TRMM-retrieved Cloud Structure and Evolution of MCSs over the Northern South China Sea and Impacts of CAPE and Vertical Wind Shear

Cloud structure and evolution of Mesoscale Convective Systems （MCSs） retrieved from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager （TRMM TMI） and Precipitation Radar （PR） were investigated and compared with some pioneer studies based on soundings and models over the northern South China Sea （SCS）. The impacts of Convective Available Potential Energy （CAPE） and environmental vertical wind shear on MCSs were also explored. The main features of MCSs over the SCS were captured well by both TRMM PR and TMI. However, the PR-retrieved surface rainfall in May was less than that in June, and the reverse for TMI. TRMM-retrieved rainfall amounts were generally consistent with those estimated from sounding and models. However, rainfall amounts from sounding-based and PR-based estimates were relatively higher than those retrieved from TRMM-TMI data. The Weather Research and Forecasting （WRF） modeling simulation underestimated the maximum rain rate by 22% compared to that derived from TRMM-PR, and underestimated mean rainfall by 10.4% compared to the TRMM-TMI estimate, and by 12.5% compared to the sounding-based estimate. The warm microphysical processes modeled from both the WRF and the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble （GCE） models were quite close to those based on TMI, but the ice water contents in the models were relatively less compared to that derived from TMI. The CAPE and wind shear induced by the monsoon circulation were found to play critical roles in maintaining and developing the intense convective clouds over SCS. The latent heating rate increased more than twofold during the monsoon period and provided favorable conditions for the upward transportation of energy from the ocean, giving rise to the possibility of inducing large-scale interactions.

Evaluation of Cloud Vertical Structure Simulated by Recent BCC_AGCM Versions through Comparison With CALIPSO-GOCCP Data

ABSTRACT The abilities of BCC-AGCM2.1 and BCC_AGCM2.2 to simulate the annual-mean cloud vertical structure （CVS） were evaluated through comparison with GCM-Oriented CALIPSO Cloud Product （CALIPSO-GOCCP） data. BCC-AGCM2.2 has a dynamical core and physical processes that are consistent with BCC-AGCM2.1, but has a higher horizontal resolution. Results showed that both BCC-AGCM versions underestimated the global-mean total cloud cover （TCC）, middle cloud cover （MCC） and low cloud cover （LCC）, and that BCC_AGCM2.2 underestimated the global-mean high cloud cover （HCC）. The global-mean cloud cover shows a systematic decrease from BCCA-GCM2.1 to BCC_AGCM2.2, especially for HCC. Geographically, HCC is significantly overestimated in the tropics, particularly by BCC_AGCM2,1, while LCC is generally overestimated over extra-tropical lands, but significantly underestimated over most of the oceans, especially for subtropical marine stratocumulus clouds. The leading EOF modes of CVS were extracted. The BCC_AGCMs perform well in reproducing EOF1, but with a larger variance explained. The two models also capture the basic features of EOF3, except an obvious deficiency in eigen- vector peaks. EOF2 has the largest simulation biases in both position and strength of eigenvector peaks. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of CVS on relative shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcing （RSCRF and RLCRF）. Both BCC_AGCM versions successfully reproduce the sign of regression coefficients, except for RLCRF in PC1. However, the RSCRF relative contributions from PC1 and PC2 are overestimated, while the relative contribution from PC3 is underes timated in both BCC_AGCM versions. The RLCRF relative contribution is underestimated for PC2 and overestimated for PC3.

Aircraft Observations of Liquid and Ice in Midlatitude Mixed-Phase Clouds

ABSTRACT This paper reports airborne measurements of midlatitude altostratus clouds observed over Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China on 3 March 2007. The case demonstrates mixed-phase conditions at altitudes from 3200 to 4600 m （0°C to -7.6°C）, with liquid water content ranging from 0.01 to 0.09 g m-3. In the observed mixed-phase cloud, liquid water content exhibited a bimodal distribution, whereas the maximum ice particle concentration was located in the middle part of the cloud. The liquid and ice particle data showed significant horizontal variability on the scale of a few hundred meters. The cloud droplet concentration varied greatly over the horizontal sampling area. There was an inverse relationship between the cloud droplet concentration and ice particle concentration. A gamma distribution provided the best description of the cloud droplet spectra. The liquid droplet distributions were found to increase in both size and concentration with altitude. It was inferred from the profile of the spectra parameters that the cloud droplet sizes tend to form a quasi-monodisperse distribution. Ice particle spectra in the cloud were fitted well by an exponential distribution. Finally, a remarkable power law relationship was found between the slope （λ） and intercept （No） parameters of the exponential size distribution.

Analysis of Airplane Precipitation Operation on Embedded Convective Clouds in Hunan Province

Based on NCEP 1°×1° reanalysis data, ground encryption houdy precipitation, FY-2E stationary satellite and Doppler radar data, the structural characteristics of precipitation clouds in Hunan Province and the effects of airplane precipitation operation were analyzed. The results show that under the effects of low-pressure system and southwest monsoon, Hunan was rich in water vapor, which was beneficial to the maintaining of precipitation clouds. During the process of the artificial precipitation operation over Hunan Province, convection developed vigorously, and precipita- tion was strong in the south of the province; embedded convective clouds were dominant and precipitation was weak in the east of the province. Cloud optical thickness correlated with ground precipitation positively. After catalyzing, echo at high altitudes responded firstly, and the echo intensi- ty increased gradually; the response of low-altitude echo lagged behind that of high-altitude echo. It shows that catalysis could lead to increase of upper precipitation particles in size and quantity. As time goes on, upper precipitation particles descended to low altitudes, so that echo intensity in- creased at low altitudes. It is clearly seen that catalysis could lead to increase of echo intensity and prolong the lifetime of target clouds to improve the area of strong echo zone, showing obvious positive catalytic effect. At the same time, houdy average precipitation in the affected region tended to increase stably and was obviously more than that of the contrast region where hourly average precipitation reduced gradually with time. The changing trend of hourly average precipitation in the affected region correlated positively with the response of radar echo.

Development of Cloud Detection Methods Using CFH, GTS1, and RS80 Radiosondes

The accuracies of three instruments in measuring atmospheric column humidity were assessed during an upper troposphere and lower stratosphere observation campaign conducted from 7 to 13 August 2009 in Kunming, China. The three instruments are a cryogenic frost-point hygrometer （CFH）, a Vaisala RS80 radiosonde （RS80）, and a GTS1 radiosonde （GTS1）. The accuracy of relative humidity （RH） measurements made by the CFH, GTS1, and RS80 was similar between the surface and 500 hPa （～5.5 km above sea level）. However, above 500 hPa, the errors in RH measurements made by the RS80, relative to measurements made by the CFH, are much less than those detected with the GTS1. Three different retrieval methods for determining cloud boundaries from CFH, RS80, and GTS1 measurements were developed and take into account the differences in accuracy among the three instruments. The method for the CFH is based on RH thresholds at all levels, which demands high accuracy. Given that the accuracy of RH measurements decreases at higher altitudes, the cloud detection methods for RS80 and GTS1 are different for different altitude ranges. Below 5 km, the methods for the RS80 and the GTS1 are similar to that of the CFH; above 5 km, the methods for the RS80 and the GTS1 are both developed based on the second-order derivatives of temperature and RH with respect to height, but with different criteria applied. Comparisons of cloud-layer retrievals derived from the three measurements are also made.

Vertical Distribution Characteristics of Precipitation Cloud in Tianjin Based on L-band Sounding Data

Based on L-band sounding data,threshold method of relative humidity was used to analyze vertical distribution characteristics of precipitation cloud system in Tianjin region.The results showed that main precipitation cloud system affecting Tianjin is cold and warm mixed cloud,followed by cold cloud,and precipitation of warm cloud is less.During May-November,precipitation of cold and warm mixed cloud is dominant,and it is dominant by precipitation of cold cloud from January to April.In four seasons,the precipitation frequency of double-layer cloud is the most,and precipitation of single-layer cloud mainly appears during March-November,and peak is in June.Peak of cloud system with three or more layers all appears in July and August.The cold cloud and warm cloud catalysts should be selected respectively for artificial precipitation enhancement in Tianjin.In winter,cold cloud catalyst operation is selected;in spring,summer and autumn,the cold cloud catalyst is spread in the cold cloud area,and the warm cloud catalyst is distributed in the warm cloud area according to the conditions of cloud layer.

Structures of GMC W37

We carried out observations toward the giant molecular cloud W 37 with the J = 1 - 0 transitions of 12CO, 13CO and C180 using the 13.7 m single-dish telescope at the Delingha station of Purple Mountain Observatory. Based on these CO lines, we calculated the column densities and cloud masses for molecular clouds with radial velocities around ＋20 km s-1. The gas mass of W 37, calculated from 13CO emission, is 1.7 × 10^5 M, above the criterion to be considered a giant molecular cloud. The dense ridge of W 37 is a dense filament, which is supercritical in terms of linear mass ratio. Dense clumps found by C180 emission are aligned along the dense ridge at regular intervals of about 2.8 pc, similar to the clump separation caused by large-scale ＇sausage instability＇. We confirm the identification of the giant molecular filament （GMF） G 18.0-16.8 and find a new giant filament, G 16.5-15.8, located ~ 0.7° to the west of G 18.0-16.8. Both GMFs are not gravitationally bound, as indicated by their low linear mass ratio （- 80 M pc-l）. We compared the gas temperature map with the dust temperature map from Herschel images, and found similar structures. The spatial distributions of class I objects and the dense clumps are reminiscent of triggered star formation occurring in the northwestern part of W 37, which is close to NGC 6611.

A numerical simulation of latent heating within Typhoon Molave

The weather research and forecasting（WRF） model is a new generation mesoscale numerical model with a fine grid resolution（2 km）, making it ideal to simulate the macro-and micro-physical processes and latent heating within Typhoon Molave（2009）. Simulations based on a single-moment, six-class microphysical scheme are shown to be reasonable, following verification of results for the typhoon track, wind intensity, precipitation pattern, as well as inner-core thermodynamic and dynamic structures. After calculating latent heating rate, it is concluded that the total latent heat is mainly derived from condensation below the zero degree isotherm, and from deposition above this isotherm. It is revealed that cloud microphysical processes related to graupel are the most important contributors to the total latent heat. Other important latent heat contributors in the simulated Typhoon Molave are condensation of cloud water, deposition of cloud ice, deposition of snow, initiation of cloud ice crystals, deposition of graupel, accretion of cloud water by graupel, evaporation of cloud water and rainwater,sublimation of snow, sublimation of graupel, melting of graupel, and sublimation of cloud ice. In essence, the simulated latent heat profile is similar to ones recorded by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, although specific values differ slightly.

ANALYSIS AND CASE STUDY ON THE GENERATION OF RADAR ECHO BRIGHT BAND

In this study, the vertical profiles of radar refractive factor(Z) observed with an X-band Doppler radar in Jurong on July 13, 2012 in different periods of a stratiform cloud precipitation process were simulated using the Sim RAD software, and the contributions of each impact resulting in the bright band were analyzed quantitatively. In the simulation, the parameters inputted into Sim RAD were updated until the output Z profile was nearly consistent with the observation. The input parameters were then deemed to reflect real conditions of the cloud and precipitation. The results showed that a wider(narrower) and brighter(darker) bright band corresponded to a larger(smaller) amount, wider(narrower) vertical distribution, and larger(smaller) mean diameter of melting particles in the melting layer. Besides this,radar reflectivity factors under the wider(narrower) melting layer were larger(smaller). This may be contributed to the adequate growth of larger rain drops in the upper melting layer. Sensitivity experiments of the generation of the radar bright band showed that a drastic increasing of the complex refractive index due to melting led to the largest impact,making the radar reflectivity factor increase by about 15 d BZ. Fragmentation of large particles was the second most important influence, making the value decrease by 10 d BZ. The collision-coalescence between melting particles, volumetric shrinking due to melting, and the falling speed of raindrops made the radar reflectivity factor change by about 3-7d BZ. Shape transformation from spheres to oblate ellipsoids resulted in only a slight increase in the radar reflectivity factors(about 0.2 d BZ), which might be due to the fact that there are few large particles in stratiform cloud.

MODIS captures large-scale atmospheric gravity waves over the Atlantic Ocean

On April 27,2016,a striking true-color satellite image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer（MODIS）onboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s（NASA’s）Aqua satellite showed several groups of very well structured arc cloud patterns（Fig.1）,which are associaed with atmospheric gravity waves,aligned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between

THE MICROPHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF SNOW CLOUDS AND THE GROWTH PROCESS OF SNOW PARTICLES IN WINTER IN XINJIANG

The microphysical structure of snow clouds and the growth process of snow crystals were observed by means of instrumented aircraft, weather radar, snow crystal observations etc. in Urumqi region during the winter of 1982. The analysis of three cases show that about 70% of snow mass growth is produced in the lower layer below 2000 m under the cold front, and that the concentration of ice crystals is as high as 60 L^(-1) and the supercooled water is absent in lower clouds. We may infer that the deposition of ice crystals and the aggregation of snow crystals are important processes for the snow development. The microphysical structure of the snow band near the front aloft and its characteristics as a seeder cloud are also described in this paper.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF MESOSCALE STRUCTURES OF TYPHOON AND OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS USING MM5

The track, landfall, dynamic and thermodynamic and cloud-rain physical mesoscale structures and their evolution of typhoon HERB 1996 in 36 h from 0000 UTC 31 July to 1200 UTC 1 August 1996 were simulated by using the non-hydrostatic mesoscale model MM5. This period covered the process of typhoon HERB landfall at Taiwan and Fujian Provinces. Results show that the model successfully simulated the landfall process of typhoon HERB, revealed the most important characteristics of the mesoscale dynamic and thermodynamic and cloud-rain physical structure during its landfall. The simulated typhoon track was close to the observation. The center of cyclonic circulation simulated at 0000 UTC on 1 August 1996 (24 h integration) was located in shore near Fuqing, Fujian Province at which the typhoon was reported to landfall two hours later. It shows that strong upward motion formed by low level convergence existed in the eye-wall and subsidence at the eye. The wind field shows clear asymmetrical structure near the typhoon center. The cloud and rainband was screw-typed distributed around typhoon center, and consisted of meso-β scale rain cores. During the period of typhoon HERB staying near and passing over Taiwan, the lower cloud was developed in the eye region so that the previous clear typhoon eye on the satellite pictures became fuzzy. Observation shows that the typhoon center was 'warm', but the model simulations with higher space resolution show that in the mid-troposphere the region of eye-wall with stronger upward motion and more cloud-and rain- water was warmer than the eye. During the period of typhoon passing over Taiwan and its following landfall at Fujian, the track of model typhoon deviated about 30 km northward (i. e., rightward) because of the orographic effects of Taiwan Island, but the strength of the typhoon was not affected remarkably. The amount of rainfall on Taiwan in the 36 h simulations was enhanced more than six times by the orographic lifting of Taiwan Mountain.