Overview: Current Status and Progress in Airborne Microphysical Instrumentation

In-situ observations of cloud microphysical parameters made with airborne probes play a crucial role in developing parameterizations for weather predictions and climate simulations. Airborne cloud observations provide the foundation for studies of cloud processes, validation of remote sensing algorithms, and evaluation of cloud numerical models. Airborne cloud microphysical instrumentation and techniques have significantly evolved since the 1960s once aircraft microphysical measurements became common practice in cloud studies. Despite progress in the development of airborne instrumentation and improvement of accuracy of measurements, there are still a number of persistent issues in the characterization of cloud microphysics, such as phase identification of particles < ~100um, filtering of shattering artifacts, uncertainties in size retrieval of out-of-focus images and calculation of concentration and many others. The recent development of airborne probes enables solving some of these issues. This presentation summarizes the progress in the development of airborne in-situ cloud instrumentation achieved during the last ten years and identifies gaps in measurements that need resolution by future generations of airborne instrumentation.