Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime
The degree of glaciation of mixed-phase clouds constitutes one of the largest uncertainties in climate prediction. In order to better understand cloud glaciation, cloud spectrometer observations are presented in this paper, which were made in the mixed-phase temperature regime between 0 and −38 °C (...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp57888 2023-05-15T14:55:40+02:00 Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime Costa, Anja Meyer, Jessica Afchine, Armin Luebke, Anna Günther, Gebhard Dorsey, James R. Gallagher, Martin W. Ehrlich, Andre Wendisch, Manfred Baumgardner, Darrel Wex, Heike Krämer, Martina 2018-09-12 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/12219/2017/ eng eng doi:10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/12219/2017/ eISSN: 1680-7324 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 2019-12-24T09:50:58Z The degree of glaciation of mixed-phase clouds constitutes one of the largest uncertainties in climate prediction. In order to better understand cloud glaciation, cloud spectrometer observations are presented in this paper, which were made in the mixed-phase temperature regime between 0 and −38 °C (273 to 235 K), where cloud particles can either be frozen or liquid. The extensive data set covers four airborne field campaigns providing a total of 139 000 1 Hz data points (38.6 h within clouds) over Arctic, midlatitude and tropical regions. We develop algorithms, combining the information on number concentration, size and asphericity of the observed cloud particles to classify four cloud types: liquid clouds, clouds in which liquid droplets and ice crystals coexist, fully glaciated clouds after the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process and clouds where secondary ice formation occurred. We quantify the occurrence of these cloud groups depending on the geographical region and temperature and find that liquid clouds dominate our measurements during the Arctic spring, while clouds dominated by the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process are most common in midlatitude spring. The coexistence of liquid water and ice crystals is found over the whole mixed-phase temperature range in tropical convective towers in the dry season. Secondary ice is found at midlatitudes at −5 to −10 °C (268 to 263 K) and at higher altitudes, i.e. lower temperatures in the tropics. The distribution of the cloud types with decreasing temperature is shown to be consistent with the theory of evolution of mixed-phase clouds. With this study, we aim to contribute to a large statistical database on cloud types in the mixed-phase temperature regime. Text Arctic Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 19 12219 12238 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
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English |
description |
The degree of glaciation of mixed-phase clouds constitutes one of the largest uncertainties in climate prediction. In order to better understand cloud glaciation, cloud spectrometer observations are presented in this paper, which were made in the mixed-phase temperature regime between 0 and −38 °C (273 to 235 K), where cloud particles can either be frozen or liquid. The extensive data set covers four airborne field campaigns providing a total of 139 000 1 Hz data points (38.6 h within clouds) over Arctic, midlatitude and tropical regions. We develop algorithms, combining the information on number concentration, size and asphericity of the observed cloud particles to classify four cloud types: liquid clouds, clouds in which liquid droplets and ice crystals coexist, fully glaciated clouds after the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process and clouds where secondary ice formation occurred. We quantify the occurrence of these cloud groups depending on the geographical region and temperature and find that liquid clouds dominate our measurements during the Arctic spring, while clouds dominated by the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process are most common in midlatitude spring. The coexistence of liquid water and ice crystals is found over the whole mixed-phase temperature range in tropical convective towers in the dry season. Secondary ice is found at midlatitudes at −5 to −10 °C (268 to 263 K) and at higher altitudes, i.e. lower temperatures in the tropics. The distribution of the cloud types with decreasing temperature is shown to be consistent with the theory of evolution of mixed-phase clouds. With this study, we aim to contribute to a large statistical database on cloud types in the mixed-phase temperature regime. |
format |
Text |
author |
Costa, Anja Meyer, Jessica Afchine, Armin Luebke, Anna Günther, Gebhard Dorsey, James R. Gallagher, Martin W. Ehrlich, Andre Wendisch, Manfred Baumgardner, Darrel Wex, Heike Krämer, Martina |
spellingShingle |
Costa, Anja Meyer, Jessica Afchine, Armin Luebke, Anna Günther, Gebhard Dorsey, James R. Gallagher, Martin W. Ehrlich, Andre Wendisch, Manfred Baumgardner, Darrel Wex, Heike Krämer, Martina Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
author_facet |
Costa, Anja Meyer, Jessica Afchine, Armin Luebke, Anna Günther, Gebhard Dorsey, James R. Gallagher, Martin W. Ehrlich, Andre Wendisch, Manfred Baumgardner, Darrel Wex, Heike Krämer, Martina |
author_sort |
Costa, Anja |
title |
Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
title_short |
Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
title_full |
Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
title_fullStr |
Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
title_full_unstemmed |
Classification of Arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
title_sort |
classification of arctic, midlatitude and tropical clouds in the mixed-phase temperature regime |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/12219/2017/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
eISSN: 1680-7324 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/12219/2017/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12219-2017 |
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Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
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17 |
container_issue |
19 |
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12219 |
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12238 |
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1766327700219232256 |