Search results for "crystals"

Measurement of the Cosmic Ray Helium Energy Spectrum from 70 GeV to 80 TeV with the DAMPE Space Mission

2021

The measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic ray helium nuclei from 70 GeV to 80 TeV using 4.5 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is reported in this work. A hardening of the spectrum is observed at an energy of about 1.3 TeV, similar to previous observations. In addition, a spectral softening at about 34 TeV is revealed for the first time with large statistics and well controlled systematic uncertainties, with an overall significance of $4.3\sigma$. The DAMPE spectral measurements of both cosmic protons and helium nuclei suggest a particle charge dependent softening energy, although with current uncertainties a dependence on the number of nucleons canno…

Cold cloud microphysical process rates in a global chemistry–climate model

2021

Microphysical processes in cold clouds which act as sources or sinks of hydrometeors below 0 ∘C control the ice crystal number concentrations (ICNCs) and in turn the cloud radiative effects. Estimating the relative importance of the cold cloud microphysical process rates is of fundamental importance to underpin the development of cloud parameterizations for weather, atmospheric chemistry, and climate models and to compare the output with observations at different temporal resolutions. This study quantifies and investigates the ICNC rates of cold cloud microphysical processes by means of the chemistry–climate model EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) and defines the hierarchy of sources…

Microphysical and radiative characterization of a subvisible midlevel Arctic ice cluod by airborne observations - a case study

2009

During the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign, which was conducted in March and April 2007, an optically thin ice cloud was observed south of Svalbard at around 3 km altitude. The microphysical and radiative properties of this particular subvisible midlevel cloud were investigated with complementary remote sensing and in situ instruments. Collocated airborne lidar remote sensing and spectral solar radiation measurements were performed at a flight altitude of 2300 m below the cloud base. Under almost stationary atmospheric conditions, the same subvisible midlevel cloud was probed with various in situ sensors roughly 30 min later. <br><br> …

Microphysical Properties of Ice Crystal Precipitation and Surface-Generated Ice Crystals in a High Alpine Environment in Switzerland

2017

AbstractDuring the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE) 2013 field campaign at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, optically thin pure ice clouds and ice crystal precipitation were measured using holographic and other in situ particle instruments. For cloud particles, particle images, positions in space, concentrations, and size distributions were obtained, allowing one to extract size distributions classified by ice crystal habit. Small ice crystals occurring under conditions with a vertically thin cloud layer above and a stratocumulus layer approximately 1 km below exhibit similar properties in size and crystal habits as Antarctic/Arctic diamond …

Cloud phase identification of Arctic boundary-layer clouds from airborne spectral reflection measurements: test of three approaches

2008

Abstract. Arctic boundary-layer clouds were investigated with remote sensing and in situ instruments during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign in March and April 2007. The clouds formed in a cold air outbreak over the open Greenland Sea. Beside the predominant mixed-phase clouds pure liquid water and ice clouds were observed. Utilizing measurements of solar radiation reflected by the clouds three methods to retrieve the thermodynamic phase of the cloud are introduced and compared. Two ice indices IS and IP were obtained by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the near infrared (1500–1800 nm wavelength) spectral range whi…

Evidence of ice crystals at cloud top of Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds derived from airborne remote sensing

2009

Abstract. The vertical distribution of ice crystals in Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase (ABM) clouds was investigated by airborne remote-sensing and in situ measurements during the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) campaign in March and April 2007. Information on the spectral absorption of solar radiation by ice and liquid water cloud particles is derived from airborne measurements of solar spectral radiation reflected by these clouds. It is shown by calculation of the vertical weighting function of the measurements that the observed absorption of solar radiation is dominated by the upper cloud layers (50% within 200 m from cloud top). This vertical weighti…

2017

Abstract. In situ observations of cloud properties in complex alpine terrain where research aircraft cannot sample are commonly conducted at mountain-top research stations and limited to single-point measurements. The HoloGondel platform overcomes this limitation by using a cable car to obtain vertical profiles of the microphysical and meteorological cloud parameters. The main component of the HoloGondel platform is the HOLographic Imager for Microscopic Objects (HOLIMO 3G), which uses digital in-line holography to image cloud particles. Based on two-dimensional images the microphysical cloud parameters for the size range from small cloud particles to large precipitation particles are obtai…

A microphysics guide to cirrus clouds - Part 1: Cirrus types

2016

Abstract. The microphysical and radiative properties of cirrus clouds continue to be beyond understanding and thus still represent one of the largest uncertainties in the prediction of the Earth's climate (IPCC, 2013). Our study aims to provide a guide to cirrus microphysics, which is compiled from an extensive set of model simulations, covering the broad range of atmospheric conditions for cirrus formation and evolution. The model results are portrayed in the same parameter space as field measurements, i.e., in the Ice Water Content-Temperature (IWC-T) parameter space. We validate this cirrus analysis approach by evaluating cirrus data sets from 17 aircraft campaigns, conducted in the last…

Design, construction and commissioning of the Braunschweig Icing Wind Tunnel

2018

Beyond its physical importance in both fundamental and climate research, atmospheric icing is considered as a severe operational condition in many engineering applications like aviation, electrical power transmission and wind-energy production. To reproduce such icing conditions in a laboratory environment, icing wind tunnels are frequently used. In this paper, a comprehensive overview on the design, construction and commissioning of the Braunschweig Icing Wind Tunnel is given. The tunnel features a test section of 0.5 m  ×  0.5 m with peak velocities of up to 40 m s−1. The static air temperature ranges from −25 to +30 °C. Supercooled droplet icing with liquid water contents up to 3 g m−3 c…

Properties of individual contrails: a compilation of observations and some comparisons

2017

International audience; Mean properties of individual contrails are characterized for a wide range of jet aircraft as a function of age during their life cycle from seconds to 11.5 h (7.4-18.7 km altitude, -88 to -31 °C ambient temperature), based on a compilation of about 230 previous in situ and remote sensing measurements. The airborne, satellite, and ground-based observations encompass exhaust contrails from jet aircraft from 1972 onwards, as well as a few older data for propeller aircraft. The contrails are characterized by mean ice particle sizes and concentrations, extinction, ice water content, optical depth, geometrical depth, and contrail width. Integral contrail properties includ…