scholarly journals Evaluation of differential absorption radars in the 183 GHz band for profiling water vapour in ice clouds

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Battaglia ◽  
Pavlos Kollias

Abstract. Relative humidity (RH) measurements in ice clouds are essential for determining the ice crystals growth processes and rates. A differential absorption radar (DAR) system with several frequency channels within the 183.3 GHz water vapour absorption band is proposed for measuring RH within ice clouds. Here, the performance of a DAR system is evaluated by applying a DAR simulator to A-Train observations in combination with collocated European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis. Observations from the CloudSat W-band radar and from the CALIPSO lidar are converted first into ice microphysical properties and then coupled with ECMWF temperature and relative humidity profiles in order to compute scattering properties at any frequency within the 183.3 GHz band. Self-similar Rayleigh Gans approximation is used to model the ice crystal scattering properties. The radar reflectivities are computed both for a space-borne and a ground-based DAR system by using appropriate radar receiver characteristics. Sets of multi-frequency synthetic observation of attenuated reflectivities are then used to retrieve profile of water vapour density by fitting the line shape at different levels. 10 days of A-Train observations are used to test the measurement technique performance for different combination of tones when sampling ice clouds globally. Results show that that water vapour densities can be derived with accuracies that can enable ice process studies (i.e. better than 3 %) both from a ground-based system (at the minute temporal scale and with circa 100 m vertical resolution) and from a space/airborne system (at 500 m vertical resolution and with circa 5 km integration lengths) with four tones in the right wing of the absorption line. A ground-based DAR system to be deployed at high latitude/high altitudes is highly recommended to test the findings of this work in the field.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 3335-3349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Battaglia ◽  
Pavlos Kollias

Abstract. Relative humidity (RH) measurements in ice clouds are essential for determining ice crystal growth processes and rates. A differential absorption radar (DAR) system with several frequency channels within the 183.3 GHz water vapour absorption band is proposed for measuring RH within ice clouds. Here, the performance of a DAR system is evaluated by applying a DAR simulator to A-Train observations in combination with co-located European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis. Observations from the CloudSat W-band radar and from the CALIPSO lidar are converted first into ice microphysical properties and then coupled with ECMWF temperature and relative humidity profiles in order to compute scattering properties at any frequency within the 183.3 GHz band. A self-similar Rayleigh–Gans approximation is used to model the ice crystal scattering properties. The radar reflectivities are computed both for a space-borne and airborne and a ground-based DAR system by using appropriate radar receiver characteristics. Sets of multi-frequency synthetic observation of attenuated reflectivities are then exploited to retrieve profiles of water vapour density by fitting the line shape at different levels. A total of 10 d of A-Train observations are used to test the measurement technique performance for different combinations of tones when sampling ice clouds globally. Results show that water vapour densities can be derived at the level that can enable ice process studies (i.e. better than 3 %), both from a ground-based system (at the minute temporal scale and with circa 100 m vertical resolution) and from a space-borne system (at 500 m vertical resolution and with circa 5 km integration lengths) with four tones in the upper wing of the absorption line. Deploying ground-based DAR system at high latitudes and high altitudes is highly recommended to test the findings of this work in the field.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Carella ◽  
Mathieu Vrac ◽  
Hélène Brogniez ◽  
Pascal Yiou ◽  
Hélène Chepfer

Abstract. Multi-scale interactions between the main players of the atmospheric water cycle are poorly understood, even in the present-day climate, and represent one of the main sources of uncertainty among future climate projections. Here, we present a method to downscale observations of relative humidity available from the Sondeur Atmosphérique du Profil d'Humidité Intertropical par Radiométrie (SAPHIR) passive microwave sounder at a nominal horizontal resolution of 10 km to the finer resolution of 90 m using scattering ratio profiles from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) lidar. With the scattering ratio profiles as covariates, an iterative approach applied to a non-parametric regression model based on a quantile random forest is used. This allows us to effectively incorporate into the predicted relative humidity structure the high-resolution variability from cloud profiles. The finer-scale water vapour structure is hereby deduced from the indirect physical correlation between relative humidity and the lidar observations. Results are presented for tropical ice clouds over the ocean: based on the coefficient of determination (with respect to the observed relative humidity) and the continuous rank probability skill score (with respect to the climatology), we conclude that we are able to successfully predict, at the resolution of cloud measurements, the relative humidity along the whole troposphere, yet ensure the best possible coherence with the values observed by SAPHIR. By providing a method to generate pseudo-observations of relative humidity (at high spatial resolution) from simultaneous co-located cloud profiles, this work will help revisit some of the current key barriers in atmospheric science. A sample dataset of simultaneous co-located scattering ratio profiles of tropical ice clouds and observations of relative humidity downscaled at the resolution of cloud measurements is available at https://doi.org/10.14768/20181022001.1 (Carella et al., 2019).


1992 ◽  
Vol 164 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONATHAN C. WRIGHT ◽  
MICHAEL J. O'DONNELL

Active water vapour absorption in Porcellio scaber is associated with the endogenous production of strongly hyperosmotic fluid in the pleoventral chamber (pleoventralraum; PV). Pre-desiccated animals show increased pleon fluid secretion within 1–2 min of transfer to suprathreshold humidities (>87 % relative humidity). The conspicuous increase in fluid volume is accompanied by a rise in osmolality from isosmotic (approximately 750mosmolkg−1) up to as much as 8.2osmolkg−1. Vapour absorption is marked by the onset of metachronal pleopodal ventilation and a subsequent decline in fluid osmolality as uptake fluid approaches equilibrium with ambient water activities. The effects of sealing of the PV by the margins of the depressed pleopods, along with the observation that animals ventilate even when PV fluid activities are somewhat below ambient, suggest that resultant pressure increases may elevate humidity within the PV and thereby augment vapour uptake. Ion-selective microelectrode measurements of Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Cl− concentrations in nanolitre samples of isolated pleon fluid identify Na+ and Cl− as the major osmolytes. Possible preadaptions favouring evolution of vapour absorption in the Oniscidea are discussed


2005 ◽  
Vol 156 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 100-103
Author(s):  
Rudolf Popper ◽  
Peter Niemz ◽  
Gerhild Eberle

The water vapour diffusion resistance of timber materials were tested in a wet climate (relative humidity ranging from 100%to 65% at 20 °C) and in a dry climate (relative humidity ranging from 0% to 65% and from 0% to 35% at 20 °c) with variation by relative humidity and vapour pressure gradient. The diffusion resistance of multilayer solid wood panels lies under or within the range of the solid wood (spruce), tending even to a lower range. This can be attributed to the loosely inserted middle lamella of the used solid wood panels, which were not correctly glued by the manufacturer. The diffusion resistance of the solid wood panels increases with decreasing moisture content and decreasing panel thickness, as well as with increasing water vapour gradient from 818 to 1520 Pa. There were clear differences between the tested timber materials. The diffusion resistance of particle composites is strongly dependent on the specific gravity. Due to laminar particles OSBs(Oriented Strand Boards) have a larger diffusion resistance than chipboards. The water vapour diffusion resistance of OSBs lies within the range of plywood.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 975
Author(s):  
Antonio Copak ◽  
Vlatka Jirouš-Rajković ◽  
Nikola Španić ◽  
Josip Miklečić

Oriented strand board (OSB) is a commonly used structural wood-based panel for walls and roof siding, but recently the industry has become interested in OSB as a substrate for indoor and outdoor furniture. Particleboard is mainly used in furniture productions and has become popular as a construction material due to its numerous usage possibilities and inexpensive cost. Moisture is one of the most important factors affecting wood-based panel performance and the post-treatment conditions affected their affinity to water. When OSB and particleboard are used as substrates for coatings, their surface characteristics play an important role in determining the quality of the final product. Furthermore, roughness can significantly affect the interfacial phenomena such as adsorption, wetting, and adhesion which may have an impact on the coating performance. In this research particleboard and OSB panels were sanded, re-pressed and IR heated and the influence of surface treatments on hardness, roughness, wetting, water, and water vapour absorption was studied. Results showed that sanding improved the wetting of particleboard and OSB with water. Moreover, studied surface treatments increased water absorption and water penetration depth of OSB panels, and re-pressing had a positive effect on reducing the water vapour absorption of particleboard and OSB panels.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Petzold ◽  
Valerie Thouret ◽  
Christoph Gerbig ◽  
Andreas Zahn ◽  
Martin Gallagher ◽  
...  

<p>IAGOS (www.iagos.org) is a European Research Infrastructure using commercial aircraft (Airbus A340, A330, and soon A350) for automatic and routine measurements of atmospheric composition including reactive gases (ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds), greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane), aerosols and cloud particles along with essential thermodynamic parameters. The main objective of IAGOS is to provide the most complete set of high-quality essential climate variables (ECV) covering several decades for the long-term monitoring of climate and air quality. The observations are stored in the IAGOS data centre along with added-value products to facilitate the scientific interpretation of the data. IAGOS began as two European projects, MOZAIC and CARIBIC, in the early 1990s. These projects demonstrated that commercial aircraft are ideal platforms for routine atmospheric measurements. IAGOS then evolved as a European Research Infrastructure offering a mature and sustainable organization for the benefits of the scientific community and for the operational services in charge of air quality and climate change issues such as the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). IAGOS is also a contributing network of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).</p> <p>IAGOS provides measurements of numerous chemical compounds which are recorded simultaneously in the critical region of the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere (UTLS) and geographical regions such as Africa and the mid-Pacific which are poorly sampled by other means. The data are used by hundreds of groups worldwide performing data analysis for climatology and trend studies, model evaluation, satellite validation and the study of detailed chemical and physical processes around the tropopause. IAGOS data also play an important role in the re-assessment of the climate impact of aviation.</p> <p>Most important in the context of weather-related research, IAGOS and its predecessor programmes provide long-term observations of water vapour and relative humidity with respect to ice in the UTLS as well as throughout the tropospheric column during climb-out and descending phases around airports, now for more than 25 years. The high quality and very good resolution of IAGOS observations of relative humidity over ice are used to better understand the role of water vapour and of ice-supersaturated air masses in the tropopause region and to improve their representation in numerical weather and climate forecasting models. Furthermore, CAMS is using the water vapour vertical profiles in near real time for the continuous validation of the CAMS atmospheric models. </p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1201-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Navas-Guzmán ◽  
J. Fernández-Gálvez ◽  
M. J. Granados-Muñoz ◽  
J. L. Guerrero-Rascado ◽  
J. A. Bravo-Aranda ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this paper, we outline an iterative method to calibrate the water vapour mixing ratio profiles retrieved from Raman lidar measurements. Simultaneous and co-located radiosonde data are used for this purpose and the calibration results obtained during a radiosonde campaign in summer and autumn 2011 are presented. The water vapour profiles measured during night-time by the Raman lidar and radiosondes are compared and the differences between the methodologies are discussed. Then, a new approach to obtain relative humidity profiles by combination of simultaneous profiles of temperature (retrieved from a microwave radiometer) and water vapour mixing ratio (from a Raman lidar) is addressed. In the last part of this work, a statistical analysis of water vapour mixing ratio and relative humidity profiles obtained during 1 year of simultaneous measurements is presented.


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