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Holger Siebert
,
Katrin Lehmann
, and
Manfred Wendisch

Abstract

Tethered balloon–borne measurements with a resolution in the order of 10 cm in a cloudy boundary layer are presented. Two examples sampled under different conditions concerning the clouds' stage of life are discussed. The hypothesis tested here is that basic ideas of classical turbulence theory in boundary layer clouds are valid even to the decimeter scale. Power spectral densities S( f ) of air temperature, liquid water content, and wind velocity components show an inertial subrange behavior down to ≈20 cm. The mean energy dissipation rates are ∼10−3 m2 s−3 for both datasets. Estimated Taylor Reynolds numbers (Re λ ) are ∼104, which indicates the turbulence is fully developed. The ratios between longitudinal and transversal S( f ) converge to a value close to 4/3, which is predicted by classical turbulence theory for local isotropic conditions. Probability density functions (PDFs) of wind velocity increments Δ u are derived. The PDFs show significant deviations from a Gaussian distribution with longer tails typical for an intermittent flow. Local energy dissipation rates ετ are derived from subsequences with a duration of τ = 1 s. With a mean horizontal wind velocity of 8 m s−1, τ corresponds to a spatial scale of 8 m. The PDFs of ετ can be well approximated with a lognormal distribution that agrees with classical theory. Maximum values of ετ ≈ 10−1 m2 s−3 are found in the analyzed clouds. The consequences of this wide range of ετ values for particle–turbulence interaction are discussed.

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Kevin Wolf
,
André Ehrlich
,
Mario Mech
,
Robin J. Hogan
, and
Manfred Wendisch

Abstract

A novel approach to compare airborne observations of solar spectral irradiances measured above clouds with along-track radiative transfer simulations (RTS) is presented. The irradiance measurements were obtained with the Spectral Modular Airborne Radiation Measurement System (SMART) installed on the High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO). The RTS were conducted using the operational ecRad radiation scheme of the Integrated Forecast System (IFS), operated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and a stand-alone radiative transfer solver, the library for Radiative transfer (libRadtran). Profiles of observed and simulated radar reflectivity were provided by the HALO Microwave Package (HAMP) and the Passive and Active Microwave Transfer Model (PAMTRA), respectively. The comparison aims to investigate the capability of the two models to reproduce the observed radiation field. By analyzing spectral irradiances above clouds, different ice cloud optical parameterizations in the models were evaluated. Simulated and observed radar reflectivity fields allowed the vertical representation of the clouds modeled by the IFS to be evaluated, and enabled errors in the IFS analysis data (IFS AD) and the observations to be separated. The investigation of a North Atlantic low pressure system showed that the RTS, in combination with the IFS AD, generally reproduced the observed radiation field. For heterogeneously distributed liquid water clouds, an underestimation of upward irradiance by up to 27% was found. Simulations of ice-topped clouds, using a specific ice optics parameterization, indicated a systematic underestimation of broadband cloud-top albedo, suggesting major deficiencies in the ice optics parameterization between 1242 and 1941 nm wavelength.

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