Determination of Cirrus Occurrence and Distribution Characteristics Over the Tibetan Plateau Based on the SWOP Campaign

Balloon sounding with the Compact Optical Backscatter Aerosol Detector (COBALD) and Frost Point hygrometers (FPs) provides in situ data for a better understanding of the vertical distribution of cirrus clouds. In this study, eight summer balloon‐borne measurements in Kunming (2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017) and Lhasa (2013, 2016, 2018, and 2020) over the Tibetan Plateau were used to show the distribution characteristics of cirrus clouds. Differences of cirrus occurrence were compared by different indices: the backscatter ratio (BSR) at a 455 nm/940 nm wavelength (BSR455 > 1.2/BSR940 > 2), the color index (CI > 7), and the relative humidity with respect to ice (RHice > 70%). Analysis of the profiles indicated that BSR455 > 1.2 was the optimal criterion to identify the cirrus layer and depict the distribution of the CI and RHice within cirrus clouds. The results showed that the median CI (RHice) within the cirrus clouds at both sites was mostly in the 18–20 (90%–110%) range at pressures below 120 hPa. Furthermore, the balloon‐borne measurements combined with Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) measurements indicated a high frequency of cirrus occurrence near the tropopause in Kunming and Lhasa. The top height of cirrus occurrence at both sites was above the cold point tropopause and the lapse rate tropopause. Both Kunming and Lhasa had the highest frequency of thin cirrus clouds in the 0–0.4 km vertical cirrus thickness range.

[1]  H. Vömel,et al.  Mixing characteristics within the tropopause transition layer over the Asian summer monsoon region based on ozone and water vapor sounding data , 2022, Atmospheric Research.

[2]  M. Riese,et al.  A case study on the impact of severe convective storms on the water vapor mixing ratio in the lower mid-latitude stratosphere observed in 2019 over Europe , 2021, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[3]  M. Höpfner,et al.  Observation of cirrus clouds with GLORIA during the WISE campaign: detection methods and cirrus characterization , 2021 .

[4]  H. Vömel,et al.  Unprecedented Observations of a Nascent In Situ Cirrus in the Tropical Tropopause Layer , 2020, Geophysical Research Letters.

[5]  H. Vömel,et al.  Strong day-to-day variability of the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) in August 2016 at the Himalayan foothills , 2020 .

[6]  Lunche Wang,et al.  Revisiting global satellite observations of stratospheric cirrus clouds , 2020, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[7]  D. Fahey,et al.  A microphysics guide to cirrus – Part 2: Climatologies of clouds and humidity from observations , 2020, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[8]  Xiuji Zhou,et al.  Transport of Asian surface pollutants to the global stratosphere from the Tibetan Plateau region during the Asian summer monsoon , 2020, National science review.

[9]  H. Vömel,et al.  Dehydration and low ozone in the tropopause layer over the Asian monsoon caused by tropical cyclones: Lagrangian transport calculations using ERA-Interim and ERA5 reanalysis data , 2019, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[10]  H. Vömel,et al.  High tropospheric ozone in Lhasa within the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone in 2013: influence of convective transport and stratospheric intrusions , 2018, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[11]  B. Luo,et al.  Balloon-borne measurements of temperature, water vapor, ozone and aerosol backscatter on the southern slopes of the Himalayas during StratoClim 2016–2017 , 2018, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

[12]  R. Ueyama,et al.  Convective Influence on the Humidity and Clouds in the Tropical Tropopause Layer During Boreal Summer , 2018, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

[13]  S. Müller,et al.  Water vapor increase in the lower stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere due to the Asian monsoon anticyclone observed during the TACTS/ESMVal campaigns , 2018 .

[14]  Q. Fu,et al.  Tropical tropopause layer cirrus and its relation to tropopause , 2017 .

[15]  H. Vömel,et al.  Impact of typhoons on the composition of the upper troposphere within the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone: the SWOP campaign in Lhasa 2013 , 2016 .

[16]  S. Oltmans,et al.  Advancements, measurement uncertainties, and recent comparisons of the NOAA frost point hygrometer , 2016, Atmospheric measurement techniques.

[17]  H. Vömel,et al.  An update on the uncertainties of water vapor measurements using cryogenicfrost point hygrometers , 2016 .

[18]  X. Qie,et al.  Meteorological Regimes of the Most Intense Convective Systems along the Southern Himalayan Front , 2016 .

[19]  Jessica R. Meyer,et al.  A microphysics guide to cirrus clouds – Part 1: Cirrus types , 2015 .

[20]  K. Bedka,et al.  Increase in upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric aerosol levels and its potential connection with Asian pollution , 2015, Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR.

[21]  M. Riese,et al.  Satellite observations of cirrus clouds in the Northern Hemisphere lowermost stratosphere , 2014 .

[22]  Michael Sprenger,et al.  Balloon-borne match measurements of midlatitude cirrus clouds , 2013 .

[23]  LI Chengcai,et al.  The Properties and Formation of Cirrus Clouds over the Tibetan Plateau Based on Summertime Lidar Measurements , 2013 .

[24]  W. Randel,et al.  Physical processes in the tropical tropopause layer and their roles in a changing climate , 2013 .

[25]  P. Bernath,et al.  The relation between atmospheric humidity and temperature trends for stratospheric water , 2013 .

[26]  X. Qie,et al.  Regional distribution and diurnal variation of deep convective systems over the Asian monsoon region , 2013, Science China Earth Sciences.

[27]  Martin Riese,et al.  Lidar observation and model simulation of a volcanic-ash-induced cirrus cloud during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption , 2012 .

[28]  H. Vömel,et al.  In situ water vapor and ozone measurements in Lhasa and Kunming during the Asian summer monsoon , 2012 .

[29]  Holger Vömel,et al.  Particle backscatter and relative humidity measured across cirrus clouds and comparison with microphysical cirrus modelling , 2012 .

[30]  L. Pfister,et al.  Physical processes controlling ice concentrations in cold cirrus near the tropical tropopause , 2012 .

[31]  L. Munchak,et al.  Relationship of cloud top to the tropopause and jet structure from CALIPSO data , 2011 .

[32]  J. Kar,et al.  CALIPSO detection of an Asian tropopause aerosol layer , 2011 .

[33]  W. Landman.  Climate change 2007: the physical science basis , 2010 .

[34]  Louisa Emmons,et al.  Asian Monsoon Transport of Pollution to the Stratosphere , 2010, Science.

[35]  S. Solomon,et al.  Contributions of Stratospheric Water Vapor to Decadal Changes in the Rate of Global Warming , 2010, Science.

[36]  D. Winker,et al.  Overview of the CALIPSO Mission and CALIOP Data Processing Algorithms , 2009 .

[37]  David M. Winker,et al.  The CALIPSO Lidar Cloud and Aerosol Discrimination: Version 2 Algorithm and Initial Assessment of Performance , 2009 .

[38]  Mijeong Park,et al.  Transport pathways of carbon monoxide in the Asian summer monsoon diagnosed from Model of Ozone and Related Tracers (MOZART) , 2009 .

[39]  P. Mote,et al.  Tropical tropopause layer , 2009 .

[40]  U. Lohmann,et al.  Orographic cirrus in the global climate model ECHAM5 , 2008 .

[41]  W. Paul Menzel,et al.  Global characterization of cirrus clouds using CALIPSO data , 2008 .

[42]  Soon-Chang Yoon,et al.  Validation of aerosol and cloud layer structures from the space-borne lidar CALIOP using a ground-based lidar in Seoul, Korea , 2008 .

[43]  U. Lohmann,et al.  Impact of ice supersaturated regions and thin cirrus on radiation in the midlatitudes , 2007 .

[44]  M. Haeffelin,et al.  Midlatitude cirrus clouds and multiple tropopauses from a 2002–2006 climatology over the SIRTA observatory , 2007, 0705.2517.

[45]  H. Vömel,et al.  Accuracy of tropospheric and stratospheric water vapor measurements by the cryogenic frost point hygrometer: Instrumental details and observations , 2007 .

[46]  Stefano Schiavon,et al.  Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. , 2007 .

[47]  Jonathon S. Wright,et al.  Short circuit of water vapor and polluted air to the global stratosphere by convective transport over the Tibetan Plateau. , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[48]  Johannes Hendricks,et al.  Physically based parameterization of cirrus cloud formation for use in global atmospheric models , 2006 .

[49]  Bin Wang,et al.  Convective outflow of South Asian pollution: A global CTM simulation compared with EOS MLS observations , 2005 .

[50]  Thomas Koop,et al.  Review of the vapour pressures of ice and supercooled water for atmospheric applications , 2005 .

[51]  A. Heymsfield,et al.  Convective generation of cirrus near the tropopause , 2004 .

[52]  Ping Yang,et al.  The Distribution of Tropical Thin Cirrus Clouds Inferred from Terra MODIS Data , 2003 .

[53]  P. Forster,et al.  Assessing the climate impact of trends in stratospheric water vapor , 2002 .

[54]  W. Grant,et al.  Aircraft observations of thin cirrus clouds near the tropical tropopause , 2001 .

[55]  B. Luo,et al.  Water activity as the determinant for homogeneous ice nucleation in aqueous solutions , 2000, Nature.

[56]  William B. Rossow,et al.  Radiative Effects of Cloud-Type Variations , 2000 .

[57]  O. Toon,et al.  Ice nucleation in the upper troposphere: Sensitivity to aerosol number density, temperature, and cooling rate , 1994 .

[58]  J. Rosen,et al.  Backscattersonde: a new instrument for atmospheric aerosol research. , 1991, Applied optics.