scholarly journals Bulk Scattering Properties for the Remote Sensing of Ice Clouds. Part II: Narrowband Models

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1896-1911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Baum ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
Andrew J. Heymsfield ◽  
Steven Platnick ◽  
Michael D. King ◽  
...  

Abstract This study examines the development of bulk single-scattering properties of ice clouds, including single-scattering albedo, asymmetry factor, and phase function, for a set of 1117 particle size distributions obtained from analysis of the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE)-I, FIRE-II, Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program intensive observation period, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX), and the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers (CRYSTAL) Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (FACE) data. The primary focus is to develop band-averaged models appropriate for use by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imager on the Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua platforms, specifically for bands located at wavelengths of 0.65, 1.64, 2.13, and 3.75 μm. The results indicate that there are substantial differences in the bulk scattering properties of ice clouds formed in areas of deep convection and those that exist in areas of much lower updraft velocities. Band-averaged bulk scattering property results obtained from a particle-size-dependent mixture of ice crystal habits are compared with those obtained assuming only solid hexagonal columns. The single-scattering albedo is lower for hexagonal columns than for a habit mixture for the 1.64-, 2.13-, and 3.75-μm bands, with the differences increasing with wavelength. In contrast, the asymmetry factors obtained from the habit mixture and only the solid hexagonal column are most different at 0.65 μm, with the differences decreasing as wavelength increases. At 3.75 μm, the asymmetry factor results from the two habit assumptions are almost indistinguishable. The asymmetry factor, single-scattering albedo, and scattering phase functions are also compared with the MODIS version-1 (V1) models. Differences between the current and V1 models can be traced to the microphysical models and specifically to the number of both the smallest and the largest particles assumed in the size distributions.

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Baum ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
Shaima Nasiri ◽  
Andrew K. Heidinger ◽  
Andrew Heymsfield ◽  
...  

Abstract This study reports on the development of bulk single-scattering models for ice clouds that are appropriate for use in hyperspectral radiative transfer cloud modeling over the spectral range from 100 to 3250 cm−1. The models are developed in a manner similar to that recently reported for the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS); therefore these models result in a consistent set of scattering properties from visible to far-infrared wavelengths. The models incorporate a new database of individual ice-particle scattering properties that includes droxtals, 3D bullet rosettes, hexagonal solid and hollow columns, aggregates, and plates. The database provides single-scattering properties for each habit in 45 size bins ranging from 2 to 9500 μm, and for 49 wavenumbers between 100 and 3250 cm−1, which is further interpolated to 3151 discrete wavenumbers on the basis of a third-order spline interpolation method. Bulk models are developed by integrating various properties over both particle habit and size distributions. Individual bulk models are developed for 18 effective diameters Deff, ranging from Deff = 10 μm to Deff = 180 μm. A total of 1117 particle size distributions are used in the analyses and are taken from analysis of the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE)-I, FIRE-II, Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program intensive operation period (ARM-IOP), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Kwajalein Experiment (TRMM-KWAJEX), and Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers Florida-Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) data. The models include microphysical and scattering properties such as median mass diameter, effective diameter, single-scattering albedo, asymmetry factor, and scattering phase function. The spectral models are appropriate for applications involving the interpretation of the radiometric measurements of ice clouds acquired by infrared spectrometers such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the NASA Aqua satellite and the Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the upcoming National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) platforms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 12287-12303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Husi Letu ◽  
Hiroshi Ishimoto ◽  
Jerome Riedi ◽  
Takashi Y. Nakajima ◽  
Laurent C.-Labonnote ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this study, various ice particle habits are investigated in conjunction with inferring the optical properties of ice clouds for use in the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C) satellite programme. We develop a database of the single-scattering properties of five ice habit models: plates, columns, droxtals, bullet rosettes, and Voronoi. The database is based on the specification of the Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI) sensor on board the GCOM-C satellite, which is scheduled to be launched in 2017 by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. A combination of the finite-difference time-domain method, the geometric optics integral equation technique, and the geometric optics method is applied to compute the single-scattering properties of the selected ice particle habits at 36 wavelengths, from the visible to the infrared spectral regions. This covers the SGLI channels for the size parameter, which is defined as a single-particle radius of an equivalent volume sphere, ranging between 6 and 9000 µm. The database includes the extinction efficiency, absorption efficiency, average geometrical cross section, single-scattering albedo, asymmetry factor, size parameter of a volume-equivalent sphere, maximum distance from the centre of mass, particle volume, and six nonzero elements of the scattering phase matrix. The characteristics of calculated extinction efficiency, single-scattering albedo, and asymmetry factor of the five ice particle habits are compared. Furthermore, size-integrated bulk scattering properties for the five ice particle habit models are calculated from the single-scattering database and microphysical data. Using the five ice particle habit models, the optical thickness and spherical albedo of ice clouds are retrieved from the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances-3 (POLDER-3) measurements, recorded on board the Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar (PARASOL) satellite. The optimal ice particle habit for retrieving the SGLI ice cloud properties is investigated by adopting the spherical albedo difference (SAD) method. It is found that the SAD is distributed stably due to the scattering angle increases for bullet rosettes with an effective diameter (Deff) of 10 µm and Voronoi particles with Deff values of 10, 60, and 100 µm. It is confirmed that the SAD of small bullet-rosette particles and all sizes of Voronoi particles has a low angular dependence, indicating that a combination of the bullet-rosette and Voronoi models is sufficient for retrieval of the ice cloud's spherical albedo and optical thickness as effective habit models for the SGLI sensor. Finally, SAD analysis based on the Voronoi habit model with moderate particle size (Deff = 60 µm) is compared with the conventional general habit mixture model, inhomogeneous hexagonal monocrystal model, five-plate aggregate model, and ensemble ice particle model. The Voronoi habit model is found to have an effect similar to that found in some conventional models for the retrieval of ice cloud properties from space-borne radiometric observations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Liu ◽  
Shouguo Ding ◽  
Lei Bi ◽  
Ping Yang

Abstract Nonspherical ice crystal optical properties are of fundamental importance to atmospheric radiative transfer through an ice cloud and the remote sensing of its properties. In practice, the optical properties of individual ice crystals need to be integrated over particle size distributions to derive the bulk optical properties of ice clouds. Given a particle size distribution represented in terms of size bins, the conventional approach uses the microphysical and optical properties of ice crystals at the bin centers as approximations to the bin-averaged values. However, errors are incurred when the size bins are large. To reduce the potential errors, a kernel technique is utilized to calculate the bulk optical properties of ice clouds by computing the bin-averaged values instead of using the bin-center values. Comparisons between the solutions based on the conventional method and the kernel technique for different numbers of size bins from in situ measurements demonstrate that the results computed from the kernel technique are more accurate. The present study illustrates that, for a given size distribution, 40 or more size bins should be used to calculate the bulk optical properties of ice clouds by the conventional method. Although the accuracy of bulk-scattering properties can be improved by using fine bin resolutions in the single-scattering property computation, the advantage of using a precomputed database of scattering kernels allows efficient computation of ice cloud bulk optical properties without losing the accuracy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 02008
Author(s):  
Alexei Kolgotin ◽  
Igor Veselovskii ◽  
Mikhail Korenskiy ◽  
Detlef Müller

Data obtained from HSRL-2 observations carried out on 20 September 2016 during the ORACLES campaign are publicly accessible. In our presentation we invert 3β+2α data into (1) particle size distributions with a regularization algorithm, and subsequently compute (2) single scattering albedo. We carry out a first comparison to the same particle characteristics measured with airborne in-situ instruments. We find good agreement of the data products. However, a more detailed study is needed as correction factors and sources of retrieval and measurement uncertainties need to be tested.


Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Panchenko ◽  
Svetlana Terpugova ◽  
Victor Pol’kin ◽  
Valerii Kozlov ◽  
Dmitry Chernov

The paper presents the generalized empirical model of the aerosol optical characteristics in the lower 5-km layer of the atmosphere of West Siberia. The model is based on the data of long-term airborne sensing of the vertical profiles of the angular scattering coefficient, aerosol disperse composition, as well as the content of absorbing particles. The model provides for retrieval of the aerosol optical characteristics in visible and near IR wavelength ranges (complex refractive index, scattering and absorption coefficients, optical depth, single scattering albedo, and asymmetry factor of the scattering phase function). The main attention in the presented version of the model is given to two aspects: The study of the effect of the size spectrum of the absorbing substance in the composition of aerosol particles on radiative-relevant parameters (the single scattering albedo (SSA) and the asymmetry factor (AF)) and the consideration of different algorithms for taking into account the relative humidity of air. The ranges of uncertainty of SSA and AF at variations in the modal radius of the absorbing fraction at different altitudes in the troposphere are estimated.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Velasco-Merino ◽  
David Mateos ◽  
Carlos Toledano ◽  
Joseph M. Prospero ◽  
Jack Molinie ◽  
...  

Abstract. Mineral dust aerosol can be a major driver of aerosol climatology in regions distant from the sources. This study addresses the change of columnar aerosol properties when mineral dust arrives to the Caribbean Basin after transport from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean. We use data from NASA Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites in five Caribbean and two West African sites to characterize changes in aerosol properties: aerosol optical depth, size distribution, single scattering albedo, and refractive indexes. After obtaining local aerosol climatology in each area, the air mass connections between West Africa and Caribbean Basin have been investigated by means of air mass back trajectories. Over the period 1996–2014 we identify 3174 connection days, on average, 167 connection days per year. Among these, 1162 pairs of data present aerosol data in Caribbean sites with corresponding aerosol observations in Western Africa sites ~5–7 days before. Of these 1162 days, 484 meet the criteria to be characterized as mineral dust outbreaks. Based on these days we observe the following changes in aerosol-related properties in transiting the Atlantic: AOD decreases about 0.16 or −30 %; the volume particle size distribution shape shows no changes; single scattering albedo, refractive indexes, and asymmetry factor remain unchanged; the difference in the effective radius in West African area with respect to Caribbean Basin is between 0 and +0.3 µm; and half of the analyzed cases present predominance of non-spherical particles in both areas.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 7767-7817 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Otto ◽  
M. de Reus ◽  
T. Trautmann ◽  
A. Thomas ◽  
M. Wendisch ◽  
...  

Abstract. This work will present aerosol size distributions measured in a Saharan dust plume between 0.9 and 12 km altitude during the ACE-2 campaign 1997. The distributions contain a significant fraction of large particles of diameters from 4 to 30 μm. Radiative transfer calculations have been performed using these data as input. Shortwave, longwave as well as total atmospheric radiative effects (AREs) of the dust plume are investigated over ocean and desert within the scope of sensitivity studies considering varied input parameters like solar zenith angle, scaled total dust optical depth, tropospheric standard aerosol profiles and particle complex refractive index. The results indicate that the large particle fraction has a predominant impact on the optical properties of the dust. A single scattering albedo of ωo=0.75–0.96 at 550 nm was simulated in the entire dust column as well as 0.76 within the Saharan dust layer at ~4 km altitude indicating enhanced absorption. The measured dust leads to cooling over the ocean but warming over the desert due to differences in their spectral surface albedo and surface temperature. The large particles absorb strongly and they contribute at least 20% to the ARE in the dusty atmosphere. From the measured size distributions modal parameters of a bimodal lognormal column volume size distribution were deduced, resulting in a coarse median diameter of ~9 μm and a column single scattering albedo of 0.78 at 550 nm. A sensitivity study demonstrates that variabilities in the modal parameters can cause completely different AREs and emphasises the warming effect of the large mineral dust particles.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 4346-4365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Field ◽  
Andrew J. Heymsfield ◽  
Aaron Bansemer

Abstract Many microphysical process rates involving snow are proportional to moments of the snow particle size distribution (PSD), and in this study a moment estimation parameterization applicable to both midlatitude and tropical ice clouds is proposed. To this end aircraft snow PSD data were analyzed from tropical anvils [Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/Kwajelein Experiment (TRMM/KWAJEX), Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers-Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE)] and midlatitude stratiform cloud [First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Research Experiment (FIRE), Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM)]. For half of the dataset, moments of the PSDs are computed and a parameterization is generated for estimating other PSD moments when the second moment (proportional to the ice water content when particle mass is proportional to size squared) and temperature are known. Subsequently the parameterization was tested with the other half of the dataset to facilitate an independent comparison. The parameterization for estimating moments can be applied to midlatitude or tropical clouds without requiring prior knowledge of the regime of interest. Rescaling of the tropical and midlatitude size distributions is presented along with fits to allow the user to recreate realistic PSDs given estimates of ice water content and temperature. The effects of using different time averaging were investigated and were found not to be adverse. Finally, the merits of a single-moment snow microphysics versus multimoment representations are discussed, and speculation on the physical differences between the rescaled size distributions from the Tropics and midlatitudes is presented.


2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1740-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof M. Markowicz ◽  
Marcin L. Witek

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of radiative-forcing computations to various contrail crystal shape models. Contrail optical properties in the shortwave and longwave ranges are derived using a ray-tracing geometric method and the discrete dipole approximation method, respectively. Both methods present good correspondence of the single-scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter in a transition range (3–8 μm). There are substantial differences in single-scattering properties among 10 crystal models investigated here (e.g., hexagonal columns and plates with different aspect ratios, and spherical particles). The single-scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter both vary by up to 0.1 among various crystal shapes. The computed single-scattering properties are incorporated in the moderate-resolution atmospheric radiance and transmittance model (MODTRAN) radiative transfer code to simulate solar and infrared fluxes at the top of the atmosphere. Particle shapes have a strong impact on the contrail radiative forcing in both the shortwave and longwave ranges. The differences in the net radiative forcing among optical models reach 50% with respect to the mean model value. The hexagonal-column and hexagonal-plate particles show the smallest net radiative forcing, and the largest forcing is obtained for the spheres. The balance between the shortwave forcing and longwave forcing is highly sensitive with respect to the assumed crystal shape and may even change the sign of the net forcing. The optical depth at which the mean diurnal radiative forcing changes sign from positive to negative varies from 4.5 to 10 for a surface albedo of 0.2 and from 2 to 6.5 for a surface albedo of 0.05. Contrails are probably never that optically thick (except for some aged contrail cirrus), however, and so will not have a cooling effect on climate.


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