Modeling of radiative impact of a cirrus cloud based on
microphysical in-situ measurements
P. Mauno*,1, T. Nousiainen1, G. M. McFarquhar2, M. S. Timlin3, M. Kahnert4 and P. Räisänen5
- 1 Department of Physics, P.O. Box 48, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
- 2 University of Illinois, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, 105 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL 61801-3070, USA.
- 3 Midwestern Regional Climate Center, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
- 4 Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Folkborgsvägen 1, S-601 76 Norrköping, Sweden.
- 5 Finnish Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 503, 00101 HELSINKI, Finland.
The shortwave radiative impact of a cirrus cloud observed over Oklahoma is investigated. Single-scattering properties of ice crystals derived based on in-situ measurements of the size and shape distributions of ice crystals are input to the libradtran radiative transfer model. The simulated fluxes, especially the shortwave cloud radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere, depend substantially on assumptions about small ice particles (maximum dimensions less than 120 μm), whose concentrations are highly uncertain.
- * Corresponding author