Midlatitude Oceanic Cloud and Precipitation Properties as Sampled by the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Observatory

View/ Open
Issue Date
2019-03-29Author
Giangrande, Scott E.
Wang, Die
Bartholomew, Mary Jane
Jensen, Michael P.
Mechem, David B.
Hardin, Joseph C.
Wood, Robert
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Rights
©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Marine low clouds are critical to the climate system because of their extensive coverage and associated controls on boundary layer dynamics and radiative energy balance. The primary foci for this study are marine low cloud observations over a heavily instrumented site on the Azores archipelago in the Eastern North Atlantic and their associated raindrop size distribution (DSD) properties, relative low cloud contributions to the precipitation, and additional sampling (instrument, environmental) considerations. The contribution from low clouds (e.g., cloud top < 4 km) to the overall precipitation over midlatitude oceans is poorly understood, in part because of the lack of coupled, high‐quality measurements of precipitation and low cloud properties. Cloud regime and precipitation breakdowns performed for a multiyear (2014–2017) record emphasize diurnal precipitation and raindrop size distribution characteristics for both low and deeper clouds, as well as differences between the two disdrometer types used. Results demonstrate that marine low clouds over this Eastern North Atlantic location account for a significant (45%) contribution to the total rainfall and exhibit a diurnal cycle in cloud (thickness, top, and base) and precipitation characteristics similar to satellite records. Additional controls on observed surface rainfall characteristics of low clouds allowed by the extended ground‐based facility data sets are also explored. From those analyses, it is suggested that the synoptic state exerts a significant control on low cloud and surface precipitation properties.
Description
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2019 American Geophysical Union.
Collections
Citation
Giangrande, S. E., Wang, D., Bartholomew, M. J., Jensen, M. P., Mechem, D. B., Hardin, J. C., & Wood, R. (2019). Midlatitude oceanic cloud and precipitation properties as sampled by the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Observatory. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124, 4741– 4760. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029667
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.