Cloud optical and microphysical properties derived from ground-based and satellite sensors over a site in the Yangtze Delta region: CLOUD PROPERTIES IN EASTERN CHINA

Journal Article · Thu Aug 22 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50648· OSTI ID:1392453

Liu, Jianjun ^[1]; Li, Zhanqing ^[2]; Zheng, Youfei ^[3]; Chiu, J. Christine ^[4]; Zhao, Fengsheng ^[5]; Cadeddu, Maria ^[6]; Weng, Fuzhong ^[7]; Cribb, Maureen ^[5]

---

1. State Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology and College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing China; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park Maryland USA; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing China
2. State Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology and College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing China; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park Maryland USA
3. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing China
4. Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading UK
5. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park Maryland USA
6. Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont Illinois USA
7. NOAA/Center for Satellite Applications and Research, College Park Maryland USA

Comprehensive surface - based retrievals of cloud optical and microphysical properties were made at Taihu, a highly polluted site in central Yangtze Delta region, during a research campaign from May 2008 to December 2009. C loud optical depth (COD) , effective radius (R e ) and liquid water path (LWP) were retrieved from measurements made with a suite of ground - based and space - borne instruments, including an Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD) spectroradiometer , a Multi - Filter Rotating Shadowband R adiometer (MFRSR) , a Multichannel Microwave Radiometer Profiler (MWRP), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( MODIS) on Terra and Aqua satellites . Retrievals from zenith radiance measurements capture better the temporal variation of cloud properties than do retrievals from hemispherical fluxes . Annual mean LWP, COD and R e are 115.8 ± 90.8 g/m 2 , 28.5 ± 19.2, and 6.9 ± 4.2 μ m . Over 90% of LWP is less than 250 g/m 2 . Most of COD (>90%) fall s between 5 and 60 and ~ 80% of R e is less than 10 μ m . Maximum ( minimum ) values of LWP and R e occur in summer ( winter ); COD is highest in winter and spring. R aining and non - raining clouds have significant difference s in LWP, COD and R e . R ainfall frequency i s best correlated with LWP, followed by COD and R e . Cloud properties retrieved from multiple ground - based instruments are also compared with those from satellite retrievals. On average, relative to surface retrievals, mean differences of satellite retrievals in cloud LWP, COD and R e were - 33.6 g/m 2 ( - 26.4%), - 5.8 ( - 31.4%), and 2.9 μ m (29.3% ) for 11 MODIS - Terra overpasses , and - 43.3 g/m 2 ( - 2 2.3 %), - 3.0 ( - 10.0 %) and - 1.3 μ m ( - 12.0 %) for 8 MODIS - Aqua 40 overpasses, respectively. These discrep ancies indicate that MODIS cloud products still suffer 41 from large uncertainties in this region

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China; USDOE Office of Science - Office of Biological and Environmental Research; Key University Science Research Project of Jiangsu Province; National Natural Science Foundation of China
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1392453
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 118; ISSN 2169-897X
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English