Liquid water content and precipitation characteristics of stratiform clouds as inferred from satellite microwave measurements

Journal Article · Thu Sep 20 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JD095iD10p16659· OSTI ID:5938015

Curry, J A ^[1]; Ardell, C D ^[2]; Tian, Lin ^[3]

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1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA)
2. Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (USA)
3. Univ. of Chicago, IL (USA)

In this paper the authors present an analysis of the integrated liquid water content and precipitation characteristics of stratiform clouds using data from the Nimbus 7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) for January 1979, over the North Atlantic Ocean (40{degree}-60{degree}N). Concurrent analysis of the SMMR data with the US Air Force 3-Dimensional Nephanalysis (3DNEPH) allows the interpretation of the SMMR-derived liquid water paths and precipitation characteristics in terms of cloud type, cloud fraction, and cloud height. Combining the initialized analyses from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting with the 3DNEPH enables vertical temperature and humidity profiles to be incorporated into the retrievals. The interpretation and presentation of results are guided by their implications for the parameterization of liquid water content of layer clouds in large-scale atmospheric models. The average liquid water paths for middle and low clouds were determined to be 115 and 102 g m{sup {minus}2}, respectively, with a maximum value of 1,070 g m{sup {minus}2}. Analysis of the liquid water path as a function of temperature showed that clouds with average temperature below 246 K had little liquid water and were inferred to be predominantly crystalline. Liquid water paths of 350 g m{sup {minus}2} and 500 g m{sup {minus}2} for middle and low clouds, respectively, were determined to be average thresholds for the onset of precipitation. Maximum rain rates for these clouds were determined to be 7 mm h{sup {minus}1}. The autoconversion of cloud water to rain water was determined to occur at a rate of 0.001 s{sup {minus}1}.

• OSTI ID: 5938015
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA), Vol. 95:D10; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLOUDS
HUMIDITY
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
ATLANTIC OCEAN
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CLIMATE MODELS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
NUMBER CODES
RADIOMETERS
RAIN WATER
REMOTE SENSING
SATELLITES
THICKNESS
WATER VAPOR
WEATHER
COMPUTER CODES
DIMENSIONS
EARTH PLANET
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANETS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
VAPORS
WATER
540110*