Premium
Sensitivity Analyses for the Retrievals of Ice Cloud Properties From Radiometric and Polarimetric Measurements in Sub‐mm/mm and Infrared Bands
Author(s) -
Coy James J.,
Bell Adam,
Yang Ping,
Wu Dong L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2019jd031422
Subject(s) - cirrus , remote sensing , polarimetry , radiative transfer , ice cloud , infrared , wavelength , environmental science , infrared window , radiometry , polarization (electrochemistry) , atmospheric radiative transfer codes , moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer , scattering , materials science , optics , physics , geology , satellite , astronomy , chemistry
Simulations of the radiometric and polarimetric properties of ice clouds based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 6 ice cloud model (aggregates in conjunction with the gamma distribution) are performed at wavelengths in the Infrared (IR) and Submillimeter/Millimeter (sub‐mm/mm) regimes. The scattering/absorption/polarization properties from the precalculated database are incorporated into a radiative transfer model, the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Model (ARTS). A number of sub‐mm/mm bands have been considered from radiometric and polarimetric studies for potential applications to retrieving ice cloud properties at shorter sub‐mm/mm wavelengths (higher frequencies). The IR atmospheric window has also been thoroughly investigated for its feasibility to observe ice clouds. However, in the literature there is a lack of studies utilizing these high frequency bands or polarimetric IR observations to infer ice cloud properties. This study focuses on performing simulations of ice clouds between 680 and 183 GHz (sub‐mm/mm regime) and between 8.6 and 12 μm wavelengths (IR‐window regime) toward determining potential applications to simultaneous retrievals of ice water path (IWP) and effective diameter ( D eff ) with a primary focus on optically thin cirrus clouds. IWP and D eff isoline plots (lookup tables) are created to conduct sensitivity analyses and to perform preliminary retrievals. Results reveal that the utilization of both sub‐mm/mm and IR wavelengths combined with linearly polarized and unpolarized measurements leads to the most accurate IWP and D eff retrievals with errors lower than 10%.