Articles | Volume 10, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4895-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4895-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
14 Dec 2017
Research article |
| 14 Dec 2017
| 14 Dec 2017
Variability of the Brunt–Väisälä frequency at the OH* layer height
Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum (DFD), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-
und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Michael Bittner
Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum (DFD), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-
und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
Institut für Physik, Universität Augsburg, Augsburg,
Germany
Jeng-Hwa Yee
Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel,
Maryland, USA
Martin G. Mlynczak
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA
James M. Russell III
Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton, Virginia, USA
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Information about the energy of gravity waves (GWs) is crucial for improving atmosphere models. Most space-based studies report on the potential energy. We use ADM-Aeolus wind data to derive a lower limit of the kinetic energy density. However, the data quality is a challenge for such analyses, as the accuracy of the data is in the range of typical GW amplitudes. We find a temporal coincidence between enhanced or breaking planetary waves and enhanced gravity wave kinetic energy density.
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Two identical instruments in a parallel setup were used to observe the mesospheric OH airglow for more than 10 years (2009–2020) at 47.42°N, 10.98°E. This allows unique analyses of data quality aspects and their impact on the obtained results. During solar cycle 24 the influence of the sun was strong (∼6 K per 100 sfu). A quasi-2-year oscillation (QBO) of ±1 K is observed mainly during the maximum of the solar cycle. Unlike the stratospheric QBO the variation has a period of or below 24 months.
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We show that machine learning can help in classifying images of the OH* airglow, a thin layer in the middle atmosphere (ca. 86 km height) emitting infrared radiation, in an efficient way. By doing this,
dynamicepisodes of strong movement in the OH* airglow caused predominantly by waves can be extracted automatically from large data sets. Within these dynamic episodes, turbulent wave breaking can also be found. We use these observations of turbulence to derive the energy released by waves.
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Ground-based OH* airglow measurements have been carried out for almost 100 years. Advanced detector technology has greatly simplified the automatic operation of OH* airglow observing instruments and significantly improved the temporal and/or spatial resolution. Studies based on long-term measurements or including a network of instruments are reviewed, especially in the context of deriving gravity wave properties. Scientific and technical challenges for the next few years are described.
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With airglow spectrometers, the temperature in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere can be derived each night. The data allow to estimate the amount of energy which is transported by small-scale atmospheric waves, known as gravity waves. In order to do this, information about the Brunt–Väisälä frequency and its evolution during the year is necessary. This is provided here for low and midlatitudes based on 18 years of satellite data.
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Gravity wave (GW) activity in the UMLT in the period range 6-480 min is calculated by applying a wavelet analysis to nocturnal temperature time series derived from OH* airglow spectrometers. We analyse measurements from eight different locations at different latitudes.
GW activity shows strong period dependence. We find hardly any seasonal variability for periods below 60 min and a semi-annual cycle for periods longer than 60 min that evolves into an annual cycle around a period of 200 min.
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Two identical instruments in a parallel setup were used to observe the mesospheric OH airglow for more than 10 years (2009–2020) at 47.42°N, 10.98°E. This allows unique analyses of data quality aspects and their impact on the obtained results. During solar cycle 24 the influence of the sun was strong (∼6 K per 100 sfu). A quasi-2-year oscillation (QBO) of ±1 K is observed mainly during the maximum of the solar cycle. Unlike the stratospheric QBO the variation has a period of or below 24 months.
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Short summary
Short summary
We show that machine learning can help in classifying images of the OH* airglow, a thin layer in the middle atmosphere (ca. 86 km height) emitting infrared radiation, in an efficient way. By doing this,
dynamicepisodes of strong movement in the OH* airglow caused predominantly by waves can be extracted automatically from large data sets. Within these dynamic episodes, turbulent wave breaking can also be found. We use these observations of turbulence to derive the energy released by waves.
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High-resolution images of the OH* airglow layer (ca. 87 km height) acquired at Otlica Observatory, Slovenia, have been analysed. A statistical analysis of small-scale wave structures with horizontal wavelengths up to 4.5 km suggests strong presence of instability features in the upper mesosphere or lower thermosphere. The dissipated energy of breaking gravity waves is derived from observations of turbulent vortices. It is concluded that dynamical heating plays a vital role in the atmosphere.
Manfred Ern, Mohamadou Diallo, Peter Preusse, Martin G. Mlynczak, Michael J. Schwartz, Qian Wu, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13763–13795, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13763-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13763-2021, 2021
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Details of the driving of the semiannual oscillation (SAO) of the tropical winds in the middle atmosphere are still not known. We investigate the SAO and its driving by small-scale gravity waves (GWs) using satellite data and different reanalyses. In a large altitude range, GWs mainly drive the SAO westerlies, but in the upper mesosphere GWs seem to drive both SAO easterlies and westerlies. Reanalyses reproduce some features of the SAO but are limited by model-inherent damping at upper levels.
Sabine Wüst, Michael Bittner, Jeng-Hwa Yee, Martin G. Mlynczak, and James M. Russell III
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6067–6093, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6067-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6067-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
With airglow spectrometers, the temperature in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere can be derived each night. The data allow to estimate the amount of energy which is transported by small-scale atmospheric waves, known as gravity waves. In order to do this, information about the Brunt–Väisälä frequency and its evolution during the year is necessary. This is provided here for low and midlatitudes based on 18 years of satellite data.
René Sedlak, Alexandra Zuhr, Carsten Schmidt, Sabine Wüst, Michael Bittner, Goderdzi G. Didebulidze, and Colin Price
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5117–5128, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5117-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5117-2020, 2020
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Gravity wave (GW) activity in the UMLT in the period range 6-480 min is calculated by applying a wavelet analysis to nocturnal temperature time series derived from OH* airglow spectrometers. We analyse measurements from eight different locations at different latitudes.
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Ellis Remsberg, V. Lynn Harvey, Arlin Krueger, Larry Gordley, John C. Gille, and James M. Russell III
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3663–3668, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3663-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3663-2020, 2020
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The Nimbus 7 limb infrared monitor of the stratosphere (LIMS) instrument operated from October 25, 1978, through May 28, 1979. This note focuses on the lower stratosphere of the southern hemisphere, subpolar regions in relation to the position of the polar vortex. Both LIMS ozone and nitric acid show reductions within the edge of the polar vortex at 46 hPa near 60° S from late October through mid-November 1978, indicating that there was a chemical loss of Antarctic ozone some weeks earlier.
Mark E. Hervig, Benjamin T. Marshall, Scott M. Bailey, David E. Siskind, James M. Russell III, Charles G. Bardeen, Kaley A. Walker, and Bernd Funke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3111–3121, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3111-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3111-2019, 2019
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Short summary
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Sabine Wüst, Carsten Schmidt, Patrick Hannawald, Michael Bittner, Martin G. Mlynczak, and James M. Russell III
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Stefan Lossow, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Michael Kiefer, Kaley A. Walker, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Laurent Blanot, James M. Russell, Ellis E. Remsberg, John C. Gille, Takafumi Sugita, Christopher E. Sioris, Bianca M. Dinelli, Enzo Papandrea, Piera Raspollini, Maya García-Comas, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Anu Dudhia, William G. Read, Gerald E. Nedoluha, Robert P. Damadeo, Joseph M. Zawodny, Katja Weigel, Alexei Rozanov, Faiza Azam, Klaus Bramstedt, Stefan Noël, John P. Burrows, Hideo Sagawa, Yasuko Kasai, Joachim Urban, Patrick Eriksson, Donal P. Murtagh, Mark E. Hervig, Charlotta Högberg, Dale F. Hurst, and Karen H. Rosenlof
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Tilo Fytterer, Christian von Savigny, Martin Mlynczak, and Miriam Sinnhuber
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1835–1851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1835-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1835-2019, 2019
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Patrick Hannawald, Carsten Schmidt, René Sedlak, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 457–469, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-457-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-457-2019, 2019
Short summary
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We use a near-infrared camera for the investigation of gravity waves. The camera observes the airglow layer, which is modulated by the gravity waves. The image processing, including the removal of the stars is explained. We describe the analysis with a 2D fast Fourier transform and automatic derivation of the wave parameters. The results show a clear seasonal and intra-diurnal variability, which is characterised in order to improve our understanding of gravity waves in the middle atmosphere.
David E. Siskind, McArthur Jones Jr., Douglas P. Drob, John P. McCormack, Mark E. Hervig, Daniel R. Marsh, Martin G. Mlynczak, Scott M. Bailey, Astrid Maute, and Nicholas J. Mitchell
Ann. Geophys., 37, 37–48, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-37-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-37-2019, 2019
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Short summary
We use data from two NASA satellites and a general circulation model of the upper atmosphere to elucidate the key factors governing the abundance and diurnal variation of nitric oxide (NO) at near-solar minimum conditions and low latitudes. This has been difficult to do previously, because NO data are typically taken from satellites in sun-synchronous orbits, meaning that they only acquire data in fixed local times. We overcome this limitation through model simulations of the NO diurnal cycle.
Stefan Lossow, Dale F. Hurst, Karen H. Rosenlof, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Sabine Brinkop, Martin Dameris, Patrick Jöckel, Doug E. Kinnison, Johannes Plieninger, David A. Plummer, Felix Ploeger, William G. Read, Ellis E. Remsberg, James M. Russell, and Mengchu Tao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8331–8351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8331-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8331-2018, 2018
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Trend estimates of lower stratospheric H2O derived from the FPH observations at Boulder and a merged zonal mean satellite data set clearly differ for the time period from the late 1980s to 2010. We investigate if a sampling bias between Boulder and the zonal mean around the Boulder latitude can explain these trend discrepancies. Typically they are small and not sufficient to explain the trend discrepancies in the observational database.
Sabine Wüst, Thomas Offenwanger, Carsten Schmidt, Michael Bittner, Christoph Jacobi, Gunter Stober, Jeng-Hwa Yee, Martin G. Mlynczak, and James M. Russell III
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2937–2947, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2937-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2937-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
OH*-spectrometer measurements allow the analysis of gravity wave ground-based periods, but spatial information cannot necessarily be deduced. We combine the approach of Wachter at al. (2015) in order to derive horizontal wavelengths (but based on only one OH* spectrometer) with additional information about wind and temperature and compute vertical wavelengths. Knowledge of these parameters is a precondition for the calculation of further information such as the wave group velocity.
Manfred Ern, Quang Thai Trinh, Peter Preusse, John C. Gille, Martin G. Mlynczak, James M. Russell III, and Martin Riese
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 857–892, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-857-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-857-2018, 2018
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The gravity wave climatology based on atmospheric infrared limb emissions observed by satellite (GRACILE) is a global data set of gravity wave (GW) distributions in the stratosphere and the mesosphere observed by the infrared limb sounding satellite instruments HIRDLS and SABER. Typical distributions of multiple GW parameters are provided. Possible applications are scientific studies, comparison with other observations, or comparison with resolved or parametrized GW distributions in models.
Pingping Rong, Jia Yue, James M. Russell III, David E. Siskind, and Cora E. Randall
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 883–899, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-883-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-883-2018, 2018
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There is a massive manifestation of atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) in polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) at the summer mesopause, which serves as indicators of the atmospheric dynamics and climate change. We obtained a universal power law that governs the GW display morphology and clarity level throughout the wave population residing in PMCs. Higher clarity refers to more distinct exhibition of the features. A GW tracking algorithm is used to identify the waves and to sort the albedo power.
Sabine Wüst, Verena Wendt, Ricarda Linz, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3453–3462, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3453-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3453-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Cubic splines with equidistant spline sampling points are a common method in atmospheric science for the approximation of background conditions by means of filtering superimposed fluctuations from a data series. However, splines can generate considerable artificial oscillations in the background and the residuals. We introduce a repeating spline approach which is able to significantly reduce this phenomenon and to apply it to TIMED-SABER vertical temperature profiles from 2010 to 2014.
Peter A. Panka, Alexander A. Kutepov, Konstantinos S. Kalogerakis, Diego Janches, James M. Russell, Ladislav Rezac, Artem G. Feofilov, Martin G. Mlynczak, and Erdal Yiğit
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9751–9760, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9751-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9751-2017, 2017
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Recently, theoretical and laboratory studies have suggested an additional
nighttime channel of transfer of vibrational energy of OH molecules to CO2 in the
mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). We show that new mechanism brings
modelled 4.3 μm emissions very close to the SABER/TIMED measurements. This
renders new opportunities for the application of the CO2 4.3 μm observations in
the study of the energetics and dynamics of the nighttime MLT.
René Sedlak, Patrick Hannawald, Carsten Schmidt, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5955–5963, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5955-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5955-2016, 2016
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In this paper a SWIR airglow imager is presented. It is especially designed for the observation of small-scale gravity waves and turbulence features in the OH airglow layer with a high spatio-temporal resolution of up to 17 m (at mesopause heights) and 2.5 to 2.8 s. Two case studies show small-scale wave structures with horizontal wavelengths of approximately 550 m as well as vortex formation and decomposition of wave fronts, both indicating the onset of turbulence.
Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, Chris A. McLinden, Peter F. Bernath, Adam E. Bourassa, John P. Burrows, Doug A. Degenstein, Bernd Funke, Didier Fussen, Gloria L. Manney, C. Thomas McElroy, Donal Murtagh, Cora E. Randall, Piera Raspollini, Alexei Rozanov, James M. Russell III, Makoto Suzuki, Masato Shiotani, Joachim Urban, Thomas von Clarmann, and Joseph M. Zawodny
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5781–5810, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5781-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5781-2016, 2016
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This study validates version 3.5 of the ACE-FTS NOy species data sets by comparing diurnally scaled ACE-FTS data to correlative data from 11 other satellite limb sounders. For all five species examined (NO, NO2, HNO3, N2O5, and ClONO2), there is good agreement between ACE-FTS and the other data sets in various regions of the atmosphere. In these validated regions, these NOy data products can be used for further investigation into the composition, dynamics, and climate of the stratosphere.
Frank T. Huang, Hans G. Mayr, James M. Russell III, and Martin G. Mlynczak
Ann. Geophys., 34, 801–813, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-801-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-801-2016, 2016
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We have derived ozone and temperature responses to solar variability over a solar cycle, from 2002 to 2014 at 20–60 km and 48°S–48°N, based on a new dataset (SABER). These global results can be directly compared with 3-D models and will help in understanding not only the physical processes but also how they affect the Earth's climate. The simultaneous measurements of ozone and temperature will give added insight into the dynamics and photochemistry of the middle and upper atmosphere.
Jeremy J. Harrison, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Christopher D. Boone, Sandip S. Dhomse, Peter F. Bernath, Lucien Froidevaux, John Anderson, and James Russell III
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10501–10519, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10501-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10501-2016, 2016
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HF, the dominant stratospheric fluorine reservoir, results from the atmospheric degradation of anthropogenic species such as CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs. All are strong greenhouse gases, and CFCs and HCFCs deplete stratospheric ozone.
We report the comparison of HF global distributions and trends measured by the ACE-FTS and HALOE satellite instruments with the output of SLIMCAT, a chemical transport model. The global HF trends reveal a slowing down in the rate of increase of HF since the 1990s.
Manfred Ern, Quang Thai Trinh, Martin Kaufmann, Isabell Krisch, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Yajun Zhu, John C. Gille, Martin G. Mlynczak, James M. Russell III, Michael J. Schwartz, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9983–10019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9983-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9983-2016, 2016
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Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) influence the atmospheric circulation over a large range of altitudes and latitudes. We investigate the global distribution of small-scale gravity waves (GWs) during SSWs as derived from 13 years of satellite observations.
We find that GWs may play an important role for triggering SSWs by preconditioning the polar vortex, as well as during long-lasting vortex recovery phases after SSWs. The GW distribution during SSWs displays strong day-to-day variability.
Daan Hubert, Jean-Christopher Lambert, Tijl Verhoelst, José Granville, Arno Keppens, Jean-Luc Baray, Adam E. Bourassa, Ugo Cortesi, Doug A. Degenstein, Lucien Froidevaux, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Karl W. Hoppel, Bryan J. Johnson, Erkki Kyrölä, Thierry Leblanc, Günter Lichtenberg, Marion Marchand, C. Thomas McElroy, Donal Murtagh, Hideaki Nakane, Thierry Portafaix, Richard Querel, James M. Russell III, Jacobo Salvador, Herman G. J. Smit, Kerstin Stebel, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, Kevin B. Strawbridge, René Stübi, Daan P. J. Swart, Ghassan Taha, David W. Tarasick, Anne M. Thompson, Joachim Urban, Joanna A. E. van Gijsel, Roeland Van Malderen, Peter von der Gathen, Kaley A. Walker, Elian Wolfram, and Joseph M. Zawodny
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2497–2534, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2497-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2497-2016, 2016
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A more detailed understanding of satellite O3 profile data records is vital for further progress in O3 research. To this end, we made a comprehensive assessment of 14 limb/occultation profilers using ground-based reference data. The mutual consistency of satellite O3 in terms of bias, short-term variability and decadal stability is generally good over most of the stratosphere. However, we identified some exceptions that impact the quality of recently merged data sets and ozone trend assessments.
Patrick Hannawald, Carsten Schmidt, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 1461–1472, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1461-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-1461-2016, 2016
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This paper presents a ground-based, short-wave infrared camera system for measurements of the OH airglow originating in the middle atmosphere. The camera has a high temporal and spatial resolution of 0.5 s and 200 m (at 90 km height), which allows for detailed observations of atmospheric waves and other transient phenomena. Details regarding the instrument, calibration and preprocessing are discussed exemplarily for an event of two superposing gravity waves with associated instability structures.
F. T. Huang, H. G. Mayr, J. M. Russell III, and M. G. Mlynczak
Ann. Geophys., 34, 29–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-29-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-29-2016, 2016
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Satellite data over the 11-year solar cycle from 2002 to 2014 show that the response of atmospheric temperatures are in phase with the sun's activity from 50 to 100 km. The ozone variations are also in phase with those of temperature between ~ 80 and 100 km but are mostly out of phase between ~ 50 and 80 km. This is consistent with the idea that dynamics are more in control from 80 to 100 km, while ozone photochemistry is more in control from ~ 50 to 80 km.
L. Froidevaux, J. Anderson, H.-J. Wang, R. A. Fuller, M. J. Schwartz, M. L. Santee, N. J. Livesey, H. C. Pumphrey, P. F. Bernath, J. M. Russell III, and M. P. McCormick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10471–10507, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10471-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10471-2015, 2015
T. Fytterer, M. G. Mlynczak, H. Nieder, K. Pérot, M. Sinnhuber, G. Stiller, and J. Urban
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3327–3338, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3327-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3327-2015, 2015
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Energetic particles from the sun produce NOx (=N+NO+NO2) in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere. The NOx can be transported downward in the stratosphere during polar winter where NOx eventually depletes O3. This entire chain is the so-called energetic particle precipitation (EPP) indirect effect.
Here we show downward propagating negative stratospheric O3 anomalies during Antarctic polar winter. The O3 anomalies are caused by geomagnetic activity and show strong hints of the EPP indirect effect.
O. Lednyts'kyy, C. von Savigny, K.-U. Eichmann, and M. G. Mlynczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1021–1041, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1021-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1021-2015, 2015
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This paper deals with the retrieval of atomic oxygen concentration profiles in the Earth's upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region from SCIAMACHY observations of oxygen green line airglow emissions. Atomic oxygen is one of the most important chemical constituents of this atmospheric region, and long-term satellite data sets are rare. The paper includes a detailed description of the retrieval algorithm, an error budget, validation results and some first scientific analyses.
Related subject area
Subject: Others (Wind, Precipitation, Temperature, etc.) | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
The High lAtitude sNowfall Detection and Estimation aLgorithm for ATMS (HANDEL-ATMS): a new algorithm for snowfall retrieval at high latitudes
Next-generation radiance unfiltering process for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System instrument
Improved rain event detection in commercial microwave link time series via combination with MSG SEVIRI data
A directional surface reflectance climatology determined from TROPOMI observations
Investigation of gravity waves using measurements from a sodium temperature/wind lidar operated in multi-direction mode
An improved BRDF hotspot model and its use in VLIDORT for studying the impact of atmospheric scattering on hotspot directional signatures in the atmosphere
A multi-decadal time series of upper stratospheric temperature profiles from Odin-OSIRIS limb-scattered spectra
CALOTRITON: a convective boundary layer height estimation algorithm from ultra-high-frequency (UHF) wind profiler data
Enhancing consistency of microphysical properties of precipitation across the melting layer in dual-frequency precipitation radar data
Profiling the molecular destruction rates of temperature and humidity as well as the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation in the convective boundary layer
Forward operator for polarimetric radio occultation measurements
Assessing atmospheric gravity wave spectra in the presence of observational gaps
Joint 1DVar retrievals of tropospheric temperature and water vapor from Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (GNSS-RO) and microwave radiometer observations
Mispointing characterization and Doppler velocity correction for the conically scanning WIVERN Doppler radar
Scale separation for gravity wave analysis from 3D temperature observations in the MLT region
Radar and environment-based hail damage estimates using machine learning
Dual adaptive differential threshold method for automated detection of faint and strong echo features in radar observations of winter storms
A new power-law model for μ–Λ relationships in convective and stratiform rainfall
Suppression of precipitation bias in wind velocities from continuous-wave Doppler lidars
Difference spectrum fitting of the ion–neutral collision frequency from dual-frequency EISCAT measurements
Performance evaluation of three bio-optical models in aerosol and ocean color joint retrievals
Observation of horizontal temperature variations by a spatial heterodyne interferometer using single-sided interferograms
Version 8 IMK–IAA MIPAS temperatures from 12–15 µm spectra: Middle and Upper Atmosphere modes
GNSS radio occultation excess-phase processing for climate applications including uncertainty estimation
Impact analysis of processing strategies for long-term GPS zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD)
Irradiance and cloud optical properties from solar photovoltaic systems
Single field-of-view sounder atmospheric product retrieval algorithm: establishing radiometric consistency for hyper-spectral sounder retrievals
Higher-order calibration on WindRAD (Wind Radar) scatterometer winds
On the polarimetric backscatter by a still or quasi-still wind turbine
OH airglow observations with two identical spectrometers: benefits of increased data homogeneity in the identification of variations induced by the 11-year solar cycle, the QBO, and other factors
Broadband radiative quantities for the EarthCARE mission: the ACM-COM and ACM-RT products
HSRL-2 Retrievals of Ocean Surface Wind Speeds
Measuring rainfall using microwave links: the influence of temporal sampling
Long-term multi-source precipitation estimation with high resolution (RainGRS Clim)
Retrieval of snow layer and melt pond properties on Arctic sea ice from airborne imaging spectrometer observations
Using optimal estimation to retrieve winds from velocity-azimuth display (VAD) scans by a Doppler lidar
Angular sampling of a monochromatic, wide-field-of-view camera to augment next-generation Earth radiation budget satellite observations
Noise filtering options for conically scanning Doppler LiDAR measurements with low pulse accumulation
Drone-based photogrammetry combined with deep-learning to estimate hail size distributions and melting of hail on the ground
Estimating the refractivity bias of Formosat-7/COSMIC-II GNSS Radio Occultation in the planetary boundary layer
Efficient collocation of global navigation satellite system radio occultation soundings with passive nadir microwave soundings
Analysis of 2D airglow imager data with respect to dynamics using machine learning
Estimation of extreme precipitation events in Estonia and Italy using dual-polarization weather radar quantitative precipitation estimations
Detection and localization of F-layer ionospheric irregularities with the back-propagation method along the radio occultation ray path
Observations of anomalous propagation over waters near Sweden
Validation of Aeolus wind profiles using ground-based lidar and radiosonde observations at Réunion island and the Observatoire de Haute-Provence
Dual-frequency spectral radar retrieval of snowfall microphysics: a physics-driven deep-learning approach
High-resolution 3D winds derived from a modified WISSDOM synthesis scheme using multiple Doppler lidars and observations
Atmospheric boundary layer height from ground-based remote sensing: a review of capabilities and limitations
Assessing and mitigating the radar–radar interference in the German C-band weather radar network
Andrea Camplani, Daniele Casella, Paolo Sanò, and Giulia Panegrossi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2195–2217, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2195-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2195-2024, 2024
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The paper describes a new machine-learning-based snowfall retrieval algorithm for Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder observations developed to retrieve high-latitude snowfall events. The main novelty of the approach is the radiometric characterization of the background surface at the time of the overpass, which is ancillary to the retrieval process. The algorithm shows a unique capability to retrieve snowfall in the environmental conditions typical of high latitudes.
Lusheng Liang, Wenying Su, Sergio Sejas, Zachary Eitzen, and Norman G. Loeb
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2147–2163, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2147-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2147-2024, 2024
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This paper describes an updated process to obtain unfiltered radiation from CERES satellite instruments by incorporating the most recent developments in radiative transfer modeling and ancillary input datasets (e.g., realistic representation of land surface radiation and climatology of surface temperatures and aerosols) during the past 20 years. The resulting global mean of instantaneous SW and LW fluxes is changed by less than 0.5 W m−2 with regional differences as large as 2.0 W m−2.
Maximilian Graf, Andreas Wagner, Julius Polz, Llorenç Lliso, José Alberto Lahuerta, Harald Kunstmann, and Christian Chwala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2165–2182, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2165-2024, 2024
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Commercial microwave links (CMLs) can be used for rainfall retrieval. The detection of rainy periods in their attenuation time series is a crucial processing step. We investigate the usage of rainfall data from MSG SEVIRI for this task, compare this approach with existing methods, and introduce a novel combined approach. The results show certain advantages for SEVIRI-based methods, particularly for CMLs where existing methods perform poorly. Our novel combination yields the best performance.
Lieuwe G. Tilstra, Martin de Graaf, Victor J. H. Trees, Pavel Litvinov, Oleg Dubovik, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2235–2256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2235-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces a new surface albedo climatology of directionally dependent Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (DLER) observed by TROPOMI on the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. The database contains monthly fields of DLER for 21 wavelength bands at a relatively high spatial resolution of 0.125 by 0.125 degrees. The anisotropy of the surface reflection is handled by parameterisation of the viewing angle dependence.
Bing Cao and Alan Z. Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2123–2146, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2123-2024, 2024
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A narrow-band sodium lidar measures atmospheric waves but is limited to vertical variations. We propose to utilize phase shifts among observations from different laser beams to derive horizontal wave information. Two gravity wave packets were identified by this method. Both waves were found to interact with thin evanescent layers, partially reflected, but transmitted energy to higher altitudes. The method can detect more medium-frequency gravity waves for similar lidar systems worldwide.
Xiaozhen Xiong, Xu Liu, Robert Spurr, Ming Zhao, Qiguang Yang, Wan Wu, and Liqiao Lei
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1965–1978, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1965-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1965-2024, 2024
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The term “hotspot” refers to the sharp increase in reflectance occurring when incident (solar) and reflected (viewing) directions coincide in the backscatter direction. The accurate simulation of hotspot directional signatures is important for many remote sensing applications, but current models typically require large values of computations to represent the hotspot accurately. This paper provides a numerically improved hotspot BRDF model that converges much faster and is used in VLIDORT.
Daniel Zawada, Kimberlee Dubé, Taran Warnock, Adam Bourassa, Susann Tegtmeier, and Douglas Degenstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1995–2010, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1995-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1995-2024, 2024
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There remain large uncertainties in long-term changes of stratospheric–atmospheric temperatures. We have produced a time series of more than 20 years of satellite-based temperature measurements from the OSIRIS instrument in the upper–middle stratosphere. The dataset is publicly available and intended to be used for a better understanding of changes in stratospheric temperatures.
Alban Philibert, Marie Lothon, Julien Amestoy, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Solène Derrien, Yannick Bezombes, Bernard Campistron, Fabienne Lohou, Antoine Vial, Guylaine Canut-Rocafort, Joachim Reuder, and Jennifer K. Brooke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1679–1701, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1679-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1679-2024, 2024
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We present a new algorithm, CALOTRITON, for the retrieval of the convective boundary layer depth with ultra-high-frequency radar measurements. CALOTRITON is partly based on the principle that the top of the convective boundary layer is associated with an inversion and a decrease in turbulence. It is evaluated using ceilometer and radiosonde data. It is able to qualify the complexity of the vertical structure of the low troposphere and detect internal or residual layers.
Kamil Mroz, Alessandro Battaglia, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1577–1597, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1577-2024, 2024
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In this study, we examine the extent to which radar measurements from space can inform us about the properties of clouds and precipitation. Surprisingly, our analysis showed that the amount of ice turning into rain was lower than expected in the current product. To improve on this, we came up with a new way to extract information about the size and concentration of particles from radar data. As long as we use this method in the right conditions, we can even estimate how dense the ice is.
Volker Wulfmeyer, Christoph Senff, Florian Späth, Andreas Behrendt, Diego Lange, Robert M. Banta, W. Alan Brewer, Andreas Wieser, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1175–1196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, 2024
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A simultaneous deployment of Doppler, temperature, and water-vapor lidar systems is used to provide profiles of molecular destruction rates and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation in the convective boundary layer (CBL). The results can be used for the parameterization of turbulent variables, TKE budget analyses, and the verification of weather forecast and climate models.
Daisuke Hotta, Katrin Lonitz, and Sean Healy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1075–1089, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1075-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1075-2024, 2024
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Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) polarimetric radio occultation (PRO) is a new type of GNSS observations that can detect heavy precipitation along the ray path between the emitter and receiver satellites. As a first step towards using these observations in numerical weather prediction (NWP), we developed a computer code that simulates GNSS-PRO observations from forecast fields produced by an NWP model. The quality of the developed simulator is evaluated with a number of case studies.
Mohamed Mossad, Irina Strelnikova, Robin Wing, and Gerd Baumgarten
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 783–799, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-783-2024, 2024
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This numerical study addresses observational gaps' impact on atmospheric gravity wave spectra. Three methods, fast Fourier transform (FFT), generalized Lomb–Scargle periodogram (GLS), and Haar structure function (HSF), were tested on synthetic data. HSF is best for spectra with negative slopes. GLS excels for flat and positive slopes and identifying dominant frequencies. Accurately estimating these aspects is crucial for understanding gravity wave dynamics and energy transfer in the atmosphere.
Kuo-Nung Wang, Chi O. Ao, Mary G. Morris, George A. Hajj, Marcin J. Kurowski, Francis J. Turk, and Angelyn W. Moore
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 583–599, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-583-2024, 2024
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In this article, we described a joint retrieval approach combining two techniques, RO and MWR, to obtain high vertical resolution and solve for temperature and moisture independently. The results show that the complicated structure in the lower troposphere can be better resolved with much smaller biases, and the RO+MWR combination is the most stable scenario in our sensitivity analysis. This approach is also applied to real data (COSMIC-2/Suomi-NPP) to show the promise of joint RO+MWR retrieval.
Filippo Emilio Scarsi, Alessandro Battaglia, Frederic Tridon, Paolo Martire, Ranvir Dhillon, and Anthony Illingworth
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 499–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-499-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-499-2024, 2024
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The WIVERN mission, one of the two candidates to be the ESA's Earth Explorer 11 mission, aims at providing measurements of horizontal winds in cloud and precipitation systems through a conically scanning W-band Doppler radar. This work discusses four methods that can be used to characterize and correct the Doppler velocity error induced by the antenna mispointing. The proposed methodologies can be extended to other Doppler concepts featuring conically scanning or slant viewing Doppler systems.
Björn Linder, Peter Preusse, Qiuyu Chen, Ole Martin Christensen, Lukas Krasauskas, Linda Megner, Manfred Ern, and Jörg Gumbel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-136, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-136, 2024
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The Swedish research satellite MATS (Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy) is designed to study atmospheric waves in the Mesosphere and the lower Thermosphere. The waves perturb the temperature field and thus, by observing three-dimensional temperature fluctuations, their properties can be quantified. This pre-study uses synthetic MATS data generated from a general circulation model to investigate how well wave properties can be retrieved.
Luis Ackermann, Joshua Soderholm, Alain Protat, Rhys Whitley, Lisa Ye, and Nina Ridder
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 407–422, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-407-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-407-2024, 2024
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The paper addresses the crucial topic of hail damage quantification using radar observations. We propose a new radar-derived hail product that utilizes a large dataset of insurance hail damage claims and radar observations. A deep neural network was employed, trained with local meteorological variables and the radar observations, to better quantify hail damage. Key meteorological variables were identified to have the most predictive capability in this regard.
Laura Mary Tomkins, Sandra E. Yuter, and Matthew A. Miller
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2888, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2888, 2024
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We have created a new method to better identify enhanced features in radar data from winter storms. Unlike the clear-cut features seen in warm season storms, features in winter storms are often fuzzier with softer edges. Our technique is unique because it uses two adaptive thresholds that change based on the background radar values. It can identify both strong and subtle features in the radar data, and takes into account uncertainties in the detection process.
Christos Gatidis, Marc Schleiss, and Christine Unal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 235–245, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-235-2024, 2024
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A common method to retrieve important information about the microphysical structure of rain (DSD retrievals) requires a constrained relationship between the drop size distribution parameters. The most widely accepted empirical relationship is between μ and Λ. The relationship shows variability across the different types of rainfall (convective or stratiform). The new proposed power-law model to represent the μ–Λ relation provides a better physical interpretation of the relationship coefficients.
Liqin Jin, Jakob Mann, Nikolas Angelou, and Mikael Sjöholm
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6007–6023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6007-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6007-2023, 2023
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By sampling the spectra from continuous-wave Doppler lidars very fast, the rain-induced Doppler signal can be suppressed and the bias in the wind velocity estimation can be reduced. The method normalizes 3 kHz spectra by their peak values before averaging them down to 50 Hz. Over 3 h, we observe a significant reduction in the bias of the lidar data relative to the reference sonic data when the largest lidar focus distance is used. The more it rains, the more the bias is reduced.
Florian Günzkofer, Gunter Stober, Dimitry Pokhotelov, Yasunobu Miyoshi, and Claudia Borries
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5897–5907, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5897-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5897-2023, 2023
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Electric currents in the ionosphere can impact both satellite and ground-based infrastructure. These currents depend strongly on the collisions of ions and neutral particles. Measuring ion–neutral collisions is often only possible via certain assumptions. The direct measurement of ion–neutral collision frequencies is possible with multifrequency incoherent scatter radar measurements. This paper presents one analysis method of such measurements and discusses its advantages and disadvantages.
Neranga K. Hannadige, Peng-Wang Zhai, Meng Gao, Yongxiang Hu, P. Jeremy Werdell, Kirk Knobelspiesse, and Brian Cairns
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5749–5770, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5749-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5749-2023, 2023
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We evaluated the impact of three ocean optical models with different numbers of free parameters on the performance of an aerosol and ocean color remote sensing algorithm using the multi-angle polarimeter (MAP) measurements. It was demonstrated that the three- and seven-parameter bio-optical models can be used to accurately represent both open and coastal waters, whereas the one-parameter model has smaller retrieval uncertainty over open water.
Konstantin Ntokas, Jörn Ungermann, Martin Kaufmann, Tom Neubert, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5681–5696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, 2023
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A nanosatellite was developed to obtain 1-D vertical temperature profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, which can be used to derive wave parameters needed for atmospheric models. A new processing method is shown, which allows one to extract two 1-D temperature profiles. The location of the two profiles is analyzed, as it is needed for deriving wave parameters. We show that this method is feasible, which however will increase the requirements of an accurate calibration and processing.
Maya García-Comas, Bernd Funke, Manuel López-Puertas, Norbert Glatthor, Udo Grabowski, Sylvia Kellmann, Michael Kiefer, Andrea Linden, Belén Martínez-Mondéjar, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Thomas von Clarmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5357–5386, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5357-2023, 2023
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We have released version 8 of MIPAS IMK–IAA temperatures and pointing information retrieved from MIPAS Middle and Upper Atmosphere mode version 8.03 calibrated spectra, covering 20–115 km altitude. We considered non-local thermodynamic equilibrium emission explicitly for each limb scan, essential to retrieve accurate temperatures above the mid-mesosphere. Comparisons of this temperature dataset with SABER measurements show excellent agreement, improving those of previous MIPAS versions.
Josef Innerkofler, Gottfried Kirchengast, Marc Schwärz, Christian Marquardt, and Yago Andres
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5217–5247, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5217-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5217-2023, 2023
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Atmosphere remote sensing using GNSS radio occultation provides a highly valuable basis for atmospheric and climate science. For the highest-quality demands, the Wegener Center set up a rigorous system for processing low-level measurement data. This excess-phase processing setup includes integrated quality control and uncertainty estimation. It was successfully evaluated and inter-compared, ensuring the capability of producing reliable long-term data records for climate applications.
Jingna Bai, Yidong Lou, Weixing Zhang, Yaozong Zhou, Zhenyi Zhang, Chuang Shi, and Jingnan Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5249–5259, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5249-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5249-2023, 2023
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Homogenized atmospheric water vapor data are an important prerequisite for climate analysis. Compared to other techniques, GPS has an inherent homogeneity advantage but requires reprocessing and homogenization to eliminate impacts of applied strategy and observation environmental changes. The low-elevation cut-off angles are suggested for the best estimates of zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) reprocessing time series when compared to homogenized radiosonde data or ERA5 reference time series.
James Barry, Stefanie Meilinger, Klaus Pfeilsticker, Anna Herman-Czezuch, Nicola Kimiaie, Christopher Schirrmeister, Rone Yousif, Tina Buchmann, Johannes Grabenstein, Hartwig Deneke, Jonas Witthuhn, Claudia Emde, Felix Gödde, Bernhard Mayer, Leonhard Scheck, Marion Schroedter-Homscheidt, Philipp Hofbauer, and Matthias Struck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4975–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4975-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4975-2023, 2023
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Measured power data from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems contain information about the state of the atmosphere. In this work, power data from PV systems in the Allgäu region in Germany were used to determine the solar irradiance at each location, using state-of-the-art simulation and modelling. The results were validated using concurrent measurements of the incoming solar radiation in each case. If applied on a wider scale, this algorithm could help improve weather and climate models.
Wan Wu, Xu Liu, Liqiao Lei, Xiaozhen Xiong, Qiguang Yang, Qing Yue, Daniel K. Zhou, and Allen M. Larar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4807–4832, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4807-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4807-2023, 2023
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We present a new operational physical retrieval algorithm that is used to retrieve atmospheric properties for each single field-of-view measurement of hyper-spectral IR sounders. The physical scheme includes a cloud-scattering calculation in its forward-simulation part. The data product generated using this algorithm has an advantage over traditional IR sounder data production algorithms in terms of improved spatial resolution and minimized error due to cloud contamination.
Zhen Li, Ad Stoffelen, Anton Verhoef, Zhixiong Wang, Jian Shang, and Honggang Yin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4769–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4769-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4769-2023, 2023
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WindRAD (Wind Radar) is the first dual-frequency rotating fan-beam scatterometer in orbit. We observe non-linearity in the backscatter distribution. Therefore, higher-order calibration (HOC) is proposed, which removes the non-linearities per incidence angle. The combination of HOC and NOCant is discussed. It can remove not only the non-linearity but also the anomalous harmonic azimuth dependencies caused by the antenna rotation; hence the optimal winds can be achieved with this combination.
Marco Gabella, Martin Lainer, Daniel Wolfensberger, and Jacopo Grazioli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4409–4422, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4409-2023, 2023
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A still wind turbine observed with a fixed-pointing radar antenna has shown distinctive polarimetric signatures: the correlation coefficient between the two orthogonal polarization states was persistently equal to 1. The differential reflectivity and the radar reflectivity factors were also stable in time. Over 2 min (2000 Hz, 128 pulses were used; consequently, the sampling time was 64 ms), the standard deviation of the differential backscattering phase shift was only a few degrees.
Carsten Schmidt, Lisa Küchelbacher, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4331–4356, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4331-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4331-2023, 2023
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Two identical instruments in a parallel setup were used to observe the mesospheric OH airglow for more than 10 years (2009–2020) at 47.42°N, 10.98°E. This allows unique analyses of data quality aspects and their impact on the obtained results. During solar cycle 24 the influence of the sun was strong (∼6 K per 100 sfu). A quasi-2-year oscillation (QBO) of ±1 K is observed mainly during the maximum of the solar cycle. Unlike the stratospheric QBO the variation has a period of or below 24 months.
Jason N. S. Cole, Howard W. Barker, Zhipeng Qu, Najda Villefranque, and Mark W. Shephard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4271–4288, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4271-2023, 2023
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Measurements from the EarthCARE satellite mission will be used to retrieve profiles of cloud and aerosol properties. These retrievals are combined with auxiliary information about surface properties and atmospheric state, e.g., temperature and water vapor. This information allows computation of 1D and 3D solar and thermal radiative transfer for small domains, which are compared with coincident radiometer observations to continually assess EarthCARE retrievals.
Sanja Dmitrovic, Johnathan W. Hair, Brian L. Collister, Ewan Crosbie, Marta A. Fenn, Richard A. Ferrare, David B. Harper, Chris A. Hostetler, Yongxiang Hu, John A. Reagan, Claire E. Robinson, Shane T. Seaman, Taylor J. Shingler, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Holger Vömel, Xubin Zeng, and Armin Sorooshian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1943, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1943, 2023
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This study introduces and evaluates a new ocean surface wind speed product from NASA Langley Research Center’s (LARC’s) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) using NASA ACTIVATE field data. We show that HSRL-2 wind speed retrievals have small errors when compared to wind speeds directly measured by NCAR AVAPS dropsondes. This novel retrieval method provides a way to obtain accurate, high resolution wind speed data in airborne field campaigns.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, Aart Overeem, Bas Walraven, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1971, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1971, 2023
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Microwave links, often part of mobile phone networks, can be used to measure rainfall along the link path by determining the signal loss caused by rainfall. We use high-frequency data of multiple microwave links to recreate commonly used sampling strategies. For time intervals up to 1 min, the influence of sampling strategies on estimated rainfall intensities is relatively little, while for intervals longer than 5–15 min, the sampling strategy can have significant influences on the estimates.
Anna Jurczyk, Katarzyna Ośródka, Jan Szturc, Magdalena Pasierb, and Agnieszka Kurcz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4067–4079, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4067-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4067-2023, 2023
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A data-processing algorithm, RainGRS Clim, has been developed to work on precipitation accumulations such as daily or monthly totals. The algorithm makes the most of additional opportunities: access to high-quality data that are not operationally available and greater efficiency of the algorithms for data quality control and merging for longer accumulations. Monthly accumulations estimated by RainGRS Clim were found to be significantly more reliable than accumulations generated operationally.
Sophie Rosenburg, Charlotte Lange, Evelyn Jäkel, Michael Schäfer, André Ehrlich, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3915–3930, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3915-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3915-2023, 2023
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Snow layer melting and melt pond formation on Arctic sea ice are important seasonal processes affecting the surface reflection and energy budget. Sea ice reflectivity was surveyed by airborne imaging spectrometers in May–June 2017. Adapted retrieval approaches were applied to find snow layer liquid water fraction, snow grain effective radius, and melt pond depth. The retrievals show the potential and limitations of spectral airborne imaging to map melting snow layer and melt pond properties.
Sunil Baidar, Timothy J. Wagner, David D. Turner, and W. Alan Brewer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3715–3726, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3715-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3715-2023, 2023
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This paper provides a new method to retrieve wind profiles from coherent Doppler lidar (CDL) measurements. It takes advantage of layer-to-layer correlation in wind profiles to provide continuous profiles of up to 3 km by filling in the gaps where the CDL signal is too small to retrieve reliable results by itself. Comparison with the current method and collocated radiosonde wind measurements showed excellent agreement with no degradation in results where the current method gives valid results.
Jake J. Gristey, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Hong Chen, Daniel R. Feldman, Bruce C. Kindel, Joshua Mauss, Mathew van den Heever, Maria Z. Hakuba, and Peter Pilewskie
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3609–3630, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3609-2023, 2023
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The concept of a satellite-based camera is demonstrated for sampling the angular distribution of outgoing radiance from Earth needed to generate data products for new radiation budget spectral channels.
Eileen Päschke and Carola Detring
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-153, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-153, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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Little noise in radial velocity Doppler lidar measurements can contribute to large errors in retrieved turbulence variables. In order to distinguish between plausible and erroneous measurements we developed new filter techniques that work independently of the choice of a specific threshold for the signal-to-noise ratio. The performance of these techniques is discussed, both, by means of assessing the filter results, and by comparing retrieved turbulence variables versus independent measurements.
Martin Lainer, Killian P. Brennan, Alessandro Hering, Jérôme Kopp, Samuel Monhart, Daniel Wolfensberger, and Urs Germann
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-89, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2023-89, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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We present an approach for hail size estimation combining drone-based photogrammetry with a deep-learning object detection model. The method is applied to a hail event of a supercell that crossed Switzerland on June 20, 2021, allowing an accurate estimation of the hail size distribution (>18000 samples). Results are then compared with data from nearby automatic hail sensors and radar-based hail products. The opportunity to monitor the hail melting on the ground is also investigated.
Gia Huan Pham, Shu-Chih Yang, Chih-Chien Chang, Shu-Ya Chen, and Cheng-Yung Huang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1246, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1246, 2023
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This research examines the characteristics of low-level GNSS radio occultation (RO) refractivity bias over ocean and land and their dependency on the RO retrieval uncertainty, atmospheric temperature, and moisture. We proposed methods for estimating the region-dependent refractivity bias. Our methods can be applied to calibrate the bias under different atmospheric conditions and thus improves the applications of the GNSS RO data in the planetary boundary layer.
Alex Meredith, Stephen Leroy, Lucy Halperin, and Kerri Cahoy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3345–3361, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3345-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3345-2023, 2023
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We developed a new efficient algorithm leveraging orbital dynamics to collocate radio occultation soundings with microwave radiance soundings. This new algorithm is 99 % accurate and is much faster than traditional collocation-finding approaches. Speeding up collocation finding is useful for calibrating and validating microwave radiometers and for data assimilation into numerical weather prediction models. Our algorithm can also be used to predict collocation yield for new satellite missions.
René Sedlak, Andreas Welscher, Patrick Hannawald, Sabine Wüst, Rainer Lienhart, and Michael Bittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3141–3153, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3141-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3141-2023, 2023
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We show that machine learning can help in classifying images of the OH* airglow, a thin layer in the middle atmosphere (ca. 86 km height) emitting infrared radiation, in an efficient way. By doing this,
dynamicepisodes of strong movement in the OH* airglow caused predominantly by waves can be extracted automatically from large data sets. Within these dynamic episodes, turbulent wave breaking can also be found. We use these observations of turbulence to derive the energy released by waves.
Roberto Cremonini, Tanel Voormansik, Piia Post, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2943–2956, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2943-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2943-2023, 2023
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Extreme rainfall for a specific location is commonly evaluated when designing stormwater management systems. This study investigates the use of quantitative precipitation estimations (QPEs) based on polarimetric weather radar data, without rain gauge corrections, to estimate 1 h rainfall total maxima in Italy and Estonia. We show that dual-polarization weather radar provides reliable QPEs and effective estimations of return periods for extreme rainfall in climatologically homogeneous regions.
Vinícius Ludwig-Barbosa, Joel Rasch, Thomas Sievert, Anders Carlström, Mats I. Pettersson, Viet Thuy Vu, and Jacob Christensen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1849–1864, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1849-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1849-2023, 2023
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In this paper, the back-propagation method's capabilities and limitations regarding the location of irregularity regions in the ionosphere, e.g. equatorial plasma bubbles, are evaluated. The assessment was performed with simulations in which different scenarios were assumed. The results showed that the location estimate is possible if the amplitude of the ionospheric disturbance is stronger than the instrument noise level. Further, multiple patches can be located if regions are well separated.
Lars Norin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1789–1801, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1789-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1789-2023, 2023
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The atmosphere can cause radar beams to bend more or less towards the ground. When the atmosphere differs from standard atmospheric conditions, the propagation is considered anomalous. Radars affected by anomalous propagation can observe ground clutter far beyond the radar horizon. Here, 4.5 years' worth of data from five operational Swedish weather radars are presented. Analyses of the data reveal a strong seasonal cycle and weaker diurnal cycle in ground clutter from across nearby waters.
Mathieu Ratynski, Sergey Khaykin, Alain Hauchecorne, Robin Wing, Jean-Pierre Cammas, Yann Hello, and Philippe Keckhut
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 997–1016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-997-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-997-2023, 2023
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Aeolus is the first spaceborne wind lidar providing global wind measurements since 2018. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of Aeolus instrument performance, using ground-based wind lidars and meteorological radiosondes, at tropical and mid-latitudes sites. The analysis allows assessing the long-term evolution of the satellite's performance for more than 3 years. The results will help further elaborate the understanding of the error sources and the behavior of the Doppler wind lidar.
Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Gionata Ghiggi, Louis Jaffeux, Audrey Martini, Nicolas Viltard, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 911–940, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-911-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-911-2023, 2023
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Better understanding and modeling snowfall properties and processes is relevant to many fields, ranging from weather forecasting to aircraft safety. Meteorological radars can be used to gain insights into the microphysics of snowfall. In this work, we propose a new method to retrieve snowfall properties from measurements of radars with different frequencies. It relies on an original deep-learning framework, which incorporates knowledge of the underlying physics, i.e., electromagnetic scattering.
Chia-Lun Tsai, Kwonil Kim, Yu-Chieng Liou, and GyuWon Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 845–869, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-845-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-845-2023, 2023
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Since the winds in clear-air conditions usually play an important role in the initiation of various weather systems and phenomena, the modified Wind Synthesis System using Doppler Measurements (WISSDOM) synthesis scheme was developed to derive high-quality and high-spatial-resolution 3D winds under clear-air conditions. The performance and accuracy of derived 3D winds from this modified scheme were evaluated with an extreme strong wind event over complex terrain in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Simone Kotthaus, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Martine Collaud Coen, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Maria João Costa, Domenico Cimini, Ewan J. O'Connor, Maxime Hervo, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, María Jiménez-Portaz, Lucia Mona, Dominique Ruffieux, Anthony Illingworth, and Martial Haeffelin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 433–479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-433-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-433-2023, 2023
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Profile observations of the atmospheric boundary layer now allow for layer heights and characteristics to be derived at high temporal and vertical resolution. With novel high-density ground-based remote-sensing measurement networks emerging, horizontal information content is also increasing. This review summarises the capabilities and limitations of various sensors and retrieval algorithms which need to be considered during the harmonisation of data products for high-impact applications.
Michael Frech, Cornelius Hald, Maximilian Schaper, Bertram Lange, and Benjamin Rohrdantz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 295–309, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-295-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-295-2023, 2023
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Weather radar data are the backbone of a lot of meteorological products. In order to obtain a better low-level coverage with radar data, additional systems have to be included. The frequency range in which radars are allowed to operate is limited. A potential radar-to-radar interference has to be avoided. The paper derives guidelines on how additional radars can be included into a C-band weather radar network and how interferences can be avoided.
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Short summary
In the Alpine region, the most dense subnetwork of identical NDMC (Network for the Detection of Mesospheric Change) instruments can be found. With these instruments the mesopause temperature is derived each night. The data can be used for the investigation of the amount of energy which is transported by small-scale atmospheric waves, known as gravity waves, provided that the so-called Brunt–Väisälä frequency is known. Information about the variability of this parameter is provided here.
In the Alpine region, the most dense subnetwork of identical NDMC (Network for the Detection of...
