Climatology of cloud-base height from long-term radiosonde measurements in China

Zhang, Yong; Zhang, Lejian; Guo, Jianping; Feng, Jinming; Cao, Lijuan; Wang, Yan; Zhou, Qing; Li, Liangxu; Bai, Li; Xu, Hui; Liu, Lin; An, Ning; Liu, Huan

doi:10.1007/s00376-017-7096-0

Cited by 40 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…For instance, the combined state‐of‐the‐art Cloudsat and Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) products (e.g., Stephens et al, , ; Winker et al, ) have been used to construct the three‐dimensional structures of cloud properties (e.g., Chen et al, ; J. P. Guo et al, ; Guo, Liu, et al, ; Yin et al, ), since the unique capability of active spaceborne lidars or radars to penetrate clouds and aerosol layers. Also, ground‐based cloud observations have extensively been used to obtain reliable horizontal and vertical distributions of clouds (e.g., Mace & Benson, ; Xi et al, ; Zhang et al, ). However, the above‐mentioned two types of data sets have their own problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…cloud properties (e.g., Chen et al, 2016; J. P. Yin et al, 2015), since the unique capability of active spaceborne lidars or radars to penetrate clouds and aerosol layers. Also, ground-based cloud observations have extensively been used to obtain reliable horizontal and vertical distributions of clouds (e.g., Mace & Benson, 2008;Xi et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2017). However, the above-mentioned two types of data sets have their own problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Cloud Top Distribution and Diurnal Variation of Clouds Over East Asia: Preliminary Results From Advanced Himawari Imager

et al. 2018

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Clouds, as one of the most uncertain factors in climate system, have been intensively studied as satellites with advanced instruments emerged in recent years. However, few studies examine the vertical distributions of cloud top and their temporal variations over East Asia based on geostationary satellite data. In this study, the vertical structures of cloud top and its diurnal variations in summer of 2016 are analyzed using the Advanced Himawari Imager/Himawari‐8 cloud products. Results show that clouds occur most frequently over the southern Tibetan Plateau and the Bay of Bengal. We find a steep gradient of cloud occurrence frequency extending from southwest to northeast China and low‐value centers over the eastern Pacific and the Inner Mongolia Plateau. The vertical structures of cloud top are highly dependent on latitude, in addition to the nonnegligible roles of both terrain and land‐sea thermal contrast. In terms of the diurnal cycle, clouds tend to occur more often in the afternoon, peaking around 1700 local time over land and ocean. The amplitude of cloud diurnal variation over ocean is much smaller than that over land, and complex terrain tends to be linked to larger amplitude. In vertical, the diurnal cycle of cloud frequency exhibits bimodal pattern over both land and ocean. The high‐level peaks occur at almost the same altitude over land and ocean. In contrast, the low‐level peaks over ocean mainly reside in the boundary layer, much lower than those over land, which could be indicative of the frequent occurrence of marine boundary layer clouds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cloud Top Distribution and Diurnal Variation of Clouds Over East Asia: Preliminary Results From Advanced Himawari Imager

et al. 2018

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“…The L-band sounding system used in this study consists of GFE (L) 1 secondary wind radar and a GTS1 digital electronic radiosonde, which are located at the BNWO [13]. With a high-temporal resolution of 1.2 s and vertical resolution of approximately 8 m, the L-band radiosonde has the ability to measure wind direction, wind speed, temperature, pressure, and relative humidity (RH) from the ground to an altitude of approximately 30 km at all levels twice a day {at 0800 Local Standard Time (LST, UTC+8) and 2000 LST} since 2010.…”

Section: Radiosonde and Mmcr Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatology of Cloud Vertical Structures from Long-Term High-Resolution Radiosonde Measurements in Beijing

et al. 2020

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Clouds are significant in the global radiation budget, atmospheric circulation, and hydrological cycle. However, knowledge regarding the observed climatology of the cloud vertical structure (CVS) over Beijing is still poor. Based on high-resolution radiosonde observations at Beijing Nanjiao Weather Observatory (BNWO) during the period 2010–2017, the method for identifying CVS depending on height-resolved relative humidity thresholds is improved, and CVS estimation by radiosonde is compared with observations by millimeter-wave cloud radar and ceilometer at the same site. Good consistency is shown between the three instruments. Then, the CVS climatology, including the frequency distribution and seasonal variation, is investigated. Overall, the occurrence frequency (OF) of cloudy cases in Beijing is slightly higher than that of clear-sky cases, and the cloud OF is highest in summer and lowest in winter. Single-layer clouds and middle-level clouds are dominant in Beijing. In addition, the average cloud top height (CTH), cloud base height (CBH), and cloud thickness in Beijing are 6.2 km, 4.0 km, and 2.2 km, respectively, and show the trend of reaching peaks in spring and minimums in winter. In terms of frequency distribution, the CTH basically resides below an altitude of 16 km, and approximately 43% of the CBHs are located at altitudes of 0.5–1.5 km. The cloud OF has only one peak located at altitudes of 4–8 km in spring, whereas it shows a trimodal distribution in other seasons. The height at which the cloud OF reaches its peak is highest in summer and lowest in winter. To the best of our knowledge, the cloud properties analyzed here are the first to elucidate the distribution and temporal variation of the CVS in Beijing from a long-term sounding perspective, and these results will provide a scientific observation basis for improving the atmospheric circulation model, as well as comparisons and verifications for measurements by ground-based remote sensing equipment.

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“…Compared with satellite observations, ground-based cloud observations can provide CBH measurements with higher accuracy [34]. Some retrievals of the CBH are based on Lidar instruments [33], ceilometers [38], radiosondes [39][40][41][42], and total-sky-imager (TSI) [43]. Long-term research on the CBH measurements by radiosondes and ceilometer has been ongoing such as an analysis of 25-year CBHs measured by ceilometer at the Arctic site [44].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wang and Rossow [2] postulated that an RH threshold value of 84% could be used to determine the cloud base location based on rawinsonde data. Additionally, Zhang et al [42] performed an uncertainty analysis on the sensitivity of the CBH to different RH thresholds (83%, 84%, and 85%). To some degree, RH information at the cloud layer is significant in determining the CBHs from ground-based observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Features of the Cloud Base Height and Determining the Threshold of Relative Humidity over Southeast China

Liu

et al. 2019

Remote Sensing

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Clouds play a critical role in adjusting the global radiation budget and hydrological cycle; however, obtaining accurate information on the cloud base height (CBH) is still challenging. In this study, based on Lidar and aircraft soundings, we investigated the features of the CBH and determined the thresholds of the environmental relative humidity (RH) corresponding to the observed CBHs over Southeast China from October 2017 to September 2018. During the observational period, the CBHs detected by Lidar/aircraft were commonly higher in cold months and lower in warm months; in the latter, 75.91% of the CBHs were below 2000 m. Overall, the RHs at the cloud base were mainly distributed between 70 and 90% for the clouds lower than 1000 m, in which the most concentrated RH was approximately 80%. In addition, for the clouds with a cloud base higher than 1000 m, the RH thresholds decreased dramatically with increasing CBH, where the RH thresholds at cloud bases higher than 2000 m could be lower than 60%. On average, the RH thresholds for determining the CBHs were the highest (72.39%) and lowest (63.56%) in the summer and winter, respectively, over Southeast China. Therefore, to determine the CBH, a specific threshold of RH is needed. Although the time period covered by the collected CBH data from Lidar/aircraft is short, the above analyses can provide some verification and evidence for using the RH threshold to determine the CBH.

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Climatology of cloud-base height from long-term radiosonde measurements in China

Cited by 40 publications

References 44 publications

The Cloud Top Distribution and Diurnal Variation of Clouds Over East Asia: Preliminary Results From Advanced Himawari Imager

The Cloud Top Distribution and Diurnal Variation of Clouds Over East Asia: Preliminary Results From Advanced Himawari Imager

Climatology of Cloud Vertical Structures from Long-Term High-Resolution Radiosonde Measurements in Beijing

Features of the Cloud Base Height and Determining the Threshold of Relative Humidity over Southeast China

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