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The depolarization - attenuated backscatter relation: CALIPSO lidar measurements vs. theory
Optics Express
|June 18, 2009
Summary
Satellite lidar measurements reveal new relationships between cloud depolarization and backscatter. These findings improve our understanding of ice and water clouds, particularly those with horizontally oriented ice plates.
Area of Science:
- Atmospheric science
- Remote sensing
- Cloud physics
Background:
- Cloud properties are crucial for climate modeling.
- Satellite-based lidar provides valuable data on cloud characteristics.
- Understanding particle shape and orientation impacts lidar measurements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish relationships between depolarization ratio and attenuated backscatter for ice and water clouds.
- To develop and validate a new delta-gamma relation for spherical particles.
- To investigate the cause of specific delta-gamma relationships in ice clouds.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing measurements from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite.
- Developing a new delta-gamma relation based on Monte Carlo simulations for spherical particles.
- Comparing model-derived relations with satellite observations.
Main Results:
- Established layer-integrated delta-gamma relations for moderately thick ice and water clouds.
- Validated a new, simple delta-gamma relation for spherical particles against CALIPSO data.
- Identified horizontally oriented ice plates as the cause of a high-backscatter, low-depolarization signature in some ice clouds.
Conclusions:
- The new delta-gamma relation accurately represents observations for spherical particles.
- Horizontally oriented ice plates in clouds lead to a distinct lidar signature.
- This implies a preferential lidar ratio-depolarization ratio relationship for ice clouds containing plates.
