the barbados cloud observatory: a first outlook louise nuijens max-planck-institut für meteorologie...
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The Barbados Cloud Observatory: a first outlook
Louise Nuijens
Max-Planck-Institut für MeteorologieHamburg
Bjorn Stevens, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Ilya Serikov, Holger Linne, Bjorn Bruegman and Clara Herer
The Barbados Cloud Observatory
Goal:
to measure statistical properties of clouds, precipitation, aerosol and meteorology within the
trades, to help improve our understanding of the behavior of shallow cumulus clouds and
their link to our changing climate.
Initiative:
a joint project of the Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) and the Caribbean
Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)
Partners: Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Physics, Dr. Holger Siebert Remote sensing group of Prof. Susanne Crewell (Univ. of Cologne) Aerosol group of Prof. Joseph Prospero (Univ. of Miami, Rosenstiel School)
Outline
Location of the site
Measurement strategy and questions
Instrumentation and data products
A first look at data
Outlook and links
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Location of the site
Deebles Point
Ragged Point
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Measurement strategy and questions
Starting April 2010, the Barbados Cloud Observatory measures 24/7 and will be in operation for two years (at least) with:
Scanning cloud radar:
that scans (horizontally) an area upstream of the island at least once each 10 minutes, alternated with periods of vertical
profiling. Vertically pointing lidar, ceilometer, microrain radar:
that help characterize the vertical structure of clouds, rain, the aerosol and the atmosphere.
Major questions: What (meteorological) conditions favor certain types of cloudiness? For days that are meteorologically the same, what is the impact of the aerosol? At what depth do clouds start to rain? How does cloudiness change with organization (in the presence of precipitation)?
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Instrumentation
Ka-band cloud radar (KIT)
Ceilometer
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Instrumentation
Raman lidar
Micro rain radar
All-sky imager cloud camera
Rain gauge, aircraft safety radar
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
What do we get (data products)?
Ceilometer (1064 nm, r = 15 m):
Height of cloud ‘bases’, aerosol layers (?)
KIT Ka-band cloud radar (37 GHz – 8 mm, r = 15 m, rmax = 7.5 km):
Cloud (horizontal/vertical extent, areal coverage)
Vertical profiles of reflectivity, LWC and fall speed (radial velocity), drizzle
Micro rain radar (10 GHz – 3 cm, r = 100 m):
Vertical profile of rain (reflectivity) and LWC
Raman “monster” lidar (1064, 532, 255 nm, r = 60 m):
Vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud backscatter, extinction
Vertical profiles of water vapor and temperature during night
All-sky imager and camera (Ragged Point)
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
A first look at data
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
May 9
August 12
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
May 9
A first look at data
August 12
What is coming? A quick outlook
Instrumentation & data (end of this year *wishful thinking*):
DIAL (differential absorption) water vapor lidar
Ka-band cloud radar with greater scanning abilities, to replace the KIT radar that
is on loan
Scanning microwave radiometer (HATPRO - SUNHAT from Univ. Of Cologne)
S-Band precipitation data from CIMH
Wish-list:
A wind lidar: vertical profile of wind speed
A pyrheliometer and pyrgeometer: down-welling SW and LW radiation
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
What is coming? A quick outlook
Intensive campaigns and collaborations:
August: collecting dust on Ragged Point (Joe Prospero - Univ. of Miami)
November and Spring: measuring turbulence, aerosol and cloud droplet number
concentrations using ACTOS (Holger Siebert – IfT)
Start 2011: involve students at CIMH with the data analysis
…
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links
Links
Websites:
MPI – Atmosphaere im Erdsystem – Barbados Initiative:
www.mpimet.mpg.de
The Barbados Worldpress Site – a first ‘Wiki’ on instrument and data status
with links to images and quicklooks:
http://barbadossite.wordpress.com/
Location • Strategy and questions • Instrumentation • Data • Outlook and links