scholarly journals Accuracy of the independent pixel approximation for satellite estimates of oceanic boundary layer cloud optical depth

1997 ◽  
Vol 102 (D2) ◽  
pp. 1779-1794 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. H. Chambers ◽  
B. A. Wielicki ◽  
K. F. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Oceanic Boundary Layer ◽  
Layer Cloud

scholarly journals The Potential for Improved Boundary Layer Cloud Optical Depth Retrievals from the Multiple Directions of MISR

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 3179-3196 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Franklin Evans ◽  
Alexander Marshak ◽  
Tamás Várnai
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Retrieval Error ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Layer Cloud

The Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) views the earth with nine cameras, ranging from a 70° zenith angle viewing forward through nadir to 70° viewing aft. MISR does not have an operational cloud optical depth retrieval algorithm, but previous research has hinted that solar reflection measured in multiple directions might improve cloud optical depth retrievals. This study explores the optical depth information content of MISR’s multiple angles using a retrieval simulation approach. Hundreds of realistic boundary-layer cloud fields are generated with large-eddy simulation (LES) models for stratocumulus, small trade cumulus, and land surface–forced fair-weather cumulus. Reflectances in MISR directions are computed with three-dimensional radiative transfer from the LES cloud fields over an ocean surface and averaged to MISR resolution and sampled at MISR 275-m pixel spacing. Neural networks are trained to retrieve the mean and standard deviation of optical depth over different size pixel patches from the mean and standard deviation of simulated MISR reflectances. Various configurations of MISR cameras are input to the retrieval, and the rms retrieval errors are compared. For 5 × 5 pixel patches the already low mean optical depth retrieval error for stratocumulus decreases 41% and 23% (for 25° and 45° solar zenith angles, respectively) from using only the nadir camera to using seven MISR cameras. For cumulus, however, the much higher normalized optical depth retrieval error only decreases around 14%. These small improvements suggest that measurements of solar reflection in multiple directions do not contribute substantially to more accurate optical depth retrievals for small cumulus clouds. The 3D statistical retrievals, however, even with only the nadir camera, are much more accurate for small cumulus than standard nadir plane-parallel retrievals; therefore, this approach may be worth pursuing.

Statistical Analyses of Satellite Cloud Object Data from CERES. Part IV: Boundary Layer Cloud Objects during 1998 El Niño

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1500-1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Man Xu ◽  
Takmeng Wong ◽  
Bruce A. Wielicki ◽  
Lindsay Parker
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Atmospheric Dynamics ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Cloud Properties ◽  
Lower Tropospheric Stability ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Layer Cloud

Abstract Three boundary layer cloud object types—overcast, stratocumulus, and cumulus—that occurred over the Pacific Ocean during January–August 1998 are identified from the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) single scanner footprint data. Characteristics of each cloud object type matched with atmospheric states are examined for large regions in the tropics and subtropics and for different size categories. Stratocumulus cloud objects dominate the entire boundary layer cloud population in all regions and size categories. Overcast cloud objects, which have the largest average size, are more prevalent in the subtropics and near the coastal regions, while cumulus cloud objects are prevalent over the open oceans and the equatorial regions, particularly within the small-size categories. Cloud objects with equivalent diameters less than 75 km are excluded in the analysis. The differences between the tropical and subtropical statistical distributions of cloud properties are small for liquid water path (LWP), cloud optical depth, and top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedo, but large for cloud-top temperature and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), for each of the three cloud object types. The larger cloud objects have higher LWPs, cloud optical depths, TOA albedos, and OLRs, but lower SSTs and cloud-top heights for the stratocumulus and overcast types. Lower-tropospheric stability seems to be the primary factor for the differences in the distributions of cloud physical properties between the regions or between the size categories. Atmospheric dynamics also play a role in determining the differences in the distributions of cloud physical properties between the size categories, but not a significant role for those between the types or between the regions. The latter may be due to uncertainties in the matched vertical velocity data. When the three cloud object types are combined in small regions, lower-tropospheric stability determines the transition of boundary layer cloud types along a Pacific transect. The proportion of each type is the most important factor for diagnosing the combined cloud properties along this transect, such as LWP, cloud optical depth, and TOA albedo. Atmospheric dynamics also play complicated roles in determining the combined cloud properties along this transect.

Boundary Layer, Cloud, and Drizzle Variability in the Southeast Pacific Stratocumulus Regime

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 6191-6214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efthymios Serpetzoglou ◽  
Bruce A. Albrecht ◽  
Pavlos Kollias ◽  
Christopher W. Fairall
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Synoptic Conditions ◽  
Southeast Pacific ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Similar Area ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Layer Cloud

Abstract The southeast Pacific stratocumulus regime is an important component of the earth’s climate system because of its substantial impact on albedo. Observational studies of this cloud regime have been limited, but during the past 5 yr, a series of cruises with research vessels equipped with in situ and remote sensing systems have provided unprecedented observations of boundary layer cloud and drizzle structures. These cruises started with the East Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC) 2001 field experiment, followed by cruises in a similar area in 2003 and 2004 [Pan-American Climate Studies (PACS) Stratus cruises]. The sampling from these three cruises provides a sufficient dataset to study the variability occurring over this region. This study compares observations from the 2004 cruise with those obtained during the previous two cruises. Observations from the ship provide information about boundary layer structure, fractional cloudiness, cloud depth, and drizzle characteristics. This study indicates more strongly decoupled boundary layers during the 2004 cruise than the well-mixed conditions that dominated the cloud and boundary layer structures during the EPIC cruise, and the highly variable conditions—sharp transitions from a solid stratus deck to broken-cloud and clear-sky periods—encountered during PACS Stratus 2003. Diurnal forcing and synoptic conditions are considered to be factors affecting these variations. A statistical evaluation of the macrophysical boundary layer, cloud, and drizzle properties is performed using the 5–6-day periods for which the research vessels remained stationed at the location of 20°S, 85°W during each cruise.

scholarly journals Marine boundary layer cloud regimes and POC formation in a CRM coupled to a bulk aerosol scheme

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 12549-12572 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Berner ◽  
C. S. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood ◽  
A. Muhlbauer
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Cloud Regimes ◽  
Layer Cloud

Abstract. A cloud-resolving model (CRM) coupled to a new intermediate-complexity bulk aerosol scheme is used to study aerosol–boundary-layer–cloud–precipitation interactions and the development of pockets of open cells (POCs) in subtropical stratocumulus cloud layers. The aerosol scheme prognoses mass and number concentration of a single lognormal accumulation mode with surface and entrainment sources, evolving subject to processing of activated aerosol and scavenging of dry aerosol by clouds and rain. The CRM with the aerosol scheme is applied to a range of steadily forced cases idealized from a well-observed POC. The long-term system evolution is explored with extended two-dimensional (2-D) simulations of up to 20 days, mostly with diurnally averaged insolation and 24 km wide domains, and one 10 day three-dimensional (3-D) simulation. Both 2-D and 3-D simulations support the Baker–Charlson hypothesis of two distinct aerosol–cloud "regimes" (deep/high-aerosol/non-drizzling and shallow/low-aerosol/drizzling) that persist for days; transitions between these regimes, driven by either precipitation scavenging or aerosol entrainment from the free-troposphere (FT), occur on a timescale of ten hours. The system is analyzed using a two-dimensional phase plane with inversion height and boundary layer average aerosol concentrations as state variables; depending on the specified subsidence rate and availability of FT aerosol, these regimes are either stable equilibria or distinct legs of a slow limit cycle. The same steadily forced modeling framework is applied to the coupled development and evolution of a POC and the surrounding overcast boundary layer in a larger 192 km wide domain. An initial 50% aerosol reduction is applied to half of the model domain. This has little effect until the stratocumulus thickens enough to drizzle, at which time the low-aerosol portion transitions into open-cell convection, forming a POC. Reduced entrainment in the POC induces a negative feedback between the areal fraction covered by the POC and boundary layer depth changes. This stabilizes the system by controlling liquid water path and precipitation sinks of aerosol number in the overcast region, while also preventing boundary layer collapse within the POC, allowing the POC and overcast to coexist indefinitely in a quasi-steady equilibrium.

scholarly journals Contrasting characteristics of open- and closed- cellular stratocumulus cloud in the Eastern North Atlantic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Jensen ◽  
Virendra P. Ghate ◽  
Dié Wang ◽  
Diana K. Apoznanski ◽  
Mary J. Bartholomew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Open Cell ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Closed Cell ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Eastern North Atlantic ◽  
Layer Cloud

Abstract. Extensive regions of marine boundary layer cloud impact the radiative balance through their significant shortwave albedo while having little impact on outgoing longwave radiation. Despite this importance, these cloud systems remain poorly represented in large-scale models due to difficulty in representing the processes that drive their lifecycle and coverage. In particular, the mesoscale organization, and cellular structure of marine boundary clouds has important implications for the subsequent cloud feedbacks. In this study, we use long-term (2013–2018) observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Facility's Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) site on Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal to identify cloud cases with open- or closed-cellular organization. More than 500 hours of each organization type are identified. The ARM observations are combined with reanalysis and satellite products to quantify the cloud, precipitation, aerosol, thermodynamic and large-scale synoptic characteristics associated with these cloud types. Our analysis shows that both cloud organization populations occur during similar sea surface temperature conditions, but the open-cell cases are distinguished by stronger cold-air advection and large-scale subsidence compared to the closed-cell cases, consistent with their formation during cold-air outbreaks. We also find that the open-cell cases were associated with deeper boundary layers, stronger low-level winds, and higher-rain rates compared to their closed-cell counterparts. Finally, raindrops with diameters larger than one millimeter were routinely recorded at the surface during both populations, with a higher number of large drops during the open-cellular cases. The similarities and differences noted herein provide important insights into the environmental and cloud characteristics during varying marine boundary layer cloud mesoscale organization and will be useful for the evaluation of model simulations for ENA marine clouds.

scholarly journals Contrasting characteristics of open- and closed-cellular stratocumulus cloud in the eastern North Atlantic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 14557-14571
Author(s):  
Michael P. Jensen ◽  
Virendra P. Ghate ◽  
Dié Wang ◽  
Diana K. Apoznanski ◽  
Mary J. Bartholomew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Open Cell ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Closed Cell ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Eastern North Atlantic ◽  
Layer Cloud

Abstract. Extensive regions of marine boundary layer cloud impact the radiative balance through their significant shortwave albedo while having little impact on outgoing longwave radiation. Despite this importance, these cloud systems remain poorly represented in large-scale models due to difficulty in representing the processes that drive their life cycle and coverage. In particular, the mesoscale organization and cellular structure of marine boundary clouds have important implications for the subsequent cloud feedbacks. In this study, we use long-term (2013–2018) observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Facility's Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) site on Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal, to identify cloud cases with open- or closed-cellular organization. More than 500 h of each organization type are identified. The ARM observations are combined with reanalysis and satellite products to quantify the cloud, precipitation, aerosol, thermodynamic, and large-scale synoptic characteristics associated with these cloud types. Our analysis shows that both cloud organization populations occur during similar sea surface temperature conditions, but the open-cell cases are distinguished by stronger cold-air advection and large-scale subsidence compared to the closed-cell cases, consistent with their formation during cold-air outbreaks. We also find that the open-cell cases were associated with deeper boundary layers, stronger low-level winds, and higher rain rates compared to their closed-cell counterparts. Finally, raindrops with diameters larger than 1 mm were routinely recorded at the surface during both populations, with a higher number of large drops during the open-cellular cases. The similarities and differences noted herein provide important insights into the environmental and cloud characteristics during varying marine boundary layer cloud mesoscale organization and will be useful for the evaluation of model simulations for ENA marine clouds.

Modeling Arctic Boundary Layer Cloud Streets at Grey-zone Resolutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-56
Author(s):  
Hui-Wen Lai ◽  
Fuqing Zhang ◽  
Eugene E. Clothiaux ◽  
David R. Stauffer ◽  
Brian J. Gaudet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Grey Zone ◽  
Arctic Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layer Cloud ◽  
Layer Cloud
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