Cloud detection in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere region via ACE imagers: A qualitative study
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Authors
Dodion, J.
Fussen, D.
Vanhellemont, F.
Bingen, C.
Mateshvili, N.
Gilbert, K.
Skelton, R.
Turnbull, D.
McLeod, S.D.
Boone, C.D.
Walker, K.A.
Bernath, P.F.
Discipline
Earth and related Environmental sciences
Subject
Atmospheric aerosols
Clouds
Imaging techniques
Mapping
Troposphere
Two dimensional
Upper atmosphere
cirrus
detection method
geometry
mapping method
polar stratospheric cloud
qualitative analysis
satellite imagery
stratosphere
troposphere
two-dimensional modeling
Audience
Scientific
Date
2007Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Satellite-based limb occultation measurements are well suited for the detection and mapping of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and cirrus clouds. Usually, cloud signatures are detected on aerosol extinction profiles. In this paper, ACE two-dimensional (2-D) imager data are used to show PSCs and cirrus clouds. Clouds can be clearly seen, with a good vertical and horizontal resolution (1 km), during sunset and sunrise. In addition, we discovered significant differences between stratospheric (PSCs) and tropospheric (cirrus) clouds. PSCs appear as "symmetric" layers, no horizontal or vertical "structure" is detected within the PSC, suggesting that PSCs are uniform clouds with a very large horizontal extent. On the other hand, cirrus cloud image geometry is not well-defined. In contrast to PSCs, cirrus clouds appear as irregular shaped clouds. These tropospheric clouds seem to have horizontal dimensions similar to the Sun on the image (25 km at the tangent point). The qualitative display of these different kinds of clouds, seen on the raw 2-D imager data, proves the ability of the imagers to be an efficient cloud detector in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. Moreover, the structure of these clouds can be derived.
Citation
Dodion, J.; Fussen, D.; Vanhellemont, F.; Bingen, C.; Mateshvili, N.; Gilbert, K.; Skelton, R.; Turnbull, D.; McLeod, S.D.; Boone, C.D.; Walker, K.A.; Bernath, P.F. (2007). Cloud detection in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere region via ACE imagers: A qualitative study. , Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 112, Issue 3, D03208, DOI: 10.1029/2006JD007160.Identifiers
scopus: 2-s2.0-34547773375
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng