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Lidar observations of the fine-scale variability of marine stratocumulus cloudsAn Nd:YAG lidar system was flown aboard NASA's ER-2 high altitude aircraft. Observations of cloud top height were made with 70 m along-track and 7.5 m vertical-height resolution. The lidar data observed from an East Pacific stratocumulus cloud height deck revealed large cloud variability on 1-5 km scales. The cloud deck sloped upward from 700 to 1000 m in a northeast-southwest direction over a distance of 120 km. Vertical cloud top distributions were negatively skewed indicating flat-topped clouds. The dominant spectral peak of the cloud top variations was found at 4.5 km, which is 5 to 7 times the depth of the local boundary layer. No other peaks were significant in the average spectrum. The cloud layer was stable with respect to cloud top entrainment instability. The southwestern region of the study area was more prone to shear instability at cloud top than the northeastern region. The results of this study show that a lidar system is ideal to provide the topography of clouds and local boundary layer depth. This information is useful in the study of cloud top radiation and parameterization of clouds in numerical models.
Document ID
19880066615
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Boers, Reinout
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt; Maryland, University, College Park, United States)
Spinhirne, James D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Hart, William D.
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Seabrook, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Applied Meteorology
Volume: 27
ISSN: 0894-8763
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Accession Number
88A53842
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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