0000000001118017
AUTHOR
Ronald Scheirer
Influence of clouds on the spectral actinic flux density in the lower troposphere (INSPECTRO): overview of the field campaigns
Ultraviolet radiation is the key factor driving tropospheric photochemistry. It is strongly modulated by clouds and aerosols. A quantitative understanding of the radiation field and its effect on photochemistry is thus only possible with a detailed knowledge of the interaction between clouds and radiation. The overall objective of the project INSPECTRO was the characterization of the three-dimensional actinic radiation field under cloudy conditions. This was achieved during two measurement campaigns in Norfolk (East Anglia, UK) and Lower Bavaria (Germany) combining space-based, aircraft and ground-based measurements as well as simulations with the one-dimensional radiation transfer model UV…
Reproducing cloud microphysical and irradiance measurements using three 3D cloud generators
Using three cloud generators, three-dimensional (3D) cloud fields are reproduced from microphysical cloud data measured in situ by aircraft. The generated cloud fields are used as input to a 3D radiative transfer model to calculate the corresponding fields of downward and upward irradiance, which are then compared with airborne and ground-based radiation measurements. One overcast stratocumulus scene and one broken cumulus scene were selected from the European INSPECTRO field experiment, which was held in Norwich, UK, in September 2002. With these data, the characteristics of the three different cloud reproduction techniques are assessed. Besides vertical profiles and histograms of measured…