ABSTRACT This paper reports airborne measurements of midlatitude altostratus clouds observed over Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China on 3 March 2007. The case demonstrates mixed-phase conditions at altitudes from 3200 ...ABSTRACT This paper reports airborne measurements of midlatitude altostratus clouds observed over Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China on 3 March 2007. The case demonstrates mixed-phase conditions at altitudes from 3200 to 4600 m （0°C to -7.6°C）, with liquid water content ranging from 0.01 to 0.09 g m-3. In the observed mixed-phase cloud, liquid water content exhibited a bimodal distribution, whereas the maximum ice particle concentration was located in the middle part of the cloud. The liquid and ice particle data showed significant horizontal variability on the scale of a few hundred meters. The cloud droplet concentration varied greatly over the horizontal sampling area. There was an inverse relationship between the cloud droplet concentration and ice particle concentration. A gamma distribution provided the best description of the cloud droplet spectra. The liquid droplet distributions were found to increase in both size and concentration with altitude. It was inferred from the profile of the spectra parameters that the cloud droplet sizes tend to form a quasi-monodisperse distribution. Ice particle spectra in the cloud were fitted well by an exponential distribution. Finally, a remarkable power law relationship was found between the slope （λ） and intercept （No） parameters of the exponential size distribution.展开更多
Cloud microphysical properties including liquid and ice particle number concentration （NC）, liquid water content （LWC）, ice water content （IWC） and effective radius （RE） were retrieved from CloudSat data for a...Cloud microphysical properties including liquid and ice particle number concentration （NC）, liquid water content （LWC）, ice water content （IWC） and effective radius （RE） were retrieved from CloudSat data for a weakly convective and a widespread stratus cloud. Within the mixed-phase cloud layers, liquid-phase fractions needed to be assumed in the data retrieval process, and one existing linear （Pl） and two exponential （P2 and P3） functions, which estimate the liquid-phase fraction as a function of subfreezing temperature （from -20℃ to 0℃）, were tested. The retrieved NC, LWC, IWC and RE using Pl were on average larger than airplane measurements in the same cloud layer, Function P2 performed better than p1 or P3 in retrieving the NCs of cloud droplets in the convective cloud, while function Pl performed better in the stratus cloud. Function P3 performed better in LWC estimation in both convective and stratus clouds. The REs of cloud droplets calculated using the retrieved cloud droplet NC and LWC were closer to the values of in situ observations than those retrieved directly using the Pl function. The retrieved NCs of ice particles in both convective and stratus clouds, on the assumption of liquid-phase fraction during the retrieval of liquid droplet NCs, were closer to those of airplane observations than on the assumption of function P1.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41175120)the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX2-EW-203)
文摘ABSTRACT This paper reports airborne measurements of midlatitude altostratus clouds observed over Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China on 3 March 2007. The case demonstrates mixed-phase conditions at altitudes from 3200 to 4600 m （0°C to -7.6°C）, with liquid water content ranging from 0.01 to 0.09 g m-3. In the observed mixed-phase cloud, liquid water content exhibited a bimodal distribution, whereas the maximum ice particle concentration was located in the middle part of the cloud. The liquid and ice particle data showed significant horizontal variability on the scale of a few hundred meters. The cloud droplet concentration varied greatly over the horizontal sampling area. There was an inverse relationship between the cloud droplet concentration and ice particle concentration. A gamma distribution provided the best description of the cloud droplet spectra. The liquid droplet distributions were found to increase in both size and concentration with altitude. It was inferred from the profile of the spectra parameters that the cloud droplet sizes tend to form a quasi-monodisperse distribution. Ice particle spectra in the cloud were fitted well by an exponential distribution. Finally, a remarkable power law relationship was found between the slope （λ） and intercept （No） parameters of the exponential size distribution.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41475035)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(Grant No.BK20131433)+1 种基金the Foundations from KLME of NUIST(Grant No.KLME1206)the Key Laboratory for Aerosol–Cloud–Precipitation of China Meteorological Administration of NUIST(Grant No.KDW1203)
文摘Cloud microphysical properties including liquid and ice particle number concentration （NC）, liquid water content （LWC）, ice water content （IWC） and effective radius （RE） were retrieved from CloudSat data for a weakly convective and a widespread stratus cloud. Within the mixed-phase cloud layers, liquid-phase fractions needed to be assumed in the data retrieval process, and one existing linear （Pl） and two exponential （P2 and P3） functions, which estimate the liquid-phase fraction as a function of subfreezing temperature （from -20℃ to 0℃）, were tested. The retrieved NC, LWC, IWC and RE using Pl were on average larger than airplane measurements in the same cloud layer, Function P2 performed better than p1 or P3 in retrieving the NCs of cloud droplets in the convective cloud, while function Pl performed better in the stratus cloud. Function P3 performed better in LWC estimation in both convective and stratus clouds. The REs of cloud droplets calculated using the retrieved cloud droplet NC and LWC were closer to the values of in situ observations than those retrieved directly using the Pl function. The retrieved NCs of ice particles in both convective and stratus clouds, on the assumption of liquid-phase fraction during the retrieval of liquid droplet NCs, were closer to those of airplane observations than on the assumption of function P1.
