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Hemispheric comparison of cirrus cloud evolution using in situ measurements in HIAPER Pole‐to‐Pole Observations
Author(s) -
Diao Minghui,
Zondlo Mark A.,
Heymsfield Andrew J.,
Beaton Stuart P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl059873
Subject(s) - cirrus , ice crystals , environmental science , radiative transfer , radiative forcing , atmospheric sciences , supersaturation , microscale chemistry , climatology , geology , meteorology , climate change , physics , oceanography , mathematics education , mathematics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Cirrus clouds' radiative forcing is highly sensitive to their microphysical properties and evolution. However, there are very limited data sets with both microscale resolution and global coverage to provide a hemispheric comparison of cirrus cloud microphysical properties and their evolution. Here we use in situ aircraft observations on the ~200 m scale from 87°N to 67°S over North America and the central Pacific Ocean to analyze the hemispheric differences in the evolution of cirrus clouds' horizontal segments—ice supersaturated regions (ISSRs) and ice crystal regions (ICRs). In contrast to previous in situ observations, we show that the clear‐sky ice supersaturation frequency, resulting microphysical parameters (ice crystal size and concentration), and relative timescale of the life cycle of ISSRs and ICRs are similar between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres . More studies on hemispheric ice nuclei distributions and dynamical conditions are needed to help explain these observations.