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- ItemThe sub-adiabatic model as a concept for evaluating therepresentation and radiative effects of low-level cloudsin a high-resolution atmospheric model(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2020) Barlakas, Vasileio; Deneke, Hartwig; Macke, AndreasThe realistic representation of low-level clouds, including their radiative effects, in atmospheric models remains challenging. A sensitivity study is presented to establish a conceptual approach for the evaluation of low-level clouds and their radiative impact in a highly resolved atmospheric model. Considering simulations for six case days, the analysis supports the notion that the properties of clouds more closely match the assumptions of the sub-adiabatic rather than the vertically homogeneous cloud model, suggesting its use as the basis for evaluation. For the considered cases, 95.7 % of the variance in cloud optical thickness is explained by the variance in the liquid water path, while the droplet number concentration and the sub-adiabatic fraction contribute only 3.5 % and 0.2 % to the total variance, respectively. A mean sub-adiabatic fraction of 0.45 is found, which exhibits strong inter-day variability. Applying a principal component analysis and subsequent varimax rotation to the considered set of nine properties, four dominating modes of variability are identified, which explain 97.7 % of the total variance. The first and second components correspond to the cloud base and top height, and to liquid water path, optical thickness, and cloud geometrical extent, respectively, while the cloud droplet number concentration and the sub-adiabatic fraction are the strongest contributors to the third and fourth components. Using idealized offline radiative transfer calculations, it is confirmed that the shortwave and longwave cloud radiative effects exhibit little sensitivity to the vertical structure of clouds. This reconfirms, based on an unprecedented large set of highly resolved vertical cloud profiles, that the cloud optical thickness and the cloud top and bottom heights are the main factors dominating the shortwave and longwave radiative effect of clouds and should be evaluated together with radiative fluxes using observations to attribute model deficiencies in the radiative fluxes to deficiencies in the representation of clouds. Considering the different representations of cloud microphysical processes in atmospheric models, the analysis has been further extended and the deviations between the radiative impact of the single- and double-moment schemes are assessed. Contrasting the shortwave cloud radiative effect obtained from the double-moment scheme to that of a single-moment scheme, differences of about ∼40 W m−2 and significant scatter are observed. The differences are attributable to a higher cloud albedo resulting from the high values of droplet number concentration in particular in the boundary layer predicted by the double-moment scheme, which reach median values of around ∼600 cm−3.
- ItemHelicopter-borne observations of the continental background aerosol in combination with remote sensing and ground-based measurements(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2018) Düsing, Sebastian; Wehner, Birgit; Seifert, Patric; Ansmann, Albert; Baars, Holger; Ditas, Florian; Henning, Silvia; Ma, Nan; Poulain, Laurent; Siebert, Holger; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Macke, AndreasThis paper examines the representativeness of ground-based in situ measurements for the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and conducts a closure study between airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements up to an altitude of 2300 m. The related measurements were carried out in a field campaign within the framework of the High-Definition Clouds and Precipitation for Advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP)2) Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in September 2013 in a rural background area of central Europe. The helicopter-borne probe ACTOS (Airborne Cloud and Turbulence Observation System) provided measurements of the aerosol particle number size distribution (PNSD), the aerosol particle number concentration (PNC), the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN-NC), and meteorological atmospheric parameters (e.g., temperature and relative humidity). These measurements were supported by the ground-based 3+2 wavelength polarization lidar system PollyXT, which provided profiles of the particle backscatter coefficient (σbsc) for three wavelengths (355, 532, and 1064 nm). Particle extinction coefficient (σext) profiles were obtained by using a fixed backscatter-to-extinction ratio (also lidar ratio, LR). A new approach was used to determine profiles of CCN-NC for continental aerosol. The results of this new approach were consistent with the airborne in situ measurements within the uncertainties. In terms of representativeness, the PNSD measurements on the ground showed a good agreement with the measurements provided with ACTOS for lower altitudes. The ground-based measurements of PNC and CCN-NC are representative of the PBL when the PBL is well mixed. Locally isolated new particle formation events on the ground or at the top of the PBL led to vertical variability in the cases presented here and ground-based measurements are not entirely representative of the PBL. Based on Mie theory (Mie, 1908), optical aerosol properties under ambient conditions for different altitudes were determined using the airborne in situ measurements and were compared with the lidar measurements. The investigation of the optical properties shows that on average the airborne-based particle light backscatter coefficient is 50.1 % smaller for 1064 nm, 27.4 % smaller for 532 nm, and 29.5 % smaller for 355 nm than the measurements of the lidar system. These results are quite promising, since in situ measurement-based Mie calculations of the particle light backscattering are scarce and the modeling is quite challenging. In contrast, for the particle light extinction coefficient we found a good agreement. The airborne-based particle light extinction coefficient was just 8.2 % larger for 532 nm and 3 % smaller for 355 nm, for an assumed LR of 55 sr. The particle light extinction coefficient for 1064 nm was derived with a LR of 30 sr. For this wavelength, the airborne-based particle light extinction coefficient is 5.2 % smaller than the lidar measurements. For the first time, the lidar ratio of 30 sr for 1064 nm was determined on the basis of in situ measurements and the LR of 55 sr for 355 and 532 nm wavelength was reproduced for European continental aerosol on the basis of this comparison. Lidar observations and the in situ based aerosol optical properties agree within the uncertainties. However, our observations indicate that a determination of the PNSD for a large size range is important for a reliable modeling of aerosol particle backscattering.
- ItemThe HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) - An overview(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2017) Macke, Andreas; Seifert, Patric; Baars, Holger; Barthlott, Christian; Beekmans, Christoph; Behrendt, Andreas; Bohn, Birger; Brueck, Matthias; Bühl, Johannes; Crewell, Susanne; Damian, Thomas; Deneke, Hartwig; Düsing, Sebastian; Foth, Andreas; Di Girolamo, Paolo; Hammann, Eva; Heinze, Rieke; Hirsikko, Anne; Kalisch, John; Kalthoff, Norbert; Kinne, Stefan; Kohler, Martin; Löhnert, Ulrich; Madhavan, Bomidi Lakshmi; Maurer, Vera; Muppa, Shravan Kumar; Schween, Jan; Serikov, Ilya; Siebert, Holger; Simmer, Clemens; Späth, Florian; Steinke, Sandra; Träumner, Katja; Trömel, Silke; Wehner, Birgit; Wieser, Andreas; Wulfmeyer, Volker; Xie, XinxinThe HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) was performed as a major 2-month field experiment in Jülich, Germany, in April and May 2013, followed by a smaller campaign in Melpitz, Germany, in September 2013. HOPE has been designed to provide an observational dataset for a critical evaluation of the new German community atmospheric icosahedral non-hydrostatic (ICON) model at the scale of the model simulations and further to provide information on land-surface-atmospheric boundary layer exchange, cloud and precipitation processes, as well as sub-grid variability and microphysical properties that are subject to parameterizations. HOPE focuses on the onset of clouds and precipitation in the convective atmospheric boundary layer. This paper summarizes the instrument set-ups, the intensive observation periods, and example results from both campaigns.
HOPE-Jülich instrumentation included a radio sounding station, 4 Doppler lidars, 4 Raman lidars (3 of them provide temperature, 3 of them water vapour, and all of them particle backscatter data), 1 water vapour differential absorption lidar, 3 cloud radars, 5 microwave radiometers, 3 rain radars, 6 sky imagers, 99 pyranometers, and 5 sun photometers operated at different sites, some of them in synergy. The HOPE-Melpitz campaign combined ground-based remote sensing of aerosols and clouds with helicopter- and balloon-based in situ observations in the atmospheric column and at the surface.
HOPE provided an unprecedented collection of atmospheric dynamical, thermodynamical, and micro- and macrophysical properties of aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with high spatial and temporal resolution within a cube of approximately 10 × 10 × 10km3. HOPE data will significantly contribute to our understanding of boundary layer dynamics and the formation of clouds and precipitation. The datasets have been made available through a dedicated data portal.
First applications of HOPE data for model evaluation have shown a general agreement between observed and modelled boundary layer height, turbulence characteristics, and cloud coverage, but they also point to significant differences that deserve further investigations from both the observational and the modelling perspective. - ItemDisk and circumsolar radiances in the presence of ice clouds(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2017) Haapanala, Päivi; Räisänen, Petri; McFarquhar, Greg M.; Tiira, Jussi; Macke, Andreas; Kahnert, Michael; DeVore, John; Nousiainen, TimoThe impact of ice clouds on solar disk and circumsolar radiances is investigated using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model. The monochromatic direct and diffuse radiances are simulated at angles of 0 to 8° from the center of the sun. Input data for the model are derived from measurements conducted during the 2010 Small Particles in Cirrus (SPARTICUS) campaign together with state-of-the-art databases of optical properties of ice crystals and aerosols. For selected cases, the simulated radiances are compared with ground-based radiance measurements obtained by the Sun and Aureole Measurements (SAM) instrument. First, the sensitivity of the radiances to the ice cloud properties and aerosol optical thickness is addressed. The angular dependence of the disk and circumsolar radiances is found to be most sensitive to assumptions about ice crystal roughness (or, more generally, non-ideal features of ice crystals) and size distribution, with ice crystal habit playing a somewhat smaller role. Second, in comparisons with SAM data, the ice cloud optical thickness is adjusted for each case so that the simulated radiances agree closely (i.e., within 3 %) with the measured disk radiances. Circumsolar radiances at angles larger than ≈ 3° are systematically underestimated when assuming smooth ice crystals, whereas the agreement with the measurements is better when rough ice crystals are assumed. Our results suggest that it may well be possible to infer the particle roughness directly from ground-based SAM measurements. In addition, the results show the necessity of correcting the ground-based measurements of direct radiation for the presence of diffuse radiation in the instrument's field of view, in particular in the presence of ice clouds.
- ItemMultiresolution analysis of the spatiotemporal variability in global radiation observed by a dense network of 99 pyranometers(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2017) Madhavan, Bomidi Lakshmi; Deneke, Hartwig; Witthuhn, Jonas; Macke, AndreasThe time series of global radiation observed by a dense network of 99 autonomous pyranometers during the HOPE campaign around Jülich, Germany, are investigated with a multiresolution analysis based on the maximum overlap discrete wavelet transform and the Haar wavelet. For different sky conditions, typical wavelet power spectra are calculated to quantify the timescale dependence of variability in global transmittance. Distinctly higher variability is observed at all frequencies in the power spectra of global transmittance under broken-cloud conditions compared to clear, cirrus, or overcast skies. The spatial autocorrelation function including its frequency dependence is determined to quantify the degree of similarity of two time series measurements as a function of their spatial separation. Distances ranging from 100-m to 10-km are considered, and a rapid decrease of the autocorrelation function is found with increasing frequency and distance. For frequencies above 1-3-ming-1 and points separated by more than 1-km, variations in transmittance become completely uncorrelated. A method is introduced to estimate the deviation between a point measurement and a spatially averaged value for a surrounding domain, which takes into account domain size and averaging period, and is used to explore the representativeness of a single pyranometer observation for its surrounding region. Two distinct mechanisms are identified, which limit the representativeness; on the one hand, spatial averaging reduces variability and thus modifies the shape of the power spectrum. On the other hand, the correlation of variations of the spatially averaged field and a point measurement decreases rapidly with increasing temporal frequency. For a grid box of 10-km-×-10-km and averaging periods of 1.5-3-h, the deviation of global transmittance between a point measurement and an area-averaged value depends on the prevailing sky conditions: 2.8 (clear), 1.8 (cirrus), 1.5 (overcast), and 4.2-% (broken clouds). The solar global radiation observed at a single station is found to deviate from the spatial average by as much as 14-23 (clear), 8-26 (cirrus), 4-23 (overcast), and 31-79-Wg-mg-2 (broken clouds) from domain averages ranging from 1-km-×-1-km to 10-km-×-10-km in area.
- ItemMeteorological conditions during the ACLOUD/PASCAL field campaign near Svalbard in early summer 2017(Katlenburg-Lindau : EGU, 2018) Knudsen, Erlend M.; Heinold, Bernd; Dahlke, Sandro; Bozem, Heiko; Crewell, Susanne; Gorodetskaya, Irina V.; Heygster, Georg; Kunkel, Daniel; Maturilli, Marion; Mech, Mario; Viceto, Carolina; Rinke, Annette; Schmithüsen, Holger; Ehrlich, André; Macke, Andreas; Lüpkes, Christof; Wendisch, ManfredThe two concerted field campaigns, Arctic CLoud Observations Using airborne measurements during polar Day (ACLOUD) and the Physical feedbacks of Arctic planetary boundary level Sea ice, Cloud and AerosoL (PASCAL), took place near Svalbard from 23 May to 26 June 2017. They were focused on studying Arctic mixed-phase clouds and involved observations from two airplanes (ACLOUD), an icebreaker (PASCAL) and a tethered balloon, as well as ground-based stations. Here, we present the synoptic development during the