scholarly journals Assessment of ice cloud modeling capabilities for the irregularly shaped Voronoi models in climate simulations with CAM5

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Li ◽  
Husi Letu ◽  
Yiran Peng ◽  
Hiroshi Ishimoto ◽  
Yanluan Lin ◽  
...  

Abstract. Climate models and satellite remote sensing applications require accurate descriptions of ice cloud optical and radiative properties through parameterization of their scattering properties. While abundant irregularly shaped ice particle habits present a challenge for modelling ice clouds. An irregularly shaped ice particle habit (Voronoi model) has been developed and recently suggested to be effective in inferring the microphysical and radiative properties of ice clouds from Himawari-8 and GCOM-C satellite measurements. As a continuation of previous work by Letu et al. (2016), in this study, we develop a broadband ice cloud scheme based on the Voronoi model through parameterization for use in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 5 (CAM5). With single scattering properties of Voronoi model, ice cloud bulk scattering properties are integrate over particle size distributions of 11 field campaigns and are parameterized over particle effective diameter. The new ice cloud scheme is compared with four ice cloud schemes (the Yi, Mitchell, Baum-yang and Fu scheme), and is evaluated through the General circulation model version of the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTMG), and simulations of the top of atmosphere (TOA) shortwave and longwave cloud forcing (SWCF and LWCF) in CAM5. The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite data was selected as validation data. Results indicated that the Voronoi scheme can minimize differences between the satellite-based measurements and CAM5 simulations of global TOA SWCF compared to other four schemes, but performance is not significant for TOA LWCF. For tropical ice clouds, Voronoi scheme has advantages of ice cloud modelling capabilities for shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) spectrum over other four schemes. In general, it is found that the Voronoi model has advantages over conventional ice cloud schemes and is sufficient for ice cloud modelling in climate simulations with CAM5.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Garnier ◽  
Jacques Pelon ◽  
Nicolas Pascal ◽  
Mark A. Vaughan ◽  
Philippe Dubuisson ◽  
...  

Abstract. Following the release of the Version 4 Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) data products from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission, a new version 4 (V4) of the CALIPSO Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) Level 2 data products has been developed. The IIR Level 2 data products include cloud effective emissivities and cloud microphysical properties such as effective diameter and ice or liquid water path estimates. Dedicated retrievals for water clouds were added in V4, taking advantage of the high sensitivity of the IIR retrieval technique to small particle sizes. This paper (Part I) describes the improvements in the V4 algorithms compared to those used in the version 3 (V3) release, while results will be presented in a companion (Part II) paper. To reduce biases at very small emissivities that were made evident in V3, the radiative transfer model used to compute clear sky brightness temperatures over oceans has been updated and tuned for the simulations using MERRA-2 data to match IIR observations in clear sky conditions. Furthermore, the clear-sky mask has been refined compared to V3 by taking advantage of additional information now available in the V4 CALIOP 5-km layer products used as an input to the IIR algorithm. After sea surface emissivity adjustments, observed and computed brightness temperatures differ by less than ± 0.2 K at night for the three IIR channels centered at 08.65, 10.6, and 12.05 µm, and inter-channel biases are reduced from several tens of Kelvin in V3 to less than 0.1 K in V4. We have also aimed at improving retrievals in ice clouds having large optical depths by refining the determination of the radiative temperature needed for emissivity computation. The initial V3 estimate, namely the cloud centroid temperature derived from CALIOP, is corrected using a parameterized function of temperature difference between cloud base and top altitudes, cloud absorption optical depth, and the CALIOP multiple scattering correction factor. As shown in Part II, this improvement reduces the low biases at large optical depths that were seen in V3, and increases the number of retrievals in dense ice clouds. As in V3, the IIR microphysical retrievals use the concept of microphysical indices applied to the pairs of IIR channels at 12.05 μm and 10.6 μm and at 12.05 μm and 08.65 μm. The V4 algorithm uses ice look-up tables (LUTs) built using two ice crystal models from the recent TAMUice 2016 database, namely the single hexagonal column model and the 8-element column aggregate model, from which bulk properties are synthesized using a gamma size distribution. Four sets of effective diameters derived from a second approach are also reported in V4. Here, the LUTs are analytical functions relating microphysical index applied to IIR channels 12.05 µm and 10.6 µm and effective diameter as derived from in situ measurements at tropical and mid-latitudes during the TC4 and SPARTICUS field experiments.


2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ninghai Sun ◽  
Fuzhong Weng

AbstractThe Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F-16 spacecraft measures the Earth-emitted radiation at frequencies from 19 to 183 GHz. From its high-frequency channels at 91 and 150 GHz, cloud microphysical parameters can be observed at a spatial resolution of 15 km. In this study, a simplified two-stream radiative transfer model is applied for microwave applications as a three-parameter equation and then used to retrieve the ice cloud water path (IWP) and ice particle effective diameter De. Since SSMIS is a conically scanning instrument, the retrieved IWP is less dependent on scan position and is a useful product for imaging atmospheric ice-phase clouds related to precipitation. Thus, IWP is also used to estimate surface rainfall rate through the same relationship derived previously and used in Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-B) and Microwave Humidity Sounder applications. The SSMIS-derived ice cloud products are compared with those from other microwave instruments on the MetOp-A satellite, and both agree well in their spatial distributions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 872-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shouguo Ding ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
Bryan A. Baum ◽  
Andrew Heidinger ◽  
Thomas Greenwald

AbstractThis paper describes the development of an ice cloud radiance simulator for the anticipated Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R (GOES-R) Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) solar channels. The simulator is based on the discrete ordinates radiative transfer (DISORT) model. A set of correlated k-distribution (CKD) models is developed for the ABI solar channels to account for atmospheric trace gas absorption. The CKD models are based on the ABI spectral response functions and also consider when multiple gases have overlapping absorption. The related errors of the transmittance profile are estimated on the basis of the exact line-by-line results, and it is found that errors in transmittance are less than 0.2% for all but one of the ABI solar channels. The exception is for the 1.378-μm channel, centered near a strong water vapor absorption band, for which the errors are less than 2%. For ice clouds, the band-averaged bulk-scattering properties for each ABI [and corresponding Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)] solar channel are derived using an updated single-scattering property database of both smooth and severely roughened ice particles, which include droxtals, hexagonal plates, hexagonal hollow and solid columns, three-dimensional hollow and solid bullet rosettes, and several types of aggregates. The comparison shows close agreement between the radiance simulator and the benchmark model, the line-by-line radiative transfer model (LBLRTM)+DISORT model. The radiances of the ABI and corresponding MODIS measurements are compared. The results show that the radiance differences between the ABI and MODIS channels under ice cloud conditions are likely due to the different band-averaged imaginary indices of refraction.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 595-634
Author(s):  
A. Lampert ◽  
A. Ehrlich ◽  
A. Dörnbrack ◽  
O. Jourdan ◽  
J.-F. Gayet ◽  
...  

Abstract. During the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign, which was conducted in March and April 2007, an optically thin ice cloud was observed at around 3 km altitude south of Svalbard. The microphysical and radiative properties of this particular subvisible midlevel cloud were investigated with complementary remote sensing and in-situ instruments. Collocated airborne lidar remote-sensing and spectral solar radiation measurements were performed at a flight altitude of 2300 m below the cloud base. Under almost stationary atmospheric conditions, the same subvisible midlevel cloud was probed with various in-situ sensors roughly 30 min later. From individual ice crystal samples detected with the Cloud Particle Imager and the ensemble of particles measured with the Polar Nephelometer, we retrieved the single-scattering albedo, the scattering phase function as well as the volume extinction coefficient and the effective diameter of the crystal population. Furthermore, a lidar ratio of 21 (±6) sr was deduced by two independent methods. These parameters in conjunction with the cloud optical thickness obtained from the lidar measurements were used to compute spectral and broadband radiances and irradiances with a radiative transfer code. The simulated results agreed with the observed spectral downwelling radiance within the range given by the measurement uncertainty. Furthermore, the broadband radiative simulations estimated a net (solar plus thermal infrared) radiative forcing of the subvisible midlevel ice cloud of −0.4 W m−2 (−3.2 W m−2 in the solar and +2.8 W m−2 in the thermal infrared wavelength range).


2018 ◽  
Vol 204 ◽  
pp. 37-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjie Zhao ◽  
Yiran Peng ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Bingqi Yi ◽  
Yanluan Lin ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 2794-2807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingqi Yi ◽  
Ping Yang ◽  
Bryan A. Baum ◽  
Tristan L'Ecuyer ◽  
Lazaros Oreopoulos ◽  
...  

Abstract 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−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−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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 6865-6882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Haapanala ◽  
Petri Räisänen ◽  
Greg M. McFarquhar ◽  
Jussi Tiira ◽  
Andreas Macke ◽  
...  

Abstract. The impact of ice clouds on solar disk and circumsolar radiances is investigated using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model. The monochromatic direct and diffuse radiances are simulated at angles of 0 to 8° from the center of the sun. Input data for the model are derived from measurements conducted during the 2010 Small Particles in Cirrus (SPARTICUS) campaign together with state-of-the-art databases of optical properties of ice crystals and aerosols. For selected cases, the simulated radiances are compared with ground-based radiance measurements obtained by the Sun and Aureole Measurements (SAM) instrument. First, the sensitivity of the radiances to the ice cloud properties and aerosol optical thickness is addressed. The angular dependence of the disk and circumsolar radiances is found to be most sensitive to assumptions about ice crystal roughness (or, more generally, non-ideal features of ice crystals) and size distribution, with ice crystal habit playing a somewhat smaller role. Second, in comparisons with SAM data, the ice cloud optical thickness is adjusted for each case so that the simulated radiances agree closely (i.e., within 3 %) with the measured disk radiances. Circumsolar radiances at angles larger than ≈ 3° are systematically underestimated when assuming smooth ice crystals, whereas the agreement with the measurements is better when rough ice crystals are assumed. Our results suggest that it may well be possible to infer the particle roughness directly from ground-based SAM measurements. In addition, the results show the necessity of correcting the ground-based measurements of direct radiation for the presence of diffuse radiation in the instrument's field of view, in particular in the presence of ice clouds.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 13719-13737 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Liu ◽  
P. Yang ◽  
P. Minnis ◽  
N. Loeb ◽  
S. Kato ◽  
...  

Abstract. To provide a better representation of natural ice clouds, a novel ice cloud model is developed by assuming an ice cloud to consist of an ensemble of hexagonal columns and 20-element aggregates with specific habit fractions at each particle size bin. The microphysical and optical properties of this two-habit model (THM) are compared with both laboratory and in situ measurements, and its performance in downstream satellite remote sensing applications is assessed. The ice water contents and median mass diameters calculated based on the THM closely agree with in situ measurements made during 11 field campaigns. In this study, the scattering, absorption, and polarization properties of ice crystals are calculated with a combination of the invariant imbedding T matrix, pseudo-spectral time domain, and improved geometric-optics methods over an entire practical range of particle sizes. The phase functions, calculated based on the THM, show close agreement with counterparts from laboratory and in situ measurements and from satellite-based retrievals. When the THM is applied to the retrievals of cloud microphysical and optical properties from MODIS (the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) observations, excellent spectral consistency is achieved; specifically, the retrieved cloud optical thicknesses based on the visible/near infrared bands and the thermal infrared bands agree quite well. Furthermore, a comparison between the polarized reflectivities observed by the PARASOL satellite and from theoretical simulations illustrates that the THM can be used to represent ice cloud polarization properties.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1457-1467 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Strauss ◽  
R. Meerkoetter ◽  
B. Wissinger ◽  
P. Wendling ◽  
M. Hess

Abstract. The impact of contrail-induced cirrus clouds on regional climate is estimated for mean atmospheric conditions of southern Germany in the months of July and October. This is done by use of a regionalized one-dimensional radiative convective model (RCM). The influence of an increased ice cloud cover is studied by comparing RCM results representing climatological values with a modified case. In order to study the sensitivity of this effect on the radiative characteristics of the ice cloud, two types of additional ice clouds were modelled: cirrus and contrails, the latter cloud type containing a higher number of smaller and less of the larger cloud particles. Ice cloud parameters are calculated on the basis of a particle size distribution which covers the range from 2 to 2000 µm, taking into consideration recent measurements which show a remarkable amount of particles smaller than 20 µm. It turns out that a 10% increase in ice cloud cover leads to a surface temperature increase in the order of 1K, ranging from 1.1 to 1.2K in July and from 0.8 to 0.9K in October depending on the radiative characteristics of the air-traffic-induced ice clouds. Modelling the current contrail cloud cover which is near 0.5% over Europe yields a surface temperature increase in the order of 0.05K.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2647-2661 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lampert ◽  
A. Ehrlich ◽  
A. Dörnbrack ◽  
O. Jourdan ◽  
J.-F. Gayet ◽  
...  

Abstract. During the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign, which was conducted in March and April 2007, an optically thin ice cloud was observed south of Svalbard at around 3 km altitude. The microphysical and radiative properties of this particular subvisible midlevel cloud were investigated with complementary remote sensing and in situ instruments. Collocated airborne lidar remote sensing and spectral solar radiation measurements were performed at a flight altitude of 2300 m below the cloud base. Under almost stationary atmospheric conditions, the same subvisible midlevel cloud was probed with various in situ sensors roughly 30 min later. From individual ice crystal samples detected with the Cloud Particle Imager and the ensemble of particles measured with the Polar Nephelometer, microphysical properties were retrieved with a bi-modal inversion algorithm. The best agreement with the measurements was obtained for small ice spheres and deeply rough hexagonal ice crystals. Furthermore, the single-scattering albedo, the scattering phase function as well as the volume extinction coefficient and the effective diameter of the crystal population were determined. A lidar ratio of 21(±6) sr was deduced by three independent methods. These parameters in conjunction with the cloud optical thickness obtained from the lidar measurements were used to compute spectral and broadband radiances and irradiances with a radiative transfer code. The simulated results agreed with the observed spectral downwelling radiance within the range given by the measurement uncertainty. Furthermore, the broadband radiative simulations estimated a net (solar plus thermal infrared) radiative forcing of the subvisible midlevel ice cloud of −0.4 W m−2 (−3.2 W m−2 in the solar and +2.8 W m−2 in the thermal infrared wavelength range).


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