Microphysical transition in water clouds over the Amazon and China derived from space-borne radar and radiometer data

This study examines the transitional processes and relationships among cloud droplets, drizzle, and precipitation in single‐layer water clouds over the Amazon and China by synergistically analyzing products of active CloudSat and passive Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors. Cloud d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 2012-03, Vol.117 (D5), p.n/a
Main Authors: Kawamoto, Kazuaki, Suzuki, Kentaroh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric aerosols
Atmospheric sciences
Chemistry
cloud
Clouds
CloudSat
Coalescence
drizzle
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Geophysics
microphysics
Optical analysis
Physics
precipitation
Precipitation rate
Radar
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Summary:This study examines the transitional processes and relationships among cloud droplets, drizzle, and precipitation in single‐layer water clouds over the Amazon and China by synergistically analyzing products of active CloudSat and passive Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors. Cloud droplet number concentrations (Nc) are confirmed to generally be lower over the Amazon and higher over China, reflecting the difference in aerosol amount between these two regions at different seasons. Radar reflectivity (Ze) frequencies are consistent with the regional and seasonal differences in precipitation rate. Furthermore, the fractional occurrences of maximum Ze as a function of liquid water path (LWP) show an almost monotonic decline and increase for nonprecipitating and precipitating categories, respectively, denoting differences in the precipitation rate. The behavior of cloud parameters such as the cloud optical depth, effective particle radius, Nc, and LWP among different Ze categories indicates the cloud development stage and reveals regional differences in the microphysical characteristics. Finally, a vertical cloud structure is examined to illustrate that water clouds tend to become optically thinner and to produce precipitation (shifting to larger Ze) through the coalescence of droplets as Nc decreases. Regionally, precipitation over the Amazon takes place in optically thicker parts than over China. Key Points Occurrences of radar reflectivity for LWP were consistent with place and season Correlations of optical depth and particle size were more variable for the Amazon Precipitation occurred in optically thicker clouds for the Amazon
ISSN:0148-0227
2169-897X
2156-2202
2169-8996
DOI:10.1029/2011JD016412