Identification

Title

An evaluation of phase, aerosol-cloud interactions and microphysical properties of single- and multi-layer clouds over the Southern Ocean using in situ observations from SOCRATES

Abstract

Single- and multi-layer clouds are commonly observed over the Southern Ocean in varying synoptic settings, yet few studies have characterized and contrasted their properties. This study provides a statistical analysis of the microphysical properties of single- and multi-layer clouds using in-situ observations acquired during the Southern Ocean Cloud-Radiation Aerosol Transport Experimental Study. The relative frequencies of ice-containing samples (i.e., mixed and ice phase) for multi-layer clouds are 0.05-0.25 greater than for single-layer clouds, depending on cloud layer height. In multi-layer clouds, the lowest cloud layers have the highest ice-containing sample frequencies, which decrease with increasing cloud layer height up to the third highest cloud layer. This suggests a prominent seeder-feeder mechanism over the region. Ice nucleating particle (cloud condensation nuclei) concentrations are positively (negatively) correlated with ice-containing sample frequencies in select cases. Differences in microphysical properties are observed for single- and multi-layer clouds. Drop concentrations (size distributions) are greater (narrower) for single-layer clouds compared with the lowest multi-layer clouds. When differentiating cloud layers by top (single- and highest multi-layer clouds) and non-top layers (underlying multi-layer clouds), total particle size distributions (including liquid and ice) are similarly broader for non-top cloud layers. Additionally, drop concentrations in coupled environments are approximately double those in decoupled environments.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7fr01m7

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2023-08-16T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact