Can downwelling far-infrared radiances over Antarctica be estimated from mid-infrared information?

Bellisario, Christophe; Brindley, Helen E.; Tett, Simon F. B.; Rizzi, Rolando; Natale, Gianluca Di; Palchetti, Luca; Bianchini, Giovanni

doi:10.5194/acp-19-7927-2019

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, many following studies have shown the importance of FIR and its strength in remote sensing the atmospheric properties in the upper troposphere (e.g., Harries et al., 2008). For example, several studies showed that a large fraction of the OLR energy lies in the FIR region (Bellisario et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2014; Harries et al., 2008; X. Huang et al., 2008; Martinazzo et al., 2021; Turner & Mlawer, 2010). Moreover, as the OLR in FIR is especially sensitive to atmospheric water vapor and clouds (e.g., cirrus), investigations and observations in FIR could potentially improve the retrieval of their information (Blanchet et al., 2011; Clough et al., 1992; Cox et al., 2015; Delamere et al., 2010; Harries et al., 2008; Libois & Blanchet, 2017; Maestri & Rizzi, 2003; Magurno et al., 2020; Palchetti et al., 2015, 2016; Sinha & Harries, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Decomposition of the Atmospheric and Surface Contributions to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

Huang

2022

JGR Atmospheres

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), which consists of the thermal radiation from both the atmosphere and surface, is of critical importance to the Earth radiation energy budget. To understand the global OLR distribution, it is important to quantify the varying atmospheric and surface contributions. In this work, we present such a quantification using radiative transfer computations based on global reanalysis atmospheric data. By dissecting the OLR simulated following the radiative transfer equation, we quantitatively measure the layer‐wise atmospheric contributions to OLR and compare it to the surface contribution in different spectral bands. One focus of this study is on the OLR in the far‐infrared (FIR), for which new satellites are expected to provide unprecedented measurements. We find that around 45% of the global mean OLR is radiated in the FIR and in polar regions the FIR contribution can increase to 60%. Our vertical decomposition of OLR discloses that although the atmospheric contribution generally surpasses the surface contribution, the enhanced FIR contribution in the polar regions mainly results from a relatively stronger surface (as opposed to atmospheric) contribution. This is allowed by the opening of the atmospheric window in the FIR in these extremely dry regions. Our analysis also reveals that the tropopause layer makes a minimum contribution to the OLR, which may be a unique spectroscopic feature of the Earth atmosphere. Clouds are found to reduce the atmospheric contribution in the FIR while enhancing it in the mid‐infrared.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Decomposition of the Atmospheric and Surface Contributions to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

Huang

2022

JGR Atmospheres

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…FIR spectral measurements of DLR proved valuable for refining the knowledge of water vapour spectroscopy (Mlawer et al, 2019) and testing the ability to model radiative transfer in the atmosphere (Mlynczak et al, 2016;Mast et al, 2017;Bellisario et al, 2019;Mlawer et al, 2019). In addition, ground-based FIR observations were successfully exploited to infer cloud properties (Maestri et al, 2014;Rizzi et al, 2016;Di Natale et al, 2017), to retrieve the thermal structure and composition of the atmosphere (Rizzi et al, 2018;Bianchini et al, 2019), and to conduct radiative closure studies (Delamere et al, 2010;Sussmann et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS) for spectral characterization of the atmospheric emission

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS) is a Fourier transform spectroradiometer developed to support the Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) satellite mission by validating measurement methods and instrument design concepts, both in the laboratory and in field campaigns. FIRMOS is capable of measuring the downwelling spectral radiance emitted by the atmosphere in the spectral band from 100 to 1000 cm−1 (10–100 µm in wavelength), with a maximum spectral resolution of 0.25 cm−1. We describe the instrument design and its characterization and discuss the geophysical products obtained by inverting the atmospheric spectral radiance measured during a campaign from the high-altitude location of Mount Zugspitze in Germany, beside the Extended-range Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (E-AERI), which is permanently installed at the site. Following the selection of clear-sky scenes, using a specific algorithm, the water vapour and temperature profiles were retrieved from the FIRMOS spectra by applying the Kyoto protocol and Informed Management of the Adaptation (KLIMA) code. The profiles were found in very good agreement with those provided by radiosondes and by the Raman lidar operating from the Zugspitze Schneefernerhaus station. In addition, the retrieval products were validated by comparing the retrieved integrated water vapour values with those obtained from the E-AERI spectra.

show abstract

“…During the last two decades, measurements of the downwelling longwave radiation, including in the FIR, have been used to study the cirrus cloud radiative properties, both at mid-latitudes (Palchetti et al, 2016;Di Natale et al, 2021;Maestri et al, 2014) and in polar regions, in particular in Arctic (Garrett and Zhao, 2013;Intrieri et al, 2002;Ritter et al, 2005) and Antarctica (Maesh et al, 2001a, b;Palchetti et al, 2015;Di Natale et al, 2017;Rowe et al, 2019;Rathke et al, 2002;Maestri et al, 2019;Bellisario et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistency test of precipitating ice cloud retrieval properties obtained from the observations of different instruments operating at Dome C (Antarctica)

Natale

Turner²,

Bianchini³

et al. 2022

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Selected case studies of precipitating ice clouds at Dome C (Antarctic Plateau) were used to test a new approach for the estimation of ice cloud reflectivity at 24 GHz (12.37 mm wavelength) using ground-based far infrared spectral measurements from the REFIR-PAD Fourier transform spectroradiometer and backscattering/depolarization lidar profiles. The resulting reflectivity was evaluated with the direct reflectivity measurements provided by a co-located micro rain radar (MRR) operating at 24 GHz, that was able to detect falling crystals with large particle size, typically above 600 µm. To obtain the 24 GHz reflectivity, we used the particle effective diameter and the cloud optical depth retrieved from the far infrared spectral radiances provided by REFIR-PAD and the tropospheric co-located backscattering lidar to calculate the modal radius and the intercept of the particle size distribution. These parameters spanned in the wide ranges between 570–2400 µm and 10−2–104 cm−5, respectively. The retrieved effective sizes and optical depths mostly varied in the ranges 70–250 µm and 0.1–5, respectively. From these parameters, the theoretical reflectivity at 24 GHz was obtained by integrating the size distribution over different cross sections for various habit crystals provided by Eriksson et al. (2018) databases. From the comparison with the radar reflectivity measurements, we found that the hexagonal column-like habits, the columnar crystal aggregates, and the 5/6 branches bullet rosettes showed the best agreement with the MRR observations. The dispersion coefficient of the crystal particle size distribution was assumed in the range 0–2 according to the temperature dependence found in previous studies. The retrieved values of the intercept and slope were found in good agreement with these studies. The presence of the inferred habits was confirmed by the crystal images taken by the ICE-CAMERA, operating in proximity of REFIR-PAD and the MRR. In particular, the occurrence of hexagonal column-like ice crystals was confirmed by the presence of 22∘ solar halos, detected by the HALO-CAMERA. The average crystal lengths obtained from the retrieved size distribution were also compared to those estimated from the ICE-CAMERA images. The agreement between the two results confirmed that the retrieved parameters of the particle size distributions correctly reproduced the observations.

show abstract

Can downwelling far-infrared radiances over Antarctica be estimated from mid-infrared information?

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

A Decomposition of the Atmospheric and Surface Contributions to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

A Decomposition of the Atmospheric and Surface Contributions to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

The Far-Infrared Radiation Mobile Observation System (FIRMOS) for spectral characterization of the atmospheric emission

Consistency test of precipitating ice cloud retrieval properties obtained from the observations of different instruments operating at Dome C (Antarctica)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About