Far infrared radiative properties of water vapor and clouds in Antarctica

Year: 2015

Authors: Palchetti L., Bianchini G., Di Natale G., Del Guasta M.

Autors Affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

Abstract: Water vapor and clouds are among the most important greenhouse components whose radiative features cover all the broad spectral range of the thermal emission of the atmosphere. Typically more than 40% of the total thermal emission of Earth occurs in the far-infrared (FIR) spectral region from 100 to 667 cm(-1) (wavelengths from 100 to 15 mu m). Nevertheless, this spectral region has not ever been fully covered down to 100 cm(-1) by space missions, and only a few ground-based experiments exist because of the difficulty of performing measurements from high altitude and very dry locations where the atmosphere is sufficiently transparent to observe the FIR emission features. To cover this lack of observations, the Italian experiment Radiative Properties of Water Vapor and Clouds in Antarctica has collected a 2-yr dataset of spectral measurements of the radiance emitted by the atmosphere and by clouds, such as cirrus and polar stratospheric clouds, from 100 to 1,400 cm(-1) (100-7 mu m of wavelength), including the underexplored FIR region, along with polarization-sensitive lidar observations, daily radiosondes, and other ancillary information to characterize the atmosphere above the site. Measurements have been performed almost continuously with a duty cycle of 6 out of 9 h, from the Italian-French base of Concordia at Dome C over the Antarctic Plateau at 3,230 m MSL, in all-sky conditions since 2012. Because of the uniqueness of the observations, this dataset will be extremely valuable for evaluating the accuracy of atmospheric absorption models (both gas and clouds) in the underexplored FIR and to detect possible daily, seasonal, and annual climate signatures.

Journal/Review: BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Volume: 96 (9)      Pages from: 1505  to: 1518

More Information: This research was supported by the Italian PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide) and the Institut polaire francais Paul Emile Victor (IPEV). More specifically it was developed as a part of the Subproject PRANA (Proprieta Radiative dell\’Atmosfera e delle Nubi in Antartide). Data and information on radio sounding measurements were obtained from the IPEV/PNRA Project \”Routine Meteorological Observation at Station Concordia\” (www.climantartide .it/index.php?lang=en). We thank all of the institutions and their associates listed in Table 3 for supplying information about other measurements available at Concordia station. L\’articolo ha ottenuto la copertina del fascicolo Volume 96 Issue 9 (September 2015.
KeyWords: Meteorology, Antarctic plateau; Antarctica; Down-welling radiation; Far infrared; Infrared measurements; Radiative properties, Earth atmosphere
DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00286.1

Citations: 32
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