Properties of mid-latitude cirrus cloud from surface Ka-band radar observations during 2014–2017

Abstract

<jats:p>Abstract. The physical properties and radiative role of cirrus clouds remain one of the uncertainties in the Earth–atmosphere system. In this study, we present a detailed analysis of cirrus properties based on four years of surface millimetre wavelength radar measurements in Beijing, China, where summer monsoon from the ocean and winter monsoon from the continent prevails alternately, resulting in various cirrus clouds. More than 6600 cirrus clusters were studied to quantify the properties of cirrus clouds, such as the height, optical depth and horizontal extent, which can serve as a reference for parameterization and characterization in global climate models. In addition, comparison between cirrus clusters formed under summer monsoon and winter monsoon indicates the different formation and evolution mechanisms of cirrus. Statistically, the temperature of more than 90 % of cirrus bins are below −15 °C. The dependence of the radar reflectivity of cirrus particles on the height and temperature was also observed in this study, indicating that the reflectivity of cirrus bins increases (decreases) as the temperature (height) increases. In addition, it was found that there is a strong linear relationship between the mean reflectivity and the cirrus cloud depth. Due to various synoptic circumstances, the cirrus clouds in summer are warmer, higher, and thicker, with larger reflectivity than that in winter; in particular, the mean cloud-top height of cirrus clouds in summer is 2.5 km higher than that in winter. It was found that most cirrus clusters in winter are likely to be the in situ origin type cirrus but some cirrus clusters in summer are the in situ origin cirrus and others are the liquid origin type cirrus. </jats:p>