Remote sensing of cirrus cloud microphysical properties using spectral measurements over the full range of their thermal emission

Year: 2016

Authors: Palchetti L., Di Natale G., Bianchini G.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, Ist Nazl Ott, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: The thermal emission of cirrus clouds, spectrally resolved in the 100-1400cm(-1) range (100-7.1m), has been modeled and compared with measurements performed during two field campaigns from the ground-based site of Testa Grigia on the Italian Alps at 3480m of altitude. The analysis of cirrus microphysics, through spectral fitting, shows the importance of using also the far infrared portion of the emitted spectrum at wave numbers below the 667cm(-1) carbon dioxide absorption band, where only a few measurements exist because of the high opacity of the atmosphere caused by the strong water vapor absorption. The resulted distribution of the fitted cloud parameters is in good agreement with the typical statistical distribution of the midlatitude cirrus cloud parameters.

Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES

Volume: 121 (18)      Pages from: 10804  to: 10819

More Information: The ECOWAR is a project supported by Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR PRIN 2005, project 2005025202). The Testa Grigia data set, which includes the data used, is made available at the REFIR website (http://refir.fi.ino.it). The deployment of REFIR-PAD in Antarctica was supported by the Italian National Program for Research in Antactica PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide) under the following projects: PRANA2009/A04.03, COMPASS2013/AC3.01, and STRAAP-b2013/AC3.06. The authors would like also to thank ECMWF, Shinfield Park, Reading, UK, for the access to the ERA-Interim reanalysis data sets.
KeyWords: Absorption; Carbon dioxide; Cirrus; Cloud microphysics; Infrared spectroscopy; Remote sensing; Spectral analysis; Thermal regime; Water vapor, Alps; Italy
DOI: 10.1002/2016JD025162

Citations: 22
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