Occurrence, liquid water content, and fraction of supercooled water clouds from combined CALIOP/IIR/MODIS measurements

[1] The CALIOP depolarization measurements, combined with backscatter intensity measurements, are effective in discriminating between water clouds and ice clouds. The same depolarization measurements can also be used for estimating liquid water content information. Using cloud temperature information from the collocated infrared imaging radiometer measurements and cloud water paths from collocated MODIS measurements, this study compiles global statistics of the occurrence frequency, liquid water content, liquid water path, and their temperature dependence. For clouds with temperatures between −40°C and 0°C, the liquid phase fractions and liquid water paths are significantly higher than the ones from previous studies using passive remote sensing measurements. At midlatitudes, the occurrence of liquid phase clouds at temperatures between −40°C and 0°C depends jointly on both cloud height and cloud temperature. At high latitudes, more than 95% of low-level clouds with temperatures between −40°C and 0°C are water clouds. Supercooled water clouds are mostly observed over ocean near the storm-track regions and high-latitude regions. Supercooled water clouds over land are observed in the Northern Hemisphere over Europe, East Asia, and North America, and these are the supercooled water clouds with highest liquid water contents. The liquid water content of all supercooled water clouds is characterized by a Gamma (Γ) distribution. The mode values of liquid water content are around 0.06 g/m3 and are independent of cloud temperature. For temperatures warmer than −15°C, mean value of the liquid water content is around 0.14 g/m3. As the temperature decreases, the mean cloud liquid water content also decreases. These results will benefit cloud models and cloud parameterizations used in climate models in improving their ice-phase microphysics parameterizations and the aviation hazard forecast.

[1]  Yongxiang Hu,et al.  An Accurate Parameterization of the Radiative Properties of Water Clouds Suitable for Use in Climate Models , 1993 .

[2]  Robin J. Hogan,et al.  Estimate of the global distribution of stratiform supercooled liquid water clouds using the LITE lidar , 2004 .

[3]  B. J. Mason.  The growth of ice crystals in a supercooled water cloud , 1953 .

[4]  Bing Lin,et al.  Observations of cloud liquid water path over oceans: Optical and microwave remote sensing methods , 1994 .

[5]  D. Winker,et al.  Initial performance assessment of CALIOP , 2007 .

[6]  Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number concentration of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements , 2007 .

[7]  Bing Lin,et al.  Seasonal Variation of Liquid and Ice Water Path in Nonprecipitating Clouds over Oceans , 1996 .

[8]  K. Stamnes,et al.  CALIPSO/CALIOP Cloud Phase Discrimination Algorithm , 2009 .

[9]  Yongxiang Hu,et al.  Depolarization ratio–effective lidar ratio relation: Theoretical basis for space lidar cloud phase discrimination , 2007 .

[10]  R. Smith.  A scheme for predicting layer clouds and their water content in a general circulation model , 1990 .

[11]  P. Minnis,et al.  Estimates of cloud vertical structure and water amount over tropical oceans using VIRS and TMI data , 2003 .

[12]  H. Wernli,et al.  Comparison of ERA40 cloud top phase with POLDER-1 observations , 2008 .

[13]  Bryan A. Baum,et al.  Identification of cloud phase from PICASSO-CENA lidar depolarization: a multiple scattering sensitivity study , 2001 .

[14]  Zhaoyan Liu,et al.  Simple relation between lidar multiple scattering and depolarization for water clouds. , 2006, Optics letters.

[15]  H. Barker,et al.  In situ measurements of liquid water content profiles in midlatitude stratiform clouds , 2007 .

[16]  Anthony D. Del Genio,et al.  A Prognostic Cloud Water Parameterization for Global Climate Models , 1996 .

[17]  Jeffrey H. Yin,et al.  A consistent poleward shift of the storm tracks in simulations of 21st century climate , 2005 .

[18]  Hervé Le Treut,et al.  Cloud-radiation feedbacks in a general circulation model and their dependence on cloud modelling assumptions , 1992 .

[19]  Sungsu Park,et al.  Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed‐phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed‐Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. I: single‐layer cloud , 2009 .

[20]  Zhaoyan Liu,et al.  Retrieving Optical Depths and Lidar Ratios for Transparent Layers Above Opaque Water Clouds From CALIPSO Lidar Measurements , 2007, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[21]  Zhaoyan Liu,et al.  The depolarization - attenuated backscatter relation: CALIPSO lidar measurements vs. theory. , 2007, Optics express.

[22]  Brian H. Kahn,et al.  Limitations of Bispectral Infrared Cloud Phase Determination and Potential for Improvement , 2008 .

[23]  C. McKay,et al.  Rapid calculation of radiative heating rates and photodissociation rates in inhomogeneous multiple scattering atmospheres , 1989 .

[24]  Yoko Tsushima,et al.  Importance of the mixed-phase cloud distribution in the control climate for assessing the response of clouds to carbon dioxide increase: a multi-model study , 2006 .

[25]  S. Ghan,et al.  Computationally Efficient Approximations to Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Parameterization , 1992 .

[26]  Jacques Pelon,et al.  Fast radiative transfer modeling for infrared imaging radiometry , 2005 .

[27]  R. Engelmann,et al.  Evolution of the ice phase in tropical altocumulus: SAMUM lidar observations over Cape Verde , 2009 .

[28]  R. Borys.  Studies of ice nucleation by Arctic aerosol on AGASP-II , 1989 .

[29]  Judith A. Curry,et al.  Overview of Arctic Cloud and Radiation Characteristics , 1996 .

[30]  Bruce A. Wielicki,et al.  Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number concentration of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements , 2018 .

[31]  W. Paul Menzel,et al.  Remote sensing of cloud properties using MODIS airborne simulator imagery during SUCCESS: 2. Cloud thermodynamic phase , 2000 .