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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

Goddard Latent Heating Retrieval Algorithm for TRMM and GPM

The Goddard Convective-Stratiform Heating (CSH) algorithm has been used to retrieve latent heating (LH) associated with clouds and cloud systems in support of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The CSH algorithm requires the use of a cloud-resolving model (CRM) to simulate LH profiles to build look-up tables (LUTs). In this paper we describe the current V6 CSH and its differences/similarities versus the previous V5 CSH. Long-term CRM simulations are conducted to identify the impact of CRM resolution and the convective-stratiform separation method on LH structure/profiles. The TRMM and GPM Combined algorithm derived surface rainfall rates and their associated precipitation properties are the input to the CSH algorithm. Since there is no direct measurement of LH structure, the performance of the CSH V6 algorithm is examined by comparing its vertically-integrated heating (or equivalent surface rainfall rate) against the surface rainfall rate derived from the TRMM/GPM Combined algorithm. The results suggest the CSH three-month and zonal mean equivalent surface rain rates are in good agreement with the Combined rates over the ITCZ region; the agreement is best over ocean. CSH three-month and zonal mean equivalent surface rain rates are larger than the Combined rates over land in both the tropics and sub-tropics. CSH three-month mean equivalent surface rainfall rates also have local differences with the Combined rates that can be smoothed by area averaging to larger horizontal resolutions (from the CSH standard grid of 0.25° × 0.25° to 0.5° × 0.5° or 1.0° × 1.0°). CSH equivalent surface rainfall rates have more light rain rates but less larger rain rates compared to the GPM Combined surface rain rates.

Latent heating retrieval↗
NASA NTRS2010

Genesis of Pre-Hurricane Felix (2007): The Role of the Easterly Wave Critical Layer - Part 1

The formation of pre Hurricane Felix (2007) in a tropical easterly wave is examined in a two-part study using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with a high-resolution nested grid configuration that permits the representation of cloud system processes. The simulation commences during the wave stage of the precursor African easterly-wave disturbance. Here the simulated and observed developments are compared, while in Part II of the study various large-scale analyses, physical parameterizations, and initialization times are explored to document model sensitivities. In this first part the authors focus on the wave/vortex morphology, its interaction with the adjacent intertropical convergence zone complex, and the vorticity balance in the neighborhood of the developing storm. Analysis of the model simulation points to a bottom-up development process within the wave critical layer and supports the three new hypotheses of tropical cyclone formation proposed recently by Dunkerton, Montgomery, and Wang. It is shown also that low-level convergence associated with the ITCZ helps to enhance the wave signal and extend the "wave pouch" from the jet level to the top of the atmospheric boundary layer. The region of a quasi-closed Lagrangian circulation within the wave pouch provides a focal point for diabatic merger of convective vortices and their vortical remnants. The wave pouch serves also to protect the moist air inside from dry air intrusion, providing a favorable environment for sustained deep convection. Consistent with the authors' earlier findings, the tropical storm forms near the center of the wave pouch via system-scale convergence in the lower troposphere and vorticity aggregation. Components of the vorticity balance are shown to be scale dependent, with the immediate effects of cloud processes confined more closely to the storm center than the overturning Eliassen circulation induced by diabatic heating, the influence of which extends to larger radii.

Wang, Zhuo↗
NASA NTRS2004

Mesoscale Simulations of CRYSTAL-FACE 23 July 2002 Case

A key objective of the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) is to understand the relationships between properties of tropical convective cloud systems and the lifecycle of the extended cirrus anvils they produce. We report here on a case study of 23 July 2002 where a line of land-based convective storms was generated between Lake Okeechobee and the Florida east coast as a result of complex interactions between lake and sea breeze fronts and outflow boundaries. A central goal of this study is to develop a description of convective input to the anvil system and to quantify the ongoing dynamical forcing of anvil processes by mesoscale and large-scale dynamics. This information is then used to force high-resolution cloud simulations with a model that explicitly resolves cloud microphysical processes (bin model) for study of cirrus anvil microphysical development.

Starr, David↗
NASA NTRS2019

Saturn Atmospheric Dynamics One Year After Cassini: Long-Lived Features and Time Variations in the Drift of the Hexagon

We examine Saturn's atmospheric dynamics with observations in the visible range from ground-based telescopes and Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We present a detailed analysis of observations acquired during 2018 obtaining drift rates of major meteorological systems from the equator to the North polar hexagon. A system of polar storms that appeared in the planet in March 2018 and remained active with a complex phenomenology at least until September is analyzed elsewhere [Sanchez-Lavega et al., 2019]. Many of the regular cloud features visible in 2018 are long-lived and can be identified in Saturn images in 2017, and in some cases, for up to a decade using also Cassini ISS images. Without considering the polar storms, the most interesting long-lived cloud systems are: i) A bright white spot in the Equatorial Zone that can be tracked continuously since 2014 with minimal changes in its zonal velocity, which was 444:3 +or- 3:1 ms(exp -1) in 2014 and 452:4 + or - 1:7 ms(exp -1) in 2018. This velocity is remarkably different from the zonal winds at the cloud level at its latitude during the Cassini mission, and is closer to zonal winds obtained at the time of the Voyagers flybys and to zonal winds from Cassini VIMS infrared images of the lower atmosphere. ii) A large long-lived Anticyclone Vortex, here AV, that formed after the Great White Spot of 2010-2011. This vortex has changed significantly in visual contrast, drift rate and latitude with minor changes in size over the last years. iii) A system of subpolar vortices at latitudes 60-65N present at least since 2011. These vortices and additional atmospheric features here studied follow drift rates consistent with zonal winds obtained by Cassini. We also present a study of the positions of the vertices of Saturn's North polar hexagon from 2015 to 2018. These measurements are compared with previous analyses during the Cassini mission (2007-2014), observations with HST in the 90s, and data from the Voyagers in 1980-1981 to explore the long term variability of the hexagon's drift rate. We find variations in the drift rate of the hexagon through these epochs that can not be fit by seasonal changes in the polar area. Instead, the different drift rates reinforce the role of the North Polar Spot that was present in the Voyager epoch and in the early 90s to cause a faster drift rate of the hexagon at that time compared with the current slower one.

R Hueso↗
NASA NTRS1977

Atmospheric cloud physics thermal systems analysis

Engineering analyses performed on the Atmospheric Cloud Physics (ACPL) Science Simulator expansion chamber and associated thermal control/conditioning system are reported. Analyses were made to develop a verified thermal model and to perform parametric thermal investigations to evaluate systems performance characteristics. Thermal network representations of solid components and the complete fluid conditioning system were solved simultaneously using the Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer (SINDA) computer program.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1979

The Jupiter system through the eyes of Voyager 1

The cameras aboard Voyager 1 have provided a closeup view of the Jupiter system, revealing heretofore unknown characteristics and phenomena associated with the planet's atmosphere and the surfaces of its five major satellites. On Jupiter itself, atmospheric motions - the interaction of cloud systems - display complex vorticity. On its dark side, lightening and auroras are observed. A ring was discovered surrounding Jupiter. The satellite surfaces display dramatic differences including extensive active volcanism on Io, complex tectonism on Ganymede and possibly Europa, and flattened remnants of enormous impact features on Callisto.

Smith, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The structure and phase of cloud tops as observed by polarization lidar

High-resolution observations of the structure of cloud tops have been obtained with polarization lidar operated from a high altitude aircraft. Case studies of measurements acquired from cumuliform cloud systems are presented, two from September 1979 observations in the area of Florida and adjacent waters and a third during the May 1981 CCOPE experiment in southeast Montana. Accurate cloud top height structure and relative density of hydrometers are obtained from the lidar return signal intensity. Correlation between the signal return intensity and active updrafts was noted. Thin cirrus overlying developing turrets was observed in some cases. Typical values of the observed backscatter cross section were 0.1-5 (km/sr) for cumulonimbus tops. The depolarization ratio of the lidar signals was a function of the thermodynamic phase of cloud top areas. An increase of the cloud top depolarization with decreasing temperature was found for temperatures above and below -40 C.

Spinhirne, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A multispectral study of an extratropical cyclone with Nimbus 3 medium resolution infrared radiometer data

Four registered channels (0.2 to 4, 6.5 to 7, 10 to 11, and 20 to 23 microns) of the Nimbus 3 Medium Resolution Infrared Radiometer (MRIR) were used to study 24-hr changes in the structure of an extratropical cyclone during a 6-day period in May 1969. Use of a stereographic-horizon map projection insured that the storm was mapped with a single perspective throughout the series and allowed the convenient preparation of 24-hr difference maps of the infrared radiation fields. Single-channel and multispectral analysis techniques were employed to establish the positions and vertical slopes of jetstreams, large cloud systems, and major features of middle and upper tropospheric circulation. Use of these techniques plus the difference maps and continuity of observation allowed the early detection of secondary cyclones developing within the circulation of the primary cyclone. An automated, multispectral cloud-type identification technique was developed, and comparisons that were made with conventional ship reports and with high-resolution visual data from the image dissector camera system showed good agreement.

Holub, R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Cloud-Resolving Model and GPM

Over the past twenty years, rainfall retrieval algorithms have been developed to retrieve rainfall and vertical hydrometeor structures from passive microwave observations by making use of the fact that weighting functions for various frequencies peak at different levels within a rainy atmosphere. GPROF is one of two TMI rainfall algorithms. It is physically based retrieval that finds the vertical hydrometeor profile that best fits the brightness temperatures in the available passive radiometer channels. Matching is achieved using a library of hydrometeor profiles generated by cloud-resolving models (CRMs). The hydrometeor profiles have a corresponding surface precipitation rate. The algorithm retrieves the hydrometeor profiles and associated surface rainfall using a Bayesian approach that gives the estimated expected values. The ability of CRMs to produce cloud structures that are reliable and representative of observed storms is crucial for the success of GPROF. The cloud mycrophysics are one of the keys to achieving this. In addition, CRMs have been a very useful tool for GPM-algorithm developers through Cloud-Radiation Simulations (CRS), one of the nine GPM disciplinary research themes. This paper will discuss how to generate consistent and comprehensive 4D cloud datasets from an improved (i.e., in regard to bulk and multi-moment microphysics) CRM for TRMM and GPM rainfall retrieval algorithm developers. These cloud datasets include CRM-simulated clouds and cloud systems from different geographic locations in the tropics and midlatitudes. By linking the CRM with a passive microwave radiative-transfer model and using satellite and airborne data, the performance of the "cloud physics" can be assessed and in turn modified and improved. This paper will also address how to assess and improve the performance of various latent and diabatic heating algorithms and develop an algorithm to retrieve the vertical structure of apparent moistening (Q2). Considering that the GPM will produce high (temporal and spatial) resolution heating and rainfall data, these algorithms will be used to obtain the temporal and spatial distributions of surface rainfall and the associated vertical heating and moistening profiles throughout the subtropical and midlatitudes.

Tao, Wei-Kuo↗
NASA NTRS1972

On mercury clouds in the atmosphere of Venus.

Calculation of the reflectivity of Lewis' (1969) mercury cloud systems to determine the limits placed upon such models by the requirement that they reproduce the observed high albedo of Venus. In this way an upper limit is placed on the mercury droplet cloud mass. This limit is a function of the droplet size. If the droplets are less than 10 microns in radius, models with mercury clouds of mass greater than 0.005 g/sq cm are excluded the values for the masses of the Hg2Cl2 and HCl-H2O clouds given by Lewis are adopted. Relations are given which make it possible to determine whether a particular model satisfies the constraints imposed by the requirement that it produce the high albedo of Venus.

Potter, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A New Approach to using a Cloud-Resolving Model to Study the Interactions between Clouds, Precipitation and Aerosols

Numerical cloud models, which are based the non-hydrostatic equations of motion, have been extensively applied to cloud-scale and mesoscale processes during the past four decades. Because cloud-scale dynamics are treated explicitly, uncertainties stemming from convection that have to be parameterized in (hydrostatic) large-scale models are obviated, or at least mitigated, in cloud models. Global models will use the non-hydrostatic framework when their horizontal resolution becomes about 10 kilometers, the theoretical limit for the hydrostatic approximation. This juncture will be reached one to two decades from now. Over the past generation, voluminous datasets on atmospheric convection have been accumulated from radar, instrumented aircraft, satellites, and rawinsonde measurements in field campaigns, enabling the detailed evaluation of models. Improved numerical methods have resulted in more accurate and efficient dynamical cores in models. Improvements have been made in the parameterizations of microphysical processes, radiation, boundary-layer effects, and turbulence; however, microphysical parameterizations remain a major source of uncertainty in all classes of atmospheric models. In recent years, exponentially increasing computer power has extended cloud-resolving-model integrations from hours to months, the number of computational grid points from less than a thousand to close to ten million. Three-dimensional models are now more prevalent. Much attention is devoted to precipitating cloud systems where the crucial 1-kilometer scales are resolved in horizontal domains as large as 10,000 kilometers in two dimensions, and 1,000 x 1,000 square kilometers in three-dimensions. Cloud models now provide statistical information useful for developing more realistic physically-based parameterizations for climate models and numerical weather prediction models. A review of developments and applications of cloud models in the past, present and future will be presented in this talk. In particular, a new approach to using cloud-resolving models to study the interactions between clouds, precipitation and aerosols will be presented.

Tao, Wei-Kuo↗
NASA NTRS2005

A New Approach to Using a Cloud-resolving Model to Study the Interactions Between Clouds, Precipitation and Aerosols

Numerical cloud models, which are based the non-hydrostatic equations of motion, have been extensively applied to cloud-scale and mesoscale processes during the past four decades. Because cloud-scale dynamics are treated explicitly, uncertainties stemming from convection that have to be parameterized in (hydrostatic) large-scale models are obviated, or at least mitigated, in cloud models. Global models will use the non-hydrostatic framework when their horizontal resolution becomes about 10 km, the theoretical limit for the hydrostatic approximation. This juncture will be reached one to two decades from now. Over the past generation, voluminous datasets on atmospheric convection have been accumulated from radar, instrumented aircraft, satellites, and rawinsonde measurements in field campaigns, enabling the detailed evaluation of models. Improved numerical methods have resulted in more accurate and efficient dynamical cores in models. Improvements have been made in the parameterizations of microphysical processes, radiation, boundary-layer effects, and turbulence; however, microphysical parameterizations remain a major source of uncertainty in all classes of atmospheric models. In recent years, exponentially increasing computer power has extended cloud-resolving-model integrations from hours to months, the number of computational grid points from less than a thousand to close to ten million. Three-dimensional models are now more prevalent. Much attention is devoted to precipitating cloud systems where the crucial 1-km scales are resolved in horizontal domains as large as l0,OOO km in two-dimensions, and 1,OOO x 1,OOO km2 in three-dimensions. Cloud models now provide statistical information useful for developing more realistic physically-based parameterizations for climate models and numerical weather prediction models. A review of developments and applications of cloud models in the past, present and future will be presented in this talk. In particular, a new approach to using cloud-resolving models to study the interactions between clouds, precipitation and aerosols will be presented.

Tao, Wei-Kuo↗
NASA NTRS2011

Tropical and Subtropical Cloud Transitions in Weather and Climate Prediction Models: The GCSS/WGNE Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI)

A model evaluation approach is proposed in which weather and climate prediction models are analyzed along a Pacific Ocean cross section, from the stratocumulus regions off the coast of California, across the shallow convection dominated trade winds, to the deep convection regions of the ITCZ the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment Cloud System Study/Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (GCSS/ WGNE) Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI). The main goal of GPCI is to evaluate and help understand and improve the representation of tropical and subtropical cloud processes in weather and climate prediction models. In this paper, a detailed analysis of cloud regime transitions along the cross section from the subtropics to the tropics for the season June July August of 1998 is presented. This GPCI study confirms many of the typical weather and climate prediction model problems in the representation of clouds: underestimation of clouds in the stratocumulus regime by most models with the corresponding consequences in terms of shortwave radiation biases; overestimation of clouds by the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) in the deep tropics (in particular) with the corresponding impact in the outgoing longwave radiation; large spread between the different models in terms of cloud cover, liquid water path and shortwave radiation; significant differences between the models in terms of vertical cross sections of cloud properties (in particular), vertical velocity, and relative humidity. An alternative analysis of cloud cover mean statistics is proposed where sharp gradients in cloud cover along the GPCI transect are taken into account. This analysis shows that the negative cloud bias of some models and ERA-40 in the stratocumulus regions [as compared to the first International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP)] is associated not only with lower values of cloud cover in these regimes, but also with a stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition that occurs too early along the trade wind Lagrangian trajectory. Histograms of cloud cover along the cross section differ significantly between models. Some models exhibit a quasi-bimodal structure with cloud cover being either very large (close to 100%) or very small, while other models show a more continuous transition. The ISCCP observations suggest that reality is in-between these two extreme examples. These different patterns reflect the diverse nature of the cloud, boundary layer, and convection parameterizations in the participating weather and climate prediction models.

Teixeira, J.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Regimes of Cloud Vertical Structure From Active Observations

We introduce a new type of cloud class, which we call “active cloud regime” (ACR), owing to its provenance from active (lidar and cloud radar) spaceborne cloud observations. ACRs intend to provide a climatological description based on cloud vertical structure (CVS) of the most prevalent monthly CVS mixtures encountered at large spatial scales of ~400 km. ACRs are thus a way to create a gridded dataset of a vertically-resolved cloud mask that can facilitate joint analysis with other gridded datasets. The detailed 2D cloud mask comes from the 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR CloudSat dataset fusing CALIPSO (lidar) and CloudSat (cloud radar) cloud detections. We show that the global classification of cloudiness under the ACR framework provides valuable insights on how the world’s dominant cloud systems regulate the two major components of atmospheric energetics, precipitation and radiative cooling. NASA’s GEOS model allows us to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the ACR concept in Earth System Models that have the capability to produce subgrid cloudiness obeying pre-specified vertical overlap rules. Comparison of observed and simulated ACRs provides thus another means to assess the realism of modeled clouds.

cloud vertical structure↗
NASA NTRS2005

A New Approach to using a Cloud-Resolving Model to Study the Interactions between Clouds, Precipitation and Aerosols

Numerical cloud models, which are based the non-hydrostatic equations of motion, have been extensively applied to cloud-scale and mesoscale processes during the past four decades. Because cloud-scale dynamics are treated explicitly, uncertainties stemming from convection that have to be parameterized in (hydrostatic) large-scale models are obviated, or at least mitigated, in cloud models. Global models will use the non-hydrostatic framework when their horizontal resolution becomes about 10 km, the theoretical limit for the hydrostatic approximation. This juncture will be reached one to two decades from now. Over the past generation, voluminous datasets on atmospheric convection have been accumulated from radar, instrumented aircraft, satellites, and rawinsonde measurements in field campaigns, enabling the detailed evaluation of models. Improved numerical methods have resulted in more accurate and efficient dynamical cores in models. Improvements have been made in the parameterizations of microphysical processes, radiation, boundary-layer effects, and turbulence; however, microphysical parameterizations remain a major source of uncertainty in all classes of atmospheric models. In recent years, exponentially increasing computer power has extended cloud-resolving-model integrations from hours to months, the number of computational grid points from less than a thousand to close to ten million. Three-dimensional models are now more prevalent. Much attention is devoted to precipitating cloud systems where the crucial 1-km scales are resolved in horizontal domains as large as 10,000 km in two-dimensions, and 1,000 x 1,000 square kilometers in three-dimensions. Cloud models now provide statistical information useful for developing more realistic physically-based parameterizations for climate models and numerical weather prediction models. A review of developments and applications of cloud models in the past, present and future will be presented in this talk. In particular, a new approach to using cloud-resolving models to study the interactions between clouds, precipitation and aerosols will be presented.

Tao, Wei-Kuo↗
NASA NTRS2012

Titan's Stratospheric Condensibles at High Northern Latitudes During Northern Winter

The Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) instrument on board Voyager 1 caught the first glimpse of an unidentified particulate feature in Titan's stratosphere that spectrally peaks at 221 per centimeter. Until recently, this feature that we have termed 'the haystack,' has been seen persistently at high northern latitudes with the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument onboard Cassini, The strength of the haystack emission feature diminishes rapidly with season, becoming drastically reduced at high northern latitudes, as Titan transitions from northern winter into spring, In contrast to IRIS whose shortest wavenumber was 200 per centimeter, CIRS extends down to 10 per centimeter, thus revealing an entirely unexplored spectral region in which nitrile ices have numerous broad lattice vibration features, Unlike the haystack, which is only found at high northern latitudes during northern winter/early northern spring, this geometrically thin nitrile cloud pervades Titan's lower stratosphere, spectrally peaking at 160 per centimeter, and is almost global in extent spanning latitudes 85 N to 600 S, The inference of nitrile ices are consistent with the highly restricted altitude ranges over which these features are observed, and appear to be dominated by a mixture of HCN and HC3N, The narrow range in altitude over which the nitrile ices extend is unlike the haystack, whose vertical distribution is significantly broader, spanning roughly 70 kilometers in altitude in Titan's lower stratosphere, The nitrile clouds that CIRS observes are located in a dynamically stable region of Titan's atmosphere, whereas CH4 clouds, which ordinarily form in the troposphere, form in a more dynamically unstable region, where convective cloud systems tend to occur. In the unusual situation where Titan's tropopause cools significantly from the HASI 70.5K temperature minimum, CH4 should condense in Titan's lower stratosphere, just like the aforementioned nitrile clouds, although in significantly larger abundances. We will present the spectral and vertical distribution of Titan's stratospheric particulates during northern winter on Titan. The drastically changing abundance of the haystack over a small latitude range will be highlighted, specifically comparing the IRIS and CIRS epochs, Finally, we will discuss the situation in which CH4 condenses in Titan's lower stratosphere, forming an unexpected quasi steady-state stratospheric Ice cloud.

Anderson, Carrie↗