scholarly journals Spaceborne differential absorption radar water vapor retrieval capabilities in tropical and subtropical boundary layer cloud regimes

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6443-6468
Author(s):  
Richard J. Roy ◽  
Matthew Lebsock ◽  
Marcin J. Kurowski
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Line Center ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Horizontal Integration ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Cloud Regimes

Abstract. Differential absorption radar (DAR) near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line is an emerging measurement technique for humidity profiling inside of clouds and precipitation with high vertical resolution, as well as for measuring integrated water vapor (IWV) in clear-air regions. For radar transmit frequencies on the water line flank away from the highly attenuating line center, the DAR system becomes most sensitive to water vapor in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), which is a region of the atmosphere that is poorly resolved in the vertical by existing spaceborne humidity and temperature profiling instruments. In this work, we present a high-fidelity, end-to-end simulation framework for notional spaceborne DAR instruments that feature realistically achievable radar performance metrics and apply this simulator to assess DAR's PBL humidity observation capabilities. Both the assumed instrument parameters and radar retrieval algorithm leverage recent technology and algorithm development for an existing airborne DAR instrument. To showcase the capabilities of DAR for humidity observations in a variety of relevant PBL settings, we implement the instrument simulator in the context of large eddy simulations (LESs) of five different cloud regimes throughout the trade-wind subtropical-to-tropical cloud transition. Three distinct DAR humidity observations are investigated: IWV between the top of the atmosphere and the first detected cloud bin or Earth's surface; in-cloud water vapor profiles with 200 meter vertical resolution; and IWV between the last detected cloud bin and the Earth's surface, which can provide a precise measurement of the sub-cloud humidity. We provide a thorough assessment of the systematic and random errors for all three measurement products for each LES case and analyze the humidity precision scaling with along-track measurement integration. While retrieval performance depends greatly on the specific cloud regime, we find generally that for a radar with cross-track scanning capability, in-cloud profiles with 200 m vertical resolution and 10 %–20 % uncertainty can be retrieved for horizontal integration distances of 100–200 km. Furthermore, column IWV can be retrieved with 10 % uncertainty for 10–20 km of horizontal integration. Finally, we provide some example science applications of the simulated DAR observations, including estimating near-surface relative humidity using the cloud-to-surface column IWV and inferring in-cloud temperature profiles from the DAR water vapor profiles by assuming a fully saturated environment.

scholarly journals The feasibility of water vapor sounding of the cloudy boundary layer using a differential absorption radar technique

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 5973-6013
Author(s):  
M. D. Lebsock ◽  
K. Suzuki ◽  
L. F. Millan ◽  
P. M. Kalmus
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Absorption Line ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Line Center ◽  
Spectral Variation ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Water Vapor Absorption ◽  
Vapor Absorption

Abstract. The feasibility of Differential Absorption Radar (DAR) for the spaceborne remote profiling of water vapor within the cloudy boundary layer is assessed by applying a radar instrument simulator to Large Eddy Simulations (LES). Frequencies near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line attenuate too strongly to penetrate the large vapor concentrations that are ubiquitous in the boundary layer. However it is shown that lower frequencies between 140 and 170 GHz in the water vapor absorption continuum and on the wings of the absorption line, which are attenuated less efficiently than those near the line center, still have sufficient spectral variation of gaseous attenuation to perform sounding. The high resolution LES allow for assessment of the potential uncertainty in the method due to natural variability in thermodynamic and dynamic variables on scales smaller than the instrument field of view. The (160, 170) GHz frequency pair is suggested to best maximize signal for vapor profiling while minimizing noise due to undesired spectral variation in the target extinction properties. Precision in the derived water vapor is quantified as a function of the range resolution and the instrument precision. Assuming an observational spatial scale of 500 m vertical and 750 m Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) horizontal, measurement precision better that 1 g m−3 is achievable for stratocumulus scenes and 3 g m−3 for cumulus scenes given precision in radar reflectivity of 0.16 dBZ. Expected precision in the Column Water Vapor (CWV) is achievable between 0.5 and 2 kg m−2 on these same spatial scales. Sampling efficiency is quantified as a function of radar sensitivity. Mean biases in CWV due to natural variability in the target extinction properties do not exceed 0.25 kg m−2. Potential biases due to uncertainty in the temperature and pressure profile are negligible relative to those resulting from natural variability. Assuming a −35 dBZ minimum detectable signal, 40 % (21.9 %) of stratocumulus (cumulus) atmospheric boundary layer range bins would be sampled. Simulated surface reflectivities are always greater than −5 dBZ, which implies the DAR technique could provide near spatially continuous observation of the CWV in subtropical boundary layers at a spatial resolution better than 1 km.

scholarly journals The feasibility of water vapor sounding of the cloudy boundary layer using a differential absorption radar technique

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 3631-3645 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Lebsock ◽  
K. Suzuki ◽  
L. F. Millán ◽  
P. M. Kalmus
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Absorption Line ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Line Center ◽  
Spectral Variation ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Water Vapor Absorption ◽  
Vapor Absorption

Abstract. The feasibility of differential absorption radar (DAR) for the spaceborne remote profiling of water vapor within the cloudy boundary layer is assessed by applying a radar instrument simulator to large eddy simulations (LES). Frequencies near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line attenuate too strongly to penetrate the large vapor concentrations that are ubiquitous in the boundary layer. However it is shown that lower frequencies between 140 and 170 GHz in the water vapor absorption continuum and on the wings of the absorption line, which are attenuated less efficiently than those near the line center, still have sufficient spectral variation of gaseous attenuation to perform sounding. The high resolution LES allow for assessment of the potential uncertainty in the method due to natural variability in thermodynamic and dynamic variables on scales smaller than the instrument field of view. The (160, 170) GHz frequency pair is suggested to best maximize signal for vapor profiling while minimizing noise due to undesired spectral variation in the target extinction properties. Precision in the derived water vapor is quantified as a function of the range resolution and the instrument precision. Assuming an observational spatial scale of 500 m vertical and 750 m full width at half maximum (FWHM) horizontal, measurement precision better that 1 g m−3 is achievable for stratocumulus scenes and 3 g m−3 for cumulus scenes given precision in radar reflectivity of 0.16 dBZ. Expected precision in the column water vapor (CWV) is achievable between 0.5 and 2 kg m−2 on these same spatial scales. Sampling efficiency is quantified as a function of radar sensitivity. Mean biases in CWV due to natural variability in the target extinction properties do not exceed 0.25 kg m−2. Potential biases due to uncertainty in the temperature and pressure profile are negligible relative to those resulting from natural variability. Assuming a −35 dBZ minimum detectable signal, 40 %(21.9 %) of stratocumulus(cumulus) atmospheric boundary layer range bins would be sampled. Simulated surface reflectivities are always greater than −5 dBZ, which implies the DAR technique could provide near spatially continuous observation of the CWV in subtropical boundary layers at a spatial resolution better than 1 km.

935 nm Differential Absorption Lidar System and Water Vapor Profiles in Convective Boundary Layer

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 0201003
Author(s):  
洪光烈 Hong Guanglie ◽  
李嘉唐 Li Jiatang ◽  
孔 伟 Kong Wei ◽  
葛 烨 Ge Ye ◽  
舒 嵘 Shu Rong
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Convective Boundary Layer ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Differential Absorption Lidar ◽  
Convective Boundary

scholarly journals 3D Water Vapor Field in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observed with Scanning Differential Absorption Lidar

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Späth ◽  
A. Behrendt ◽  
S. K. Muppa ◽  
S. Metzendorf ◽  
A. Riede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Elevation Angle ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Differential Absorption Lidar ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Western Germany

Abstract. The scanning differential absorption lidar (DIAL) of the University of Hohenheim (UHOH) determines fields of the atmospheric water vapor number density with a temporal resolution of a few seconds and spatial resolution of up to a few tens of meters. We present three case studies which show that this high resolution combined with 2- and 3-dimensional scans allows for new insights in the 3-dimensional structure of the water vapor field in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). In spring 2013, the UHOH DIAL was operated within the scope of the HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in western Germany. HOPE was part of the project High Definition of Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP)2). Range-height indicator (RHI) scans of the UHOH DIAL show the water vapor heterogeneity within a range of a few kilometers and its impact on the formation of clouds at the ABL top. The uncertainty of the measured data was assessed by extending a technique, which was formerly applied to vertical time series, to scanning data. Typically, even during daytime, the accuracy of the DIAL measurements is between 0.5 and 0.8 g m−3 (or < 6 %) within the ABL, so that now the performance of an RHI scan from the surface to an elevation angle of 90 degrees becomes possible within 10 min. In summer 2014, the UHOH DIAL participated in the Surface-Atmosphere-Boundary-Layer-Exchange (SABLE) campaign in south-western Germany. Volume scans show the water vapor field in three dimensions. In this case, multiple humidity layers were present. Differences in their heights in different directions can be attributed to different surface elevation. With low elevation scans in the surface layer, the humidity profiles and gradients related to different land use and surface stabilities were also revealed.

scholarly journals Time Scales of the Trade Wind Boundary Layer Adjustment

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Bellon ◽  
Bjorn Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Mixed Boundary ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Scale Separation ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Warming

Abstract The adjustment of the trade wind atmospheric boundary layer to an abrupt sea surface warming is investigated using a large-eddy simulation (LES) and two simple bulk models: a mixed-layer model (MLM), and a model based on the mixing-line hypothesis (XLM). The near-surface temperature adjusts in a few hours, faster than can be expected from the characteristic time scales associated with the physical processes at play. The near-surface humidity adjusts more slowly, with a time scale of about a day, and it exhibits an initial decrease before increasing to its equilibrium value. An analysis of the MLM suggests that the initial tendency of humidity and temperature results from the difference in Bowen ratios between the equilibrium and the perturbation. An analysis of the three linear modes of the XLM shows that the fastest-decaying mode adjusts the subcloud-layer buoyancy, with a constructive interaction of all of the physical processes. The second-fastest-decaying mode is an adjustment of the boundary layer thermodynamical structure and the slowest mode adjusts the boundary layer depth. Approximate analytical expressions of the time scales characterizing these linear modes are derived both for the MLM and the XLM. The MLM exhibits no scale separation between the fastest and second-fastest time scales and a scale separation between these and the slowest time scale only in the case of a shallow well-mixed boundary layer. The XLM exhibits a scale separation between the buoyancy adjustment of the subcloud layer and the overall thermodynamic adjustment, while conserving the scale separation with the slower adjustment of the boundary layer depth.

scholarly journals 3-D water vapor field in the atmospheric boundary layer observed with scanning differential absorption lidar

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1701-1720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Späth ◽  
Andreas Behrendt ◽  
Shravan Kumar Muppa ◽  
Simon Metzendorf ◽  
Andrea Riede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Surface Layer ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Elevation Angle ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Differential Absorption Lidar

Abstract. High-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) water vapor data of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are required to improve our understanding of land–atmosphere exchange processes. For this purpose, the scanning differential absorption lidar (DIAL) of the University of Hohenheim (UHOH) was developed as well as new analysis tools and visualization methods. The instrument determines 3-D fields of the atmospheric water vapor number density with a temporal resolution of a few seconds and a spatial resolution of up to a few tens of meters. We present three case studies from two field campaigns. In spring 2013, the UHOH DIAL was operated within the scope of the HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in western Germany. HD(CP)2 stands for High Definition of Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction and is a German research initiative. Range–height indicator (RHI) scans of the UHOH DIAL show the water vapor heterogeneity within a range of a few kilometers up to an altitude of 2 km and its impact on the formation of clouds at the top of the ABL. The uncertainty of the measured data was assessed for the first time by extending a technique to scanning data, which was formerly applied to vertical time series. Typically, the accuracy of the DIAL measurements is between 0.5 and 0.8 g m−3 (or < 6 %) within the ABL even during daytime. This allows for performing a RHI scan from the surface to an elevation angle of 90° within 10 min. In summer 2014, the UHOH DIAL participated in the Surface Atmosphere Boundary Layer Exchange (SABLE) campaign in southwestern Germany. Conical volume scans were made which reveal multiple water vapor layers in three dimensions. Differences in their heights in different directions can be attributed to different surface elevation. With low-elevation scans in the surface layer, the humidity profiles and gradients can be related to different land cover such as maize, grassland, and forest as well as different surface layer stabilities.

scholarly journals Exploring the elevated water vapor signal associated with the free tropospheric biomass burning plume over the southeast Atlantic Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 9643-9668
Author(s):  
Kristina Pistone ◽  
Paquita Zuidema ◽  
Robert Wood ◽  
Michael Diamond ◽  
Arlindo M. da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Atmospheric Water Vapor ◽  
Atmospheric Water ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Aerosol Effects

Abstract. In southern Africa, widespread agricultural fires produce substantial biomass burning (BB) emissions over the region. The seasonal smoke plumes associated with these emissions are then advected westward over the persistent stratocumulus cloud deck in the southeast Atlantic (SEA) Ocean, resulting in aerosol effects which vary with time and location. Much work has focused on the effects of these aerosol plumes, but previous studies have also described an elevated free tropospheric water vapor signal over the SEA. Water vapor influences climate in its own right, and it is especially important to consider atmospheric water vapor when quantifying aerosol–cloud interactions and aerosol radiative effects. Here we present airborne observations made during the NASA ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) campaign over the SEA Ocean. In observations collected from multiple independent instruments on the NASA P-3 aircraft (from near-surface to 6–7 km), we observe a strongly linear correlation between pollution indicators (carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol loading) and atmospheric water vapor content, seen at all altitudes above the boundary layer. The focus of the current study is on the especially strong correlation observed during the ORACLES-2016 deployment (out of Walvis Bay, Namibia), but a similar relationship is also observed in the August 2017 and October 2018 ORACLES deployments. Using reanalyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and specialized WRF-Chem simulations, we trace the plume–vapor relationship to an initial humid, smoky continental source region, where it mixes with clean, dry upper tropospheric air and then is subjected to conditions of strong westward advection, namely the southern African easterly jet (AEJ-S). Our analysis indicates that air masses likely left the continent with the same relationship between water vapor and carbon monoxide as was observed by aircraft. This linear relationship developed over the continent due to daytime convection within a deep continental boundary layer (up to ∼5–6 km) and mixing with higher-altitude air, which resulted in fairly consistent vertical gradients in CO and water vapor, decreasing with altitude and varying in time, but this water vapor does not originate as a product of the BB combustion itself. Due to a combination of conditions and mixing between the smoky, moist continental boundary layer and the dry and fairly clean upper-troposphere air above (∼6 km), the smoky, humid air is transported by strong zonal winds and then advected over the SEA (to the ORACLES flight region) following largely isentropic trajectories. Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT) back trajectories support this interpretation. This work thus gives insights into the conditions and processes which cause water vapor to covary with plume strength. Better understanding of this relationship, including how it varies spatially and temporally, is important to accurately quantify direct, semi-direct, and indirect aerosol effects over this region.

Simulating the synergy of microwave radiometer and differential absorption radar for advancing water vapor profiling in cloudy trade-wind conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Schnitt ◽  
Ulrich Löhnert ◽  
René Preusker
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Information Content ◽  
Microwave Radiometer ◽  
Cloud Layer ◽  
Radar Signal ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Differential Absorption ◽  
Radar Measurements ◽  
Retrieval Errors

&lt;p&gt;Continuous, high vertical resolution water vapor profile measurements are key for advancing the understanding of how clouds interact with their environment through convection, precipitation and circulation processes.&amp;#160; Yet, current ground-based observation systems are limited by low temporal resolution in the case of soundings, signal saturation at cloud base in the case of optical sensors, or too coarse vertical resolution in the case of passive microwave measurements. Overcoming the limitations of each single sensor, we assess the synergistic benefits of combining ground-based microwave radiometer (MWR) and the novel Differential Absorption Radar technique, based on synthetic measurements generated for typical trade wind conditions as observed during the EUREC&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;A field study.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Based on the single and multiple cloud layer conditions observed at Barbados Cloud Observatory, we use the passive and active microwave transfer model PAMTRA to generate synthetic measurements of the K-band MWR channels, as well as for a G-band dual-frequency radar instrument operating at frequencies of 167 and 174.8 GHz.&amp;#160; The synthetic brightness temperatures and radar dual-frequency ratios are combined in an optimal estimation framework to retrieve the absolute humidity profile. Varying the observation vector setup, the synergy benefits are assessed by comparing the synergistic information content (Degrees of Freedom for Signal, DFS) and retrieval errors to the respective single-instrument configuration, and by evaluating the retrieved profile using the initial sounding profile.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In single-cloud conditions, the total synergistic retrieval information content increases by more than one DFS compared to a MWR-only retrieval. While the radar measurements dominate the retrieval below and throughout the cloud layer, the MWR drives the retrieval above the cloud layer. The synergy further enhances the information content above the cloud layer by up to 15% compared to the MWR-only retrieval, accompanied by decreased retrieval errors of up to 10%. Cases of a shallow cloud layer topped by a stratiform outflow confirm the identified patterns. The radar measurements further increase the information content between the cloud layers by up to 25%. In this case, the results suggest an improved partitioning of the water vapor amount below and above the trade inversion.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Current G-band radar signal attenuation in moist tropical conditions are expected to reduce the feasible synergy potential in a real application. Yet, increased radar signal sensitivities, adjusted frequency pairs, or drier atmospheric conditions motivate the application of this synergy concept to real measurements for advancing ground-based water vapor profiling in cloudy conditions.&lt;/p&gt;

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