate detection of cloud amount and distribution using satellite observations is crucial in determining cloud radiative forcing and earth energy budget. The CERES-MODIS (CM) Edition 4 cloud mask is a global cloud detection algorithm for application to Terra and Aqua MODIS data with the aid of other ancillary data sets. It is used operationally for the NASA's Cloud and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project. The LaRC AVHRR cloud mask, which uses only five spectral channels, is based on a subset of the CM cloud mask which employs twelve MODIS channels. The LaRC mask is applied to AVHRR data for the NOAA Climate Data Record Program. Comparisons among the CM Ed4, and LaRC AVHRR cloud masks and the CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) constitute a powerful means for validating and improving cloud detection globally. They also help us understand the strengths and limitations of the various cloud retrievals which use either active and passive satellite sensors. In this paper, individual comparisons will be presented for different types of clouds over various surfaces, including daytime and nighttime, and polar and non-polar regions. Additionally, the statistics of the global, regional, and zonal cloud occurrence and amount from the CERES Ed4, AVHRR cloud masks and CALIPSO VFM will be discussed.

GIANT MOLECULAR CLOUD FORMATION IN DISK GALAXIES: CHARACTERIZING SIMULATED VERSUS OBSERVED CLOUD CATALOGS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benincasa, Samantha M.; Pudritz, Ralph E.; Wadsley, James [Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1 (Canada); Tasker, Elizabeth J. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810 (Japan)

2013-10-10

We present the results of a study of simulated giant molecular clouds (GMCs) formed in a Milky Way-type galactic disk with a flat rotation curve. This simulation, which does not include star formation or feedback, produces clouds with masses ranging between 10{sup 4} M{sub ☉} and 10{sup 7} M{sub ☉}. We compare our simulated cloud population to two observational surveys: the Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey and the BIMA All-Disk Survey of M33. An analysis of the global cloud properties as well as a comparison of Larson's scaling relations is carried out. We find that simulated cloud properties agree well with the observed cloud properties, with the closest agreement occurring between the clouds at comparable resolution in M33. Our clouds are highly filamentary—a property that derives both from their formation due to gravitational instability in the sheared galactic environment, as well as to cloud-cloud gravitational encounters. We also find that the rate at which potentially star-forming gas accumulates within dense regions—wherein n{sub thresh} ≥ 10{sup 4} cm{sup –3}—is 3% per 10 Myr, in clouds of roughly 10{sup 6} M{sub ☉}. This suggests that star formation rates in observed clouds are related to the rates at which gas can be accumulated into dense subregions within GMCs via filamentary flows. The most internally well-resolved clouds are chosen for listing in a catalog of simulated GMCs—the first of its kind. The cataloged clouds are available as an extracted data set from the global simulation.

Intercomparison of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in stratiform orographic mixed-phase clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Muhlbauer, A.; Hashino, T.; Xue, L.; Teller, A.; Lohmann, U.; Rasmussen, R. M.; Geresdi, I.; Pan, Z.

2010-09-01

. Furthermore, it is found that neither a decrease in cloud droplet coalescence nor a decrease in riming necessarily implies a decrease in precipitation due to compensation effects by other microphysical pathways. The simulations suggest that mixed-phase conditions play an important role in buffering the effect of aerosol perturbations on cloud microphysics and reducing the overall susceptibility of clouds and precipitation to changes in the aerosol number concentrations. As a consequence the aerosol effect on precipitation is suggested to be less pronounced or even inverted in regions with high terrain (e.g., the Alps or Rocky Mountains) or in regions where mixed-phase microphysics is important for the climatology of orographic precipitation.

Tropospheric Ozonesonde Profiles at Long-term U.S. Monitoring Sites: 1. A Climatology Based on Self-Organizing Maps

Science.gov (United States)

Stauffer, Ryan M.; Thompson, Anne M.; Young, George S.

2016-01-01

Sonde-based climatologies of tropospheric ozone (O3) are vital for developing satellite retrieval algorithms and evaluating chemical transport model output. Typical O3 climatologies average measurements by latitude or region, and season. A recent analysis using self-organizing maps (SOM) to cluster ozonesondes from two tropical sites found that clusters of O3 mixing ratio profiles are an excellent way to capture O3variability and link meteorological influences to O3 profiles. Clusters correspond to distinct meteorological conditions, e.g., convection, subsidence, cloud cover, and transported pollution. Here the SOM technique is extended to four long-term U.S. sites (Boulder, CO; Huntsville, AL; Trinidad Head, CA; and Wallops Island, VA) with4530 total profiles. Sensitivity tests on k-means algorithm and SOM justify use of 3 3 SOM (nine clusters). Ateach site, SOM clusters together O3 profiles with similar tropopause height, 500 hPa height temperature, and amount of tropospheric and total column O3. Cluster means are compared to monthly O3 climatologies.For all four sites, near-tropopause O3 is double (over +100 parts per billion by volume; ppbv) the monthly climatological O3 mixing ratio in three clusters that contain 1316 of profiles, mostly in winter and spring.Large midtropospheric deviations from monthly means (6 ppbv, +710 ppbv O3 at 6 km) are found in two of the most populated clusters (combined 3639 of profiles). These two clusters contain distinctly polluted(summer) and clean O3 (fall-winter, high tropopause) profiles, respectively. As for tropical profiles previously analyzed with SOM, O3 averages are often poor representations of U.S. O3 profile statistics.

A global, space-based stratospheric aerosol climatology: 1979 to 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Thomason, L. W.; Vernier, J. P.; Bourassa, A. E.; Millan, L.; Manney, G. L.

2016-12-01

Herein, we report on a global space-based stratospheric aerosol climatology (GloSSAC) that has been developed to support Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) (REF to CMIP6 and ETH work). GloSSAC is most closely related to the ASAP[SPARC, 2006] and CCMI data sets and follows a similar approach used to produce those data sets. It is primarily built using space-based measurements by a number of instruments including the SAGE series, OSIRIS, CALIPSO, CLAES and HALOE. The data set is presented as monthly depictions for 80S to 80N and from at least the tropopause to 40 km. The data set consists primarily of measurements by the instruments at their native wavelength and measurement type (e.g., extinction coefficient). However, every bin in these monthly grids receives measured or indirectly inferred values for aerosol extinction coefficient at 525 and 1020 nm. Generally, bins where no data are available are filled via simple linear interpolation in time only. The exceptions are in the SAGE I/II gap from 1982 to 1984 where data from SAM II and ground-based and airborne lidar data sets are used to span the 3 years between the end of the SAGE I mission in November 1981 and the beginning of the SAGE II mission in October 1984. Ground-based lidar also supplements space-based data in the months following the Pinatubo eruption when much of the lower stratosphere is too optically opaque for occultation measurements. This data set includes total aerosol surface area density and volume estimates based on Thomason et al.[2008] though these should be interpreted as bounding values (low and high) rather than functional aerosol parameters that are generally produced from this and predecessor data sets by other parties. Unlike previous versions of this data set, GloSSAC has been permanently archived at NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center and a digital object identifier (doi) for GloSSAC is available. SPARC (2006), Assessment of Stratospheric Aerosol Properties (ASAP

Climatological Data National Summary

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The CDNS was published from 1950 - 1980. Monthly and annual editions contain summarized climatological information from the following publications: Local...

Recent Global Dimming and Brightening and its causes from a satellite perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Ioannidis, Eleftherios; Papadimas, Christos D.; Benas, Nikolaos; Fotiadi, Aggeliki; Matsoukas, Christos; Hatzianastassiou, Nikolaos; Wild, Martin; Vardavas, Ilias M.

2017-04-01

Solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface is particularly important for life on our planet and plays a major role for the Earth's energy budget and climate. The surface solar radiation (SSR) apart from long-temporal scale variations has been also shown to have undergone decadal variations that are documented on a regional or global scale since the middle of 20th century. After a dimming (decrease) through the 1980s and a subsequent brightening (increase) in the 1990s there are indications of a renewed dimming in the first decade of 2000. Although suggestions have been made, there is still no consensus on the causes of Global Dimming and Brightening (GDB), with clouds and aerosols being suggested as the most important factors,especially as to the GDB global distribution. The rapid progress of satellite observations over the last three decades, ensuring the retrieval of various atmospheric and surface parameters, enables a global view of the phenomenon and the identification of its causes, which are both critical for better understanding GDB and its role for recent climate change. The present work is a model- and satellite- based study of GDB from 1984 to 2009 on global scale is attempted using a detailed spectral radiation transfer model (RTM) and satellite and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis input data. The model takes into account the physical parameters that drive SSR through scattering and absorption, namely clouds, aerosols, water vapor and other trace gases, as well as surface reflectance. However, due to limitations in the availability, homogeneity, continuity and complete temporal coverage of model input data, the study is performed forthree different cases. In the first case, GDB is computed with the RTM over the period 1984-2009 using temporally varying ISCCP cloud properties and GADS (Global Aerosol Data Set) climatological aerosol properties, namely aerosol optical thickness (AOT), single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry parameter (AP). In the second case

Global model simulations of the impact of ocean-going ships on aerosols, clouds, and the radiation budget

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Lauer

2007-10-01

Full Text Available International shipping contributes significantly to the fuel consumption of all transport related activities. Specific emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂ per kg of fuel emitted are higher than for road transport or aviation. Besides gaseous pollutants, ships also emit various types of particulate matter. The aerosol impacts the Earth's radiation budget directly by scattering and absorbing the solar and thermal radiation and indirectly by changing cloud properties. Here we use ECHAM5/MESSy1-MADE, a global climate model with detailed aerosol and cloud microphysics to study the climate impacts of international shipping. The simulations show that emissions from ships significantly increase the cloud droplet number concentration of low marine water clouds by up to 5% to 30% depending on the ship emission inventory and the geographic region. Whereas the cloud liquid water content remains nearly unchanged in these simulations, effective radii of cloud droplets decrease, leading to cloud optical thickness increase of up to 5–10%. The sensitivity of the results is estimated by using three different emission inventories for present-day conditions. The sensitivity analysis reveals that shipping contributes to 2.3% to 3.6% of the total sulfate burden and 0.4% to 1.4% to the total black carbon burden in the year 2000 on the global mean. In addition to changes in aerosol chemical composition, shipping increases the aerosol number concentration, e.g. up to 25% in the size range of the accumulation mode (typically >0.1 μm over the Atlantic. The total aerosol optical thickness over the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Northeastern Pacific increases by up to 8–10% depending on the emission inventory. Changes in aerosol optical thickness caused by shipping induced modification of aerosol particle number concentration and chemical composition lead to a change in the shortwave radiation budget at the top of the

Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Agro-climatology Analysis Tools and Knowledge Base Products for Food Security Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Budde, M. E.; Rowland, J.; Anthony, M.; Palka, S.; Martinez, J.; Hussain, R.

2017-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) supports the use of Earth observation data for food security monitoring through its role as an implementing partner of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has developed tools designed to aid food security analysts in developing assumptions of agro-climatological outcomes. There are four primary steps to developing agro-climatology assumptions; including: 1) understanding the climatology, 2) evaluating current climate modes, 3) interpretation of forecast information, and 4) incorporation of monitoring data. Analysts routinely forecast outcomes well in advance of the growing season, which relies on knowledge of climatology. A few months prior to the growing season, analysts can assess large-scale climate modes that might influence seasonal outcomes. Within two months of the growing season, analysts can evaluate seasonal forecast information as indicators. Once the growing season begins, monitoring data, based on remote sensing and field information, can characterize the start of season and remain integral monitoring tools throughout the duration of the season. Each subsequent step in the process can lead to modifications of the original climatology assumption. To support such analyses, we have created an agro-climatology analysis tool that characterizes each step in the assumption building process. Satellite-based rainfall and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-based products support both the climatology and monitoring steps, sea-surface temperature data and knowledge of the global climate system inform the climate modes, and precipitation forecasts at multiple scales support the interpretation of forecast information. Organizing these data for a user-specified area provides a valuable tool for food security analysts to better formulate agro-climatology assumptions that feed into food security assessments. We have also developed a knowledge

Using long-term ARM observations to evaluate Arctic mixed-phased cloud representation in the GISS ModelE GCM

Science.gov (United States)

Lamer, K.; Fridlind, A. M.; Luke, E. P.; Tselioudis, G.; Ackerman, A. S.; Kollias, P.; Clothiaux, E. E.

2016-12-01

The presence of supercooled liquid in clouds affects surface radiative and hydrological budgets, especially at high latitudes. Capturing these effects is crucial to properly quantifying climate sensitivity. Currently, a number of CGMs disagree on the distribution of cloud phase. Adding to the challenge is a general lack of observations on the continuum of clouds, from high to low-level and from warm to cold. In the current study, continuous observations from 2011 to 2014 are used to evaluate all clouds produced by the GISS ModelE GCM over the ARM North Slope of Alaska site. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Global Weather State (GWS) approach reveals that fair-weather (GWS 7, 32% occurrence rate), as well as mid-level storm related (GWS 5, 28%) and polar (GWS 4, 14%) clouds, dominate the large-scale cloud patterns at this high latitude site. At higher spatial and temporal resolutions, ground-based cloud radar observations reveal a majority of single layer cloud vertical structures (CVS). While clear sky and low-level clouds dominate (each with 30% occurrence rate) a fair amount of shallow ( 10%) to deep ( 5%) convection are observed. Cloud radar Doppler spectra are used along with depolarization lidar observations in a neural network approach to detect the presence, layering and inhomogeneity of supercooled liquid layers. Preliminary analyses indicate that most of the low-level clouds sampled contain one or more supercooled liquid layers. Furthermore, the relationship between CVS and the presence of supercooled liquid is established, as is the relationship between the presence of supercool liquid and precipitation susceptibility. Two approaches are explored to bridge the gap between large footprint GCM simulations and high-resolution ground-based observations. The first approach consists of comparing model output and ground-based observations that exhibit the same column CVS type (i.e. same cloud depth, height and layering

Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number concentration of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Hu

2007-06-01

Full Text Available This study presents an empirical relation that links the volume extinction coefficients of water clouds, the layer integrated depolarization ratios measured by lidar, and the effective radii of water clouds derived from collocated passive sensor observations. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of CALIPSO lidar observations, this method combines the cloud effective radius reported by MODIS with the lidar depolarization ratios measured by CALIPSO to estimate both the liquid water content and the effective number concentration of water clouds. The method is applied to collocated CALIPSO and MODIS measurements obtained during July and October of 2006, and January 2007. Global statistics of the cloud liquid water content and effective number concentration are presented.

Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number concentration of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Y.; Vaughan, M.; McClain, C.; Behrenfeld, M.; Maring, H.; Anderson, D.; Sun-Mack, S.; Flittner, D.; Huang, J.; Wielicki, B.; Minnis, P.; Weimer, C.; Trepte, C.; Kuehn, R.

2007-06-01

This study presents an empirical relation that links the volume extinction coefficients of water clouds, the layer integrated depolarization ratios measured by lidar, and the effective radii of water clouds derived from collocated passive sensor observations. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of CALIPSO lidar observations, this method combines the cloud effective radius reported by MODIS with the lidar depolarization ratios measured by CALIPSO to estimate both the liquid water content and the effective number concentration of water clouds. The method is applied to collocated CALIPSO and MODIS measurements obtained during July and October of 2006, and January 2007. Global statistics of the cloud liquid water content and effective number concentration are presented.

Sensitivity Studies on the Influence of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Development Using WRF Mesoscale Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, G.; Eidhammer, T.; Rasmussen, R.

2011-12-01

Using the WRF model in simulations of shallow and deep precipitating cloud systems, we investigated the sensitivity to aerosols initiating as cloud condensation and ice nuclei. A global climatological dataset of sulfates, sea salts, and dust was used as input for a control experiment. Sensitivity experiments with significantly more polluted conditions were conducted to analyze the resulting impacts to cloud and precipitation formation. Simulations were performed using the WRF model with explicit treatment of aerosols added to the Thompson et al (2008) bulk microphysics scheme. The modified scheme achieves droplet formation using pre-tabulated CCN activation tables provided by a parcel model. The ice nucleation is parameterized as a function of dust aerosols as well as homogeneous freezing of deliquesced aerosols. The basic processes of aerosol activation and removal by wet scavenging are considered, but aerosol characteristic size or hygroscopicity does not change due to evaporating droplets. In other words, aerosol processing was ignored. Unique aspects of this study include the usage of one to four kilometer grid spacings and the direct parameterization of ice nucleation from aerosols rather than typical temperature and/or supersaturation relationships alone. Initial results from simulations of a deep winter cloud system and its interaction with significant orography show contrasting sensitivities in regions of warm rain versus mixed liquid and ice conditions. The classical view of higher precipitation amounts in relatively clean maritime clouds with fewer but larger droplets is confirmed for regions dominated by the warm-rain process. However, due to complex interactions with the ice phase and snow riming, the simulations revealed the reverse situation in high terrain areas dominated by snow reaching the surface. Results of other cloud systems will be summarized at the conference.

Examining the controlling factors on Southern Ocean clouds and their radiative effects in the context of midlatitude weather systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kelleher, M. K.; Grise, K. M.

2017-12-01

Clouds and their associated radiative effects are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the present generation of global climate models. One region where model biases are especially large is over the Southern Ocean, where many models systematically underestimate the climatological shortwave cloud radiative effects (CRE) and/or misrepresent the relationship between shortwave CRE and atmospheric dynamics. Previous research has shown that two "cloud controlling factors", estimated inversion strength (EIS) and mid-tropospheric vertical velocity, are helpful in explaining the relationship between CRE and atmospheric dynamics on monthly timescales. For example, when the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude jet shifts poleward on monthly timescales, the high clouds and their associated longwave CRE shift poleward with the jet, consistent with a poleward shift of the storm track and the attendant vertical velocity anomalies. However, the observed changes in shortwave CRE with a poleward jet shift are small due to a trade-off between the competing effects of opposing EIS and vertical velocity anomalies. This study extends these previous findings to examine the relationship between Southern Ocean cloud controlling factors and CRE on daily timescales. On a daily timescale, the relationship of EIS and vertical velocity with CRE is more complex, due in part to the presence of transient weather systems. Composites of EIS, vertical velocity, longwave CRE, and shortwave CRE around extratropical cyclones and anticyclones are constructed to examine how the CRE anomalies vary in different sectors of midlatitude weather systems and the role that EIS and vertical velocity play in determining those anomalies. The relationships between the cloud controlling factors and CRE on daily timescales provide key insight into the underlying physical processes responsible for the relationships between midlatitude cloud controlling factors and CRE previously documented on monthly timescales.

4 km NODC/RSMAS AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 Monthly Harmonic Climatologies (1982-2008) (NODC Accession 0075098)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This accession contains a global, 4km monthly sea surface temperature climatology derived from harmonic analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 sea...

4 km NODC/RSMAS AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 Daily Harmonic Climatologies (1982-2008) (NODC Accession 0071181)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This accession contains a global, 4km daily sea surface temperature climatology derived from harmonic analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 sea...

Cloud microphysical characteristics versus temperature for three Canadian field projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Gultepe

2002-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to better understand how cloud microphysical characteristics such as liquid water content (LWC and droplet number concentration (Nd change with temperature (T. The in situ observations were collected during three research projects including: the Radiation, Aerosol, and Cloud Experiment (RACE which took place over the Bay of Fundy and Central Ontario during August 1995, the First International Regional Arctic Cloud Experiment (FIRE.ACE which took place in the Arctic Ocean during April 1998, and the Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS which took place in the Ontario region during the winter of 1999–2000. The RACE, FIRE.ACE, and AIRS projects represent summer mid-latitude clouds, Arctic clouds, and mid-latitude winter clouds, respectively. A LWC threshold of 0.005 g m-3 was used for this study. Similar to other studies, LWC was observed to decrease with decreasing T. The LWC-T relationship was similar for all projects, although the range of T conditions for each project was substantially different, and the variability of LWC within each project was considerable. Nd also decreased with decreasing T, and a parameterization for Nd versus T is suggested that may be useful for modeling studies.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (cloud physics and chemistry – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; general circulation

Challenges and opportunities of cloud computing for atmospheric sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Montes, Diego A.; Añel, Juan A.; Pena, Tomás F.; Wallom, David C. H.

2016-04-01

Cloud computing is an emerging technological solution widely used in many fields. Initially developed as a flexible way of managing peak demand it has began to make its way in scientific research. One of the greatest advantages of cloud computing for scientific research is independence of having access to a large cyberinfrastructure to fund or perform a research project. Cloud computing can avoid maintenance expenses for large supercomputers and has the potential to 'democratize' the access to high-performance computing, giving flexibility to funding bodies for allocating budgets for the computational costs associated with a project. Two of the most challenging problems in atmospheric sciences are computational cost and uncertainty in meteorological forecasting and climate projections. Both problems are closely related. Usually uncertainty can be reduced with the availability of computational resources to better reproduce a phenomenon or to perform a larger number of experiments. Here we expose results of the application of cloud computing resources for climate modeling using cloud computing infrastructures of three major vendors and two climate models. We show how the cloud infrastructure compares in performance to traditional supercomputers and how it provides the capability to complete experiments in shorter periods of time. The monetary cost associated is also analyzed. Finally we discuss the future potential of this technology for meteorological and climatological applications, both from the point of view of operational use and research.

Climatological determinants of woody cover in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Good, Stephen P; Caylor, Kelly K

2011-03-22

Determining the factors that influence the distribution of woody vegetation cover and resolving the sensitivity of woody vegetation cover to shifts in environmental forcing are critical steps necessary to predict continental-scale responses of dryland ecosystems to climate change. We use a 6-year satellite data record of fractional woody vegetation cover and an 11-year daily precipitation record to investigate the climatological controls on woody vegetation cover across the African continent. We find that-as opposed to a relationship with only mean annual rainfall-the upper limit of fractional woody vegetation cover is strongly influenced by both the quantity and intensity of rainfall events. Using a set of statistics derived from the seasonal distribution of rainfall, we show that areas with similar seasonal rainfall totals have higher fractional woody cover if the local rainfall climatology consists of frequent, less intense precipitation events. Based on these observations, we develop a generalized response surface between rainfall climatology and maximum woody vegetation cover across the African continent. The normalized local gradient of this response surface is used as an estimator of ecosystem vegetation sensitivity to climatological variation. A comparison between predicted climate sensitivity patterns and observed shifts in both rainfall and vegetation during 2009 reveals both the importance of rainfall climatology in governing how ecosystems respond to interannual fluctuations in climate and the utility of our framework as a means to forecast continental-scale patterns of vegetation shifts in response to future climate change.

Flying to the Cloud : Governments Seek Gains from Cloud Computing

OpenAIRE

Melhem, Samia; Kim, Seunghyun

2016-01-01

The transition to cloud computing broadly means shifting programs and data from personal or office hardware to shared hardware that many individuals and organizations access over the Internet. That migration is happening fast. By 2019, according to the information technology company Cisco, 83 percent of all global data center traffic will come from cloud services. And the profitability of ...

Biomes computed from simulated climatologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Claussen, M.; Esch, M. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

1994-01-01

The biome model of Prentice et al. is used to predict global patterns of potential natural plant formations, or biomes, from climatologies simulated by ECHAM, a model used for climate simulations at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie. This study undertaken in order to show the advantage of this biome model in diagnosing the performance of a climate model and assessing effects of past and future climate changes predicted by a climate model. Good overall agreement is found between global patterns of biomes computed from observed and simulated data of present climate. But there are also major discrepancies indicated by a difference in biomes in Australia, in the Kalahari Desert, and in the Middle West of North America. These discrepancies can be traced back to in simulated rainfall as well as summer or winter temperatures. Global patterns of biomes computed from an ice age simulation reveal that North America, Europe, and Siberia should have been covered largely by tundra and taiga, whereas only small differences are for the tropical rain forests. A potential northeast shift of biomes is expected from a simulation with enhanced CO{sub 2} concentration according to the IPCC Scenario A. Little change is seen in the tropical rain forest and the Sahara. Since the biome model used is not capable of predicting chances in vegetation patterns due to a rapid climate change, the latter simulation to be taken as a prediction of chances in conditions favourable for the existence of certain biomes, not as a reduction of a future distribution of biomes. 15 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

Enhancement of marine cloud albedo via controlled sea spray injections: a global model study of the influence of emission rates, microphysics and transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Korhonen

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Modification of cloud albedo by controlled emission of sea spray particles into the atmosphere has been suggested as a possible geoengineering option to slow global warming. Previous global studies have imposed changes in cloud drop concentration in low level clouds to explore the radiative and climatic effects. Here, we use a global aerosol transport model to quantify how an imposed flux of sea spray particles affects the natural aerosol processes, the particle size distribution, and concentrations of cloud drops. We assume that the proposed fleet of vessels emits sea spray particles with a wind speed-dependent flux into four regions of persistent stratocumulus cloud off the western coasts of continents. The model results show that fractional changes in cloud drop number concentration (CDNC vary substantially between the four regions because of differences in wind speed (which affects the spray efficiency of the vessels, transport and particle deposition rates, and because of variations in aerosols from natural and anthropogenic sources. Using spray emission rates comparable to those implied by previous studies we find that the predicted CDNC changes are very small (maximum 20% and in one of the four regions even negative. The weak or negative effect is because the added particles suppress the in-cloud supersaturation and prevent existing aerosol particles from forming cloud drops. A scenario with five times higher emissions (considerably higher than previously assumed increases CDNC on average by 45–163%, but median concentrations are still below the 375 cm⁻³ assumed in previous studies. An inadvertent effect of the spray emissions is that sulphur dioxide concentrations are suppressed by 1–2% in the seeded regions and sulphuric acid vapour by 64–68% due to chemical reactions on the additional salt particles. The impact of this suppression on existing aerosol is negligible in the model, but should be investigated further in

Sensitivity study of cloud/radiation interaction using a second order turbulence radiative-convective model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kao, C.Y.J.; Smith, W.S.

1993-01-01

A high resolution one-dimensional version of a second order turbulence convective/radiative model, developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, was used to conduct a sensitivity study of a stratocumulus cloud deck, based on data taken at San Nicolas Island during the intensive field observation marine stratocumulus phase of the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (ISCCP) Regional Experiment (FIRE IFO), conducted during July, 1987. Initial profiles for liquid water potential temperature, and total water mixing ratio were abstracted from the FIRE data. The dependence of the diurnal behavior in liquid water content, cloud top height, and cloud base height were examined for variations in subsidence rate, sea surface temperature, and initial inversion strength. The modelled diurnal variation in the column integrated liquid water agrees quite well with the observed data, for the case of low subsidence. The modelled diurnal behavior for the height of the cloud top and base show qualitative agreement with the FIRE data, although the overall height of the cloud layer is about 200 meters too high

A 'special effort' to provide improved sounding and cloud-motion wind data for FGGE. [First GARP Global Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Greaves, J. R.; Dimego, G.; Smith, W. L.; Suomi, V. E.

1979-01-01

Enhancement and editing of high-density cloud motion wind assessments and research satellite soundings have been necessary to improve the quality of data used in The Global Weather Experiment. Editing operations are conducted by a man-computer interactive data access system. Editing will focus on such inputs as non-US satellite data, NOAA operational sounding and wind data sets, wind data from the Indian Ocean satellite, dropwindsonde data, and tropical mesoscale wind data. Improved techniques for deriving cloud heights and higher resolution sounding in meteorologically active areas are principal parts of the data enhancement program.

Preliminary Monthly Climatological Summaries

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Preliminary Local Climatological Data, recorded since 1970 on Weather Burean Form 1030 and then National Weather Service Form F-6. The preliminary climate data pages...

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2013-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the 'A-Train' platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (MERRA), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the 'cloud scenes' from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically 'sharded' by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will

Tharsis Limb Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Annotated image of Tharsis Limb Cloud 7 September 2005 This composite of red and blue Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired on 6 July 2005 shows an isolated water ice cloud extending more than 30 kilometers (more than 18 miles) above the martian surface. Clouds such as this are common in late spring over the terrain located southwest of the Arsia Mons volcano. Arsia Mons is the dark, oval feature near the limb, just to the left of the 'T' in the 'Tharsis Montes' label. The dark, nearly circular feature above the 'S' in 'Tharsis' is the volcano, Pavonis Mons, and the other dark circular feature, above and to the right of 's' in 'Montes,' is Ascraeus Mons. Illumination is from the left/lower left. Season: Northern Autumn/Southern Spring

Multi-scale Modeling of Arctic Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hillman, B. R.; Roesler, E. L.; Dexheimer, D.

2017-12-01

The presence and properties of clouds are critically important to the radiative budget in the Arctic, but clouds are notoriously difficult to represent in global climate models (GCMs). The challenge stems partly from a disconnect in the scales at which these models are formulated and the scale of the physical processes important to the formation of clouds (e.g., convection and turbulence). Because of this, these processes are parameterized in large-scale models. Over the past decades, new approaches have been explored in which a cloud system resolving model (CSRM), or in the extreme a large eddy simulation (LES), is embedded into each gridcell of a traditional GCM to replace the cloud and convective parameterizations to explicitly simulate more of these important processes. This approach is attractive in that it allows for more explicit simulation of small-scale processes while also allowing for interaction between the small and large-scale processes. The goal of this study is to quantify the performance of this framework in simulating Arctic clouds relative to a traditional global model, and to explore the limitations of such a framework using coordinated high-resolution (eddy-resolving) simulations. Simulations from the global model are compared with satellite retrievals of cloud fraction partioned by cloud phase from CALIPSO, and limited-area LES simulations are compared with ground-based and tethered-balloon measurements from the ARM Barrow and Oliktok Point measurement facilities.

Impact of Precipitating Ice Hydrometeors on Longwave Radiative Effect Estimated by a Global Cloud-System Resolving Model

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ying-Wen; Seiki, Tatsuya; Kodama, Chihiro; Satoh, Masaki; Noda, Akira T.

2018-02-01

Satellite observation and general circulation model (GCM) studies suggest that precipitating ice makes nonnegligible contributions to the radiation balance of the Earth. However, in most GCMs, precipitating ice is diagnosed and its radiative effects are not taken into account. Here we examine the longwave radiative impact of precipitating ice using a global nonhydrostatic atmospheric model with a double-moment cloud microphysics scheme. An off-line radiation model is employed to determine cloud radiative effects according to the amount and altitude of each type of ice hydrometeor. Results show that the snow radiative effect reaches 2 W m-2 in the tropics, which is about half the value estimated by previous studies. This effect is strongly dependent on the vertical separation of ice categories and is partially generated by differences in terminal velocities, which are not represented in GCMs with diagnostic precipitating ice. Results from sensitivity experiments that artificially change the categories and altitudes of precipitating ice show that the simulated longwave heating profile and longwave radiation field are sensitive to the treatment of precipitating ice in models. This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating appropriate treatments for the radiative effects of precipitating ice in cloud and radiation schemes in GCMs in order to capture the cloud radiative effects of upper level clouds.

Influence which masses of clouds have on the global solar radiation at Salamanca (Spain). Estudio de la interaccin nubosidad-radiacion solar en Salamanca

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pablo-Davila, F. de, Labajo, J.L.; Tomas-Sanchez, C

1991-01-01

It has been shown the influence which masses of clouds, (and more specifically for each group of cloud types: high, middle and low clauds), has on the global solar radiation recorded at Matacan (Salamanca), within the period 1977-1985. For this purpose, cloud observation were made every three hours; daily records of sunshine and solar radiation were continually taken too. It has also been, both graphically and numerically, the influence of each cloud type for monthly and seasonal periods. Futhermore, different statistical parameters have been presented in order to describe the method developed. Finally, the results have been analysed and evaluated. They have been explaines according to the composition, structure and radiative properties of clouds.(Author)

Lightning and 85-GHz MCSs in the Global Tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Toracinta, E. Richard; Zipser, E. J.

1999-01-01

Numerous observations of tropical convection show that tropical continental mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are much more prolific lightning producers than their oceanic counterparts. Satellite-based climatologies using 85-GHz passive microwave ice-scattering signatures from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) indicate that MCSs of various size and intensity are found throughout the global tropics. In contrast, global lightning distributions show a strong land bias with an order of magnitude difference between land and ocean lightning. This is somewhat puzzling, since 85-GHz ice-scattering and the charge separation processes that lead to lightning are both thought to depend upon the existence of large graupel particles. The fact that low 85-GHz brightness temperatures are observed in tropical oceanic MCSs containing virtually no lightning leads to the postulate that tropical oceanic and tropical continental MCSs have fundamentally different hydrometeor profiles through the mixed phase region of the cloud (0 C Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), and the first space-borne radar, facilitates high-resolution case studies of MCS structure throughout the global tropics. An important precursor, however, is to better understand the distribution of MCSs and lightning in the tropics. With that objective in mind, this research undertakes a systematic comparison of 85-GHz-defined MCSs and lightning over the global tropics for a full year, as an initial step toward quantifying differences between land and ocean convective systems.

Long-term changes in climatological calendar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaagus, J.

1997-01-01

Trends in time series of climatic seasons in Tartu, Estonia, during 1891-1995 are analysed using regression analysis. Two intermediate seasons between autumn and winter (late autumn, early winter), and two ones between winter and spring (late winter and early spring) are determined. The climatic seasons correspond quite well to individual stages of annual cycling of nature. Results of linear regression analysis demonstrate changes in climatological calendar reflecting the influence of global warming. Climatic seasons of spring period have moved to earlier time, and seasons of autumn period to later time. Statistically significant trends were observed for beginning date of early spring (12 days earlier), summer (11 days earlier) and late autumn (8 days later). Beginning date of winter has shifted 12 days later. Duration of summer season has increased by two weeks and duration of winter season has decreased by the same time. (author)

Cloud-particle galactic gas dynamics and star formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, W.W. Jr.

1983-01-01

Galactic gas dynamics, spiral structure, and star formation are discussed in the context of N-body computational studies based on a cloud-particle model of the interstellar medium. On the small scale, the interstellar medium appears to be cloud-dominated and supernova-perturbed. The cloud-particle model simulates cloud-cloud collisions, the formation of stellar associations, and supernova explosions as dominant local processes. On the large scale in response to a spiral galactic gravitational field, global density waves and galactic shocks develop with large-scale characteristics similar to those found in continuum gas dynamical studies. Both the system of gas clouds and the system of young stellar associations forming from the clouds share in the global spiral structure. However, with the attributes of neither assuming a continuum of gas (as in continuum gas dynamical studies) nor requiring a prescribed equation of state such as the isothermal condition so often employed, the cloud-particle picture retains much of the detail lost in earlier work: namely, the small-scale features and structures so important in understanding the local, turbulent state of the interstellar medium as well as the degree of raggedness often observed superposed on global spiral structure. (Auth.)

Cloud structure evolution of heavy rain events from the East-West Pacific Ocean: a combined global observation analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sekaranom, A. B.; Nurjani, E.; Pujiastuti, I.

2018-04-01

Heavy rain events are often associated with flood hazards as one of the most devastating events across the globe. It is therefore essential to identify the evolution of heavy rainfall cloud structures, primarily from global satellite observation, as a tool to provide better disaster early warning systems. To identify the mechanism of heavy rainfall systems and its relationship with cloud development, especially over The Pacific Ocean, we aim to study the westward evolution of the convective systems over this area. Several datasets from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), CloudSat GEOPROF product, and ECMWF-reanalysis (ERA) interim were utilized to characterize the evolution. Geolocation and orbital time-lag analysis of the three different datasets for more than 8 years (2006-2014) could provide information related to the evolution of cloud structures associated with heavy rain events. In the first step, a heavy rainfall database was generated from TRMM. The CloudSat coordinate and time position were then matched with TRMM coordinate and time position. All of the processes were programatically conducted in fortran programming language. The result shows a transition between East and West Pacific ocean for TMI data.

Dependence of stratocumulus-topped boundary-layer entrainment on cloud-water sedimentation: Impact on global aerosol indirect effect in GISS ModelE3 single column model and global simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, A. S.; Kelley, M.; Cheng, Y.; Fridlind, A. M.; Del Genio, A. D.; Bauer, S.

2017-12-01

Reduction in cloud-water sedimentation induced by increasing droplet concentrations has been shown in large-eddy simulations (LES) and direct numerical simulation (DNS) to enhance boundary-layer entrainment, thereby reducing cloud liquid water path and offsetting the Twomey effect when the overlying air is sufficiently dry, which is typical. Among recent upgrades to ModelE3, the latest version of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model (GCM), are a two-moment stratiform cloud microphysics treatment with prognostic precipitation and a moist turbulence scheme that includes an option in its entrainment closure of a simple parameterization for the effect of cloud-water sedimentation. Single column model (SCM) simulations are compared to LES results for a stratocumulus case study and show that invoking the sedimentation-entrainment parameterization option indeed reduces the dependence of cloud liquid water path on increasing aerosol concentrations. Impacts of variations of the SCM configuration and the sedimentation-entrainment parameterization will be explored. Its impact on global aerosol indirect forcing in the framework of idealized atmospheric GCM simulations will also be assessed.

Global lightning and severe storm monitoring from GPS orbit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suszcynsky, D. M. (David M.); Jacobson, A. R.; Linford, J (Justin); Pongratz, M. B. (Morris B.); Light, T. (Tracy E.); Shao, X. (Xuan-Min)

2004-01-01

Over the last few decades, there has been a growing interest to develop and deploy an automated and continuously operating satellite-based global lightning mapper [e.g. Christian et al., 1989; Weber et al., 1998; Suszcynsky et al., 2000]. Lightning is a direct consequence of the electrification and breakdown processes that take place during the convective stages of thunderstorm development. Satellite-based lightning mappers are designed to exploit this relationship by using lightning detection as a proxy for remotely identifying, locating and characterizing strong convective activity on a global basis. Global lightning and convection mapping promises to provide users with (1) an enhanced global severe weather monitoring and early warning capability [e.g. Weber et al., 1998] (2) improved ability to optimize aviation flight paths around convective cells, particularly over oceanic and remote regions that are not sufficiently serviced by existing weather radar [e.g. Weber et al., 1998], and (3) access to regional and global proxy data sets that can be used for scientific studies and as input into meteorological forecast and global climatology models. The physical foundation for satellite-based remote sensing of convection by way of lightning detection is provided by the basic interplay between the electrical and convective states of a thundercloud. It is widely believed that convection is a driving mechanism behind the hydrometeor charging and transport that produces charge separation and lightning discharges within thunderclouds [e.g. see chapter 3 in MacGorman and Rust, 1998]. Although cloud electrification and discharge processes are a complex function of the convective dynamics and microphysics of the cloud, the fundamental relationship between convection and electrification is easy to observe. For example, studies have shown that the strength of the convective process within a thundercell can be loosely parameterized (with large variance) by the intensity of the

4 km NODC/RSMAS AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 5-day Harmonic Climatologies (1982-2008) (NODC Accession 0071182)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This accession contains a global, 4km 5-day sea surface temperature climatology derived from harmonic analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder Version 5.0 and 5.1 sea...

Droplet number uncertainties associated with CCN: an assessment using observations and a global model adjoint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. H. Moore

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We use the Global Modelling Initiative (GMI chemical transport model with a cloud droplet parameterisation adjoint to quantify the sensitivity of cloud droplet number concentration to uncertainties in predicting CCN concentrations. Published CCN closure uncertainties for six different sets of simplifying compositional and mixing state assumptions are used as proxies for modelled CCN uncertainty arising from application of those scenarios. It is found that cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd are fairly insensitive to the number concentration (Na of aerosol which act as CCN over the continents (∂lnNd/∂lnNa ~10–30%, but the sensitivities exceed 70% in pristine regions such as the Alaskan Arctic and remote oceans. This means that CCN concentration uncertainties of 4–71% translate into only 1–23% uncertainty in cloud droplet number, on average. Since most of the anthropogenic indirect forcing is concentrated over the continents, this work shows that the application of Köhler theory and attendant simplifying assumptions in models is not a major source of uncertainty in predicting cloud droplet number or anthropogenic aerosol indirect forcing for the liquid, stratiform clouds simulated in these models. However, it does highlight the sensitivity of some remote areas to pollution brought into the region via long-range transport (e.g., biomass burning or from seasonal biogenic sources (e.g., phytoplankton as a source of dimethylsulfide in the southern oceans. Since these transient processes are not captured well by the climatological emissions inventories employed by current large-scale models, the uncertainties in aerosol-cloud interactions during these events could be much larger than those uncovered here. This finding motivates additional measurements in these pristine regions, for which few observations exist, to quantify the impact (and associated uncertainty of transient aerosol processes on cloud properties.

Situational Lightning Climatologies

Science.gov (United States)

Bauman, William; Crawford, Winifred

2010-01-01

Research has revealed distinct spatial and temporal distributions of lightning occurrence that are strongly influenced by large-scale atmospheric flow regimes. It was believed there were two flow systems, but it has been discovered that actually there are seven distinct flow regimes. The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) has recalculated the lightning climatologies for the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), and the eight airfields in the National Weather Service in Melbourne (NWS MLB) County Warning Area (CWA) using individual lightning strike data to improve the accuracy of the climatologies. The software determines the location of each CG lightning strike with 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-nmi (.9.3-, 18.5-, 37-, 55.6-km) radii from each airfield. Each CG lightning strike is binned at 1-, 3-, and 6-hour intervals at each specified radius. The software merges the CG lightning strike time intervals and distance with each wind flow regime and creates probability statistics for each time interval, radii, and flow regime, and stratifies them by month and warm season. The AMU also updated the graphical user interface (GUI) with the new data.

Global Hail Model

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, A.; Sanderson, M.; Hand, W.; Blyth, A.; Groenemeijer, P.; Kunz, M.; Puskeiler, M.; Saville, G.; Michel, G.

2012-04-01

Hail risk models are rare for the insurance industry. This is opposed to the fact that average annual hail losses can be large and hail dominates losses for many motor portfolios worldwide. Insufficient observational data, high spatio-temporal variability and data inhomogenity have hindered creation of credible models so far. In January 2012, a selected group of hail experts met at Willis in London in order to discuss ways to model hail risk at various scales. Discussions aimed at improving our understanding of hail occurrence and severity, and covered recent progress in the understanding of microphysical processes and climatological behaviour and hail vulnerability. The final outcome of the meeting was the formation of a global hail risk model initiative and the launch of a realistic global hail model in order to assess hail loss occurrence and severities for the globe. The following projects will be tackled: Microphysics of Hail and hail severity measures: Understand the physical drivers of hail and hailstone size development in different regions on the globe. Proposed factors include updraft and supercooled liquid water content in the troposphere. What are the thresholds drivers of hail formation around the globe? Hail Climatology: Consider ways to build a realistic global climatological set of hail events based on physical parameters including spatial variations in total availability of moisture, aerosols, among others, and using neural networks. Vulnerability, Exposure, and financial model: Use historical losses and event footprints available in the insurance market to approximate fragility distributions and damage potential for various hail sizes for property, motor, and agricultural business. Propagate uncertainty distributions and consider effects of policy conditions along with aggregating and disaggregating exposure and losses. This presentation provides an overview of ideas and tasks that lead towards a comprehensive global understanding of hail risk for

Hanford Site Climatological Data Summary 1999 with Historical Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoitink, Dana J; Burk, Kenneth W; Ramsdell, Jim V

2000-01-01

This document presents the climatological data measured at the Hanford Site for calendar year 1999. The information contained includes updated historical climatologies for temperature, precipitation, normal and extreme values of temperature and precipitation and other meteorological parameters

Evaluation of Passive Multilayer Cloud Detection Using Preliminary CloudSat and CALIPSO Cloud Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, P.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chang, F.; Huang, J.; Nguyen, L.; Ayers, J. K.; Spangenberg, D. A.; Yi, Y.; Trepte, C. R.

2006-12-01

During the last few years, several algorithms have been developed to detect and retrieve multilayered clouds using passive satellite data. Assessing these techniques has been difficult due to the need for active sensors such as cloud radars and lidars that can "see" through different layers of clouds. Such sensors have been available only at a few surface sites and on aircraft during field programs. With the launch of the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites on April 28, 2006, it is now possible to observe multilayered systems all over the globe using collocated cloud radar and lidar data. As part of the A- Train, these new active sensors are also matched in time ad space with passive measurements from the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS (AMSR-E). The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) has been developing and testing algorithms to detect ice-over-water overlapping cloud systems and to retrieve the cloud liquid path (LWP) and ice water path (IWP) for those systems. One technique uses a combination of the CERES cloud retrieval algorithm applied to MODIS data and a microwave retrieval method applied to AMSR-E data. The combination of a CO2-slicing cloud retireval technique with the CERES algorithms applied to MODIS data (Chang et al., 2005) is used to detect and analyze such overlapped systems that contain thin ice clouds. A third technique uses brightness temperature differences and the CERES algorithms to detect similar overlapped methods. This paper uses preliminary CloudSat and CALIPSO data to begin a global scale assessment of these different methods. The long-term goals are to assess and refine the algorithms to aid the development of an optimal combination of the techniques to better monitor ice 9and liquid water clouds in overlapped conditions.

Biomes computed from simulated climatologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Claussen, W.; Esch, M.

1992-09-01

The biome model of Prentice et al. is used to predict global patterns of potential natural plant formations, or biomes, from climatologies simulated by ECHAM, a model used for climate simulations at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie. This study is undertaken in order to show the advantage of this biome model in comprehensively diagnosing the performance of a climate model and assessing effects of past and future climate changes predicted by a climate model. Good overall agreement is found between global patterns of biomes computed from observed and simulated data of present climate. But there are also major discrepancies indicated by a difference in biomes in Australia, in the Kalahari Desert, and in the Middle West of North America. These discrepancies can be traced back to failures in simulated rain fall as well as summer or winter temperatures. Global patterns of biomes computed from an ice age simulation reveal that North America, Europe, and Siberia should have been covered largely by tundra and taiga, whereas only small differences are seen for the tropical rain forests. A potential North-East shift of biomes is expected from a simulation with enhanced CO{sub 2} concentration according to the IPCC Scenario A. Little change is seen in the tropical rain forest and the Sahara. Since the biome model used is not capable of predicting changes in vegetation patterns due to a rapid climate change, the latter simulation has to be taken as a prediction of changes in conditions favorable for the existence of certain biomes, not as a prediction of a future distribution of biomes. (orig.).

The impact of implementing the bare essentials of surface transfer land surface scheme into the BMRC GCM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Z.L. [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Pitman, A.J. [Macquarie Univ., Sydney (Australia); McAvaney, B. [Bureau of Meterology Research Centre, Melbourne (Australia)] [and others

1995-07-01

This study describes the first order impacts of incorporating a complex land-surface scheme, the bare essentials of surface transfer (BEST), into the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). Land seasonal climatologies averaged over the last six years of integrations after equilibrium from the GCM with BEST and without BEST (the control) are compared. The modeled results are evaluated with comprehensive sources of data, including the layer-cloud climatologies project (ISCCP) data from 1983 to 1991 and the surface-observed global data of Warrent et al., a five-year climatology of surface albedo estimated from earth radiation budget experiment (ERBE) top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes, global grid point datasets of precipitation, and the climatological analyses of surface evaporation and albedo. Emphasis is placed on the surface evaluation of simulations of land-surface conditions such as surface roughness, surface albedo and the surface wetness factor, and on their effects on surface evaporation, precipitation, layer-cloud and surface temperature. The improvements due to the inclusion of BEST are: a realistic geographical distribution of surface roughness, a decrease in surface albedo over areas with seasonal snow cover, an an increase in surface albedo over snow-free land. The simulated reduction in surface evaporation due, in part, to the bio-physical control of vegetation, is also consistent with the previous studies. Since the control climate has a dry bias, the overall simulations from the GCM with BEST are degraded, except for significant improvements for the northern winter hemisphere because of the realistic vegetation-masking effects. The implications of our results for synergistic developments of other aspects of model parameterization schemes such as boundary layer dynamics, clouds, convection and rainfall are discussed. 82 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs.

Global Observations of Aerosols and Clouds from Combined Lidar and Passive Instruments to Improve Radiation Budget and Climate Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Winker, David M.

1999-01-01

Current uncertainties in the effects of clouds and aerosols on the Earth radiation budget limit our understanding of the climate system and the potential for global climate change. Pathfinder Instruments for Cloud and Aerosol Spaceborne Observations - Climatologie Etendue des Nuages et des Aerosols (PICASSO-CENA) is a recently approved satellite mission within NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program which will address these uncertainties with a unique suite of active and passive instruments. The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) demonstrated the potential benefits of space lidar for studies of clouds and aerosols. PICASSO-CENA builds on this experience with a payload consisting of a two-wavelength polarization-sensitive lidar, an oxygen A-band spectrometer (ABS), an imaging infrared radiometer (IIR), and a wide field camera (WFC). Data from these instruments will be used to measure the vertical distributions of aerosols and clouds in the atmosphere, as well as optical and physical properties of aerosols and clouds which influence the Earth radiation budget. PICASSO-CENA will be flown in formation with the PM satellite of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) to provide a comprehensive suite of coincident measurements of atmospheric state, aerosol and cloud optical properties, and radiative fluxes. The mission will address critical uncertainties iin the direct radiative forcing of aerosols and clouds as well as aerosol influences on cloud radiative properties and cloud-climate radiation feedbacks. PICASSO-CENA is planned for a three year mission, with a launch in early 2003. PICASSO-CENA is being developed within the framework of a collaboration between NASA and CNES.

Marine Cloud Brightening

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, H.; Connolly, P.; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Philip J.; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Robert

2012-09-07

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could - subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein - have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seedparticle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud-albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action.

Marine cloud brightening.

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, Hugh; Connolly, Paul; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Phillip; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Rob

2012-09-13

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could-subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein-have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seed-particle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud-albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100×100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action.

Relating tropical ocean clouds to moist processes using water vapor isotope measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Lee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We examine the co-variations of tropospheric water vapor, its isotopic composition and cloud types and relate these distributions to tropospheric mixing and distillation models using satellite observations from the Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES over the summertime tropical ocean. Interpretation of these process distributions must take into account the sensitivity of the TES isotope and water vapor measurements to variations in cloud, water, and temperature amount. Consequently, comparisons are made between cloud-types based on the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISSCP classification; these are clear sky, non-precipitating (e.g., cumulus, boundary layer (e.g., stratocumulus, and precipitating clouds (e.g. regions of deep convection. In general, we find that the free tropospheric vapor over tropical oceans does not strictly follow a Rayleigh model in which air parcels become dry and isotopically depleted through condensation. Instead, mixing processes related to convection as well as subsidence, and re-evaporation of rainfall associated with organized deep convection all play significant roles in controlling the water vapor distribution. The relative role of these moisture processes are examined for different tropical oceanic regions.

Influence of Kuroshio SST front in the East China Sea on the climatological evolution of Meiyu rainband

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Mimi; Xu, Haiming; Ren, Huijun

2018-02-01

The influence of Kuroshio sea surface temperature (SST) front in the East China Sea (ECS) on the temporal evolution of climatological Meiyu rainband was investigated using a suite of high-resolution satellite observations and a reanalysis dataset from 2000 to 2011. During the northward seasonal march of Meiyu rainband from the warmer flank of the SST front to the colder flank, the climatological rainband strength weakened substantially despite large-scale environment became more conducive to intensify precipitation. A sharp reduction in occurrence frequency of precipitation with relatively shallower depth and smaller intensity was responsible for the weakening of Meiyu rainband. During the northward migration of Meiyu rainband, individual precipitation events became deeper and more intensive, and the contribution of convective precipitation to the rainband was enhanced, associated with the seasonal northward extension of high convective instability region over the ECS. The characteristics of Meiyu rainband evolution were generally supported by cloud observations. When Meiyu rainband was located on the warmer flank of the SST front, local enhanced mean surface wind convergence and variance of convergence at synoptic timescale by the warm SST of the Kuroshio favored strong surface convergence that may trigger precipitation. A detailed moisture budget analysis revealed that the major part of moisture for Meiyu precipitation was supplied by low-level wind convergence, with much smaller contribution from moisture advection. The variation of climatological precipitation associated with Meiyu northward migration depended on SST modulation of both surface evaporation and low-level moisture convergence over the ECS.

Climatology of the HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model - Sea ice general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Legutke, S. [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany); Maier-Reimer, E. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

1999-12-01

The HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) climatology, obtained in a long-term forced integration is described. HOPE-G is a primitive-equation z-level ocean model which contains a dynamic-thermodynamic sea-ice model. It is formulated on a 2.8 grid with increased resolution in low latitudes in order to better resolve equatorial dynamics. The vertical resolution is 20 layers. The purpose of the integration was both to investigate the models ability to reproduce the observed general circulation of the world ocean and to obtain an initial state for coupled atmosphere - ocean - sea-ice climate simulations. The model was driven with daily mean data of a 15-year integration of the atmosphere general circulation model ECHAM4, the atmospheric component in later coupled runs. Thereby, a maximum of the flux variability that is expected to appear in coupled simulations is included already in the ocean spin-up experiment described here. The model was run for more than 2000 years until a quasi-steady state was achieved. It reproduces the major current systems and the main features of the so-called conveyor belt circulation. The observed distribution of water masses is reproduced reasonably well, although with a saline bias in the intermediate water masses and a warm bias in the deep and bottom water of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The model underestimates the meridional transport of heat in the Atlantic Ocean. The simulated heat transport in the other basins, though, is in good agreement with observations. (orig.)

Electrical signature in polar night cloud base variations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrison, R Giles; Ambaum, Maarten H P

2013-01-01

Layer clouds are globally extensive. Their lower edges are charged negatively by the fair weather atmospheric electricity current flowing vertically through them. Using polar winter surface meteorological data from Sodankylä (Finland) and Halley (Antarctica), we find that when meteorological diurnal variations are weak, an appreciable diurnal cycle, on average, persists in the cloud base heights, detected using a laser ceilometer. The diurnal cloud base heights from both sites correlate more closely with the Carnegie curve of global atmospheric electricity than with local meteorological measurements. The cloud base sensitivities are indistinguishable between the northern and southern hemispheres, averaging a (4.0 ± 0.5) m rise for a 1% change in the fair weather electric current density. This suggests that the global fair weather current, which is affected by space weather, cosmic rays and the El Niño Southern Oscillation, is linked with layer cloud properties. (letter)

Global anthropogenic aerosol effects on convective clouds in ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Lohmann

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Aerosols affect the climate system by changing cloud characteristics in many ways. They act as cloud condensation and ice nuclei and may have an influence on the hydrological cycle. Here we investigate aerosol effects on convective clouds by extending the double-moment cloud microphysics scheme developed for stratiform clouds, which is coupled to the HAM double-moment aerosol scheme, to convective clouds in the ECHAM5 general circulation model. This enables us to investigate whether more, and smaller cloud droplets suppress the warm rain formation in the lower parts of convective clouds and thus release more latent heat upon freezing, which would then result in more vigorous convection and more precipitation. In ECHAM5, including aerosol effects in large-scale and convective clouds (simulation ECHAM5-conv reduces the sensitivity of the liquid water path increase with increasing aerosol optical depth in better agreement with observations and large-eddy simulation studies. In simulation ECHAM5-conv with increases in greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions since pre-industrial times, the geographical distribution of the changes in precipitation better matches the observed increase in precipitation than neglecting microphysics in convective clouds. In this simulation the convective precipitation increases the most suggesting that the convection has indeed become more vigorous.

The Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant hybrid approach for aerosol-cloud interactions in multiscale modeling framework models: tracer transport results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jr, William I Gustafson; Berg, Larry K; Easter, Richard C; Ghan, Steven J

2008-01-01

All estimates of aerosol indirect effects on the global energy balance have either completely neglected the influence of aerosol on convective clouds or treated the influence in a highly parameterized manner. Embedding cloud-resolving models (CRMs) within each grid cell of a global model provides a multiscale modeling framework for treating both the influence of aerosols on convective as well as stratiform clouds and the influence of clouds on the aerosol, but treating the interactions explicitly by simulating all aerosol processes in the CRM is computationally prohibitive. An alternate approach is to use horizontal statistics (e.g., cloud mass flux, cloud fraction, and precipitation) from the CRM simulation to drive a single-column parameterization of cloud effects on the aerosol and then use the aerosol profile to simulate aerosol effects on clouds within the CRM. Here, we present results from the first component of the Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant parameterization to be developed, which handles vertical transport of tracers by clouds. A CRM with explicit tracer transport serves as a benchmark. We show that this parameterization, driven by the CRM's cloud mass fluxes, reproduces the CRM tracer transport significantly better than a single-column model that uses a conventional convective cloud parameterization

The Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant hybrid approach for aerosol-cloud interactions in multiscale modeling framework models: tracer transport results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jr, William I Gustafson; Berg, Larry K; Easter, Richard C; Ghan, Steven J [Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PO Box 999, MSIN K9-30, Richland, WA (United States)], E-mail: William.Gustafson@pnl.gov

2008-04-15

All estimates of aerosol indirect effects on the global energy balance have either completely neglected the influence of aerosol on convective clouds or treated the influence in a highly parameterized manner. Embedding cloud-resolving models (CRMs) within each grid cell of a global model provides a multiscale modeling framework for treating both the influence of aerosols on convective as well as stratiform clouds and the influence of clouds on the aerosol, but treating the interactions explicitly by simulating all aerosol processes in the CRM is computationally prohibitive. An alternate approach is to use horizontal statistics (e.g., cloud mass flux, cloud fraction, and precipitation) from the CRM simulation to drive a single-column parameterization of cloud effects on the aerosol and then use the aerosol profile to simulate aerosol effects on clouds within the CRM. Here, we present results from the first component of the Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant parameterization to be developed, which handles vertical transport of tracers by clouds. A CRM with explicit tracer transport serves as a benchmark. We show that this parameterization, driven by the CRM's cloud mass fluxes, reproduces the CRM tracer transport significantly better than a single-column model that uses a conventional convective cloud parameterization.

Verification of ECMWF and ECMWF/MACC's global and direct irradiance forecasts with respect to solar electricity production forecasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schroedter-Homscheidt

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The successful electricity grid integration of solar energy into day-ahead markets requires at least hourly resolved 48 h forecasts. Technologies as photovoltaics and non-concentrating solar thermal technologies make use of global horizontal irradiance (GHI forecasts, while all concentrating technologies both from the photovoltaic and the thermal sector require direct normal irradiances (DNI. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF has recently changed towards providing direct as well as global irradiances. Additionally, the MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition & Climate near-real time services provide daily analysis and forecasts of aerosol properties in preparation of the upcoming European Copernicus programme. The operational ECMWF/IFS (Integrated Forecast System forecast system will in the medium term profit from the Copernicus service aerosol forecasts. Therefore, within the MACC‑II project specific experiment runs were performed allowing for the assessment of the performance gain of these potential future capabilities. Also the potential impact of providing forecasts with hourly output resolution compared to three-hourly resolved forecasts is investigated. The inclusion of the new aerosol climatology in October 2003 improved both the GHI and DNI forecasts remarkably, while the change towards a new radiation scheme in 2007 only had minor and partly even unfavourable impacts on the performance indicators. For GHI, larger RMSE (root mean square error values are found for broken/overcast conditions than for scattered cloud fields. For DNI, the findings are opposite with larger RMSE values for scattered clouds compared to overcast/broken cloud situations. The introduction of direct irradiances as an output parameter in the operational IFS version has not resulted in a general performance improvement with respect to biases and RMSE compared to the widely used Skartveit et al. (1998 global to direct irradiance

Ticosonde CFH at Costa Rica: A Seasonal Climatology of Tropical UT-LS Water Vapor and Inter-Comparisons with MLS and CALIPSO

Science.gov (United States)

Selkirk, Henry B.; Voemel, Holger; Avery, Melody; Rosenlof, Karen; Davis, Sean; Hurst, Dale; Schoeberl, Mark; Diaz, Jorge Andres; Morris, Gary

2014-01-01

Balloon sonde measurements of tropical water vapor using the Cryogenic Frostpoint Hygrometer were initiated in Costa Rica in July 2005 and have continued to the present day. Over the nine years through July 2014, the Ticosonde program has launched 174 CFH payloads, representing the longest-running and most extensive single-site balloon dataset for tropical water vapor. In this presentation we present a seasonal climatology for water vapor and ozone at Costa Rica and examine the frequency of upper tropospheric supersaturation with comparisons to cloud fraction and cloud ice water content observations from the Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the CALIPSO mission. We then make a critical comparison of these data to water vapor measurements from the MLS instrument on board Aura in light of recently published work for other sites. Finally, we examine time series of 2-km altitude averages in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere at Costa Rica in light of anomalies and trends seen in various large-scale indices of tropical water vapor.

Global synthesis of long-term cloud condensation nuclei observations

Science.gov (United States)

Schmale, Julia; Henning, Silvia; Stratmann, Frank; Henzing, Bas; Schlag, Patrick; Aalto, Pasi; Keskinen, Helmi; Sellegri, Karine; Ovadnevaite, Jurgita; Krüger, Mira; Jefferson, Anne; Whitehead, James; Carslaw, Ken; Yum, Seong Soo; Kristensson, Adam; Baltensperger, Urs; Gysel, Martin

2016-04-01

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are aerosol particles with the ability to activate into droplets at a given super saturation and therefore influence the microphysical and optical properties of clouds. To predict cloud radiative properties understanding the spatial and temporal variability of CCN concentrations in different environments is important. However, currently, the effects of atmospheric particles on changes in cloud radiative forcing are still the largest contribution of uncertainty in climate forcing prediction (IPCC, 2013). Numerous intensive field campaigns have already explored detailed characteristics of CCN in many locations around the world. However, these rather short-term observations can generally not address seasonal or inter-annual variations and a comparison between campaign sites is difficult due to the higher influence of specific environmental circumstances on short-term measurements results. Here, we present results of more long-term CCN and aerosol number concentrations as well as size distribution data covering at least one full year between 2006 and 2014. The 12 locations include ACTRIS stations (http://www.actris.net/) in Europe, and further sites in North America, Brazil and Korea. The sites are located in different environments allowing for temporal and spatial characterization of CCN variability in different atmospheric regimes. Those include marine, remote-continental, boreal forest, rain forest, Arctic and monsoon-influenced environments, as well as boundary layer and free tropospheric conditions. The aerosol populations and their activation behavior show significant differences across the stations. While peak concentrations of CCN are observed in summer at the high altitude sites, in the Arctic the highest concentrations occur during the Haze period in spring. The rural-marine and rural-continental sites exhibit similar CCN concentration characteristics with a relatively flat annual cycle. At some stations, e.g. in the boreal

Tropical and Subtropical Cloud Transitions in Weather and Climate Prediction Models: The GCSS/WGNE Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI)

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, J.; Cardoso, S.; Bonazzola, M.; Cole, J.; DeGenio, A.; DeMott, C.; Franklin, C.; Hannay, C.; Jakob, C.; Jiao, Y.;

Estimates of Free-tropospheric NO2 Abundance from the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Using Cloud Slicing Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, S.; Joiner, J.; Krotkov, N. A.; Choi, Y.; Duncan, B. N.; Celarier, E. A.; Bucsela, E. J.; Vasilkov, A. P.; Strahan, S. E.; Veefkind, J. P.; Cohen, R. C.; Weinheimer, A. J.; Pickering, K. E.

2013-12-01

Total column measurements of NO2 from space-based sensors are of interest to the atmospheric chemistry and air quality communities; the relatively short lifetime of near-surface NO2 produces satellite-observed hot-spots near pollution sources including power plants and urban areas. However, estimates of NO2 concentrations in the free-troposphere, where lifetimes are longer and the radiative impact through ozone formation is larger, are severely lacking. Such information is critical to evaluate chemistry-climate and air quality models that are used for prediction of the evolution of tropospheric ozone and its impact of climate and air quality. Here, we retrieve free-tropospheric NO2 volume mixing ratio (VMR) using the cloud slicing technique. We use cloud optical centroid pressures (OCPs) as well as collocated above-cloud vertical NO2 columns (defined as the NO2 column from top of the atmosphere to the cloud OCP) from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). The above-cloud NO2 vertical columns used in our study are retrieved independent of a priori NO2 profile information. In the cloud-slicing approach, the slope of the above-cloud NO2 column versus the cloud optical centroid pressure is proportional to the NO2 volume mixing ratio (VMR) for a given pressure (altitude) range. We retrieve NO2 volume mixing ratios and compare the obtained NO2 VMRs with in-situ aircraft profiles measured during the NASA Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment Phase B (INTEX-B) campaign in 2006. The agreement is good when proper data screening is applied. In addition, the OMI cloud slicing reports a high NO2 VMR where the aircraft reported lightning NOx during the Deep Convection Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) campaign in 2012. We also provide a global seasonal climatology of free-tropospheric NO2 VMR in cloudy conditions. Enhanced NO2 in free troposphere commonly appears near polluted urban locations where NO2 produced in the boundary layer may be transported vertically out of the

The atmospheric boundary layer in the CSIRO global climate model: simulations versus observations

Science.gov (United States)

Garratt, J. R.; Rotstayn, L. D.; Krummel, P. B.

2002-07-01

A 5-year simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer in the CSIRO global climate model (GCM) is compared with detailed boundary-layer observations at six locations, two over the ocean and four over land. Field observations, in the form of surface fluxes and vertical profiles of wind, temperature and humidity, are generally available for each hour over periods of one month or more in a single year. GCM simulations are for specific months corresponding to the field observations, for each of five years. At three of the four land sites (two in Australia, one in south-eastern France), modelled rainfall was close to the observed climatological values, but was significantly in deficit at the fourth (Kansas, USA). Observed rainfall during the field expeditions was close to climatology at all four sites. At the Kansas site, modelled screen temperatures (Tsc), diurnal temperature amplitude and sensible heat flux (H) were significantly higher than observed, with modelled evaporation (E) much lower. At the other three land sites, there is excellent correspondence between the diurnal amplitude and phase and absolute values of each variable (Tsc, H, E). Mean monthly vertical profiles for specific times of the day show strong similarities: over land and ocean in vertical shape and absolute values of variables, and in the mixed-layer and nocturnal-inversion depths (over land) and the height of the elevated inversion or height of the cloud layer (over the sea). Of special interest is the presence climatologically of early morning humidity inversions related to dewfall and of nocturnal low-level jets; such features are found in the GCM simulations. The observed day-to-day variability in vertical structure is captured well in the model for most sites, including, over a whole month, the temperature range at all levels in the boundary layer, and the mix of shallow and deep mixed layers. Weaknesses or unrealistic structure include the following, (a) unrealistic model mixed

Local Climatological Data (LCD) Publication

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Local Climatological Data (LCD) contains summaries from major airport weather stations that include a daily account of temperature extremes, degree days,...

NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget: Integrated Data Product With Reprocessed Radiance, Cloud, and Meteorology Inputs, and New Surface Albedo Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Stephen J.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Gupta, Shashi K.; Mikovitz, J. Colleen; Zhang, Taiping

2016-01-01

The NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project produces shortwave and longwave surface and top of atmosphere radiative fluxes for the 1983-near present time period. Spatial resolution is 1 degree. The current release 3.0 (available at gewex-srb.larc.nasa.gov) uses the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) DX product for pixel level radiance and cloud information. This product is subsampled to 30 km. ISCCP is currently recalibrating and recomputing their entire data series, to be released as the H product, at 10km resolution. The ninefold increase in pixel number will allow SRB a higher resolution gridded product (e.g. 0.5 degree), as well as the production of pixel-level fluxes. In addition to the input data improvements, several important algorithm improvements have been made. Most notable has been the adaptation of Angular Distribution Models (ADMs) from CERES to improve the initial calculation of shortwave TOA fluxes, from which the surface flux calculations follow. Other key input improvements include a detailed aerosol history using the Max Planck Institut Aerosol Climatology (MAC), temperature and moisture profiles from HIRS, and new topography, surface type, and snow/ice. Here we present results for the improved GEWEX Shortwave and Longwave algorithm (GSW and GLW) with new ISCCP data, the various other improved input data sets and the incorporation of many additional internal SRB model improvements. As of the time of abstract submission, results from 2007 have been produced with ISCCP H availability the limiting factor. More SRB data will be produced as ISCCP reprocessing continues. The SRB data produced will be released as part of the Release 4.0 Integrated Product, recognizing the interdependence of the radiative fluxes with other GEWEX products providing estimates of the Earth's global water and energy cycle (I.e., ISCCP, SeaFlux, LandFlux, NVAP, etc.).

Mobile measurement techniques for local and micro-scale studies in urban and topo-climatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seidel, Jochen

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Technical development during the last two decades has brought new potential and new applications for ­mobile measurements. In this paper, we present six case studies where mobile measurement devices were used to acquire data for meteorological and climatological research. Three case studies deal with ground-based mobile measurements – on buses for urban climate measurements and on a vessel on a lake – and three with airborne platforms – on a cable car and on an unmanned aerial vehicle for vertical soundings and on a tethered balloon sonde for cloud physics. For each study, we describe the measurement set-up and address the potential and drawbacks of these applications. At the end, we discuss general aspects related to mobile observations especially concerning the time and space dimension of measurements.

Advancing global marine biogeography research with open-source GIS software and cloud-computing

Science.gov (United States)

Fujioka, Ei; Vanden Berghe, Edward; Donnelly, Ben; Castillo, Julio; Cleary, Jesse; Holmes, Chris; McKnight, Sean; Halpin, patrick

2012-01-01

Across many scientific domains, the ability to aggregate disparate datasets enables more meaningful global analyses. Within marine biology, the Census of Marine Life served as the catalyst for such a global data aggregation effort. Under the Census framework, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System was established to coordinate an unprecedented aggregation of global marine biogeography data. The OBIS data system now contains 31.3 million observations, freely accessible through a geospatial portal. The challenges of storing, querying, disseminating, and mapping a global data collection of this complexity and magnitude are significant. In the face of declining performance and expanding feature requests, a redevelopment of the OBIS data system was undertaken. Following an Open Source philosophy, the OBIS technology stack was rebuilt using PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GeoServer and OpenLayers. This approach has markedly improved the performance and online user experience while maintaining a standards-compliant and interoperable framework. Due to the distributed nature of the project and increasing needs for storage, scalability and deployment flexibility, the entire hardware and software stack was built on a Cloud Computing environment. The flexibility of the platform, combined with the power of the application stack, enabled rapid re-development of the OBIS infrastructure, and ensured complete standards-compliance.

Development and evaluation of climatologically-downscaled AFWA AGRMET precipitation products over the continental U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, M.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Eylander, J. B.; Daly, C.; Gibson, W.; Tian, Y.; Zeng, J.; Kato, H.

2008-05-01

Collaborations between the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), the Hydrological Sciences Branch at NASA-GSFC, and the PRISM Group at Oregon State University have led to improvements in the processing of meteorological forcing inputs for the NASA-GSFC Land Information System (LIS; Kumar et al. 2006), a sophisticated framework for LSM operation and model coupling experiments. Efforts at AFWA toward the production of surface hydrometeorological products are currently in transition from the legacy Agricultural Meteorology modeling system (AGRMET) to use of the LIS framework and procedures. Recent enhancements to meteorological input processing for application to land surface models in LIS include the assimilation of climate-based information for the spatial interpolation and downscaling of precipitation fields. Climatological information included in the LIS- based downscaling procedure for North America is provided by a monthly high-resolution PRISM (Daly et al. 1994, 2002; Daly 2006) dataset based on a 30-year analysis period. The combination of these sources and methods attempts to address the strengths and weaknesses of available legacy products, objective interpolation methods, and the PRISM knowledge-based methodology. All of these efforts are oriented on an operational need for timely estimation of spatial precipitation fields at adequate spatial resolution for customer dissemination and near-real-time simulations in regions of interest. This work focuses on value added to the AGRMET precipitation product by the inclusion of high-quality climatological information on a monthly time scale. The AGRMET method uses microwave-based satellite precipitation estimates from various polar-orbiting platforms (NOAA POES and DMSP), infrared-based estimates from geostationary platforms (GOES, METEOSAT, etc.), related cloud analysis products, and surface gauge observations in a complex and hierarchical blending process. Results from processing of the legacy AGRMET precipitation

U.S. Annual Climatological Summaries

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Annual Climatological Summary contains historical monthly and annual summaries for over 8000 U.S. locations. Observing stations are located in the United States of...

The use of marine cloud water samples as a diagnostic tool for aqueous chemistry, cloud microphysical processes and dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Crosbie, E.; Ziemba, L. D.; Moore, R.; Shook, M.; Jordan, C.; Thornhill, K. L., II; Winstead, E.; Shingler, T.; Brown, M.; MacDonald, A. B.; Dadashazar, H.; Sorooshian, A.; Weiss-Penzias, P. S.; Anderson, B.

2017-12-01

Clouds play several roles in the Earth's climate system. In addition to their clear significance to the hydrological cycle, they strongly modulate the shortwave and longwave radiative balance of the atmosphere, with subsequent feedback on the atmospheric circulation. Furthermore, clouds act as a conduit for the fate and emergence of important trace chemical species and are the predominant removal mechanism for atmospheric aerosols. Marine boundary layer clouds cover large swaths of the global oceans. Because of their global significance, they have attracted significant attention into understanding how changes in aerosols are translated into changes in cloud macro- and microphysical properties. The circular nature of the influence of clouds-on-aerosols and aerosols-on-clouds has been used to explain the chaotic patterns often seen in marine clouds, however, this feedback also presents a substantial hurdle in resolving the uncertain role of anthropogenic aerosols on climate. Here we discuss ways in which the chemical constituents found in cloud water can offer insight into the physical and chemical processes inherent in marine clouds, through the use of aircraft measurements. We focus on observational data from cloud water samples collected during flights conducted over the remote North Atlantic and along coastal California across multiple campaigns. We explore topics related to aqueous processing, wet scavenging and source apportionment.

Marine cloud brightening

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom; Coe, Hugh; Connolly, Paul; Cooper, Gary; Craft, Tim; Foster, Jack; Gadian, Alan; Galbraith, Lee; Iacovides, Hector; Johnston, David; Launder, Brian; Leslie, Brian; Meyer, John; Neukermans, Armand; Ormond, Bob; Parkes, Ben; Rasch, Phillip; Rush, John; Salter, Stephen; Stevenson, Tom; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Qin; Wood, Rob

2012-01-01

The idea behind the marine cloud-brightening (MCB) geoengineering technique is that seeding marine stratocumulus clouds with copious quantities of roughly monodisperse sub-micrometre sea water particles might significantly enhance the cloud droplet number concentration, and thereby the cloud albedo and possibly longevity. This would produce a cooling, which general circulation model (GCM) computations suggest could—subject to satisfactory resolution of technical and scientific problems identified herein—have the capacity to balance global warming up to the carbon dioxide-doubling point. We describe herein an account of our recent research on a number of critical issues associated with MCB. This involves (i) GCM studies, which are our primary tools for evaluating globally the effectiveness of MCB, and assessing its climate impacts on rainfall amounts and distribution, and also polar sea-ice cover and thickness; (ii) high-resolution modelling of the effects of seeding on marine stratocumulus, which are required to understand the complex array of interacting processes involved in cloud brightening; (iii) microphysical modelling sensitivity studies, examining the influence of seeding amount, seed-particle salt-mass, air-mass characteristics, updraught speed and other parameters on cloud–albedo change; (iv) sea water spray-production techniques; (v) computational fluid dynamics studies of possible large-scale periodicities in Flettner rotors; and (vi) the planning of a three-stage limited-area field research experiment, with the primary objectives of technology testing and determining to what extent, if any, cloud albedo might be enhanced by seeding marine stratocumulus clouds on a spatial scale of around 100×100 km. We stress that there would be no justification for deployment of MCB unless it was clearly established that no significant adverse consequences would result. There would also need to be an international agreement firmly in favour of such action

Teaching Climatology and Meterology

OpenAIRE

Waddington, Shelagh B.

1997-01-01

Climatology and meteorology are often regarded as very difficult to teach by teachers and very hard to learn by students. This paper presents simple practical exercises which will enable teachers to make the topic of greater interest and easier for students to understand some of the basic ideas.

Determination of clouds in MSG data for the validation of clouds in a regional climate model

OpenAIRE

Huckle, Roger

2009-01-01

Regional climate models (e.g. CLM) can help to asses the influence of the antropogenic climate change on the different regions of the earth. Validation of these models is very important. Satellite data are of great benefit, as data on a global scale and high temporal resolution is available. In this thesis a cloud detection and object based cloud classification for Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) was developed and used to validate CLM clouds. Results show sometimes too many clouds in the CLM.

Climatology and trends of mesospheric (58-90) temperatures based upon 1982-1986 SME limb scattering profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Clancy, R. Todd; Rusch, David W.

1989-01-01

Atmospheric temperature profiles for the altitude range 58-90 km were calculated using data on global UV limb radiances from the SME satellite. The major elements of this climatology include a high vertical resolution (about 4 km) and the coverage of the 70-90 km altitude region. The analysis of this extensive data set provides a global definition of mesospheric-lower thermospheric temperature trends over the 1982-1986 period. The observations suggest a pattern of 1-2 K/year decreases in temperatures at 80-90-km altitudes accompanied by 0.5-1.5 K/year increases in temperatures at 65-80-km altitudes.

Global atmospheric chemistry – which air matters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Prather

2017-07-01

Full Text Available An approach for analysis and modeling of global atmospheric chemistry is developed for application to measurements that provide a tropospheric climatology of those heterogeneously distributed, reactive species that control the loss of methane and the production and loss of ozone. We identify key species (e.g., O3, NOx, HNO3, HNO4, C2H3NO5, H2O, HOOH, CH3OOH, HCHO, CO, CH4, C2H6, acetaldehyde, acetone and presume that they can be measured simultaneously in air parcels on the scale of a few km horizontally and a few tenths of a km vertically. As a first step, six global models have prepared such climatologies sampled at the modeled resolution for August with emphasis on the vast central Pacific Ocean basin. Objectives of this paper are to identify and characterize differences in model-generated reactivities as well as species covariances that could readily be discriminated with an unbiased climatology. A primary tool is comparison of multidimensional probability densities of key species weighted by the mass of such parcels or frequency of occurrence as well as by the reactivity of the parcels with respect to methane and ozone. The reactivity-weighted probabilities tell us which parcels matter in this case, and this method shows skill in differentiating among the models' chemistry. Testing 100 km scale models with 2 km measurements using these tools also addresses a core question about model resolution and whether fine-scale atmospheric structures matter to the overall ozone and methane budget. A new method enabling these six global chemistry–climate models to ingest an externally sourced climatology and then compute air parcel reactivity is demonstrated. Such an objective climatology containing these key species is anticipated from the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom aircraft mission (2015–2020, executing profiles over the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. This modeling study addresses a core part of the design of ATom.

Cloud Computing: Exploring the scope

OpenAIRE

Maurya, Brajesh Kumar

2010-01-01

Cloud computing refers to a paradigm shift to overall IT solutions while raising the accessibility, scalability and effectiveness through its enabling technologies. However, migrated cloud platforms and services cost benefits as well as performances are neither clear nor summarized. Globalization and the recessionary economic times have not only raised the bar of a better IT delivery models but also have given access to technology enabled services via internet. Cloud computing has va...

Near-Surface Meteorology During the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS): Evaluation of Reanalyses and Global Climate Models.

Science.gov (United States)

De Boer, G.; Shupe, M.D.; Caldwell, P.M.; Bauer, Susanne E.; Persson, O.; Boyle, J.S.; Kelley, M.; Klein, S.A.; Tjernstrom, M.

2014-01-01

Atmospheric measurements from the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS) are used to evaluate the performance of three atmospheric reanalyses (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF)- Interim reanalysis, National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis, and NCEP-DOE (Department of Energy) reanalysis) and two global climate models (CAM5 (Community Atmosphere Model 5) and NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) ModelE2) in simulation of the high Arctic environment. Quantities analyzed include near surface meteorological variables such as temperature, pressure, humidity and winds, surface-based estimates of cloud and precipitation properties, the surface energy budget, and lower atmospheric temperature structure. In general, the models perform well in simulating large-scale dynamical quantities such as pressure and winds. Near-surface temperature and lower atmospheric stability, along with surface energy budget terms, are not as well represented due largely to errors in simulation of cloud occurrence, phase and altitude. Additionally, a development version of CAM5, which features improved handling of cloud macro physics, has demonstrated to improve simulation of cloud properties and liquid water amount. The ASCOS period additionally provides an excellent example of the benefits gained by evaluating individual budget terms, rather than simply evaluating the net end product, with large compensating errors between individual surface energy budget terms that result in the best net energy budget.

Cloud Classification in Wide-Swath Passive Sensor Images Aided by Narrow-Swath Active Sensor Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongxia Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available It is a challenge to distinguish between different cloud types because of the complexity and diversity of cloud coverage, which is a significant clutter source that impacts on target detection and identification from the images of space-based infrared sensors. In this paper, a novel strategy for cloud classification in wide-swath passive sensor images is developed, which is aided by narrow-swath active sensor data. The strategy consists of three steps, that is, the orbit registration, most matching donor pixel selection, and cloud type assignment for each recipient pixel. A new criterion for orbit registration is proposed so as to improve the matching accuracy. The most matching donor pixel is selected via the Euclidean distance and the square sum of the radiance relative differences between the recipient and the potential donor pixels. Each recipient pixel is then assigned a cloud type that corresponds to the most matching donor. The cloud classification of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS images is performed with the aid of the data from Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR. The results are compared with the CloudSat product 2B-CLDCLASS, as well as those that are obtained using the method of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP, which demonstrates the superior classification performance of the proposed strategy.

Satellite retrieval of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations by using clouds as CCN chambers

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenfeld, Daniel; Zheng, Youtong; Hashimshoni, Eyal; Pöhlker, Mira L.; Jefferson, Anne; Pöhlker, Christopher; Yu, Xing; Zhu, Yannian; Liu, Guihua; Yue, Zhiguo; Fischman, Baruch; Li, Zhanqing; Giguzin, David; Goren, Tom; Artaxo, Paulo; Pöschl, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Quantifying the aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative effect at a global scale requires simultaneous satellite retrievals of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and cloud base updraft velocities (Wb). Hitherto, the inability to do so has been a major cause of high uncertainty regarding anthropogenic aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative forcing. This can be addressed by the emerging capability of estimating CCN and Wb of boundary layer convective clouds from an operational polar orbiting weather satellite. Our methodology uses such clouds as an effective analog for CCN chambers. The cloud base supersaturation (S) is determined by Wb and the satellite-retrieved cloud base drop concentrations (Ndb), which is the same as CCN(S). Validation against ground-based CCN instruments at Oklahoma, at Manaus, and onboard a ship in the northeast Pacific showed a retrieval accuracy of ±25% to ±30% for individual satellite overpasses. The methodology is presently limited to boundary layer not raining convective clouds of at least 1 km depth that are not obscured by upper layer clouds, including semitransparent cirrus. The limitation for small solar backscattering angles of <25° restricts the satellite coverage to ∼25% of the world area in a single day. PMID:26944081

Providing Access and Visualization to Global Cloud Properties from GEO Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Chee, T.; Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Spangenberg, D.; Palikonda, R.; Ayers, J. K.

2015-12-01

Providing public access to cloud macro and microphysical properties is a key concern for the NASA Langley Research Center Cloud and Radiation Group. This work describes a tool and method that allows end users to easily browse and access cloud information that is otherwise difficult to acquire and manipulate. The core of the tool is an application-programming interface that is made available to the public. One goal of the tool is to provide a demonstration to end users so that they can use the dynamically generated imagery as an input into their own work flows for both image generation and cloud product requisition. This project builds upon NASA Langley Cloud and Radiation Group's experience with making real-time and historical satellite cloud product imagery accessible and easily searchable. As we see the increasing use of virtual supply chains that provide additional value at each link there is value in making satellite derived cloud product information available through a simple access method as well as allowing users to browse and view that imagery as they need rather than in a manner most convenient for the data provider. Using the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Processing Service as our access method, we describe a system that uses a hybrid local and cloud based parallel processing system that can return both satellite imagery and cloud product imagery as well as the binary data used to generate them in multiple formats. The images and cloud products are sourced from multiple satellites and also "merged" datasets created by temporally and spatially matching satellite sensors. Finally, the tool and API allow users to access information that spans the time ranges that our group has information available. In the case of satellite imagery, the temporal range can span the entire lifetime of the sensor.