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- Author or Editor: Karen M. Miller x
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Abstract
The transport of water substance (ice and vapor) into the anvils of midlatitude continental thunderstorms is examined. Doppler radar reflectivity fields and horizontal and vertical windfields, in situ anvil measurements, and environmental soundings were used to estimate the anvil water mass flux for approximately five-minute intervals over one hour periods in six moderate to severe storms.
Vapor and ice mass fluxes into the anvil time-averaged for the study periods are about equal. Ratios of the time-averaged sums of these fluxes (A¯) to aircraft-derived cloud base influx (from Fankhauser) range from 18% to greater than 100%. Estimated accuracies are ±30 to 40%. Anvil fluxes exceed rainout at cloud base level as derived from radar reflectivity data by Fankhauser for half the storms.
It is shown that influx values alone are not reliable predictors of total storm condensation rates. The water mass storage term is evaluated and is found to be unimportant in relation to influx for all but one storm studied. Both A¯/influx and A¯/ rainout are highly correlated with the vertical shear of the horizontal winds.
Changes in the ice mass flux in the anvil with respect to altitude and distance from the updraft imply the absence of mesoscale ascent in the anvil.
Abstract
The transport of water substance (ice and vapor) into the anvils of midlatitude continental thunderstorms is examined. Doppler radar reflectivity fields and horizontal and vertical windfields, in situ anvil measurements, and environmental soundings were used to estimate the anvil water mass flux for approximately five-minute intervals over one hour periods in six moderate to severe storms.
Vapor and ice mass fluxes into the anvil time-averaged for the study periods are about equal. Ratios of the time-averaged sums of these fluxes (A¯) to aircraft-derived cloud base influx (from Fankhauser) range from 18% to greater than 100%. Estimated accuracies are ±30 to 40%. Anvil fluxes exceed rainout at cloud base level as derived from radar reflectivity data by Fankhauser for half the storms.
It is shown that influx values alone are not reliable predictors of total storm condensation rates. The water mass storage term is evaluated and is found to be unimportant in relation to influx for all but one storm studied. Both A¯/influx and A¯/ rainout are highly correlated with the vertical shear of the horizontal winds.
Changes in the ice mass flux in the anvil with respect to altitude and distance from the updraft imply the absence of mesoscale ascent in the anvil.
Abstract
The temperature and windfield structure and hydrometeor composition of cirrus clouds sampled by the NCAR King Air and Sabreliner aircraft on 28 October 1986 near Madison, Wisconsin are described as part of a case study that examines cirrus cloud radiative and microphysical properties. Two cloud layers were sampled from top to base. The upper layer was found at altitudes between 8.5 and 11.5 km and the lower between 6.0 and 8.5 km. Vertical velocities calculated from the increase in ice mass flux with height were typical of synoptic scale lifting. Stronger vertical velocities were measured in convective cells at the top of the lower layer.
The total ice particle concentration was dominated by particles <200 μm. Mean particle size and ice water content increased with decreasing altitude. The largest particles, exceeding 1000 μm in the upper layer and 1500 μm in the lower layer, probably resulted from aggregation, even at cold temperatures. Cloud emissivity and optical depth were calculated from the ice particle size spectra.
The distribution of ice mass was narrow at cloud top and broadened with decreasing altitude. At the highest levels of the upper cloud, half the mass was in particles <150 μm. In this region, we underestimate the mass by a significant fraction presumably contained in particles too small to detect. In the lower levels, half the mass was in particles <200–400 μm. In the cloud sampled by the King Air, half the mass was in particles <400–600 μm. Up to 10% of the mass in the higher cloud and up to 30% in the lower cloud was contained in particles >500 μm.
We relate the microstructure of a shallow liquid water layer associated with an altocumulus to lidar observations. Thirteen separate episodes of liquid water were sampled at about −30°C. Mean droplet dimensions were <9 μm, and the liquid water contents were low. Virtually no ice particles were detected within and below the layer. We surmised that under such conditions these liquid water clouds remained colloidally stable. Kelvin-Helmholz waves may have produced the undulations observed at cloud top.
Abstract
The temperature and windfield structure and hydrometeor composition of cirrus clouds sampled by the NCAR King Air and Sabreliner aircraft on 28 October 1986 near Madison, Wisconsin are described as part of a case study that examines cirrus cloud radiative and microphysical properties. Two cloud layers were sampled from top to base. The upper layer was found at altitudes between 8.5 and 11.5 km and the lower between 6.0 and 8.5 km. Vertical velocities calculated from the increase in ice mass flux with height were typical of synoptic scale lifting. Stronger vertical velocities were measured in convective cells at the top of the lower layer.
The total ice particle concentration was dominated by particles <200 μm. Mean particle size and ice water content increased with decreasing altitude. The largest particles, exceeding 1000 μm in the upper layer and 1500 μm in the lower layer, probably resulted from aggregation, even at cold temperatures. Cloud emissivity and optical depth were calculated from the ice particle size spectra.
The distribution of ice mass was narrow at cloud top and broadened with decreasing altitude. At the highest levels of the upper cloud, half the mass was in particles <150 μm. In this region, we underestimate the mass by a significant fraction presumably contained in particles too small to detect. In the lower levels, half the mass was in particles <200–400 μm. In the cloud sampled by the King Air, half the mass was in particles <400–600 μm. Up to 10% of the mass in the higher cloud and up to 30% in the lower cloud was contained in particles >500 μm.
We relate the microstructure of a shallow liquid water layer associated with an altocumulus to lidar observations. Thirteen separate episodes of liquid water were sampled at about −30°C. Mean droplet dimensions were <9 μm, and the liquid water contents were low. Virtually no ice particles were detected within and below the layer. We surmised that under such conditions these liquid water clouds remained colloidally stable. Kelvin-Helmholz waves may have produced the undulations observed at cloud top.
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission and a summary of selected scientific findings to date. ATom was an airborne measurements and modeling campaign aimed at characterizing the composition and chemistry of the troposphere over the most remote regions of the Pacific, Southern, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, and examining the impact of anthropogenic and natural emissions on a global scale. These remote regions dominate global chemical reactivity and are exceptionally important for global air quality and climate. ATom data provide the in situ measurements needed to understand the range of chemical species and their reactions, and to test satellite remote sensing observations and global models over large regions of the remote atmosphere. Lack of data in these regions, particularly over the oceans, has limited our understanding of how atmospheric composition is changing in response to shifting anthropogenic emissions and physical climate change. ATom was designed as a global-scale tomographic sampling mission with extensive geographic and seasonal coverage, tropospheric vertical profiling, and detailed speciation of reactive compounds and pollution tracers. ATom flew the NASA DC-8 research aircraft over four seasons to collect a comprehensive suite of measurements of gases, aerosols, and radical species from the remote troposphere and lower stratosphere on four global circuits from 2016 to 2018. Flights maintained near-continuous vertical profiling of 0.15–13-km altitudes on long meridional transects of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Analysis and modeling of ATom data have led to the significant early findings highlighted here.
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission and a summary of selected scientific findings to date. ATom was an airborne measurements and modeling campaign aimed at characterizing the composition and chemistry of the troposphere over the most remote regions of the Pacific, Southern, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, and examining the impact of anthropogenic and natural emissions on a global scale. These remote regions dominate global chemical reactivity and are exceptionally important for global air quality and climate. ATom data provide the in situ measurements needed to understand the range of chemical species and their reactions, and to test satellite remote sensing observations and global models over large regions of the remote atmosphere. Lack of data in these regions, particularly over the oceans, has limited our understanding of how atmospheric composition is changing in response to shifting anthropogenic emissions and physical climate change. ATom was designed as a global-scale tomographic sampling mission with extensive geographic and seasonal coverage, tropospheric vertical profiling, and detailed speciation of reactive compounds and pollution tracers. ATom flew the NASA DC-8 research aircraft over four seasons to collect a comprehensive suite of measurements of gases, aerosols, and radical species from the remote troposphere and lower stratosphere on four global circuits from 2016 to 2018. Flights maintained near-continuous vertical profiling of 0.15–13-km altitudes on long meridional transects of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Analysis and modeling of ATom data have led to the significant early findings highlighted here.
