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Characterizing a New Surface-Based Shortwave Cloud Retrieval Technique, Based on Transmitted Radiance for Soil and Vegetated Surface Types

This paper presents an approach using the GEneralized Nonlinear Retrieval Analysis (GENRA) tool and general inverse theory diagnostics including the maximum likelihood solution and the Shannon information content to investigate the performance of a new spectral technique for the retrieval of cloud optical properties from surface based transmittance measurements. The cumulative retrieval information over broad ranges in cloud optical thickness (tau), droplet effective radius (r(sub e)), and overhead sun angles is quantified under two conditions known to impact transmitted radiation; the variability in land surface albedo and atmospheric water vapor content. Our conclusions are: (1) the retrieved cloud properties are more sensitive to the natural variability in land surface albedo than to water vapor content; (2) the new spectral technique is more accurate (but still imprecise) than a standard approach, in particular for tau between 5 and 60 and r(sub e) less than approximately 20 nm; and (3) the retrieved cloud properties are dependent on sun angle for clouds of tau from 5 to 10 and r(sub e) less than 10 nm, with maximum sensitivity obtained for an overhead sun.

Shannon information content↗

Measurements and Analyses to Enable Science for the Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment (EPCAPE)

Coastal cities provide the opportunity to characterize the substantial effects of manmade particles on marine cloud properties and processes. La Jolla lies to the north of San Diego, California, but it is often about a day directly downwind of the major pollution sources located in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The large dynamic range of aerosol particle concentrations combined with the multi-hour to multi-day persistence of stratocumulus cloud layers makes the site ideal for investigating the seasonal changes in cloud and aerosol properties as well as the quantitative relationships between cloud and aerosol properties. The Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment (EPCAPE) characterized the extent, radiative properties, aerosol interactions, and precipitation characteristics of stratocumulus clouds in the Eastern Pacific across all four seasons at two coastal sites in La Jolla. This project was designed to enhance and expand the scientific uses of the ARM AMF1 measurements from EPCAPE. The goal was to ensure meaningful observations were collected that would enable science. The project included the following objectives: (1) Reviewing the ARM AMF1 measurements [ARM, 2021a; b] and circulating a summary of the measurements each week, (2) Comparing AMF1 measurements to those provided by collaborators (including filter measurements at the pier), (3) Collecting and analyzing filter samples from Scripps Pier by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), (4) Assisting in operations of instruments provided by Guest PIs when possible, and (5) Providing an initial compilation of EPCAPE aerosol and cloud seasonal differences. The expected outcomes of these objectives were enhanced proposals and publications using EPCAPE measurements by helping to identify instrument issues, expanded data access and awareness by distributing weekly plots and related summaries, improved source-related attribution of aerosols with elemental tracers, additional observations provided by Guest PIs, and accelerated ACI studies enabled by the compiled seasonal summaries of aerosol and cloud properties. Three examples of the science enabled by this project are findings that (i) aerosol and cloud aqueous production contributes more than half of sulfate particle mass concentration, (ii) upwind sources make chemical composition very similar at nearby sites despite local differences in meteorology, and (iii) most of the large mass concentration of semi-volatile organic components is co-emitted and co-evaporated with nitrate. Together these findings illustrate how ARM extended field campaigns in coastal regions can be used to constrain ACI processes with direct observations. By using the unique ARM suite of cloud radiative products in addition to the measured aerosol properties at a coastal location, we were able to address the more specific question of which aerosol particles cause how much of the effects on clouds. Identifying this signature in coastal areas provides an opportunity to test the representation of aerosol sources by global models in a range of clean and urban-influenced conditions.

Russell, Lynn [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA ↗

Investigation of Cloud Properties and Atmospheric Profiles with Modis

A major milestone was accomplished with the delivery of all five University of Wisconsin MODIS Level 2 science production software packages to the Science Data Support Team (SDST) for integration. These deliveries were the culmination of months of design and testing, with most of the work focused on tasks peripheral to the actual science contained in the code. LTW hosted a MODIS infrared calibration workshop in September. Considerable progress has been made by MCST, with help from LTW, in refining the calibration algorithm, and in identifying and characterization outstanding problems. Work continues on characterizing the effects of non-blackbody earth surfaces on atmospheric profile retrievals and modeling radiative transfer through cirrus clouds.

Menzel, Paul↗

Atmospheric effects on SMMR and SSM/I 37 GHz polarization difference over the Sahel

The atmospheric effects on the difference of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures, Delta(T) observed at 37 GHz frequency of the SMMR on board the Nimbus-7 satellite and SSM/I on board the DMSP-F8 satellite are studied over two 2.5 by 2.5 deg regions within the Sahel and Sudan zones of Africa from January 1985 to December 1986 through radiative transfer analysis using surface temperature, atmospheric water vapor, and cloud optical thickness. It is found that atmospheric effects alone cannot explain the observed temporal variation of Delta(T), although the atmosphere introduces important modulations on the observed seasonal variations of Delta(T) due to rather significant seasonal variation of precipitable water vapor. These Delta(T) data should be corrected for atmospheric effects before any quantitative analysis of land surface change over the Sahel and Sudan zones.

Choudhury, B. J.↗

Subsonic Aircraft Contrail and Cloud Effects Special Study (SUCCESS)

During recent years interest in the impact of commercial aircraft on the climate has increased. Aircraft might impact climate in a number of ways. Contrails are clearly a direct radiative forcing mechanism. Exhaust emissions, principally soot and sulfate, might indirectly force the climate by modifying the radiative properties of cirrus clouds. The SUCCESS program was carried out to investigate these issues. It also has several other goals including: better understanding the emissions from aircraft, better understanding the formation of cirrus clouds: better understanding the radiative properties of contrails and clouds and their remote sensing; better understanding the heterogeneous chemistry in the upper atmosphere; and developing new instruments of importance to atmospheric chemistry and cloud physics. SUCCESS took place during April and May of 1997. The NASA DC-8, ER-2, T-39, and 757 aircraft were used as in situ sampling, remote sensing, near field sampling, and emission sources respectively. Most of the operations occurred near the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site in Northern Oklahoma. The DOE operated several other aircraft so that on some days as many as six research aircraft flew together. Numerous new instruments functioned during the mission. This talk will present an overview of SUCCESS from the operational point of view, and provide some of the overall scientific highlights.

Toon, O.B.↗

Subsonic Aircraft Contrail and Cloud Effects Special Study (SUCCESS)

During recent years interest in the impact of commercial aircraft on the climate has increased. Aircraft might impact climate in a number of ways. Contrails are clearly a direct radiative forcing mechanism. Exhaust emissions, principally soot and sulfate, might indirectly radiative force the climate by modifying the properties of cirrus clouds. The SUCCESS program was carried out to investigate these issues. It also had several other goals including: better understanding the emissions from aircraft, better understanding the formation of cirrus clouds: better understanding the radiative properties of contrail and clouds and their remote sensing; better understanding the heterogeneous chemistry in the upper atmosphere; and developing new instruments of importance to atmospheric chemistry and cloud physics. SUCCESS took place during April and May of 1996. The NASA DC-8, ER-2, T-39, and 757 aircraft were used as in situ sampling, remote sensing, near field sampling, and emission sources respectively. Most of the operations occurred near the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site in Northern Oklahoma. The DOE operated several other aircraft so that on some days as many as six research aircraft operated together. Numerous new instruments operated during the mission. This talk will present an overview of SUCCESS from the operational point of view, and provide some of the overall scientific highlights.

Toon, O. B.↗

Environmental effects on aerosol–cloud interaction in non-precipitating marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds over the eastern North Atlantic

Abstract. Over the eastern North Atlantic (ENA) ocean, a total of 20 non-precipitating single-layer marine boundary layer (MBL) stratus and stratocumulus cloud cases are selected to investigate the impacts of the environmental variables on the aerosol–cloud interaction (ACIr) using the ground-based measurements from the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility at the ENA site during 2016–2018. The ACIr represents the relative change in cloud droplet effective radius re with respect to the relative change in cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration at 0.2 % supersaturation (NCCN,0.2 %) in the stratified water vapor environment. The ACIr values vary from −0.01 to 0.22 with increasing sub-cloud boundary layer precipitable water vapor (PWVBL) conditions, indicating that re is more sensitive to the CCN loading under sufficient water vapor supply, owing to the combined effect of enhanced condensational growth and coalescence processes associated with higher Nc and PWVBL. The principal component analysis shows that the most pronounced pattern during the selected cases is the co-variations in the MBL conditions characterized by the vertical component of turbulence kinetic energy (TKEw), the decoupling index (Di), and PWVBL. The environmental effects on ACIr emerge after the data are stratified into different TKEw regimes. The ACIr values, under both lower and higher PWVBL conditions, more than double from the low-TKEw to high-TKEw regime. This can be explained by the fact that stronger boundary layer turbulence maintains a well-mixed MBL, strengthening the connection between cloud microphysical properties and the below-cloud CCN and moisture sources. With sufficient water vapor and low CCN loading, the active coalescence process broadens the cloud droplet size spectra and consequently results in an enlargement of re. The enhanced activation of CCN and the cloud droplet condensational growth induced by the higher below-cloud CCN loading can effectively decrease re, which jointly presents as the increased ACIr. This study examines the importance of environmental effects on the ACIr assessments and provides observational constraints to future model evaluations of aerosol–cloud interactions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Adaptive Data Screening for Multi-Angle Polarimetric Aerosol and Ocean Color Remote Sensing Accelerated by Automatic Differentiation

Remote sensing measurements from multi-angle polarimeters (MAPs) contain rich aerosol microphysical property information, and these sensors have been used to perform retrievals in optically complex atmosphere and ocean systems. Previous studies have concluded that, generally, five moderately separated viewing angles in each spectral band provide sufficient accuracy for aerosol property retrievals, with performance gradually saturating as angles are added above that threshold. The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) instruments provide high angular sampling with a total of 90-120 unique angles across four bands, a capability developed mainly for liquid cloud retrievals. In practice, not all view angles are optimal for aerosol retrievals due to impacts of clouds, sun glint, and other impediments. The many viewing angles of HARP can provide resilience to these effects, if the impacted views are screened from the dataset, as the remaining views may be sufficient for successful analysis. In this study, we discuss how the number of available viewing angles impacts aerosol and ocean color retrieval uncertainties, as applied to two versions of the HARP instrument. AirHARP is an airborne prototype that was deployed in the ACEPOL field campaign, while HARP2 is an instrument in development for the upcoming NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. Based on synthetic data, we find that a total of 20-30 angles across all bands (i.e. five to eight viewing angles per band) are sufficient to achieve good retrieval performance. Following from this result, we develop an adaptive multi-angle polarimetric data screening (MAPDS) approach to evaluate data quality by comparing measurements with their best-fitted forward model. The FastMAPOL retrieval algorithm is used to retrieve scene geophysical values, by matching an efficient, deep learning-based, radiative transfer emulator to observations. The data screening method effectively identifies and removes viewing angles affected by thin cirrus clouds and other anomalies, improving retrieval performance. This was tested with AirHARP data, and we found agreement with the High Spectral Resolution Lidar-2 (HSRL-2) aerosol data. The data screening approach can be applied to modern satellite remote sensing missions, such as PACE, where a large amount of multi-angle, hyperspectral, polarimetric measurements will be collected.

multi-angle polarimeter↗

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Multiple particle/droplet flames are ubiquitous in practical combustion systems, and thus the flame interaction processes are of great practical importance. This explains the strong current interest in interactive combustion phenomena. This research is aimed at the investigation of combustion parameters of microgravity model aerosols: relatively large uniform metal particles aerosolized in microgravity environment. An experiment consisting of creation and ignition of a metal multiparticle system in microgravity and high-speed video-recording of the combustion events will produce visual records of the development of individual particle flames, their interactions and the particle motion they induce simultaneously with the observation of the entire aerosol combustion process. Frame by frame analysis of the video-images taken using a high-speed movie camera will allow one to determine particle brightness temperatures and the decrease in particle diameter during combustion. Analysis of the experimental results and comparison with the results of single metal particle combustion experiments, conducted under similar microgravity conditions in the framework of a parallel program, will establish the relationship between single and multiple particle burning rates and combustion temperatures, concentrations at which the flame substructure forms rather than individual particle flames, efficiency of radiative heat transfer in metal aerosol combustion, what is the role of electrostatic forces in structuring the flame and the effect of that structure on the flame propagation rate. Although some details of fine particle aerosol clouds, such as the kinetics limited burning rate, radiative heat transfer in a system with a high specific surface, particle induced turbulence, etc., will probably not be very well simulated in the planned experiments, they are relatively well understood and can be accounted for using an adequate individual particle combustion model. On the other hand, the unknown particle interaction phenomena to be studied in this research program are generic and can be readily projected onto a cloud combustion model which would also incorporate a correction for particle size.

Dreizin, Edward L.↗

Characterization of Spectral Absorption Properties of Aerosols Using Satellite Observations

The wavelength-dependence of aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) is generally represented in terms of the Angstrom Absorption Exponent (AAE), a parameter that describes the dependence of AAOD with wavelength. The AAE parameter is closely related to aerosol composition. Black carbon (BC) containing aerosols yield AAE values near unity whereas Organic carbon (OC) aerosol particles are associated with values larger than 2. Even larger AAE values have been reported for desert dust aerosol particles. Knowledge of spectral AAOD is necessary for the calculation of direct radiative forcing effect of aerosols and for inferring aerosol composition. We have developed a satellitebased method of determining the spectral AAOD of absorbing aerosols. The technique uses high spectral resolution measurements of upwelling radiation from scenes where absorbing aerosols lie above clouds as indicated by the UV Aerosol Index. For those conditions, the satellite measured reflectance (rho lambda) is approximately given by Beer's law rho lambda = rho (sub 0 lambda) e (exp -mtau (sub abs lambda)) where rho(sub 0 lambda) is the cloud reflectance, m is the geometric slant path and tau (sub abs lambda) is the spectral AAOD. The rho (sub 0 lambda) term is determined by means of radiative transfer calculations using as input the cloud optical depth derived as described in Torres et al. [JAS, 2012] that accounts for the effects of aerosol absorption. In the second step, corrections for molecular and aerosol scattering effects are applied to the cloud reflectance term, and the spectral AAOD is then derived by inverting the equation above. The proposed technique will be discussed in detail and application results will be presented. The technique can be easily applied to hyper-spectral satellite measurements that include UV such as OMI, GOME and SCIAMACHY, or to multi-spectral visible measurements by other sensors provided that the aerosol-above-cloud events are easily identified.

Torres, O.↗

Evaluation of procedures to correct for variable viewing and illumination geometry when observing a non-Lambertian surface through the atmosphere

Data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer aboard the NOAA polar orbiting satellite are being operationally applied to provide estimates of vegetation cover and/or condition over a large part of the earth by the USDA. The wide scan angle (+ or - 54 deg) of this system permits daily views of the earth when used to its limits. Five-day repetitive coverage is acquired, assuming cloud-free conditions, in current operations which limit the use of the scan to the center + or - 14 deg of swath. While use of the full scan width would provide clear acquisitions frequent enough to monitor crop development and condition even with normal cloudiness, these off-nadir data are made difficult to interpret due to the non-Lambertian nature of the surface, enhanced effect of the atmosphere, inclusion of subpixel and thin invisible clouds in the scene, and differences in illumination across the scene; all of which contribute to variations in observed reflected radiation. Some approaches to provide corrections for these effects are discussed here.

Whitehead, V. S.↗

The chemical composition and climatology of the earth's early atmosphere

The earth's climate as it relates to the evolution of life is discussed.. Seven fundamental characteristics of the early evolutionary environment are examined, including a carbon dioxide and water vapor atmosphere, atmospheric mass between 500 and 1000 mb, a global hydrosphere, lowered solar luminosity, hospitable average global temperatures, a convectively active atmosphere, and trace gases. The influence of the early earth's extensive hydrosphere on the origin of life is considered. The warming of that hydrosphere due to radiative fluxes and the greenhouse effect is examined, and the nature of the feedback between clouds and climate is addressed.

Henderson-Sellers, A.↗

Radiative heating rates near the stratospheric fountain

Radiative heating rates are computed for various sets of conditions thought to be appropriate to the stratospheric fountain region: with and without a layer of cirrus cloud between 100 and 150 mbar; with standard ozone and with decreased ozone in the lower stratosphere, again with and without the cirrus cloud; and with different temperatures in the tropopause region. The presence of the cloud decreases the radiative cooling below the cloud in the upper troposphere and increases the cooling above it in the lower stratosphere. The cloud is heated at the base and cooled at the top and thus radiatively destabilized; overall it gains energy by radiation. Decreasing ozone above the cloud also tends to cool the lower stratosphere. The net effect is a tendency for vertical convergence and horizontal divergence in the cloud region. High resolution profiles of temperature, ozone, and cloudiness within the fountain region are required in order to assess the final balance of the various processes.

Doherty, G. M.↗

Clouds and the earth's radiant energy system (CERES) - Instrument design and development

Measurements of the earth's reflected shortwave and emitted longwave energy and of the effect of clouds on these quantities are planned using a refined version of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanning instrument. The CERES instruments are being designed to accumulate earth radiance measurements with a repeatability of better than 0.5 percent over their five year life. Beginning in 1996, flights are planned on both polar and low earth orbit satellites to obtain the required temporal and spatial coverage. The design and development of CERES are discussed.

Kopia, Leonard P.↗

Nonaxisymmetric evolution in protostellar disks

We present a two-dimensional, multigridded hydrodynamical simulation of the collapse of an axisymmetric, rotating, 1 solar mass protostellar cloud, which forms a resolved, hydrotastic disk. The code includes the effects of physical viscosity, radiative transfer and radiative acceleration but not magnetic fields. We examine how the disk is affected by the inclusion of turbulent viscosity by comparing a viscous simulation with an inviscid model evolved from the same initial conditions, and we derive a disk evolutionary timescale on the order of 300,000 years if alpha = 0.01. Effects arising from non-axisymmetric gravitational instabilities in the protostellar disk are followed with a three-dimensional SPH code, starting from the two-dimensional structure. We find that the disk is prone to a series of spiral instabilities with primary azimulthal mode number m = 1 and m = 2. The torques induced by these nonaxisymmetric structures elicit material transport of angular momentum and mass through the disk, readjusting the surface density profile toward more stable configurations. We present a series of analyses which characterize both the development and the likely source of the instabilities. We speculate that an evolving disk which maintains a minimum Toomre Q-value approximately 1.4 will have a total evolutionary span of several times 10(exp 5) years, comparable to, but somewhat shorter than the evolutionary timescale resulting from viscous turbulence alone. We compare the evolution resulting from nonaxisymmetric instabilities with solutions of a one-dimensional viscous diffusion equation applied to the initial surface density and temperature profile. We find that an effective alpha-value of 0.03 is a good fit to the results of the simulation. However, the effective alpha will depend on the minimum Q in the disk at the time the instability is activated. We argue that the major fraction of the transport characterized by the value of alpha is due to the action of gravitational torques, and does not arise from inherent viscosity within the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method.

Laughlin, Gregory↗

Dynamics of the CRRES barium releases in the magnetosphere

The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) G-2, G-3, and G-4 ionized and neutral barium cloud positions are triangulated from ground-based optical data. From the time history of the ionized cloud motion perpendicular to the magnetic field, the late time coupling of the ionized cloud with the collisionless ambient plasma in the magnetosphere is investigated for each of the releases. The coupling of the ionized clouds with the ambient medium is quantitatively consistent with predictions from theory in that the coupling time increases with increasing distance from the Earth. Quantitative comparison with simple theory for the couping time also yields reasonable agreement. Other effects not predicted by the theory are discussed in the context of the observations.

Fuselier, S. A.↗

A Lightning Channel Retrieval Algorithm for the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA)

A new multi-station VHF time-of-arrival (TOA) antenna network is, at the time of this writing, coming on-line in Northern Alabama. The network, called the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), employs GPS timing and detects VHF radiation from discrete segments (effectively point emitters) that comprise the channel of lightning strokes within cloud and ground flashes. The network will support on-going ground validation activities of the low Earth orbiting Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) satellite developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. It will also provide for many interesting and detailed studies of the distribution and evolution of thunderstorms and lightning in the Tennessee Valley, and will offer many interesting comparisons with other meteorological/geophysical wets associated with lightning and thunderstorms. In order to take full advantage of these benefits, it is essential that the LMA channel mapping accuracy (in both space and time) be fully characterized and optimized. In this study, a new revised channel mapping retrieval algorithm is introduced. The algorithm is an extension of earlier work provided in Koshak and Solakiewicz (1996) in the analysis of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system. As in the 1996 study, direct algebraic solutions are obtained by inverting a simple linear system of equations, thereby making computer searches through a multi-dimensional parameter domain of a Chi-Squared function unnecessary. However, the new algorithm is developed completely in spherical Earth-centered coordinates (longitude, latitude, altitude), rather than in the (x, y, z) cartesian coordinates employed in the 1996 study. Hence, no mathematical transformations from (x, y, z) into spherical coordinates are required (such transformations involve more numerical error propagation, more computer program coding, and slightly more CPU computing time). The new algorithm also has a more realistic definition of source altitude that accounts for Earth oblateness (this can become important for sources that are hundreds of kilometers away from the network). In addition, the new algorithm is being applied to analyze computer simulated LMA datasets in order to obtain detailed location/time retrieval error maps for sources in and around the LMA network. These maps will provide a more comprehensive analysis of retrieval errors for LMA than the 1996 study did of LDAR retrieval errors. Finally, we note that the new algorithm can be applied to LDAR, and essentially any other multi-station TWA network that depends on direct line-of-site antenna excitation.

Koshak, William↗

Mathematical Inversion of Lightning Data: Techniques and Applications

A survey of some interesting mathematical inversion studies dealing with radio, optical, and electrostatic measurements of lightning are presented. A discussion of why NASA is interested in lightning, what specific physical properties of lightning are retrieved, and what mathematical techniques are used to perform the retrievals are discussed. In particular, a relatively new multi-station VHF time-of-arrival (TOA) antenna network is now on-line in Northern Alabama and will be discussed. The network, called the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), employs GPS timing and detects VHF radiation from discrete segments (effectively point emitters) that comprise the channel of lightning strokes within cloud and ground flashes. The LMA supports on-going ground-validation activities of the low Earth orbiting Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) satellite developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. The LMA also provides detailed studies of the distribution and evolution of thunderstorms and lightning in the Tennessee Valley, and offers interesting comparisons with other meteorological/geophysical datasets. In order to take full advantage of these benefits, it is essential that the LMA channel mapping accuracy (in both space and time) be fully characterized and optimized. A new channel mapping retrieval algorithm is introduced for this purpose. To characterize the spatial distribution of retrieval errors, the algorithm has been applied to analyze literally tens of millions of computer-simulated lightning VHF point sources that have been placed at various ranges, azimuths, and altitudes relative to the LMA network. Statistical results are conveniently summarized in high-resolution, color-coded, error maps.

Koshak, William↗