Global Spectroscopic Survey of Cloud Thermodynamic Phase at High Spatial Resolution, 2005-2015. Thompson, R. D., Kahn, B. H., Green, R. O., Chien, S. A., Middleton, E. M., & Tran, D. Q. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussion, November, 2018.
Global Spectroscopic Survey of Cloud Thermodynamic Phase at High Spatial Resolution, 2005-2015 [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   2 downloads  
The distribution of ice, liquid, and mixed phase clouds is important for Earth's planetary radiation budget, impacting cloud optical properties, evolution, and solar reflectivity Most remote orbital thermodynamic phase measurements observe kilometer scales and are insensitive to mixed phases. This under-constrains important processes with outsize radiative forcing impact such as spatial partitioning in mixed phase clouds. To date, the fine spatial structure of cloud phase has not been measured at global scales. Imaging spectroscopy of reflected solar energy from 1.4 to 1.8 µm can address this gap: it directly measures ice and water absorption, a robust indicator of cloud top thermodynamic phase, with spatial resolution of tens to hundreds of meters We report the first such global high spatial resolution survey based on data from 2005 to 2015 acquired by the Hyperion imaging spectrometer onboard NASA's Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) spacecraft Seasonal and latitudinal distributions corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). For extratropical cloud systems, just 25 percent of variance observed at GCM grid scales of 100 km was related to irreducible measurement error, while 75 percent was explained by spatial correlations possible at finer resolutions.
@article{thompson-kahn-green-et-al-2018,
	title        = {Global Spectroscopic Survey of Cloud Thermodynamic Phase at High Spatial Resolution, 2005-2015},
	author       = {R. D. Thompson and B. H. Kahn and R. O. Green and S. A. Chien and E. M. Middleton and D. Q. Tran},
	year         = 2018,
	month        = {November},
	journal      = {Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussion},
	doi          = {https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-361},
	url          = {https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-361},
	abstract     = {The distribution of ice, liquid, and mixed phase clouds is important for Earth's planetary radiation budget, impacting cloud optical properties, evolution, and solar reflectivity Most remote orbital thermodynamic phase measurements observe kilometer scales and are insensitive to mixed phases. This under-constrains important processes with outsize radiative forcing impact such as spatial partitioning in mixed phase clouds. To date, the fine spatial structure of cloud phase has not been measured at global scales. Imaging spectroscopy of reflected solar energy from 1.4 to 1.8 \mathrm{\mu}m can address this gap: it directly measures ice and water absorption, a robust indicator of cloud top thermodynamic phase, with spatial resolution of tens to hundreds of meters We report the first such global high spatial resolution survey based on data from 2005 to 2015 acquired by the Hyperion imaging spectrometer onboard NASA's Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) spacecraft Seasonal and latitudinal distributions corroborate observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). For extratropical cloud systems, just 25 percent of variance observed at GCM grid scales of 100 km was related to irreducible measurement error, while 75 percent was explained by spatial correlations possible at finer resolutions.},
	clearance    = {CL\#18-0367},
	organization = {European Geosciences Union},
	project      = {ase}
}

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