Comparisons of cirrus clouds and their linkages to meteorology at the SACOL and the SGP sites

Abstract

Three-year of continuous observations collected by Ka-band zenith radars (KAZRs) at the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Southern Great Plains (SGP) sites are used to explore and compare the midlatitude cirrus cloud macro-physical properties at distinct locations. Cirrus clouds over the two sites exhibit prominent differences of seasonal and diurnal variations with higher occurrence frequency and larger thickness over the SACOL than over the SGP. The linkages between the cirrus properties (e.g., frequency, thickness, height, and radiative effect) and the meteorological parameters in the upper troposphere are also examined. Cirrus clouds at the two sites have qualitatively similar relations with the meteorological factors. Large cirrus frequency and thickness are associated with large relative humidity, strong upward motion, low stability, cold temperature and positive vorticity advection in the upper troposphere. However, cirrus over the SACOL occurs more frequently than that over the SGP for a given constant meteorological condition, implying cirrus formation may be affected by different formation pathways. To explore the joint impact of atmospheric conditions on cirrus macrophysics, we combine four meteorological variables in the upper troposphere into a single factor that represents the largest atmospheric variability corresponding to the cirrus cloud development based on the principal component analysis (PCA) method. Most cirrus properties show better relations with the leading principal component (PC1) than any single meteorological indicator alone, and the changes of PC1 can well explain the annual and diurnal variations of cirrus occurrence.