A method for determining cirrus cloud particle sizes using lidar and radar backscatter technique

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of Applied Meteorology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1993)032<1074:AMFDCC>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:6064513

Intrieri, J M ^[1]; Stephens, G L ^[2]; Eberhard, W L; Uttal, T ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (United States)
2. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (United States)
3. NOAA/Environmental Research Lab./Wave Propagation Lab., Boulder, CO (United States)

A method to determine cirrus cloud effective radii remotely using lidar and radar backscatter data is presented. The difference in backscattered returns from instruments widely separated in wavelength holds information on the characteristic sizes of the scatters. The method compares theoretically expected backscatter coefficients to observed backscatter returns from NOAA's 3.2-cm and 8.6-mm radars and the 10.6-[mu]m lidar. Measurements were taken during a two-phase cloud experiment held in northeastern Colorado from 6 September to 5 October 1989 and 15 February to 31 March 1991. It was found that the particle sizes estimated from the lidar-radar method agree closely with in situ aircraft measurements. Case studies are presented to demonstrate the method and the potential for multiwavelength remote sensing of cirrus cloud radiative properties. 33 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

• OSTI ID: 6064513
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Meteorology; (United States), Vol. 32:6; ISSN 0894-8763
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
CLOUDS
PARTICLE SIZE
OPTICAL RADAR
BACKSCATTERING
RADAR
CLIMATIC CHANGE
COLORADO
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
REMOTE SENSING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NORTH AMERICA
RANGE FINDERS
SCATTERING
SIZE
USA
540110*
440600 - Optical Instrumentation- (1990-)