scholarly journals A Clustering Approach to Compare Cloud Model Simulations to Satellite Observations

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
pp. 7896-7916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Wang ◽  
Christian Kummerow
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Atmospheric Modeling ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Cloud Type ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
High Frequency Microwave

Abstract Cloud-resolving models (CRMs) offer an important pathway to interpret satellite observations of microphysical properties of storms. High-frequency microwave brightness temperatures (Tbs) respond to precipitating-sized ice particles and can therefore be compared with simulated Tbs at the same frequencies. By clustering the Tb vectors at these frequencies, the scene can be classified into distinct microphysical regimes (in other words, cloud types). A convective storm over the Amazon observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is simulated using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) in a semi-ideal setting, and four regimes are defined within the scene using cluster analysis: the “clear sky/thin cirrus” cluster, the “cloudy” cluster, the “stratiform anvil” cluster, and the “convective” cluster. Cluster-by-cluster comparisons between the observations and the simulations disclose biases in the model that are consistent with an overproduction of supercooled water and an excess of large hail particles. While other problems cannot be completely ruled out, the method does provide some guidance to assess microphysical fidelity within each cluster or cloud type. Guided by the apparent model/observational discrepancies in the convective cloud cluster, the hail size parameter was adjusted in order to produce a greater number of smaller hail particles consistent with the observations. While the work cannot define microphysical errors in an unambiguously fashion, the cluster analysis is seen as useful to isolate individual microphysical inconsistencies that can then be addressed within each cluster of cloud type.

scholarly journals A-Train-Based Case Study of Stratiform–Convective Transition within a Warm Conveyor Belt

2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (6) ◽  
pp. 2069-2084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan A. Crespo ◽  
Derek J. Posselt
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Conveyor Belt ◽  
Convective Clouds ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Passive Measurements ◽  
High Frequency Microwave ◽  
Cloud Top Pressure

Abstract Clouds are both produced by and interact with the mesoscale and synoptic-scale structure of extratropical cyclones (ETCs) in ways that are still not well understood. Cloud-scale radiative and latent heating modifies the thermal environment, leading to a response in the dynamics that can in turn feed back on cloud distribution and microphysical properties. Key to the structure of ETCs is the warm conveyor belt (WCB); the poleward-ascending airstream that produces the bulk of the clouds and precipitation. This paper examines a long-lived WCB that persisted over the western North Atlantic Ocean in nearly the same location for several days. During this time, the storm was sampled multiple times by NASA’s A-Train satellite constellation, and a clear transition from stratiform to convective clouds was observed. Examination of coincident temperature and water vapor data reveals destabilization of the thermodynamic profile after the cyclone reached maturity. CloudSat radar reflectivity from two sequential overpasses of the warm front depicts a change from stratiform to convective cloud structure, and high-frequency microwave data reveal an increase in the amount of ice hydrometeors. The presence of convection may serve to strengthen the warm frontal trough while slowing the movement of the primary low pressure center. The stratiform–convective transition cannot be detected from passive measurements of cloud-top pressure. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of multivariate satellite observations for examining the outcome of dynamic processes in ETCs, and highlight the need for more rapid temporal profiling in future remote sensing observing systems.

Impact of Cloud Model Microphysics on Passive Microwave Retrievals of Cloud Properties. Part I: Model Comparison Using EOF Analyses

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 930-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael I. Biggerstaff ◽  
Eun-Kyoung Seo ◽  
Svetla M. Hristova-Veleva ◽  
Kwang-Yul Kim
Keyword(s):  
Model Comparison ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Mesoscale Convective System ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Cloud Properties ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The impact of model microphysics on the relationships among hydrometeor profiles, latent heating, and derived satellite microwave brightness temperatures TB have been examined using a nonhydrostatic, adaptive-grid cloud model to simulate a mesoscale convective system over water. Two microphysical schemes (each employing three-ice bulk parameterizations) were tested for two different assumptions in the number of ice crystals assumed to be activated at 0°C to produce simulations with differing amounts of supercooled cloud water. The model output was examined using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, which provided a quantitative framework in which to compare the simulations. Differences in the structure of the vertical anomaly patterns were related to physical processes and attributed to different approaches in cloud microphysical parameterizations in the two schemes. Correlations between the first EOF coefficients of cloud properties and TB at frequencies associated with the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) showed additional differences between the two parameterization schemes that affected the relationship between hydrometeors and TB. Classified in terms of TB, the microphysical schemes produced significantly different mean vertical profiles of cloud water, cloud ice, snow, vertical velocity, and latent heating. The impact of supercooled cloud water on the 85-GHz TB led to a 15% variation in mean convective rain mass at the surface. The variability in mean profiles produced by the four simulations indicates that the retrievals of cloud properties, especially latent heating, based on TMI frequencies are dependent on the particular microphysical parameterizations used to construct the retrieval database.

An Evaluation of the Proposed Mechanism of the Adaptive Infrared Iris Hypothesis Using TRMM VIRS and PR Measurements

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 4185-4194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita D. Rapp ◽  
Christian Kummerow ◽  
Wesley Berg ◽  
Brian Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Cloud Amount ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Convective Clouds ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Surface Rainfall

Abstract Significant controversy surrounds the adaptive infrared iris hypothesis put forth by Lindzen et al., whereby tropical anvil cirrus detrainment is hypothesized to decrease with increasing sea surface temperature (SST). This dependence would act as an iris, allowing more infrared radiation to escape into space and inhibiting changes in the surface temperature. This hypothesis assumes that increased precipitation efficiency in regions of higher sea surface temperatures will reduce cirrus detrainment. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite measurements are used here to investigate the adaptive infrared iris hypothesis. Pixel-level Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) 10.8-μm brightness temperature data and precipitation radar (PR) rain-rate data from TRMM are collocated and matched to determine individual convective cloud boundaries. Each cloudy pixel is then matched to the underlying SST. This study examines single- and multicore convective clouds separately to directly determine if a relationship exists between the size of convective clouds, their precipitation, and the underlying SSTs. In doing so, this study addresses some of the criticisms of the Lindzen et al. study by eliminating their more controversial method of relating bulk changes of cloud amount and SST across a large domain in the Tropics. The current analysis does not show any significant SST dependence of the ratio of cloud area to surface rainfall for deep convection in the tropical western and central Pacific. Results do, however, suggest that SST plays an important role in the ratio of cloud area and surface rainfall for warm rain processes. For clouds with brightness temperatures between 270 and 280 K, a net decrease in cloud area normalized by rainfall of 5% per degree SST was found.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of Thermal Infrared Radiation at the Top of the Atmosphere and the Surface to Ice Cloud Microphysics

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 2545-2560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Dubuisson ◽  
Vincent Giraud ◽  
Jacques Pelon ◽  
Bertrand Cadet ◽  
Ping Yang
Keyword(s):  
Optical Thickness ◽  
Particle Shape ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Effective Particle ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper reports on the sensitivity of the brightness temperatures associated with radiances at the surface and the top of the atmosphere, simulated for the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) 8.7-, 10.6-, and 12-μm channels under ice cloudy conditions, to the optical and microphysical properties of ice clouds. The 10.6- and 12-μm channels allow simultaneous retrieval of ice cloud optical thickness and effective particle size (Deff) less than 100 μm. It is illustrated that the particle shape and size distributions of ice crystals have noticeable effects on the brightness temperatures. Using the split window technique based on the 10.6- and 12-μm channels in conjunction with cloud properties assumed a priori, the authors show that the influence of the cloud microphysical properties can lead to differences on the order of ±10% and ±25% in retrieved effective particle sizes for small (Deff < 20 μm) and large particles (Deff > 40 μm), respectively. The impact of cloud model on retrieved optical thickness is on the order of ±10%. Different particle habits may lead to ±25% differences in ice water path (IWP). Theoretically, the use of an additional channel (i.e., 8.7 μm) can give a stronger constraint on cloud model and improve the retrieval of Deff and IWP. The present simulations have confirmed that cloud microphysics has a significant impact on the 8.7-μm brightness temperatures mainly because of particle shape. This impact is larger than the errors of the IIR measurements for cloud optical thicknesses (at 12 μm) ranging from 0.3 to 8. Furthermore, it is shown that the characterization of optical and microphysical properties of ice clouds from ground-based measurements is quite challenging. Especially, water vapor in the atmosphere has an important impact on ground-based cloud retrievals. Observation stations at higher altitudes or airborne measurements would minimize the atmospheric effect.

scholarly journals Analysis on the Evolution and Microphysical Characteristics of Two Consecutive Hailstorms in Spring in Yunnan, China

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Sidou Zhang ◽  
Shiyin Liu ◽  
Tengfei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Maximum Velocity ◽  
Western Pacific Subtropical High ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
High Level

By using products of the cloud model, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Final Operational Global Analysis (FNL) reanalysis data, and Doppler weather radar data, the mesoscale characteristics, microphysical structure, and mechanism of two hail cloud systems which occurred successively within 24 h in southeastern Yunnan have been analyzed. The results show that under the influence of two southwest jets in front of the south branch trough (SBT) and the periphery of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), the northeast-southwest banded echoes affect the southeastern Yunnan of China twice. Meanwhile, the local mesoscale radial wind convergence and uneven wind speed lead to the intense development of convective echoes and the occurrence of hail. The simulated convective cloud bands are similar to the observation. The high-level mesoscale convergence line leads to the development of convective cloud bands. The low-level wind direction or wind speed convergence and the high-level wind speed divergence form a deep tilted updraft, with the maximum velocity of 15 m·s−1 at the −40~−10 °C layer, resulting in the intense development of local convective clouds. The hail embryos form through the conversion or collision growth of cloud water and snowflakes and have little to do with rain and ice crystals. Abundant cloud water, especially the accumulation region of high supercooled water (cloud water) near the 0 °C layer, is the key to the formation of hail embryos, in which qc is up to 1.92 g·kg−1 at the −4~−2 °C layer. The hail embryos mainly grow by collision-coalescence (collision-freezing) with cloud water (supercooled cloud drops) and snow crystal riming.

Combined Radar and Radiometer Analysis of Precipitation Profiles for a Parametric Retrieval Algorithm

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 909-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohiko Masunaga ◽  
Christian D. Kummerow
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Precipitation Measurement ◽  
Microwave Imager ◽  
Trmm Microwave Imager ◽  
Global Precipitation

Abstract A methodology to analyze precipitation profiles using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) and precipitation radar (PR) is proposed. Rainfall profiles are retrieved from PR measurements, defined as the best-fit solution selected from precalculated profiles by cloud-resolving models (CRMs), under explicitly defined assumptions of drop size distribution (DSD) and ice hydrometeor models. The PR path-integrated attenuation (PIA), where available, is further used to adjust DSD in a manner that is similar to the PR operational algorithm. Combined with the TMI-retrieved nonraining geophysical parameters, the three-dimensional structure of the geophysical parameters is obtained across the satellite-observed domains. Microwave brightness temperatures are then computed for a comparison with TMI observations to examine if the radar-retrieved rainfall is consistent in the radiometric measurement space. The inconsistency in microwave brightness temperatures is reduced by iterating the retrieval procedure with updated assumptions of the DSD and ice-density models. The proposed methodology is expected to refine the a priori rain profile database and error models for use by parametric passive microwave algorithms, aimed at the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, as well as a future TRMM algorithms.

Sensitivity of microwave brightness temperatures to hydrometeors in a tropical deep convective cloud system at 89-190 GHz

Radio Science ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Hong ◽  
Georg Heygster ◽  
Jungang Miao ◽  
Klaus Kunzi
Keyword(s):  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Cloud System ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Deep Convective Cloud

Comparison of Ice-Phase Microphysical Parameterization Schemes Using Numerical Simulations of Tropical Convection

1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 985-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michale McCumber ◽  
Wei-Kuo Tao ◽  
Joanne Simpson ◽  
Richard Penc ◽  
Su-Tzai Soong
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Model ◽  
Type Systems ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Tropical Convection ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Cloud Models ◽  
Optimal Mix ◽  
Cloud Ice ◽  
Microphysical Parameterization

Abstract A numerical cloud model is used to evaluate the performance of several ice parameterizations. Results from simulations using these schemes are contrasted with each other, with an ice-free control simulation, and with observations to determine to what extent ice physics affect the realism of these results. Two different types of tropical convection are simulated. Tropical squall-type systems are simulated in two dimensions so that a large domain can be used to incorporate a complete anvil. Nonsquall-type convective lines are simulated in three dimensions owing to their smaller horizontal scale. The inclusion of ice processes enhances the agreement of the simulated convection with some features of observed convection, including the proportion of surface rainfall in the anvil region, and the intensity and structure of the radar brightband near the melting level in the anvil. In the context of our experimental design, the use of three ice classes produces better results than two ice classes or ice-free conditions, and for the tropical cumuli, the optimal mix of the bulk ice hydrometeors is cloud ice-snow-graupel. We infer from our modeling results that application of bulk ice microphysics in cloud models might be case specific, which is a significant limitation. This can have serious ramifications for microwave interpretation of cloud microphysical properties. Generalization of ice processes may require a larger number of ice categories than we have evaluated and/or the prediction of hydrometeor concentrations or particle-size spectra.

scholarly journals The Unexpected Rapid Intensification of Tropical Cyclones in Moderate Vertical Wind Shear. Part I: Overview and Observations

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (11) ◽  
pp. 3773-3800 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Ryglicki ◽  
Joshua H. Cossuth ◽  
Daniel Hodyss ◽  
James D. Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Rapid Intensification ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Idealized Modeling ◽  
Hurricane Prediction ◽  
Upper Level

Abstract A satellite-based investigation is performed of a class of tropical cyclones (TCs) that unexpectedly undergo rapid intensification (RI) in moderate vertical wind shear between 5 and 10 m s−1 calculated as 200–850-hPa shear. This study makes use of both infrared (IR; 11 μm) and water vapor (WV; 6.5 μm) geostationary satellite data, the Statistical Hurricane Prediction Intensity System (SHIPS), and model reanalyses to highlight commonalities of the six TCs. The commonalities serve as predictive guides for forecasters and common features that can be used to constrain and verify idealized modeling studies. Each of the TCs exhibits a convective cloud structure that is identified as a tilt-modulated convective asymmetry (TCA). These TCAs share similar shapes, upshear-relative positions, and IR cloud-top temperatures (below −70°C). They pulse over the core of the TC with a periodicity of between 4 and 8 h. Using WV satellite imagery, two additional features identified are asymmetric warming/drying upshear of the TC relative to downshear, as well as radially thin arc-shaped clouds on the upshear side. The WV brightness temperatures of these arcs are between −40° and −60°C. All of the TCs are sheared by upper-level anticyclones, which limits the strongest environmental winds to near the tropopause.

scholarly journals The Estimation of Hydrometeor Profiles from Wideband Microwave Observations

2000 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1645-1656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail M. Skofronick-Jackson ◽  
James R. Wang
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Atmospheric Research ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Ice Microphysics ◽  
Updraft Region

Abstract Profiles of the microphysical properties of clouds and rain cells are essential in many areas of atmospheric research and operational meteorology. To enhance the understanding of the nonlinear and underconstrained relationships between cloud and hydrometeor microphysical profiles and passive microwave brightness temperatures, estimations of cloud profiles for an anvil region, a convective region, and an updraft region of an oceanic squall were performed. The estimations relied on comparisons between radiative transfer calculations of incrementally estimated microphysical profiles and concurrent dual-altitude wideband brightness temperatures from the 22 February 1993 flight during the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment. The wideband observations (10–220 GHz) are necessary for estimating cloud profiles reaching up to 20 km. The low frequencies enhance the rain and cloud water profiles, and the high frequencies are required to detail the higher-altitude ice microphysics. A microphysical profile was estimated for each of the three regions of the storm. Each of the three estimated profiles produced calculated brightness temperatures within ∼10 K of the observations. A majority of the total iterative adjustments were to the estimated profile’s frozen hydrometeor characteristics and were necessary to match the high-frequency calculations with the observations. This requirement indicates a need to validate cloud-resolving models using high frequencies. Some difficulties matching the 37-GHz observation channels on the DC-8 and ER-2 aircraft with the calculations simulated at the two aircraft heights (∼11 km and 20 km, respectively) were noted, and potential causes were presented.

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