Cloud Type Classification (cldtype) Value-Added Product

Technical Report · Tue Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1377405· OSTI ID:1377405

Flynn, Donna ^[1]; Shi, Yan ^[1]; Lim, K-S ^[2]; Riihimaki, Laura ^[1]

---

1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. Korean Atomic Energy Research Inst., Daejeon (South Korea)

The Cloud Type (cldtype) value-added product (VAP) provides an automated cloud type classification based on macrophysical quantities derived from vertically pointing lidar and radar. Up to 10 layers of clouds are classified into seven cloud types based on predetermined and site-specific thresholds of cloud top, base and thickness. Examples of thresholds for selected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility sites are provided in Tables 1 and 2. Inputs for the cldtype VAP include lidar and radar cloud boundaries obtained from the Active Remotely Sensed Cloud Location (ARSCL) and Surface Meteorological Systems (MET) data. Rain rates from MET are used to determine when radar signal attenuation precludes accurate cloud detection. Temporal resolution and vertical resolution for cldtype are 1 minute and 30 m respectively and match the resolution of ARSCL. The cldtype classification is an initial step for further categorization of clouds. It was developed for use by the Shallow Cumulus VAP to identify potential periods of interest to the LASSO model and is intended to find clouds of interest for a variety of users.

• Research Organization: DOE Office of Science Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
• OSTI ID: 1377405
• Report Number(s): DOE/SC-ARM--TR-200
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Active Remotely Sensed Cloud Location
Central Facility
LASSO
Southern Great Plains
Surface Meteorological System
cloud type classification
value-added product