Cirrus clouds millimeter-wave reflectivity comparison with in-situ ice crystal airborne data

Jose Morales; Jorge Trabal; Sandra L. Cruz-Pol; Stephen M. Sekelsky

doi:10.1117/12.583662

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22 December 2004 Cirrus clouds millimeter-wave reflectivity comparison with in-situ ice crystal airborne data

Jose Morales, Jorge Trabal, Sandra L. Cruz-Pol, Stephen M. Sekelsky

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Proceedings Volume 5654, Microwave Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Environment IV; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.583662
Event: Fourth International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Symposium 2004: Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, 2004, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

In an effort to evaluate scattering models for particle size distributions of ice crystals within cirrus clouds, simultaneous data was collected in March 2000 during the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Cloud Intensive operational period (Cloud IOP) at the Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site in Lamont, Oklahoma. In situ measurements of ice particles were collected using the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Video Ice Particle Sampler (VIPS), which flew on the University of North Dakota Citation research aircraft. Ground-based vertical radar profiles were collected using the University of Massachusetts (UMass) 33GHz/95GHz Cloud Profiler Radar System (CPRS). Data from both sensors was used to retrieve and compare the equivalent radar reflectivity at Ka band (33GHz). The equivalent radar reflectivity measured by the ground-based, zenith-looking, CPRS radar at Ka band and compared to the reflectivity computed from the airborne VIPS samples of particle size distribution, N(D), using Mie theory. As anticipated the equivalent reflectivity of the radar and VIPS were similar at the time the UND Citation overflew the radar.

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Jose Morales, Jorge Trabal, Sandra L. Cruz-Pol, and Stephen M. Sekelsky "Cirrus clouds millimeter-wave reflectivity comparison with in-situ ice crystal airborne data", Proc. SPIE 5654, Microwave Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Environment IV, (22 December 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.583662

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