C. R. Trepte

The CALIPSO Mission: A Global 3D View of Aerosols and Clouds

Aerosols and clouds have important effects on Earths climate through their effects on the radiation budget and the cycling of water between the atmosphere and Earths surface. Limitations in our understanding of the global distribution and properties of aerosols and clouds are partly responsible for the current uncertainties in modeling the global climate system and predicting climate change. The CALIPSO satellite was developed as a joint project between NASA and the French space agency CNES to provide needed capabilities to observe aerosols and clouds from space. CALIPSO carries CALIOP, a two-wavelength, polarization-sensitive lidar, along with two passive sensors operating in the visible and thermal infrared spectral regions. CALIOP is the first lidar to provide long-term atmospheric measurements from Earths orbit. Its profiling and polarization capabilities offer unique measurement capabilities. Launched together with the CloudSat satellite in April 2006 and now flying in formation with the A-train satellite constellation, CALIPSO is now providing information on the distribution and properties of aerosols and clouds, which is fundamental to advancing our understanding and prediction of climate. This paper provides an overview of the CALIPSO mission and instruments, the data produced, and early results.

Laminar cirrus observed near the tropical tropopause by LITE

The Lidar In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) provided near-global observations of optically thin clouds during a 10-day Space Shuttle mission in September 1994. We report here on layers of cirrus occurring in thin sheets, which we refer to as ‘laminar’ cirrus, observed near the tropical tropopause. The layers were observed to have thicknesses generally between a few hundred meters and one kilometer and to be unusually homogeneous in the horizontal, with extents of up to 2700 km. Layers were observed near and possibly above the mean tropical tropopause, both in clear air and above intense tropical thunderstorms, but only in the tropics (35°N to 20°S). Thin layers near the tropopause were found to be common, but not pervasive, throughout the tropics including regions characterized by large scale subsidence in the middle troposphere.

A comparison of the stratospheric aerosol background periods of 1979 and 1989–1991

A comparison of global stratospheric aerosol levels measured in 1979 by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) and in 1989–1991 by SAGE II is presented. These periods exhibit the lowest stratospheric aerosol levels in the era of modern measurements and are often referred to as background periods. We find that, depending on latitude, the 1-μm aerosol optical depth in 1989–1991 was 10 to 30% higher than that observed in 1979. We demonstrate that the latter period (prior to the June 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo) was characterized by an ongoing global recovery from the eruptions of El Chichon in 1982 and Nevado del Ruiz in 1985, with a further complication introduced by the February 1990 Kelut eruption. Therefore the differences between 1979 and 1989–1991 cannot be completely attributed to nonvolcanic sources.

LITE and SAGE II measurements of aerosols in the southern hemisphere upper troposphere

Two global satellite data sets have been used to characterize the behavior of aerosols in the upper troposphere of the southern hemisphere during the spring season. The first data set was obtained by the Lidar-In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) during 10 days in September 1994 and provides high-resolution information about aerosol layering and optical characteristics. The second data set was obtained by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II over the time period 1984–1996 and provides information on the aerosol distribution and long-term climatology. During September, elevated aerosol layers are found to occur within a latitude band between 20°S and 40°S that extends to almost all longitudes. The latitude and altitude distribution and the optical characteristics of the aerosol suggest that a major source is smoke from biomass burning within the southern hemisphere. This conclusion is supported by the results of back-trajectory analyses that show airmasses originating in the region of southern Africa and traveling longitudinally across the Indian Ocean and Australia into the western Pacific Ocean. The dominant source of the smoke is uncertain, but quite possibly some of it may have originated from Brazil, with additions from southern Africa. The aerosol distribution shows strong similarities to published distributions for ozone and carbon monoxide, also believed to have originated from biomass burning.

Global statistics of liquid water content and effective number density of water clouds over ocean derived from combined CALIPSO and MODIS measurements

This study presents an empirical relation that links the volume extinction coefficients of water clouds, the layer integrated depolarization ratios measured by lidar, and the effective radii of water clouds derived from collocated passive sensor observations. Based on Monte Carlo simulations of CALIPSO lidar observations, this method combines the cloud effective radius reported by MODIS with the lidar depolarization ratios measured by CALIPSO to estimate both the liquid water content and the effective number concentration of water clouds. The method is applied to collocated CALIPSO and MODIS measurements obtained during July and October of 2006, and January 2007. Global statistics of the cloud liquid water content and effective number concentration are presented.

An Advanced System to Monitor the 3D Structure of Diffuse Volcanic Ash Clouds

AbstractMajor disruptions of the aviation system from recent volcanic eruptions have intensified discussions about and increased the international consensus toward improving volcanic ash warnings. Central to making progress is to better discern low volcanic ash loadings and to describe the ash cloud structure more accurately in three-dimensional space and time. Here, dispersed volcanic ash observed by the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) space-based lidar near 20 000–40 000 ft [~(6–13) km] over Australia and New Zealand during June 2011 is studied. This ash event took place 3 weeks after the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption, which disrupted air traffic in much of the Southern Hemisphere. The volcanic ash layers are shown to exhibit color ratios (1064/532 nm) near 0.5, significantly lower than unity, as is observed with ice. Those optical properties are used to develop an ash detection algorithm. A “trajectory mapping” technique is then demonstrated wherein ash clo...

Long‐term Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment I and II measurements of upper tropospheric aerosol extinction

A detailed analysis has been made of Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment I and II aerosol extinction data for the upper troposphere (6-km altitude to the seasonally averaged tropopause) taken between 1979 and 1998. An improved method of separation of the volcanic and surface-derived components of the aerosol optical depth has been used. The mean extinction, at a wavelength of 1.02 μm, of the nonvolcanic component of the upper tropospheric aerosol is found to increase from approximately 1 × 10 -4 km - 1 at 70°S to about 7 times that value at 70°N. Maximum downward transfer of volcanic material into the upper troposphere is observed to take place in local spring in each hemisphere, occurring at a latitude of 70°S or greater in the southern hemisphere and at about 50°N in the northern hemisphere. The almost 20-year data sequence (1979-1981, 1984-1991, 1994-1998) has been examined for evidence of any long-term trends in the aerosol optical depth of the upper troposphere. It is unlikely that any change in the upper tropospheric 1-μm aerosol optical depth greater than 1% per year has taken place when averaged over either hemisphere.

On the tropospheric measurements of ozone by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II, version 6.1) in the tropics

Tropospheric measurements of ozone from SAGE II (version 6.1) in the tropics have been analyzed using 12 years of data (1985-1990, 1994-1999). The seasonally averaged vertical profiles of the ozone mixing ratio in the upper troposphere have been presented for the first time from satellite measurements. These profiles show qualitative similarities with corresponding seasonal mean ozonesonde profiles at northern and southern tropical stations and are about 40-50% less than the sonde values. Despite this systematic offset, the measurements appear to be consistent with a zonal wave one pattern in the upper tropospheric column ozone and with the recently predicted summertime ozone enhancement over the Middle East. These results thus affirm the usefulness of the occultation method in studying tropospheric ozone.

Retrieval of Ocean Subsurface Particulate Backscattering Coefficient from Space-Borne CALIOP Lidar Measurement

A new approach has been proposed to determine ocean subsurface particulate backscattering coefficient bbp from CALIOP 30° off-nadir lidar measurements. The new method also provides estimates of the particle volume scattering function at the 180° scattering angle. The CALIOP based layer-integrated lidar backscatter and particulate backscattering coefficients are compared with the results obtained from MODIS ocean color measurements. The comparison analysis shows that ocean subsurface lidar backscatter and particulate backscattering coefficient bbp can be accurately obtained from CALIOP lidar measurements, thereby supporting the use of space-borne lidar measurements for ocean subsurface studies.

Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III cloud data product

The latest in a series of solar occultation satellite instruments, Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III, was placed into orbit in December 2001, and data were obtained until March 2006. Measurements were made of the extinction attributable to aerosols and cloud at a number of wavelengths between 290 and 1550 nm. The analysis of data obtained by its predecessor, SAGE II, has shown that an intercomparison of such data at two or more wavelengths may be used to separate the effects of cloud and aerosol. This analysis has been done on a routine basis for many years using SAGE II data at 525 and 1020 nm and applied extensively to global studies of tropospheric cloud and aerosol. Here we describe the aerosol-cloud separation algorithm developed for use with the SAGE III data, which uses the extinction at 525, 1020, and 1550 nm. This algorithm is now being used to produce vertical profiles of cloud presence as a standard SAGE III data product. These profiles have a vertical resolution of 0.5 km and cover the altitude range from 6.0 to 30.0 km, and data are presently available from March 2002 onward. An outline is given of the development of this algorithm, the nature of the SAGE III data, and the algorithm performance. To maintain continuity with SAGE II cloud data, the relative performances of the SAGE II and SAGE III algorithms are also examined. An example of the application of the algorithm to SAGE III tropospheric data is shown and discussed.