In situ observations of the microphysical properties of wave, cirrus, and anvil clouds. Part II: Cirrus clouds

A Learjet research aircraft was used to collect microphysical data, including cloud particle imager (CPI) measurements of ice particle size and shape, in 22 midlatitude cirrus clouds. The dataset was collected while the aircraft flew 104 horizontal legs, totaling over 15 000 km in clouds. Cloud temp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the atmospheric sciences 2006-12, Vol.63 (12), p.3186-3203
Main Authors: LAWSON, R. Paul, BAKER, Brad, PILSON, Bryan, QIXU MO
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aircraft
Atoms & subatomic particles
Cloud physics
Clouds
Data collection
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Freezing
Ice
Meteorology
Particle size
Radiative transfer
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A Learjet research aircraft was used to collect microphysical data, including cloud particle imager (CPI) measurements of ice particle size and shape, in 22 midlatitude cirrus clouds. The dataset was collected while the aircraft flew 104 horizontal legs, totaling over 15 000 km in clouds. Cloud temperatures ranged from −28° to −61°C. The measurements show that cirrus particle size distributions are mostly bimodal, displaying a maximum in number concentration, area, and mass near 30 μm and another smaller maximum near 200–300 μm. CPI images show that particles with rosette shapes, which include mixed-habit rosettes and platelike polycrystals, constitute over 50% of the surface area and mass of ice particles >50 μm in cirrus clouds. Approximately 40% of the remaining mass of ice particles >50 μm are found in irregular shapes, with a few percent each in columns and spheroidal shapes. Plates account for
ISSN:0022-4928
1520-0469
DOI:10.1175/jas3803.1