Remote Sensing of Aerosol and Cloud Properties from Ground Based and Satellite Remote Sensors to Explore Aerosol-Cloud Interaction
Item
-
Title
-
Remote Sensing of Aerosol and Cloud Properties from Ground Based and Satellite Remote Sensors to Explore Aerosol-Cloud Interaction
-
Identifier
-
d_2009_2013:587a62d37bd1:11498
-
identifier
-
11967
-
Creator
-
He, Yuzhe,
-
Contributor
-
Barry Gross
-
Date
-
2012
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Electrical engineering | Atmospheric sciences | Aerosol-cloud interaction | Ground-based sensors | Remote sensing | Satellite | Twomey effect
-
Abstract
-
The measurements of both aerosol and cloud properties are critical for climate studies since these mechanisms have the largest uncertainty in energy balance calculations. In addition, aerosols and clouds do not act independently but can significantly couple to each other. It is clear that being able to quantify these interactions is crucial to climate models. While there are many possible aerosol-cloud interactions, we limit our investigation to the Twomey indirect effect which relates how aerosols can modify the physical properties of clouds thereby changing the radiative properties.;Verifying and quantifying such mechanisms on a global scale requires accurate measurements of both aerosols and clouds from satellites. Unfortunately, assessing this mechanism has been very difficult from satellites since both aerosols and cloud properties would have to be simultaneously measured. Therefore, only statistical approaches have been tried but it is easy to see that such approaches will tend to obscure the interpretation of local interaction mechanisms.;In this thesis, we investigate the potential of both satellites and ground based approaches to measure Aerosol Cloud Interaction parameters. After assessing the limitations of satellite based approaches, we focus on the use of ground based remote sensing using a combination of Lidar, Microwave radiometry, Doppler Lidar and sky radiometry. This instrumentation suite offers a more direct approach that can probe the properties of both aerosols and clouds simultaneously allowing us to investigate real time aerosol-cloud processes which occur on time scale < 1 minute.;To this end, we first provide a thorough description of the multi-sensor approach and how it can be implemented including a sensitivity analysis taking into account both atmospheric and surface variability as well as uncertainty in both the Liquid Water Path (LWP) and diffuse transmittance measurements. In addition, we use the Southern Great Plain (SGP) data to test our cloud parameter inversion algorithm against other algorithms. In addition, we illustrate the need to account for aloft aerosols in observations of aerosol cloud interactions. Finally, we describe how the CCNY site may ultimately be used for further improve ground observations of aerosol cloud interactions.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
2009_2013.csv
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
-
Program
-
Engineering
