scholarly journals Ice and mixed-phase cloud statistics on the Antarctic Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 13811-13833
Author(s):  
William Cossich ◽  
Tiziano Maestri ◽  
Davide Magurno ◽  
Michele Martinazzo ◽  
Gianluca Di Natale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Far Infrared ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Sky Conditions ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. Statistics on the occurrence of clear skies, ice clouds, and mixed-phase clouds over Concordia Station, in the Antarctic Plateau, are provided for multiple timescales and analyzed in relation to simultaneous meteorological parameters measured at the surface. Results are obtained by applying a machine learning cloud identification and classification (CIC) code to 4 years of measurements between 2012–2015 of downwelling high-spectral-resolution radiances, measured by the Radiation Explorer in the Far Infrared – Prototype for Applications and Development (REFIR-PAD) spectroradiometer. The CIC algorithm is optimized for Antarctic sky conditions and results in a total hit rate of almost 0.98, where 1.0 is a perfect score, for the identification of the clear-sky, ice cloud, and mixed-phase cloud classes. Scene truth is provided by lidar measurements that are concurrent with REFIR-PAD. The CIC approach demonstrates the key role of far-infrared spectral measurements for clear–cloud discrimination and for cloud phase classification. Mean annual occurrences are 72.3 %, 24.9 %, and 2.7 % for clear sky, ice clouds, and mixed-phase clouds, respectively, with an inter-annual variability of a few percent. The seasonal occurrence of clear sky shows a minimum in winter (66.8 %) and maxima (75 %–76 %) during intermediate seasons. In winter the mean surface temperature is about 9 ∘C colder in clear conditions than when ice clouds are present. Mixed-phase clouds are observed only in the warm season; in summer they amount to more than one-third of total observed clouds. Their occurrence is correlated with warmer surface temperatures. In the austral summer, the mean surface air temperature is about 5 ∘C warmer when clouds are present than in clear-sky conditions. This difference is larger during the night than in daylight hours, likely due to increased solar warming. Monthly mean results are compared to cloud occurrence and fraction derived from gridded (Level 3) satellite products from both passive and active sensors. The differences observed among the considered products and the CIC results are analyzed in terms of footprint sizes and sensors' sensitivities to cloud optical and geometrical features. The comparison highlights the ability of the CIC–REFIR-PAD synergy to identify multiple cloud conditions and study their variability at different timescales.

scholarly journals Ice and Mixed-Phase Cloud Statistics on Antarctic Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cossich ◽  
Tiziano Maestri ◽  
Davide Magurno ◽  
Michele Martinazzo ◽  
Gianluca Di Natale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Sky Conditions ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. Statistics on the occurrence of clear skies, ice and mixed-phase clouds over the Concordia station, in the Antarctic Plateau, are provided for multiple time scales and analysed in relation to simultaneous meteorological parameters measured at the surface. Results are obtained by applying a machine learning cloud identification and classification code (named CIC) to 4 years of measurements between 2012–2105 of down-welling high spectral resolution radiances, measured by the Radiation Explorer in the Far Infrared-Prototype for Applications and Development (REFIR-PAD) spectroradiometer. The CIC algorithm is optimized for Antarctic sky conditions (clear sky, ice clouds, and mixed-phase clouds) and results in a total hit rate of almost 0.98, where 1.0 is a perfect score. Scene truth is provided by LiDAR measurements that are concurrent with REFIR-PAD. The CIC approach demonstrates the key role of far infrared spectral measurements for clear/cloud discrimination and for cloud phase classification. Mean annual occurrences are 72.3 %, 24.9 % and 2.7 % for clear sky, ice and mixed-phase clouds respectively, with an inter-annual variability of a few percent. The seasonal occurrence of clear sky shows a minimum in winter (66.8 %) and maxima (75–76 %) during intermediate seasons. In winter the mean surface temperature is about 9 °C colder in clear conditions than when ice clouds are present. Mixed-phase clouds are observed only in the warm season; in summer they amount to more than one third of total observed clouds. Their occurrence is correlated with warmer surface temperatures. In the austral summer, the mean surface air temperature is about 5 °C warmer when clouds are present than in clear sky conditions. This difference is larger during the night than in daylight hours, likely due to increased solar warming. A comparison of monthly mean results with cloud occurrence/fraction derived from gridded (Level-3) satellite products, from both passive and active sensors, emphasizes the difficulty of adequately inferring cloud/clear-sky properties in the Antarctic region and highlights the ability of the CIC/REFIR-PAD synergy to identify multiple cloud conditions and study their variability at different time scales.

Antarctic cloud detection and classification from far and mid infrared downwelling radiance spectra: performances optimization and results

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Magurno ◽  
Tiziano Maestri ◽  
William Cossich ◽  
Gianluca Di Natale ◽  
Luca Palchetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Radiative Properties ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Mid Infrared ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Threat Score ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

<p>This work aims at determining the best performing mid and far-infrared (MIR and FIR) joint spectral interval to identify and classify clouds in the Antarctic region by mean of a machine learning algorithm.</p><p>About 1700 spectral-resolved radiances, collected during 2013 by the ground based Radiation Explorer in the Far InfraRed-Prototype for Applications and Development, REFIR-PAD (Palchetti et al., 2015) at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau, are selected in coincidence with the co-located with backscatter and depolarization profiles derived from a tropospheric lidar system (Ricaud et al., 2017) to pre-classify clear sky, ice clouds, or mixed phase clouds.</p><p>A machine learning cloud identification and classification algorithm named CIC (Maestri et al., 2019), trained with a pre-selected set of REFIR-PAD spectra, is applied to this dataset by assuming that no other information than the spectrum itself is known.</p><p>The CIC algorithm is applied by considering different spectral intervals, in order to maximize the classification results for each class (clear sky, ice clouds, mixed phase clouds). A CIC "threat score" is defined as the classification true positives divided by the sum of true positives, false positives, and false negatives. The maximization of the threat score is used to assess the algorithm performances that span from 58% to 96% in accordance with the selected interval. The best performing spectral range is the 380-1000 cm<sup>-1</sup>. The result, besides suggesting the importance of a proper algorithm calibration in accordance with the used sensor, highlights the fundamental role of the FIR part of the spectrum.</p><p>The calibrated CIC algorithm is then applied to a larger REFIR-PAD dataset of about 90000 spectra collected from 2012 to 2015. Some results of the full dataset cloud classification are also presented.</p><p>The present work contributes to the preparatory studies for the Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission that has recently been selected as ESA’s 9<sup>th</sup> Earth Explorer mission, scheduled for launch in 2026. </p><p> </p><p>References:</p><p><span>Maestri, T., Cossich, W., and Sbrolli, I., 2019: Cloud identification and classification from high spectral resolution data in the far infrared and mid-infrared, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, pp. 3521 - 3540</span></p><p><span>Palchetti, L., Bianchini, G., Di Natale, G., and Del Guasta, M., 2015: Far infrared radiative properties of water vapor and clouds in Antarctica. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96, 1505–1518, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00286.1.</span></p><p><span>Ricaud, P., Bazile, E., del Guasta, M., Lanconelli, C., Grigioni, P., and Mahjoub, A., 2017: Genesis of diamond dust, ice fog and thick cloud episodes observed and modelled above Dome C, Antarctica, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5221–5237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5221-2017.</span></p>

scholarly journals Measurements of UV irradiance within the area of one satellite pixel

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (18) ◽  
pp. 5615-5626 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Weihs ◽  
M. Blumthaler ◽  
H. E. Rieder ◽  
A. Kreuter ◽  
S. Simic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ozone Monitoring Instrument ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Uv Index ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Uv Irradiance ◽  
Instantaneous Values ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Sky Conditions ◽  
Better Than

Abstract. A measurement campaign was performed in the region of Vienna and its surroundings from May to July 2007. Within the scope of this campaign erythemal UV was measured at six ground stations within a radius of 30 km. First, the homogeneity of the UV levels within the area of one satellite pixel was studied. Second, the ground UV was compared to ground UV retrieved by the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) onboard the NASA EOS Aura Spacecraft. During clear-sky conditions the mean bias between erythemal UV measured by the different stations was within the measurement uncertainty of ±5%. Short term fluctuations of UV between the stations were below 3% within a radius of 20 km. For partly cloudy conditions and overcast conditions the discrepancy of instantaneous values between the stations is up to 200% or even higher. If averages of the UV index over longer time periods are compared the difference between the stations decreases strongly. The agreement is better than 20% within a distance of 10 km between the stations for 3 h averages. The comparison with OMI UV showed for clear-sky conditions higher satellite retrieved UV values by, on the average, approximately 15%. The ratio of OMI to ground measured UV lies between 0.9 and 1.5. and strongly depends on the aerosol optical depth. For partly cloudy and overcast conditions the OMI derived surface UV estimates show larger deviation from the ground-based reference data, and even bigger systematic positive bias. Here the ratio OMI to ground data lies between 0.5 and 4.5. The average difference between OMI and ground measurements is +24 to +37% for partly cloudy conditions and more than +50% for overcast conditions.

scholarly journals Astronomy from Antarctica

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.W.V. STOREY
Keyword(s):  
Absolute Humidity ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Earth Like Planets ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
City Centres ◽  
Optical Telescopes

Astronomers have always sought the very best locations for their telescopes. From observatories in city centres, astronomers moved first to nearby mountain tops, then to remote sites in distant countries, to aircraft, and into space. In the past decade we have come to realize that the best astronomical observing conditions on the surface of the earth are to be found on the Antarctic plateau. The combination of high altitude, low temperature, low absolute humidity, low wind and extremely stable atmosphere offers astronomers gains in sensitivity and measurement precision that can exceed two orders of magnitude over even the best temperate sites. In addition, spectral windows are opened up – particularly in the far-infrared and terahertz regions – that are otherwise only accessible from high-flying aircraft or from space. Established and highly successful telescopes at the South Pole are soon to be joined by a new generation of facilities at Concordia Station, including large telescopes and interferometers. It has even been suggested that the largest optical telescopes currently proposed, with diameters of up to 100 m, might achieve their science goals at a lower overall cost if they are built on the Antarctic plateau rather than at a temperate site. Such telescopes offer the possibility of not only detecting earth-like planets in other star systems, but also of analysing their atmospheres spectroscopically.

scholarly journals The potential influence of Asian and African mineral dust on ice, mixed-phase and liquid water clouds

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 4027-4077 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Wiacek ◽  
T. Peter ◽  
U. Lohmann
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Water ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Cloud Processing ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

Abstract. This modelling study explores the availability of mineral dust particles as ice nuclei for interactions with ice, mixed-phase and liquid water clouds, also tracking the particles' history of cloud-processing. We performed 61 320 one-week forward trajectory calculations originating near the surface of major dust emitting regions in Africa and Asia using high-resolution meteorological analysis fields for the year 2007. Without explicitly modelling dust emission and deposition processes, dust-bearing trajectories were assumed to be those coinciding with known dust emission seasons. We found that dust emissions from Asian deserts lead to a higher potential for interactions with high clouds, despite being the climatologically much smaller dust emission source. This is due to Asian regions experiencing significantly more ascent than African regions, with strongest ascent in the Asian Taklimakan desert at ~25%, ~40% and 10% of trajectories ascending to 300 hPa in spring, summer and fall, respectively. The specific humidity at each trajectory's starting point was transported in a Lagrangian manner and relative humidities with respect to water and ice were calculated in 6-h steps downstream, allowing us to estimate the formation of liquid, mixed-phase and ice clouds. Practically none of the simulated air parcels reached regions where homogeneous ice nucleation can take place (T≲−40 °C) along trajectories that have not experienced water saturation first. By far the largest fraction of cloud forming trajectories entered conditions of mixed-phase clouds, where mineral dust will potentially exert the biggest influence. The majority of trajectories also passed through regions supersaturated with respect to ice but subsaturated with respect to water, where "warm" (T≳−40 °C) ice clouds may form prior to supercooled water or mixed-phase clouds. The importance of "warm" ice clouds and the general influence of dust in the mixed-phase cloud region are highly uncertain due to considerable scatter in recent laboratory data from ice nucleation experiments, which we briefly review in this work. For "classical" cirrus-forming temperatures, our results show that only mineral dust IN that underwent mixed-phase cloud-processing previously are likely to be relevant, and, therefore, we recommend further systematic studies of immersion mode ice nucleation on mineral dust suspended in atmospherically relevant coatings.

A Model for the Angular Distribution of Sky Radiance

1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. Hooper ◽  
A. P. Brunger
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Distribution ◽  
Total Solar Radiation ◽  
Diffuse Component ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Solar Radiation Incident ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Rms Error ◽  
Sky Radiance ◽  
Sky Conditions ◽  
Overcast Sky

A flexible mathematical model is introduced which describes the radiance of the dome of the sky under various conditions. This three-component continuous distribution (TCCD) model is compounded by the superposition of three separate terms, isotropic, circumsolar and horizon-brightening factors, each representing the contribution of a distinguishable sky characteristic. In use, a particular sky condition is characterized by the values of the coefficients of each of these three terms, defining the distribution of the total diffuse component. The TCCD model has been demonstrated to fit both the normalized clear sky data and the normalized overcast sky data with an RMS error of about ten percent of the mean overall sky radiance. By extension the model could describe variable or partly clouded sky conditions. The model will permit improvement in the prediction of the total solar radiation incident upon a surface of given tilt and orientation, such as that of a solar collector.

scholarly journals The importance of mixed-phase and ice clouds for climate sensitivity in the global aerosol–climate model ECHAM6-HAM2

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 8807-8828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Lohmann ◽  
David Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Sensitivity ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Supercooled Liquid ◽  
Cloud Feedback ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

Abstract. How clouds change in a warmer climate remains one of the largest uncertainties for the equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS). While a large spread in the cloud feedback arises from low-level clouds, it was recently shown that mixed-phase clouds are also important for ECS. If mixed-phase clouds in the current climate contain too few supercooled cloud droplets, too much ice will change to liquid water in a warmer climate. As shown by Tan et al. (2016), this overestimates the negative cloud-phase feedback and underestimates ECS in the CAM global climate model (GCM). Here we use the newest version of the ECHAM6-HAM2 GCM to investigate the importance of mixed-phase and ice clouds for ECS. Although we also considerably underestimate the fraction of supercooled liquid water globally in the reference version of the ECHAM6-HAM2 GCM, we do not obtain increases in ECS in simulations with more supercooled liquid water in the present-day climate, different from the findings by Tan et al. (2016). We hypothesize that it is not the global supercooled liquid water fraction that matters, but only how well low- and mid-level mixed-phase clouds with cloud-top temperatures in the mixed-phase temperature range between 0 and −35 ∘C that are not shielded by higher-lying ice clouds are simulated. These occur most frequently in midlatitudes, in particular over the Southern Ocean where they determine the amount of absorbed shortwave radiation. In ECHAM6-HAM2 the amount of absorbed shortwave radiation over the Southern Ocean is only significantly overestimated if all clouds below 0 ∘C consist exclusively of ice. Only in this simulation is ECS significantly smaller than in all other simulations and the cloud optical depth feedback is the dominant cloud feedback. In all other simulations, the cloud optical depth feedback is weak and changes in cloud feedbacks associated with cloud amount and cloud-top pressure dominate the overall cloud feedback. However, apart from the simulation with only ice below 0 ∘C, differences in the overall cloud feedback are not translated into differences in ECS in our model. This insensitivity to the cloud feedback in our model is explained with compensating effects in the clear sky.

scholarly journals Optimizing UV index determination from broadband irradiances

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith A. Tereszchuk ◽  
Yves J. Rochon ◽  
Chris A. McLinden ◽  
Paul A. Vaillancourt
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Transfer ◽  
Root Mean Square ◽  
Uv Radiation ◽  
Relative Error ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Mean Square ◽  
Uv Index ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Sky Conditions

Abstract. Amidst mounting concerns about the depletion of stratospheric ozone (O3), and for subsequent increases in the surface irradiances of ultraviolet (UV) light and its effects on human health, a daily UV forecast program was launched by Environment Canada in 1993. The program serves to monitor harmful surface UV radiation and provide this information to the Canadian public through the UV index, a scale which reports the relative intensity of the Sun's UV radiation at the Earth's surface, and the corresponding protection actions to be taken. The UV index was accepted as a standard method of reporting surface UV irradiances by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in 1994. A study was undertaken to improve upon the prognosticative capability of Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) UV index forecast model. An aspect of that work, and the topic of this communication, was to investigate the use of the four UV broadband surface irradiance fields generated by ECCC's Global Environmental Multi-scale (GEM) numerical prediction model to determine the UV index. The basis of the investigation involves the creation of a suite of routines which employ high spectral resolution radiative transfer code developed to calculate UV index fields from GEM forecasts. These routines employ a modified version of the Cloud-J v7.4 radiative transfer model, which integrates GEM output to produce high spectral resolution surface irradiance fields. The output generated using the high-resolution radiative transfer code served to verify and calibrate GEM broadband surface irradiances under clear-sky conditions and their use in providing the UV index. A subsequent comparison of irradiances and UV index under cloudy conditions was also performed. Linear correlation agreement of surface irradiances from the two models for each of the two higher UV bands covering 310–330 nm and 330–400 nm is typically greater than 95 % for clear-sky conditions with associated root mean square relative errors of 5.5 % and 3.8 %. On the other hand, underestimations of clear-sky GEM irradiances were found on the order of ~30–50 % for the 294–310 nm band and by a factor of ~30 for the 280–294 nm band. This underestimation can be significant for UV index determination but would not impact weather forecasting. Corresponding empirical adjustments were applied to the broadband irradiances now giving a correlation coefficient of unity. From these, a least-squares fitting was derived for the calculation of the UV index. The resultant differences in UV indices from the high spectral resolution irradiances and the resultant GEM broadband irradiances are typically within 0.2 with a root mean square relative error in the scatter of ~5.5 % for clear-sky conditions. Similar results are reproduced under cloudy conditions with light to moderate clouds, having a relative error comparable to the clear-sky counterpart; under strong attenuation due to clouds, a substantial increase in the root mean square relative error of up to 30 % is observed due to differing cloud radiative transfer models.

scholarly journals The potential influence of Asian and African mineral dust on ice, mixed-phase and liquid water clouds

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 8649-8667 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Wiacek ◽  
T. Peter ◽  
U. Lohmann
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Water ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Cloud Processing ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

Abstract. This modelling study explores the availability of mineral dust particles as ice nuclei for interactions with ice, mixed-phase and liquid water clouds, also tracking the particles' history of cloud-processing. We performed 61 320 one-week forward trajectory calculations originating near the surface of major dust emitting regions in Africa and Asia using high-resolution meteorological analysis fields for the year 2007. Dust-bearing trajectories were assumed to be those coinciding with known dust emission seasons, without explicitly modelling dust emission and deposition processes. We found that dust emissions from Asian deserts lead to a higher potential for interactions with high ice clouds, despite being the climatologically much smaller dust emission source. This is due to Asian regions experiencing significantly more ascent than African regions, with strongest ascent in the Asian Taklimakan desert at ~25%, ~40% and 10% of trajectories ascending to 300 hPa in spring, summer and fall, respectively. The specific humidity at each trajectory's starting point was transported in a Lagrangian manner and relative humidities with respect to water and ice were calculated in 6-h steps downstream, allowing us to estimate the formation of liquid, mixed-phase and ice clouds. Downstream of the investigated dust sources, practically none of the simulated air parcels reached conditions of homogeneous ice nucleation (T≲−40 °C) along trajectories that have not experienced water saturation first. By far the largest fraction of cloud forming trajectories entered conditions of mixed-phase clouds, where mineral dust will potentially exert the biggest influence. The majority of trajectories also passed through atmospheric regions supersaturated with respect to ice but subsaturated with respect to water, where so-called "warm ice clouds" (T≳−40 °C) theoretically may form prior to supercooled water or mixed-phase clouds. The importance of "warm ice clouds" and the general influence of dust in the mixed-phase cloud region are highly uncertain due to both a considerable scatter in recent laboratory data from ice nucleation experiments, which we briefly review in this work, and due to uncertainties in sub-grid scale vertical transport processes unresolved by the present trajectory analysis. For "classical" cirrus-forming temperatures (T≲−40 °C), our results show that only mineral dust ice nuclei that underwent mixed-phase cloud-processing, most likely acquiring coatings of organic or inorganic material, are likely to be relevant. While the potential paucity of deposition ice nuclei shown in this work dimishes the possibility of deposition nucleation, the absence of liquid water droplets at T≲−40 °C makes the less explored contact freezing mechanism (involving droplet collisions with bare ice nuclei) highly inefficient. These factors together indicate the necessity of further systematic studies of immersion mode ice nucleation on mineral dust suspended in atmospherically relevant coatings.

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