Fabian Senf

Characterization of Initiation and Growth of Selected Severe Convective Storms over Central Europe with MSG-SEVIRI

AbstractThe early development of severe convective storms over central Europe was investigated on the basis of nine cases from 2012. Using data from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) imaging radiometer aboard a geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, dynamical and microphysical properties of developing storms were monitored and combined. Several satellite-based storm properties, for example, cloud-top temperature, cloud-top cooling rate, and cloud particle effective radius, were investigated following the storm tracks. A framework for quantification of uncertainties of along-track properties resulting from tracking errors was also introduced. The majority of studied storms show a distinct maximum in cloud-top cooling rate; the corresponding time was used for track synchronization. The cloud growth phase was divided into an initial updraft intensification period before the maximum cooling and a continued growth period afterward. The initial updraft intensification...

Seasonal variability of heterogeneous ice formation in stratiform clouds over the Amazon Basin

Based on 11 months of polarization lidar observations in the Amazon Basin near Manaus, Brazil (2.3∘S, 60∘W), the relationship between temperature and heterogeneous ice formation efficiency in stratiform clouds was evaluated in the cloud top temperature range between −40 and 0∘C. Between −30 and 0∘C, ice-containing clouds are a factor of 1.5 to 2 more frequent during the dry season. Free-tropospheric aerosol backscatter profiles revealed a twofold to tenfold increase in aerosol load during the dry season and a Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate—Interim Implementation reanalysis data set implies that the aerosol composition during the dry season is strongly influenced by biomass burning aerosol, whereas other components such as mineral dust do not vary strongly between the seasons. The injection of smoke accompanied by the likely dispersion of biological material, soil dust, or ash particles was identified as a possible source for the increased ice formation efficiency during the dry season.

Meteosat-Based Characterization of the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Warm Convective Cloud Fields over Central Europe

AbstractThe spatiotemporal evolution of warm convective cloud fields over central Europe is investigated on the basis of 30 cases using observations from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on board the geostationary Meteosat platforms. Cloud fields are tracked in successive satellite images using cloud motion vectors. The time-lagged autocorrelation is calculated for spectral reflectance and cloud property fields using boxes of 16 × 16 pixels and adopting both Lagrangian and Eulerian perspectives. The 0.6-μm reflectance, cloud optical depth, and water path show a similar characteristic Lagrangian decorrelation time of about 30 min. In contrast, significantly lower decorrelation times are observed for the cloud effective radius and droplet density. It is shown that the Eulerian decorrelation time can be decomposed into an advective component and a convective component using the spatial autocorrelation function. In an Eulerian frame cloud fields generally decorrelate faster than in a...

Satellite-Based Characterization of Convective Growth and Glaciation and Its Relationship to Precipitation Formation over Central Europe

AbstractThe growth phase of convective storms and their transition to maturity is investigated based on more than 100 cases selected from the years 2012–14 over central Europe. Dynamical growth properties as well as cloud-top glaciation and microphysical characteristics are derived from the SEVIRI imaging radiometer aboard the geostationary Meteosat satellites. In addition, onset and intensity of surface precipitation are related to growth and glaciation processes using observations from the radar network of the German Weather Service. The majority of analyzed cases shows a distinct maximum in cloud-top cooling rate, which is used here for temporal synchronization. Cloud growth spans a period of approximately half an hour. Glaciation rate indicators suggest that freezing 15 min prior to the maximum cooling plays an important role in invigorating convective updrafts through the release of latent heat. Smaller ice particles are found for larger cloud-top cooling, which provides observational evidence that i...

Size-Resolved Evaluation of Simulated Deep Tropical Convection

AbstractDeep moist convection is an inherently multiscale phenomenon with organization processes coupling convective elements to larger-scale structures. A realistic representation of the tropical ...

Object-Based Metrics for Forecast Verification of Convective Development with Geostationary Satellite Data

AbstractObject-based metrics are adapted and applied to geostationary satellite observations with the evaluation of cloud forecasts in convective situations as the goal. Forecasts of the convection-permitting German-focused Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling (COSMO-DE) numerical model are transformed into synthetic observations using the RTTOV radiative transfer model, and contrasted with the corresponding real observations. Threshold-based segmentation techniques are applied to the fields for object identification. The statistical properties of the traditional measures cold cloud cover and average brightness temperature amplitude are contrasted to object-based metrics of spatial aggregation and object structure. Based on 59 case days from the summer half-years between 2012 and 2014, a variance decomposition technique is applied to the time series of the metrics to identify deficits in day-to-day, diurnal, and weather-regime-related variability of cold cloud characteristics in the forecasts. Furthermore,...

Solar Diurnal Tides in the Middle Atmosphere: Interactions with the Zonal-Mean Flow, Planetary Waves and Gravity Waves

The dynamics of solar tides is investigated with regard to variations of the background atmosphere, including planetary waves (PW), and to the interaction with gravity waves (GW). (1) Using a linear model with a clear cause-effect relationship, it is shown that planetary waves play an important role in tidal dynamics, most importantly by inducing non-migrating tidal components from a migrating thermal forcing. (2) Ray-tracing simulations are used to analyze the GW force on the large-scale flow including the solar tides. In comparison to classic GW parameterizations, the inclusion of time-dependence and horizontal refraction leads to a significant decrease of the GW drag.