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Synergistic radar and sub-millimeter radiometer retrievals of ice hydrometeors in mid-latitude frontal cloud systems

Pfreundschuh, Simon and Fox, Stuart and Eriksson, Patrick and Duncan, David and Buehler, Stefan A. and Brath, Manfred and Cotton, Richard and Ewald, Florian (2022) Synergistic radar and sub-millimeter radiometer retrievals of ice hydrometeors in mid-latitude frontal cloud systems. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT), 15 (3), pp. 677-699. Copernicus Publications. doi: 10.5194/amt-15-677-2022. ISSN 1867-1381.

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Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-677-2022

Abstract

Accurate measurements of ice hydrometeors are required to improve the representation of clouds and precipitation in weather and climate models. In this study, a newly developed, synergistic retrieval algorithm that combines radar with passive millimeter and sub-millimeter observations is applied to observations of three frontally generated, mid-latitude cloud systems in order to validate the retrieval and assess its capabilities to constrain the properties of ice hydrometeors. To account for uncertainty in the assumed shapes of ice particles, the retrieval is run multiple times while the shape is varied. Good agreement with in situ measurements of ice water content and particle concentrations for particle maximum diameters larger than 200 micron is found for one of the flights for the large plate aggregate and the six-bullet rosette shapes. The variational retrieval fits the observations well, although small systematic deviations are observed for some of the sub-millimeter channels pointing towards issues with the sensor calibration or the modeling of gas absorption. For one of the flights the quality of the fit to the observations exhibits a weak dependency on the assumed ice particle shape, indicating that the employed combination of observations may provide limited information on the shape of ice particles in the observed clouds. Compared to a radar-only retrieval, the results show an improved sensitivity of the synergistic retrieval to the microphysical properties of ice hydrometeors at the base of the cloud. Our findings indicate that the synergy between active and passive microwave observations may improve remote-sensing measurements of ice hydrometeors and thus help to reduce uncertainties that affect currently available data products. Due to the increased sensitivity to their microphysical properties, the retrieval may also be a valuable tool to study ice hydrometeors in field campaigns. The good fits obtained to the observations increase confidence in the modeling of clouds in the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator and the corresponding single scattering database, which were used to implement the retrieval forward model. Our results demonstrate the suitability of these tools to produce realistic simulations for upcoming sub-millimeter sensors such as the Ice Cloud Image or the Arctic Weather Satellite.

Item URL in elib:https://elib.dlr.de/185553/
Document Type:Article
Title:Synergistic radar and sub-millimeter radiometer retrievals of ice hydrometeors in mid-latitude frontal cloud systems
Authors:
AuthorsInstitution or Email of AuthorsAuthor's ORCID iDORCID Put Code
Pfreundschuh, SimonDepartment of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Swedenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6566-2732UNSPECIFIED
Fox, StuartMet Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UKhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3110-872XUNSPECIFIED
Eriksson, PatrickDepartment of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Swedenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8475-0479UNSPECIFIED
Duncan, DavidECMWF, Reading, RG2 9AX, UKhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1955-4391UNSPECIFIED
Buehler, Stefan A.Meteorologisches Institut, (CEN), Universität Hamburg, Germanyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6389-1160UNSPECIFIED
Brath, ManfredMeteorologisches Institut, (CEN), Universität Hamburg, Germanyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4898-3811UNSPECIFIED
Cotton, RichardMet Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter, EX1 3PB, UKUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Ewald, FlorianDLR, IPAhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5899-0890UNSPECIFIED
Date:9 February 2022
Journal or Publication Title:Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT)
Refereed publication:Yes
Open Access:Yes
Gold Open Access:Yes
In SCOPUS:Yes
In ISI Web of Science:Yes
Volume:15
DOI:10.5194/amt-15-677-2022
Page Range:pp. 677-699
Publisher:Copernicus Publications
ISSN:1867-1381
Status:Published
Keywords:Radar, Sub-millimeter, Retrieval, Synergy, Ice cloud microphysics
HGF - Research field:Aeronautics, Space and Transport
HGF - Program:Space
HGF - Program Themes:Earth Observation
DLR - Research area:Raumfahrt
DLR - Program:R EO - Earth Observation
DLR - Research theme (Project):R - Atmospheric and climate research
Location: Oberpfaffenhofen
Institutes and Institutions:Institute of Atmospheric Physics > Lidar
Deposited By: Ewald, Dr. Florian
Deposited On:08 Mar 2022 09:00
Last Modified:08 Mar 2022 09:00

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