Examination of scale-dependent physical and radiative properties of clouds using satellite observations

Guang Jun Zhang

doi:10.1117/12.466352

14 April 2003 Examination of scale-dependent physical and radiative properties of clouds using satellite observations

Guang Jun Zhang

Proceedings Volume 4899, Atmospheric and Oceanic Processes, Dynamics, and Climate Change; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.466352
Event: Third International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, 2002, Hangzhou, China

Abstract

The satellite data for June-July 1997 at the Southern Great Plains site of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program are analyzed. The observed clouds are classified into high, midlevel and low clouds according to their top heights. For each cloud type, the contribution to the total fractional cloud cover from clouds of different sizes is determined using a Lagrangian cloud classification scheme. It is found that in the midlatitude continental, convectively active environment, more than half of the total cloud cover is from high clouds, of which 80% comes from clouds with area > 4 × 10⁴ km². For midlevel clouds, more than 50% of the contribution to cloud cover is from small clouds (e.g. cloud area < 4 x 10⁴km²).. Almost all of the low clouds with significant contribution to cloud cover have spatial scales <4 × 10⁴km². This suggests that most of the midlevel and low clouds are of subgrid scale to a typical GCM resolution. We further found that cloud radiative properties, such as cloud albedo, outgoing longwave radiation and cloud radiative forcing, have strong scale dependence. Bigger clouds are brighter and have lower OLR. These results indicate that contributions to the observed cloud radiative forcing are dominated by large cloud systems.

Citation Download Citation

Guang Jun Zhang "Examination of scale-dependent physical and radiative properties of clouds using satellite observations", Proc. SPIE 4899, Atmospheric and Oceanic Processes, Dynamics, and Climate Change, (14 April 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.466352

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
8 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Clouds

Shortwaves

Satellites

Earth observing sensors

Climatology

Data centers

Radiation effects

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years