Seasonal distribution of cirrus cloud characteristics and their rapid descent from polarization lidar measurements at the west coast of India

Cirrus clouds are highly reflective clouds that play an important role in the atmospheric radiative balance and contribute to climate change. We present the seasonal distribution of cirrus cloud occurrence, characteristics and evolution over a coastal station (Goa, 15.4°N, 73.8°E, 40 m above MSL) in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoretical and applied climatology 2023-10, Vol.154 (1-2), p.43-57
Main Authors: Aswini, M. A., Ruchith, R. D., Das, Subrata Kumar, Ramaswamy, V., Muraleedharan, P. M., Kumar, Ashwini
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambient temperature
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Atmospheric Sciences
Cirrus clouds
Climate change
Climate science
Climatology
Clouds
Coastal evolution
Contours
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Global temperature changes
High humidity
Humidity
Lidar
Lidar measurements
Monsoons
Optical radar
Radiosondes
Remote sensing
Seasonal distribution
Seasons
Southwest monsoon
Thickness
Tropical easterly jet
Velocity
Velocity distribution
Vertical velocities
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Wind
Wind shear
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Summary:Cirrus clouds are highly reflective clouds that play an important role in the atmospheric radiative balance and contribute to climate change. We present the seasonal distribution of cirrus cloud occurrence, characteristics and evolution over a coastal station (Goa, 15.4°N, 73.8°E, 40 m above MSL) in India using ground-based micro pulse lidar and radiosonde observations from July 2013 to June 2015. The frequency of cirrus occurrence was approximately 44%, 33%, 17% and 6% in winter (JF), premonsoon (MAM), southwest monsoon (JJAS) and postmonsoon season (OND), respectively. Thicker cirrus was more frequent in September, with an average value of > 1.7 ± 0.89 km. The frequency of cirrus descent occurs almost similarly in monsoon and postmonsoon (42% and 43% respectively). Two extreme cirrus descending cases were observed during the monsoon: (1) on 22 August 2014 with a displacement of 9.6 km from the initial height of 14 km with a descending rate and geometrical thickness of 0.4 ms −1 and 1.5 km, respectively, and (2) on 14 September 2013 with a displacement of 7.8 km with descending rate and thickness of 0.2 ms −1 and 2.3 km respectively. Relatively high humidity (> 60%) and low (
ISSN:0177-798X
1434-4483
DOI:10.1007/s00704-023-04518-w