Article
Environmental Sciences
Jingjing Tian, Yunyan Zhang, Stephen A. Klein, Likun Wang, Rusen Oktem, David M. Romps
Summary: This study detects summertime continental shallow cumulus clouds (ShCu) using GOES-16 reflectance data and ground-based observations, with a constant detection threshold of 0.045 for ShCu cloudy pixels. By constructing clear-sky surface reflectance maps and designing a GOES simulator, the method enables the detection of ShCu during the day, bridging the observational gap and facilitating further studies on ShCu development.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
D. A. Knopf, K. R. Barry, T. A. Brubaker, L. G. Jahl, K. A. Jankowski, J. Li, Y. Lu, L. W. Monroe, K. A. Moore, F. A. Rivera-Adorno, K. A. Sauceda, Y. Shi, J. M. Tomlin, H. S. K. Vepuri, P. Wang, N. N. Lata, E. J. T. Levin, J. M. Creamean, T. C. J. Hill, S. China, P. A. Alpert, R. C. Moffet, N. Hiranuma, R. C. Sullivan, A. M. Fridlind, M. West, N. Riemer, A. Laskin, P. J. DeMott, X. Liu
Summary: The prediction of ice formation in clouds presents a significant challenge in atmospheric sciences, particularly the uncertainty in deriving INP number concentrations in cloud-resolving and climate models. The closure pilot study aims to evaluate the level of parameter details and measurement strategies needed to achieve aerosol-ice formation closure, with a focus on guiding immersion freezing schemes in models and identifying causes for INP prediction biases in climate models.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fan Mei, Mikhail S. Pekour, Darielle Dexheimer, Gijs de Boer, RaeAnn Cook, Jason Tomlinson, Beat Schmid, Lexie A. Goldberger, Rob Newsom, Jerome D. Fast
Summary: Uncrewed Systems (UxS), including uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and tethered balloon/kite systems (TBS), have significantly expanded observational capabilities in atmospheric science. The Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility has collected a large number of datasets using UAS and TBS platforms, providing new perspectives on spatial variability of atmospheric and surface parameters and contributing to critical science questions in Earth system science research.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Tamanna Subba, Michael J. Lawler, Allison L. Steiner
Summary: By analyzing data from the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) site in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) over a 10-year period, researchers indirectly estimated the seasonal impact of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP), including pollen and fungal spores. The study found high pollen and fungal spore concentrations during specific periods of the year, and identified possible pollen and fungal spore rupture events based on particle depolarization ratio and aerosol size distribution observations, particularly during rainfall events. Overall, the analysis suggested that PBAP primary emissions and rupture events could occur around 32 days per year, highlighting the significance of these biological aerosols in the aerosol budget during seasonal emissions.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Christopher R. Maupin, E. Brendan Roark, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Chuan-Chou Shen, Courtney Schumacher, Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis, Audrey L. Housson, C. Lorraine McChesney, Oruc Baykara, Tsai-Luen Yu, Kemble White, Judson W. Partin
Summary: Research shows that thunderstorms in the Southern Great Plains of the United States have been increasing in intensity and frequency in recent years, but assessing storm characteristics under different climate scenarios remains uncertain due to limitations in climate models physics. Analysis of oxygen isotopes in Texas stalactites dating back 30-50 thousand years reveals shifts in storm organization from weakly to strongly organized on millennial timescales.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Russell J. Perkins, Peter J. Marinescu, Ezra J. T. Levin, Don R. Collins, Sonia M. Kreidenweis
Summary: This study analyzes high quality data from seven independent instruments at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site to build a CCN spectrum product. The study examines the probability distribution shapes of aerosols and CCN metrics, identifies the primary drivers of CCN differences, and explores the dynamics of CCN spectral clusters and concentrations.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marius J. Pohl, Lukas Lehnert, Maaike Y. Bader, S. Robbert Gradstein, Jonas Viehweger, Joerg Bendix
Summary: Recent studies have identified fog-driven epiphyte-rich tropical cloud forests in the lowlands of French Guiana. A high-resolution product based on satellite images has shown widespread occurrence of fog/low stratus clouds (FLS) in the entire tropical lowland rain forest of South America, providing suitable environmental conditions for the Tropical Lowland Cloud Forest (TLCF). This knowledge on the spatial distribution of potential TLCF is crucial for conservation efforts.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Lei Liu, Yi Huang, John R. Gyakum, David D. Turner, P. Jonathan Gero
Summary: In this study, a 23-year downwelling longwave radiance (DLR) record measured by the Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) was processed and analyzed. The spectral trends in the DLR provide insights into the radiative drivers of climate change. The results show significant positive radiance trends in weak absorption channels, indicating the feasibility of early detection of climate change.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kenneth Tobin, Aaron Sanchez, Daniela Esparza, Miguel Garcia, Deepak Ganta, Marvin Bennett
Summary: The article introduces the SMERGE root-zone soil moisture product that covers the continental United States from 1978 to 2019. Machine learning techniques were used to downscale SMERGE to field-scale resolutions. The downscaled results were validated using in situ data and comparisons with other retrieval data. The study found that RF outperformed XGBoost and GBoost in different periods and models. The downscaled results showed improved correlation and reduced RMSE, allowing for diverse hydrometeorological and agricultural applications.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jerome D. Fast, David M. Bell, Gourihar Kulkarni, Jiumeng Liu, Fan Mei, Georges Saliba, John E. Shilling, Kaitlyn Suski, Jason Tomlinson, Jian Wang, Rahul Zaveri, Alla Zelenyuk
Summary: The distribution of aerosol properties changes over time and space due to various processes. The ability of chemical transport models to represent these processes depends on their spatial resolution. Subgrid-scale processes have a significant impact on aerosol populations. Aircraft measurements provide information on subgrid-scale variability for the study of clouds, aerosols, and land ecosystems.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiumeng Liu, Liz Alexander, Jerome D. Fast, Rodica Lindenmaier, John E. Shilling
Summary: The HI-SCALE campaign conducted in Oklahoma aimed to better understand land-atmosphere interactions, aerosol and cloud properties, and the influence of aerosol sources on cloud formation. Observations at the SGP ground site revealed highly oxidized organic aerosols, with biogenic emissions largely controlling the formation of organic aerosol.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Piyushkumar N. Patel, Jonathan H. Jiang
Summary: The study reveals that properties and source regions of aerosols can impact CCN concentrations. Particle size is identified as the most critical factor influencing aerosol activation ability.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xuebin Yang, Xiangming Xiao, Chenchen Zhang
Summary: This study investigates the encroachment of evergreen forest in the southern Great Plains of the United States. The results show that there has been a slowing trend of evergreen forest encroachment since 1990, with the encroachment rate being consistent with mean annual precipitation (MAP) but opposite to mean annual burned area (MABA). The spatial variability of the encroachment rate can be largely explained by initial evergreen forest area, while it shows no significant relationship with MAP or MABA.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jingjing Tian, Yunyan Zhang, Stephen A. Klein, Rusen Oktem, Likun Wang
Summary: This study investigates the effects of heterogeneous land covers on shallow cumulus clouds at the US Southern Great Plains. The results show that during late summer, these clouds occur most frequently over cities and least frequently over open waters, with a higher occurrence over forest compared to grassland. This preference also varies with the length scales of land patches, and is more pronounced under low wind conditions.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yongjun Zhang, Prasanna Gowda, David Brown, Charles Rice, Zachary Zambreski, Seth Kutikoff, Xiaomao Lin
Summary: The study examined the long-term trends of frost indicators in the U.S. Southern Great Plains, revealing earlier dates of last spring frost, later dates of first fall frost, and longer frost-free seasons from 1950 to 2017. The choice of time period in climatic time series was crucial in determining these trends, with correlations found between the trends and the spring Arctic Oscillation and fall Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jordann Brendecke, Xiquan Dong, Baike Xi, Peng Wu
Summary: The Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign provided valuable information on the stratocumulus to cumulus transition over the Eastern-North Pacific (ENP), with observations showing significant changes in cloud base and top heights. Analysis of the data during MAGIC revealed average values for cloud and drizzle microphysical properties, which were higher compared to values from other regions due to different environmental conditions. This information enhances understanding of the stratocumulus to cumulus transition over the ENP and can help improve model simulations.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jian Wang, Rob Wood, Michael P. Jensen, J. Christine Chiu, Yangang Liu, Katia Lamer, Neel Desai, Scott E. Giangrande, Daniel A. Knopf, Pavlos Kollias, Alexander Laskin, Xiaohong Liu, Chunsong Lu, David Mechem, Fan Mei, Mariusz Starzec, Jason Tomlinson, Yang Wang, Seong Soo Yum, Guangjie Zheng, Allison C. Aiken, Eduardo B. Azevedo, Yann Blanchard, Swarup China, Xiquan Dong, Francesca Gallo, Sinan Gao, Virendra P. Ghate, Susanne Glienke, Lexie Goldberger, Joseph C. Hardin, Chongai Kuang, Edward P. Luke, Alyssa A. Matthews, Mark A. Miller, Ryan Moffet, Mikhail Pekour, Beat Schmid, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Raymond A. Shaw, John E. Shilling, Amy Sullivan, Kaitlyn Suski, Daniel P. Veghte, Rodney Weber, Matt Wyant, Jaemin Yeom, Maria Zawadowicz, Zhibo Zhang
Summary: Marine low clouds have a significant impact on global climate, but their representation in global climate models is currently inadequate. Understanding how marine low clouds respond to changes in atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols is a major source of uncertainty in climate simulations. The eastern North Atlantic region is a unique area with diverse marine boundary layer clouds, making it an excellent location to study the impact of aerosols on cloud properties. The Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in Eastern North Atlantic campaign was conducted to improve the understanding of the marine boundary layer cloud and aerosol interactions, as well as the cloud condensation nuclei budget.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jordann Brendecke, Xiquan Dong, Baike Xi, Xiaojian Zheng
Summary: Atmospheric aerosols have a significant impact on climate through scattering and absorbing radiation and modifying cloud properties. Ship-based measurements in the Eastern North Pacific reveal variations in aerosol concentrations and their correlation with cloud properties. The study also examines the relationship between cloud breakup and the transition from stratocumulus to cumulus clouds, finding a strong association with environmental conditions and aerosols.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Ocean
Theodore M. McHardy, James R. Campbell, David A. Peterson, Simone Lolli, Anne Garnier, Arunas P. Kuciauskas, Melinda L. Surratt, Jared W. Marquis, Steven D. Miller, Erica K. Dolinar, Xiquan Dong
Summary: This study develops a new thin cirrus detection algorithm applicable to overland scenes, and calibrates the algorithm using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) cloud profiles. The study shows that lower-tropospheric clouds are a more significant source of uncertainty in cirrus detection than the land surface.
JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Xiaojian Zheng, Xiquan Dong, Dale M. Ward, Baike Xi, Peng Wu, Yuan Wang
Summary: A closed-cell marine stratocumulus case during the ACE-ENA aircraft field campaign was examined to study the heterogeneities of cloud and drizzle microphysical properties and the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions. Variabilities in cloud and drizzle microphysics were found in two different flight legs, with one leg close to adiabatic and the other sub-adiabatic. The sub-cloud precipitation rate and CCN loss rates were significantly higher in the sub-adiabatic leg, highlighting the importance of considering cloud and drizzle heterogeneities in assessing aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions.
ADVANCES IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Patrick Minnis, Sunny Sun-Mack, William L. Smith, Qing Z. Trepte, Gang Hong, Yan Chen, Christopher R. Yost, Fu-Lung Chang, Rita A. Smith, Patrick W. Heck, Ping Yang
Summary: Cloud properties are crucial for the CERES Project as they allow accurate interpretation of measured radiances, understanding of global cloud-radiation interactions, and establishment of an important climate record. The CERES techniques for cloud retrievals from MODIS measurements have been adapted for VIIRS measurements to continue the record. There are discrepancies between MODIS and VIIRS cloud properties due to differences in spectral and spatial resolution, calibration inconsistencies, and new reflectance models.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jiachen Ding, Ping Yang, Lifan Wang, Elaine Oran, Norman G. G. Loeb, William L. L. Smith Jr, Patrick Minnis
Summary: Spherical harmonic (SH) expansion is a useful tool for studying variables with valid values at all latitudes and longitudes. It can represent the variable as a sum of different SH components, which are obtained by multiplying the SH functions with their expansion coefficients. The study finds correlations between SH components of cloud radiative effect (CRE) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Hadley Circulation (HC). The SH power spectrum component anomaly of CRE at expansion degree 2 (l=2) is strongly correlated with ENSO, and the dipole patterns in the anomaly map can be explained by ENSO's impact on cloud properties.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christopher R. Yost, Patrick Minnis, Sunny Sun-Mack, William L. Smith Jr, Qing Z. Trepte
Summary: The CERES project measures clouds and radiation using satellite instruments to establish a reliable climate data record. Evaluations show that the accuracy of the VIIRS cloud amount, phase, and top height is high, but there is room for improvement compared to experimental machine learning techniques.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
David P. Duda, William L. Smith Jr, Sarah Bedka, Douglas Spangenberg, Thad Chee, Patrick Minnis
Summary: The radiative effects of the air traffic slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic were estimated by comparing the contrails over the United States and surrounding air corridors during the slowdown and a baseline period. The detected coverage and optical properties of contrails did not show significant differences between the two periods, but the radiative forcing was 34% to 42% smaller during the slowdown. Empirical models considering the changes in atmospheric environment and air traffic confirmed that the reduction in air traffic was the main factor contributing to the decrease in contrails and radiative forcing.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuan Wang, Xiaojian Zheng, Xiquan Dong, Baike Xi, Yuk L. Yung
Summary: In this study, the warm-cloud physics parameterizations in the NCAR Community Atmospheric Model version 6 and 5 (SCAM6 and SCAM5) are evaluated using measurements from the ARM Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) field campaign. The results show that both SCAM6 and SCAM5 can simulate the structure and properties of marine boundary layer clouds, but they underestimate cloud liquid water content, cloud droplet size, and rain liquid water content while overestimating surface rainfall. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding biases in cloud physics parameterizations through combining single-column modeling with in situ observations.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Baike Xi, Xiquan Dong, Xiaojian Zheng, Peng Wu
Summary: This study investigated cloud phase and macrophysical properties over the Southern Ocean using meteorological measurements. The findings revealed key features of cloud cover, cloud types, and cloud layer temperatures. The study showed that the polar region had higher cloud cover, with low-level and deep convective clouds being the most common cloud types. Mixed-phase clouds were found to be more prevalent in the southern region. These findings are important for improving climate model simulations over the Southern Ocean.
ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaojian Zheng, Baike Xi, Xiquan Dong, Peng Wu, Timothy Logan, Yuan Wang
Summary: This study investigates the impacts of environmental variables on aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI(r)) using 20 non-precipitating marine boundary layer cloud cases. The results show that cloud droplet effective radius is more sensitive to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) loading under sufficient water vapor supply. Boundary layer turbulence and water vapor supply also affect ACI(r).
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)