P1.21
The global distribution of drizzle in marine stratocumulus observed by CloudSat and CALIPSO
Zhien Wang, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY; and D. Leon, G. L. Stephens, D. M. Winker, D. G. Vane, and D. Liu
Marine stratocumulus (Sc), prevailing in the subtropics to the west of the major continents, plays an important role in Earth energy budget. The marine Sc cloud properties are controlled by the complex interactions among turbulence-cloud-drizzle-aerosol-radiation. However, the global measurements of drizzle in marine Sc are not possible until the launch of CloudSat and CALIPSO. High marine Sc occurrence regions normally locate at subsidence areas, which provide free optically thick high and middle cloud conditions for CALIPSO lidar to detect these low level clouds. On the other hand, CloudSat radar signal intensities provide a good measure of drizzle occurrence. By combining collocated CloudSat and CALIPSO data, global distributions of drizzle occurrence frequency and intensity (in terms of maximum Ze) are provided. Eight high marine Sc cloud regions are selected to study their seasonal and diurnal variations. By combining with daytime MODIS retrieved cloud liquid water path and effective radius, we explored the relationships between drizzle and cloud properties.
Poster Session 1, Recent Developments in Atmospheric Applications of Radar and lidar
Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 9:45 AM-11:00 AM, Exhibit Hall B
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