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    Airborne spectral radiation measurements to derive solar radiative forcing of Saharan dust mixed with biomass burning smoke particles
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Bauer, S.; Bierwirth, E.; Esselborn, M.; Petzold, A.; Macke, A.; Trautmann, T.; Wendisch, M.
    Airborne measurements of upward solar spectral irradiances were performed during the second Saharan Mineral dUst experiMent (SAMUM-2) campaign based on the Cape Verde Islands. Additionally, airborne high resolution lidar measurements of vertical profiles of particle extinction coefficients were collected in parallel to the radiation data. Aerosol layers of Saharan dust, partly mixed with biomass-burning smoke, were probed. With corresponding radiative transfer simulations the single scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter of the aerosol particles were derived although with high uncertainty. The broad-band aerosol solar radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere was calculated and examined as a function of the aerosol types. However, due to uncertainties in both the measurements and the calculations the chemical composition cannot be identified. In addition, a mostly measurement-based method to derive the broad-band aerosol solar radiative forcing was used. This approach revealed clear differences of broad-band net irradiances as a function of the aerosol optical depth. The data were used to identify different aerosol types from different origins. Higher portions of biomass-burning smoke lead to larger broad-band net irradiances.
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    Evidence for inertial droplet clustering in weakly turbulent clouds
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Lehmann, Katrin; Siebert, Holger; Wendisch, Manfred; Shaw, Raymond A.
    Simultaneous observations of cloud droplet spatial statistics, cloud droplet size distribution and cloud turbulence were made during several cloud passages, including cumulus clouds and a stratus cloud. They provide evidence that inertial droplet clustering occurs even in weakly turbulent clouds. The measurements were made from the Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System suspended from a tethered balloon. For a profile through a stratus cloud with gradually changing droplet Stokes number, droplet clustering, quantified by the pair correlation function, is observed to be positively correlated with the droplet Stokes number. This implies that the droplet collision rate, which is relevant to drizzle formation via droplet coalescence, depends not only on the droplet size distribution, but also on the cloud turbulence. For cumulus clouds, the relation between droplet clustering and Stokes number seems more complicated. Stokes number is determined by measuring droplet size and local energy dissipation rate, the latter requiring highresolution air velocity measurements not possible on fast-flying aircraft.