Search results for "Cloud height"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
A Cloud masking algorithm for the XBAER aerosol retrieval using MERIS data
2017
Abstract To determine aerosol optical thickness, AOT, and other geophysical parameters describing conditions in the atmosphere and at the earth's surface by inversion of remote sensing measurements from space based instrumentation, it is necessary to separate ground scenes into cloud free and cloudy or cloud contaminated. Identifying the presence of cloud in a ground scene and establishing an accurate and adequate cloud mask is a challenging task. In this study, measurements by the European Space Agency (ESA) MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) have been used to develop a cloud identification and cloud mask algorithm for preprocessing prior to application of the new algorithm cal…
Vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol in orographic mixed-phase clouds
2020
Orographic wave clouds offer a natural laboratory to investigate cloud microphysical processes and their representation in atmospheric models. Wave clouds impact the larger-scale flow by the vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol. Here we use detailed cloud microphysical observations from the Ice in Clouds Experiment – Layer Clouds (ICE-L) campaign to evaluate the recently developed Cloud Aerosol Interacting Microphysics (CASIM) module in the Met Office Unified Model (UM) with a particular focus on different parameterizations for heterogeneous freezing. Modelled and observed thermodynamic and microphysical properties agree very well (deviation of air temperature <1 K; spe…
Comparison of ERA40 cloud top phase with POLDER-1 observations
2008
[1] A detailed grid-point-based comparison of the cloud top phase derived from the 40-year reanalyses (ERA40) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) with satellite measurements is presented. For this purpose an algorithm is implemented to extract a two-dimensional “satellite-like” field of the cloud top phase from ERA40 data. This field is compared with cloud top phase data from the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER-1) instrument which was in orbit from November 1996 to June 1997. The thermodynamic cloud phase in ERA40 data is parameterized as a function of temperature with pure liquid clouds above 0°C, pure ice clouds below −23°C a…
In situ surface temperature retrieval in a boreal forest under variable cloudiness conditions
2005
Canopy temperature retrieval was one of the purposes during the Solar Induced FLuorescence EXperiment (SIFLEX‐2002) of the European Space Agency, carried out in a Finnish boreal forest. In this work, we describe the strategy used to determine this temperature from ground thermal infrared (TIR) data under skies with variable cloud cover. TIR radiance was measured by a CIMEL Electronique CE 312 radiometer. An analysis of the radiative transfer equation showed which terms were necessary to obtain accurate surface temperatures during the campaign. Atmospheric correction was considered negligible due to the small atmospheric path, but hemispheric downwelling sky radiance determination was needed…
Sensitivity of UVER enhancement to broken liquid water clouds: A Monte Carlo approach
2016
The study uses a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model to examine the sensitivity of the UV erythemal radiation (UVER) enhancement to broken liquid water clouds of the cumulus and stratocumulus type. The model uses monochromatic radiation at 310 nm corresponding approximately to the peak of the product between irradiance and the erythemal curve. All scattering, absorption, extinction coefficients, and spectral albedos are tuned to this wavelength. In order of importance, fractional cloud cover, the area of individual cloud patches, and cloud thickness exert a strong influence on the enhancement, with smaller contributions from cloud optical depth, cloud base height, and solar zenith angle. I…
Ground-Based measurements of the 2014-2015 holuhraun volcanic cloud (Iceland)
2018
he 2014–2015 Bárðarbunga fissure eruption at Holuhraun in central Iceland was distinguished by the high emission of gases, in total 9.6 Mt SO2, with almost no tephra. This work collates all ground-based measurements of this extraordinary eruption cloud made under particularly challenging conditions: remote location, optically dense cloud with high SO2 column amounts, low UV intensity, frequent clouds and precipitation, an extensive and hot lava field, developing ramparts, and high-latitude winter conditions. Semi-continuous measurements of SO2 flux with three scanning DOAS instruments were augmented by car traverses along the ring-road and along the lava. The ratios of other gases/SO2 were …