Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO
The cloud amount, referred to as the frequency of cloud occurrences, is of great importance for the Earth–atmosphere system. It was conventionally quantified as the area fraction of clouds in a given region, discarding the three-dimensional nature of both cloud entities and their spatial distributio...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7d1e8719bc894808b3cae4a448c8ea84 2023-09-26T15:18:26+02:00 Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO Yuhao Ding Qi Liu Ping Lao Meng Li Yuan Li Qun Zheng Yanghui Peng 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15163978 https://doaj.org/article/7d1e8719bc894808b3cae4a448c8ea84 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/16/3978 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15163978 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/7d1e8719bc894808b3cae4a448c8ea84 Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3978, p 3978 (2023) cloud occurrences cloud volume fraction cloud types CloudSat CALIPSO Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15163978 2023-08-27T00:34:54Z The cloud amount, referred to as the frequency of cloud occurrences, is of great importance for the Earth–atmosphere system. It was conventionally quantified as the area fraction of clouds in a given region, discarding the three-dimensional nature of both cloud entities and their spatial distribution. Although the area fraction is explicit, it is the volume fraction that fully depicts cloud occurrences, and the area fraction is just related to a projection of the volume fraction. In this study, by using spaceborne radar measurements, the spatial distribution of cloud volume fraction throughout the troposphere was investigated, and the contributions of various cloud types at each location were clarified. Overall, the volume fraction of total clouds in the whole troposphere is 15.9%, while the corresponding area fraction relative to the global surface is 73.6%. The peak volume fraction occurs at 1 km altitude, mainly contributed by stratocumulus and cumulus. For a single cloud type, the maximum fraction is 48.8%, which is from stratocumulus and occurs at 1 km altitude above the Greenland Sea. Half of the eight cloud types, altostratus, cirrus, nimbostratus, and deep convective clouds, reach the nominal tropopause. In particular, the vertical distribution difference among multiple cloud types in each category (low-level, middle-level, and vertically extending) was clarified, and it was found that the dominant cloud type in a category varies notably with the location in the atmosphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Greenland Sea Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Remote Sensing 15 16 3978 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
cloud occurrences cloud volume fraction cloud types CloudSat CALIPSO Science Q |
spellingShingle |
cloud occurrences cloud volume fraction cloud types CloudSat CALIPSO Science Q Yuhao Ding Qi Liu Ping Lao Meng Li Yuan Li Qun Zheng Yanghui Peng Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
topic_facet |
cloud occurrences cloud volume fraction cloud types CloudSat CALIPSO Science Q |
description |
The cloud amount, referred to as the frequency of cloud occurrences, is of great importance for the Earth–atmosphere system. It was conventionally quantified as the area fraction of clouds in a given region, discarding the three-dimensional nature of both cloud entities and their spatial distribution. Although the area fraction is explicit, it is the volume fraction that fully depicts cloud occurrences, and the area fraction is just related to a projection of the volume fraction. In this study, by using spaceborne radar measurements, the spatial distribution of cloud volume fraction throughout the troposphere was investigated, and the contributions of various cloud types at each location were clarified. Overall, the volume fraction of total clouds in the whole troposphere is 15.9%, while the corresponding area fraction relative to the global surface is 73.6%. The peak volume fraction occurs at 1 km altitude, mainly contributed by stratocumulus and cumulus. For a single cloud type, the maximum fraction is 48.8%, which is from stratocumulus and occurs at 1 km altitude above the Greenland Sea. Half of the eight cloud types, altostratus, cirrus, nimbostratus, and deep convective clouds, reach the nominal tropopause. In particular, the vertical distribution difference among multiple cloud types in each category (low-level, middle-level, and vertically extending) was clarified, and it was found that the dominant cloud type in a category varies notably with the location in the atmosphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yuhao Ding Qi Liu Ping Lao Meng Li Yuan Li Qun Zheng Yanghui Peng |
author_facet |
Yuhao Ding Qi Liu Ping Lao Meng Li Yuan Li Qun Zheng Yanghui Peng |
author_sort |
Yuhao Ding |
title |
Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
title_short |
Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
title_full |
Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
title_fullStr |
Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial Distributions of Cloud Occurrences in Terms of Volume Fraction as Inferred from CloudSat and CALIPSO |
title_sort |
spatial distributions of cloud occurrences in terms of volume fraction as inferred from cloudsat and calipso |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15163978 https://doaj.org/article/7d1e8719bc894808b3cae4a448c8ea84 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Greenland Sea |
genre_facet |
Greenland Greenland Sea |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3978, p 3978 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/16/3978 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15163978 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/7d1e8719bc894808b3cae4a448c8ea84 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15163978 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
16 |
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3978 |
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1778140716722028544 |