Abstract. Cirrus clouds cover a large fraction of tropical latitudes and play an important role in Earth's radiation budget. Their optical properties, altitude, vertical and horizontal coverage control their radiative forcing, and hence detailed cirrus measurements at different geographical locations are of utmost importance. Studies reporting cirrus properties over tropical rain forests like the Amazon, however, are scarce. Studies with satellite profilers do not give information on the diurnal cycle, and the satellite imagers do not report on the cloud vertical structure. At the same time, ground-based lidar studies are restricted to a few case studies. In this paper, we derive the first comprehensive statistics of optical and geometrical properties of upper-tropospheric cirrus clouds in Amazonia. We used 1 year (July 2011 to June 2012) of ground-based lidar atmospheric observations north of Manaus, Brazil. This dataset was processed by an automatic cloud detection and optical properties retrieval algorithm. Upper-tropospheric cirrus clouds were observed more frequently than reported previously for tropical regions. The frequency of occurrence was found to be as high as 88 % during the wet season and not lower than 50 % during the dry season. The diurnal cycle shows a minimum around local noon and maximum during late afternoon, associated with the diurnal cycle of precipitation. The mean values of cirrus cloud top and base heights, cloud thickness, and cloud optical depth were 14.3 ± 1.9 (SD) km, 12.9 ± 2.2 km, 1.4 ± 1.1 km, and 0.25 ± 0.46, respectively. Cirrus clouds were found at temperatures down to −90 °C. Frequently cirrus were observed within the tropical tropopause layer (TTL), which are likely associated to slow mesoscale uplifting or to the remnants of overshooting convection. The vertical distribution was not uniform, and thin and subvisible cirrus occurred more frequently closer to the tropopause. The mean lidar ratio was 23.3 ± 8.0 sr. However, for subvisible cirrus clouds a bimodal distribution with a secondary peak at about 44 sr was found suggesting a mixed composition. A dependence of the lidar ratio with cloud temperature (altitude) was not found, indicating that the clouds are vertically well mixed. The frequency of occurrence of cirrus clouds classified as subvisible (τ < 0. 03) were 41.6 %, whilst 37.8 % were thin cirrus (0. 03 < τ < 0. 3) and 20.5 % opaque cirrus (τ > 0. 3). Hence, in central Amazonia not only a high frequency of cirrus clouds occurs, but also a large fraction of subvisible cirrus clouds. This high frequency of subvisible cirrus clouds may contaminate aerosol optical depth measured by sun photometers and satellite sensors to an unknown extent.
Abstract.A permanent UV Raman lidar station, designed to perform continuous measurements of aerosols and water vapor and aiming to study and monitor the atmosphere from weather to climatic time scales, became operational in the central Amazon in July 2011. The automated data acquisition and internet monitoring enabled extended hours of daily measurements when compared to a manually operated instrument. This paper gives a technical description of the system, presents its experimental characterization and the algorithms used for obtaining the aerosol optical properties and identifying the cloud layers. Data from one week of measurements during the dry season of 2011 were analyzed as a mean to assess the overall system capability and performance. Both Klett and Raman inversions were successfully applied. A comparison of the aerosol optical depth from the lidar and from a co-located Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun photometer showed a correlation coefficient of 0.86. By combining nighttime measurements of the aerosol lidar ratio (50-65 sr), back-trajectory calculations and fire spots observed from satellites, we showed that observed particles originated from biomass burning. Cirrus clouds were observed in 60 % of our measurements. Most of the time they were distributed into three layers between 11.5 and 13.4 km a.g.l. The systematic and long-term measurements being made by this new scientific facility have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the climatic implications of the anthropogenic changes in aerosol concentrations over the pristine Amazonia.
The first ALINE measurements and intercomparison exercise on lidar inversion algorithms Primeras mediciones simultáneas dentro de ALINE y ejercicio de intercomparación de los algoritmos de inversión de señal lidar
<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> For one year, from July 2011 to June 2012, a ground-based raman lidar provided atmospheric observations north of Manaus, Brazil, at an experimental site (2.89&#176;&#8201;S and 59.97&#176;&#8201;W) for long-term aerosol and cloud measurements. Upper tropospheric cirrus clouds were observed more frequently than previous reports in tropical regions. The frequency of occurrence was found to be as high as 82&#8201;% during the wet season and not lower than 55&#8201;% during the dry season. The diurnal cycle shows a minimum around local noon and maximum during late afternoon, associated with the diurnal cycle precipitation. Optical and geometrical characteristics of these cirrus clouds were derived. The mean values were 14.4 &#177; 2.0&#8201;km (top), 12.7 &#177; 2.3&#8201;km (base), 1.7 &#177; 1.5&#8201;km (thickness), and 0.36 &#177; 1.20 (cloud optical depth). Cirrus clouds were found at temperatures down to &#8211;90&#8201;&#176;C and 7&#8201;% were above the tropopause base. The vertical distribution was not uniform and two cloud types were identified: (1) cloud base > 14&#8201;km and optical depth ~0.02, and (2) cloud base < 14 km and optical depth ~0.2. A third type, not previously reported, was identified during the wet season, between 16 and 18&#8201;km with optical depth ~0.005. The mean lidar ratio was 20.2 &#177; 7.0&#8201;sr, indicating a mixture of thick plates and long columns. However, the clouds above 14&#8201;km have a bimodal distribution during the dry season with a secondary peak at about 40&#8201;sr suggesting that thin plates are a major habit. A dependence of the lidar ratio with cloud temperature (altitude) was not found, thus indicating they are well mixed in the vertical. Cirrus clouds classified as subvisible (&#964; < 0.03) were 40&#8201;%, whilst 37.7&#8201;% were thin cirrus (0.03 < &#964; < 0.3) and 22.3&#8201;% opaque cirrus (&#964; > 0.3). Hence, not only does the central Amazon have a high frequency of cirrus clouds, but a large fraction of subvisible cirrus clouds as well. This high frequency of subvisible cirrus clouds may contaminate aerosol optical depth measured by sun-photometers and satellite sensors to an unknown extent.</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.