Cloud properties and associated radiative heating rates in the tropical western Pacific
Abstract
Radiative heating of the atmosphere affects cloud evolution on the cloud scale and it influences large-scale vertical motion. Obtaining good estimates of radiative heating rate profiles has been difficult due to a lack of cloud profile observations. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has been measuring cloud property distributions at sites around the globe including three in the tropical western Pacific (TWP) region. We have analyzed a month of these remote sensing observations at Manus and Nauru to calculate time series of vertical cloud property profiles and radiative heating rates. This data set will be an important tool for describing radiative processes in the tropics and assessing the simulation of these processes in dynamical models.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 964627
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-43260
KP1201030
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article
- Resource Relation:
- Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 112 (Article number: D05201)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Citation Formats
Mather, Jim H., McFarlane, Sally A., Miller, Mark A., and Johnson, Karen L. Cloud properties and associated radiative heating rates in the tropical western Pacific. United States: N. p., 2007.
Web. doi:10.1029/2006JD007555.
Mather, Jim H., McFarlane, Sally A., Miller, Mark A., & Johnson, Karen L. Cloud properties and associated radiative heating rates in the tropical western Pacific. United States. doi:10.1029/2006JD007555.
Mather, Jim H., McFarlane, Sally A., Miller, Mark A., and Johnson, Karen L. Thu .
"Cloud properties and associated radiative heating rates in the tropical western Pacific". United States.
doi:10.1029/2006JD007555.
@article{osti_964627,
title = {Cloud properties and associated radiative heating rates in the tropical western Pacific},
author = {Mather, Jim H. and McFarlane, Sally A. and Miller, Mark A. and Johnson, Karen L.},
abstractNote = {Radiative heating of the atmosphere affects cloud evolution on the cloud scale and it influences large-scale vertical motion. Obtaining good estimates of radiative heating rate profiles has been difficult due to a lack of cloud profile observations. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has been measuring cloud property distributions at sites around the globe including three in the tropical western Pacific (TWP) region. We have analyzed a month of these remote sensing observations at Manus and Nauru to calculate time series of vertical cloud property profiles and radiative heating rates. This data set will be an important tool for describing radiative processes in the tropics and assessing the simulation of these processes in dynamical models.},
doi = {10.1029/2006JD007555},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 112 (Article number: D05201)},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2007},
month = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2007}
}
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Radiative heating of the atmosphere affects cloud evolution and atmospheric dynamics. The most direct means available for determining radiative heating profiles is to measure profiles of thermodynamic and cloud properties (temperature, humidity, liquid and ice water content) and use these profiles to calculate radiative fluxes. Obtaining accurate, high resolution profiles of these properties requires active remote sensing instruments. Instruments capable of making these measurements and the techniques for interpreting these measurements for meteorological applications have only recently become available. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program operates instruments including millimeter wavelength radars and microwave radiometers to measure cloud property distributions atmore »
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