Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans
Long-term satellite climate data records (CDRs) of clouds and aerosols are used to investigate the aerosol indirect effect (AIE) of cirrus clouds over the global oceans from a climatology perspective. Our study focuses on identifying the sensitive regimes and active regions where AIE signatures easi...
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doaj-7e4e13a480ce41e2900778b30e03a1262020-11-25T02:56:03ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-03-0112582310.3390/rs12050823rs12050823Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global OceansXuepeng Zhao0Yangang Liu1Fangqun Yu2Andrew K. Heidinger3Korak Saha4National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), NOAA/NESDIS, Silver Spring, MD 21910, USABrookhaven National Laboratory, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, P.O. Box 5000, Upton, NY 11973, USAAtmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Albany, 251 Fuller 13 Road, Albany, NY 12203, USACenter for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), NOAA/NESDIS, Madison, WI 53706, USANational Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), NOAA/NESDIS, Silver Spring, MD 21910, USALong-term satellite climate data records (CDRs) of clouds and aerosols are used to investigate the aerosol indirect effect (AIE) of cirrus clouds over the global oceans from a climatology perspective. Our study focuses on identifying the sensitive regimes and active regions where AIE signatures easily manifest themselves in the sense of the long-term average of cloud and aerosol variables. The aerosol index (AIX) regimes of AIX < 0.18 and 0.18 < AIX < 0.46 are respectively identified as the sensitive regimes for negative and positive aerosol albedos and lifetime effects of cirrus clouds. Relative humidity first decreases (along with upward motions) and then reverses to increase (along with downward motions) in the first regime of negative aerosol albedo and lifetime effects. Relatively wet and strong upward motions are the favorable meteorological conditions for the second regime of positive aerosol albedo and lifetime effects. Two swath regions extending from 15°N to 30°N over the east coastal oceans of China and the USA are the active regions of positive aerosol albedo effects. Positive aerosol lifetime effects are only active or easy to manifest in the regions where a positive aerosol albedo effect is active. The results based on the long-term averaged satellite observations are valuable for the evaluation and improvement of aerosol-cloud interactions for cirrus clouds in global climate models.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/5/823aerosol indirect effectaerosolcloudclimate data recordsatellite |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Xuepeng Zhao Yangang Liu Fangqun Yu Andrew K. Heidinger Korak Saha |
spellingShingle |
Xuepeng Zhao Yangang Liu Fangqun Yu Andrew K. Heidinger Korak Saha Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans Remote Sensing aerosol indirect effect aerosol cloud climate data record satellite |
author_facet |
Xuepeng Zhao Yangang Liu Fangqun Yu Andrew K. Heidinger Korak Saha |
author_sort |
Xuepeng Zhao |
title |
Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans |
title_short |
Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans |
title_full |
Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans |
title_fullStr |
Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climatology Perspective of Sensitive Regimes and Active Regions of Aerosol Indirect Effect for Cirrus Clouds over the Global Oceans |
title_sort |
climatology perspective of sensitive regimes and active regions of aerosol indirect effect for cirrus clouds over the global oceans |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Remote Sensing |
issn |
2072-4292 |
publishDate |
2020-03-01 |
description |
Long-term satellite climate data records (CDRs) of clouds and aerosols are used to investigate the aerosol indirect effect (AIE) of cirrus clouds over the global oceans from a climatology perspective. Our study focuses on identifying the sensitive regimes and active regions where AIE signatures easily manifest themselves in the sense of the long-term average of cloud and aerosol variables. The aerosol index (AIX) regimes of AIX < 0.18 and 0.18 < AIX < 0.46 are respectively identified as the sensitive regimes for negative and positive aerosol albedos and lifetime effects of cirrus clouds. Relative humidity first decreases (along with upward motions) and then reverses to increase (along with downward motions) in the first regime of negative aerosol albedo and lifetime effects. Relatively wet and strong upward motions are the favorable meteorological conditions for the second regime of positive aerosol albedo and lifetime effects. Two swath regions extending from 15°N to 30°N over the east coastal oceans of China and the USA are the active regions of positive aerosol albedo effects. Positive aerosol lifetime effects are only active or easy to manifest in the regions where a positive aerosol albedo effect is active. The results based on the long-term averaged satellite observations are valuable for the evaluation and improvement of aerosol-cloud interactions for cirrus clouds in global climate models. |
topic |
aerosol indirect effect aerosol cloud climate data record satellite |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/5/823 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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