Impacts of Asian dust on the determination of cloud thermodynamic phase from satellite observations

Hongchun Jin; Yuhong Yi; Shaima L Nasiri; Chao Liu; Wengcai Wang; Jiming Li; Yonghang Chen; Tianhe Wang

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034006

Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2015)

Impacts of Asian dust on the determination of cloud thermodynamic phase from satellite observations

Hongchun Jin,
Yuhong Yi,
Shaima L Nasiri,
Chao Liu,
Wengcai Wang,
Jiming Li,
Yonghang Chen,
Tianhe Wang

Affiliations

Hongchun Jin: Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University , Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China
Yuhong Yi: Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University , Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China
Shaima L Nasiri: Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University , College Station, Texas, USA
Chao Liu: School of Atmospheric Physics, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology , Nanjing, People’s Republic of China
Wengcai Wang: Physical and Oceanography Laboratory, Ocean University of China , Qingdao, People’s Republic of China
Jiming Li: Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University , Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China
Yonghang Chen: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University , Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Tianhe Wang: Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University , Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034006
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 3
p. 034006

Abstract

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The impact of Asian dust on the determination of cloud phase is analyzed over dust sources and downwind using cloud phase products from cloud-aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observations (CALIPSO), atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS), moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), and polarization and anisotropy of reflectances for atmospheric sciences coupled with observations from a lidar (PARASOL). The results show that the presence of dust greatly affects determination of cloud phase in both source and downwind regions. CALIPSO products demonstrate better ice cloud discrimination of about 70% and 60% over source and downwind regions, respectively, compared to passive sensors. These results suggest that semi-direct effects of dust, which act to warm clouds and evaporate large cloud particles, may play a role in cloud phase determination. This study suggests that the presence of dust tends to increase misclassification of ice clouds as water or uncertain phase by AIRS, MODIS, and PARASOL.

Published in Environmental Research Letters

ISSN: 1748-9326 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences; Science: Physics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326

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