Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Clouds Classification'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Clouds Classification.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Clouds Classification.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Liao, Nilsson Sunny, and Martin Norrbom. "CLASSIFICATION OF BRIDGES IN LASER POINT CLOUDS USING MACHINE LEARNING." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-55067.
Full textAbstract:
In this work, machine learning was being used for bridge detection in point clouds. To estimate the performance, it was compared to an existing algorithm based on traditional methods for point classification. The purpose of this work was to use machine learning for bridge classification in point clouds. To see how today's machine learning algorithms perform and find the challenges of using machine learning in point classification. The point clouds used are based on airborne laser scanning and represent the land area over Sweden. To get satisfactory results, several different testing areas were used with varying landscapes. For comparing the two different algorithms, both statistical and visual analysis were made to identify the algorithms' behaviours, strengths, and weaknesses. The machine learning algorithm tested was PointNet++, and it was compared to the current algorithm that the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority use for bridge classification in point clouds. Based on the results, the current method had higher accuracy in the classification of bridge points, but the machine learning approach could detect more bridges. Thus, it was concluded that there are potential for this machine learning approach, but there are still needs for improvements.
2
Kanngießer, Franz, André Ehrlich, and Manfred Wendisch. "Observations of glories above arctic boundary layer clouds to identify cloud phase." Universität Leipzig, 2017. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A16743.
Full textAbstract:
The glory is an optical phenomenon observed above liquid water clouds and consists of coloured rings around the anti-solar point. Since the glory is caused by scattering on spherical particles it can be used as a proxy to identify liquid water at the cloud top. Images taken with a CANON digital camera equipped with a fish-eye lens on board the research aircraft Polar 5 during the measurement campaign Radiation-Aerosol-Cloud Experiment in the Arctic Circle (RACEPAC) were analysed for glories. To identify glories an algorithm consisting of five criteria was developed by using simulations of the scattering angle dependent radiance and a test data set of measurements. The algorithm was tested and proved to be able to distinguish between images showing a glory and images not showing any glory.Die Glorie ist eine optische Erscheinung, die über Flüssigwasserwolken beobachtet werden kann und aus farbigen Ringen um den Gegensonnenpunkt besteht. Da die Glorie durch Streuung an sphärischen Partikeln entsteht, kann sie zur Identifikation von Flüssigwasser am Wolkenoberrand genutzt werden. Bilder, die mit einer CANON Digitalkamera, die mit einem Fischaugenobjektiv ausgestattet war, von Bord des Forschungsflugzeugs Polar 5 während der Messkampagne RACEPAC aufgenommen worden, wurden auf das Auftreten von Glorien untersucht. Zur Identifikation wurde ein Algorithmus mit fünf Kriterien entwickelt, die mit Hilfe von Simulationen der streuwinkelabhängigen Radianz und einem Testdatensatz der Messungen erstellt wurden. Der Algorithmus wurde getestet und ist in der Lage zwischen Bildern mit und ohne Glorie zu unterscheiden.
3
Wiklander, Marcus. "Classification of tree species from 3D point clouds using convolutional neural networks." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för fysik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-174662.
Full textAbstract:
In forest management, knowledge about a forest's distribution of tree species is key. Being able to automate tree species classification for large forest areas is of great interest, since it is tedious and costly labour doing it manually. In this project, the aim was to investigate the efficiency of classifying individual tree species (pine, spruce and deciduous forest) from 3D point clouds acquired by airborne laser scanning (ALS), using convolutional neural networks. Raw data consisted of 3D point clouds and photographic images of forests in northern Sweden, collected from a helicopter flying at low altitudes. The point cloud of each individual tree was connected to its representation in the photos, which allowed for manual labeling of training data to be used for training of convolutional neural networks. The training data consisted of labels and 2D projections created from the point clouds, represented as images. Two different convolutional neural networks were trained and tested; an adaptation of the LeNet architecture and the ResNet architecture. Both networks reached an accuracy close to 98 %, the LeNet adaptation having a slightly lower loss score for both validation and test data compared to that of ResNet. Confusion matrices for both networks showed similar F1 scores for all tree species, between 97 % and 98 %. The accuracies computed for both networks were found higher than those achieved in similar studies using ALS data to classify individual tree species. However, the results in this project were never tested against a true population sample to confirm the accuracy. To conclude, the use of convolutional neural networks is indeed an efficient method for classification of tree species, but further studies on unbiased data is needed to validate these results.
4
König, Sören, and Stefan Gumhold. "Robust Surface Reconstruction from Point Clouds." Technische Universität Dresden, 2013. https://tud.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A27391.
Full textAbstract:
The problem of generating a surface triangulation from a set of points with normal information arises in several mesh processing tasks like surface reconstruction or surface resampling. In this paper we present a surface triangulation approach which is based on local 2d delaunay triangulations in tangent space. Our contribution is the extension of this method to surfaces with sharp corners and creases. We demonstrate the robustness of the method on difficult meshing problems that include nearby sheets, self intersecting non manifold surfaces and noisy point samples.
5
Truong, Quoc Hung. "Knowledge-based 3D point clouds processing." Phd thesis, Université de Bourgogne, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00977434.
Full textAbstract:
The modeling of real-world scenes through capturing 3D digital data has proven to be both useful andapplicable in a variety of industrial and surveying applications. Entire scenes are generally capturedby laser scanners and represented by large unorganized point clouds possibly along with additionalphotogrammetric data. A typical challenge in processing such point clouds and data lies in detectingand classifying objects that are present in the scene. In addition to the presence of noise, occlusionsand missing data, such tasks are often hindered by the irregularity of the capturing conditions bothwithin the same dataset and from one data set to another. Given the complexity of the underlyingproblems, recent processing approaches attempt to exploit semantic knowledge for identifying andclassifying objects. In the present thesis, we propose a novel approach that makes use of intelligentknowledge management strategies for processing of 3D point clouds as well as identifying andclassifying objects in digitized scenes. Our approach extends the use of semantic knowledge to allstages of the processing, including the guidance of the individual data-driven processing algorithms.The complete solution consists in a multi-stage iterative concept based on three factors: the modeledknowledge, the package of algorithms, and a classification engine. The goal of the present work isto select and guide algorithms following an adaptive and intelligent strategy for detecting objects inpoint clouds. Experiments with two case studies demonstrate the applicability of our approach. Thestudies were carried out on scans of the waiting area of an airport and along the tracks of a railway.In both cases the goal was to detect and identify objects within a defined area. Results show that ourapproach succeeded in identifying the objects of interest while using various data types
6
Gasslander, Maja. "Segmentation of Clouds in Satellite Images." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Datorseende, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-128802.
Full textAbstract:
The usage of 3D modelling is increasing fast, both for civilian and military areas, such as navigation, targeting and urban planning. When creating a 3D model from satellite images, clouds canbe problematic. Thus, automatic detection ofclouds inthe imagesis ofgreat use. This master thesis was carried out at Vricon, who produces 3D models of the earth from satellite images.This thesis aimed to investigate if Support Vector Machines could classify pixels into cloud or non-cloud, with a combination of texture and color as features. To solve the stated goal, the task was divided into several subproblems, where the first part was to extract features from the images. Then the images were preprocessed before fed to the classifier. After that, the classifier was trained, and finally evaluated.The two methods that gave the best results in this thesis had approximately 95 % correctly classified pixels. This result is better than the existing cloud segmentation method at Vricon, for the tested terrain and cloud types.
7
Ruhe, Jakob, and Johan Nordin. "Classification of Points Acquired by Airborne Laser Systems." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Electrical Engineering, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-10485.
Full textAbstract:
During several years research has been performed at the Department of Laser Systems, the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), to develop methods to produce high resolution 3D environment models based on data acquired with airborne laser systems. The 3D models are used for several purposes, both military and civilian applications, for example mission planning, crisis management analysis and planning of infrastructure.
We have implemented a new format to store laser point data. Instead of storing rasterized images of the data this new format stores the original location of each point. We have also implemented a new method to detect outliers, methods to estimate the ground surface and also to divide the remaining data into two classes: buildings and vegetation.
It is also shown that it is possible to get more accurate results by analyzing the points directly instead of only using rasterized images and image processing algorithms. We show that these methods can be implemented without increasing the computational complexity.
8
Ehrlich, André, Eike Bierwirth, and Manfred Wendisch. "Airborne remote sensing of Arctic boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds." Universität Leipzig, 2010. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A16357.
Full textAbstract:
This article gives an overview on the investigations on Artic boundary-layer mixed-phase clouds conducted within the Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation (ASTAR) in spring 2007. In particular the horizontal and vertical disribution of ice crystals within the clouds was determined by three independent airborne instruments (lidar, in situ and solar radiation measurements). Spectral measurements of cloud top reflectivity have been utilized to retrieve information on the ice phase by analyzing the spectral pattern of the cloud top reflectance in the wavelength range dominated by liquid water and ice absorption (1400-1700 nm). A new algorithm to derive an ice index which distinguishes pure ice, liquid water, and mixed-phase clouds was developed. The horizontal distribution of the ice index, observed during ASTAR 2007, agrees with airborne lidar and in situ measurements showing patches of glaciated clouds at an air mass transition zone within the investigated mixed-phase cloud fields. Information on the vertical distribution of ice crystals in mixed-phase clouds was derived by comparing the measured cloud top reflectivity in the wavelength band 1400-1700 nm to radiative transfer simulations. To interpret the data, the vertical weighting of the measurements was calculated. In the investigated wavelength range the weightings differ according to the spectral absorption of ice and liquid water. From the observed spectral cloud reflectivity with low values in the ice absorption maximum (1400 nm) and higher values at the liquid water absorption maximum (1700 nm) it was concluded that ice crystals were present in the otherwise liquid dominated cloud top layer. Although in situ measurements (limited due to vertical resolution and detection limits) did confirm these findings only in certain limits, the retrieved vertical structure is in agreement with published ground based remote sensing measurements.
9
Koch, Dorothy, Yves Balkanski, Susanne E. Bauer, Richard C. Easter, Sylvaine Ferrachat, Steven J. Ghan, Corinna Hoose, et al. "Soot microphysical effects on liquid clouds, a multi-model investigation." Copernicus Publication, 2011. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13767.
Full textAbstract:
We use global models to explore the microphysical effects of carbonaceous aerosols on liquid clouds. Although absorption of solar radiation by soot warms the atmosphere, soot may cause climate cooling due to its contribution to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and therefore cloud brightness. Six global models conducted three soot experiments;
four of the models had detailed aerosol microphysical schemes. The average cloud radiative response to biofuel soot (black and organic carbon), including both indirect and semi-direct effects, is −0.11Wm−2, comparable in size but opposite in sign to the respective direct effect. In a more idealized fossil fuel black carbon experiment, some models
calculated a positive cloud response because soot provides a deposition sink for sulfuric and nitric acids and secondary organics, decreasing nucleation and evolution of viable CCN. Biofuel soot particles were also typically assumed to be larger and more hygroscopic than for fossil fuel soot and therefore caused more negative forcing, as also found in previous studies. Diesel soot (black and organic carbon) experiments had relatively smaller cloud impacts with five of the models <±0.06Wm−2 from clouds. The results are subject to the caveats that variability among models, and regional and interrannual variability for each model, are large.
This comparison together with previously published results stresses the need to further constrain aerosol microphysical schemes. The non-linearities resulting from the competition of opposing effects on the CCN population make it difficult to extrapolate from idealized experiments to likely impacts of realistic potential emission changes.
10
Cremer, Roxana, Johannes Quaas, and Johannes Mülmenstädt. "Interactions between clouds and sea ice in the Arctic." Universität Leipzig, 2017. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A16773.
Full textAbstract:
The feedback between clouds and sea ice got more importance in the last years, because of the declining Arctic sea ice extent. Previous observations
show the formation of low clouds over newly formed open water. These low clouds are very important for the Arctic Energy Budget, because they warm the surface. This leads to increasing temperatures and stronger sea ice loss. To assess the relationship between sea ice cover and cloudiness, satellite observations by DARDAR were compared with both global climate reanalyses ERA–Interim and MACC. The analysis focuses on 2007 – 2010 and the relationship between different parameters from the different datasets. It is found that the reanalyses only poorly approximate the cloud cover in the Arctic. Consequently no strong correlation was found for the time period 2007 – 2010.Das Wolken–Albedo–Feedback in der Arktis gewann in den letzten Jahren immer mehr an Bedeutung aufgrund des Rückganges der Meereisfläche. Vorhergehende Arbeiten zeigten die Bildung von tiefer Bewölkung über kürzlich aufgebrochenen Meereisstellen. Diese tiefen Wolken sind sehr wichtig für das arktische Energiebudget, wegen des Erwärmens der Oberfläche. Daraus folgt ein Anstieg in der bodennahen Temperatur und ein verstärkter Rückgang des Meereises. Um den Einfluss der Meereiskonzentration auf die Wolkenbildung zu untersuchen, werden in dieser Arbeit Satellitendaten von DARDAR mit den beiden globalen Klimareanalysen Era–interim und MACC verglichen. Analysiert werden Daten aus den Jahren 2007 bis 2010 und für verschiedene Oberflächenbedingungen werden Korrelationen der einzelnen Datensätze erstellt. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass die Darstellung der Wolkenbedeckung in der Arktis durch die Reanalyse Daten nicht geeignet ist. Aus diesem Grund wurden keine signifikanten Korrelationen in der Zeitspanne von 2007 bis 2010 gefunden.
11
Nam, Christine C. W., and Johannes Quaas. "Evaluation of clouds and precipitation in the ECHAM5 general circulation model using CALIPSO and CloudSat satellite data." American Meteorological Society, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13468.
Full textAbstract:
Observations from Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and CloudSat satellites are used to evaluate clouds and precipitation in the ECHAM5 general circulation model. Active lidar and radar instruments on board CALIPSO and CloudSat allow the vertical distribution of clouds and their optical properties to be studied on a global scale. To evaluate the clouds modeled by ECHAM5 with CALIPSO and CloudSat, the lidar and radar satellite simulators of the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison
Project’s Observation Simulator Package are used. Comparison of ECHAM5 with CALIPSO and CloudSat found large-scale features resolved by the model, such as the Hadley circulation, are captured
well. The lidar simulator demonstrated ECHAM5 overestimates the amount of high-level clouds, particularly optically thin clouds. High-altitude clouds in ECHAM5 consistently produced greater lidar scattering ratios compared with CALIPSO. Consequently, the lidar signal in ECHAM5 frequently attenuated high in the atmosphere. The large scattering ratios were due to an underestimation of effective ice crystal radii in ECHAM5. Doubling the effective ice crystal radii improved the scattering ratios and frequency of attenuation.
Additionally, doubling the effective ice crystal radii improved the detection of ECHAM5’s highest-level clouds by the radar simulator, in better agreement with CloudSat. ECHAM5 was also shown to significantly underestimate midlevel clouds and (sub)tropical low-level clouds. The low-level clouds produced were consistently perceived by the lidar simulator as too optically thick. The radar simulator demonstrated ECHAM5 overestimates the frequency of precipitation, yet underestimates its intensity compared with CloudSat observations. These findings imply compensating mechanisms inECHAM5 balance out the radiative imbalance caused by incorrect optical properties of clouds and consistently large hydrometeors in the atmosphere.
12
Ritter, Oscar, Felix Lauermann, and Manfred Wendisch. "Charakterisierung der Eigenschaften von mariner Stratocumulusbewölkung über den Azoren." Universität Leipzig, 2019. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A74185.
Full textAbstract:
Auf der Azoreninsel Graciosa, etwa 1600 km westlich von Portugal, betreibt das U.S. Department of Energy eine American Radiation Measurement (ARM) Station, welche mit einer Vielzahl von Messgeräten ausgestattet ist. Durch ihre Lage im subtropischen Hochdruckgürtel eignet sich diese Station gut zur Erforschung von mariner Stratocumulusbewölkung. Für eine Klimatologie der Eigenschaften dieser Bewölkung wurden Messwerte von Radiosonden, einem Ceilometer, einem Distrometer und einem Mikrowellenradiometer aus dem Zeitraum vom 01. März
2014 bis 31. August 2018 verwendet. Daraus wurde der Tages- und Jahresgang der Wolkenhöhe und -dicke, des Flüssigwasserpfades, des Entkopplungs- und Niederschlagsverhaltens und der Inversionsstärke abgeleitet. Die Auswertung basiert auf einer Methode von Zhang et al. (2010) zur Detektion von Wolkenschichten aus Radiosondenmessungen, die für die Abgrenzung mariner Stratocumulusbewölkung von anderen Wolkenarten angepasst und anschließend mit den Messungen eines Ka-Band-Wolkenradars evaluiert wurde. Während die Parameter im Tagesgang
nur geringe Änderungen zwischen 00 UTC und 12 UTC aufwiesen, konnten im Jahresgang deutliche Variationen bei Wolkenhöhe, Niederschlagsverhalten, Entkopplung und Inversionstärke gezeigt werden. Die beobachteten Variationen wurden mit den Jahresgängen der solaren Einstrahlung, der Temperatur sowie der synoptischen Variabilität über den Azoren verglichen.The U.S. Department of Energy operates an American Radiation Measurement (ARM) station on Graciosa (Azores), an island located approximately 1600 km west of Portugal. Due to the wide variety of installed measuring devices and its location in the subtropical belt of high pressure the station is well suited for studying marine stratocumulus. To derive a climatology of the properties of these clouds, data from radiosondes, a ceilometer, a disdrometer and a microwave radiometer were used for the period from 1st March 2014 to 31st August 2018 to get the daily and annual cycle of cloud height and thickness, liquid water path, precipitation, inversion strength and the presence of decoupling. The evaluation is based on a method developed by Zhang et al. (2010) to detect cloud layers from moisture profiles in the sounding data. The method was adapted for the distinction between marine stratocumulus and other cloud types. For the evaluation of the method data from a Ka-band cloud radar were used. While only minor changes occurred in the daily variability of the properties, a clear annual cycle was observed for cloud height, precipitation, inversion strength and decoupling of the stratocumulus. The observed variations were compared with the annual cycles of solar irradiance, temperature and the synoptic patterns over the Azores.
13
Schäfer, Michael, Eike Bierwirth, André Ehrlich, Evi Jäkel, and Manfred Wendisch. "Three-dimensional radiative effects in Arctic boundary layer clouds above ice edges." Universität Leipzig, 2015. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A16651.
Full textAbstract:
Based on airborne spectral imaging observations, three-dimensional (3-D) radiative effects between Arctic boundary layer clouds and highly variable Arctic surfaces have been identified and quantified. A method is presented to discriminate sea ice and open water in cloudy conditions based on airborne upward radiance measurements in the visible spectral range. This separation simultaneously reveals that the transition of radiance between open water and sea ice is not instantaneous in cloudy conditions but horizontally smoothed. In general, clouds reduce the nadir radiance above bright surfaces in the vicinity of open water, while the nadir radiance above open sea is enhanced compared to situations with clouds located above sea ice surfaces. With the help of the observations and 3-D radiative transfer simulations, this effect was
quantified. This affected distance deltaL was found to depend on both cloud and sea ice properties. For a low level cloud at 0-200 m altitude, as observed during the Arctic field campaign Vertical Distribution of Ice in Arctic Clouds (VERDI) in 2012, an increase of the cloud optical thickness from tau = 1 to tau = 10 leads to a decrease of deltaL from 600 to 250 m. An increase in cloud base altitude or cloud geometrical thickness results in an increase of deltaL. Furthermore, the impact of these 3-D-radiative effects on a retrieval of cloud optical properties was investigated. The enhanced brightness of a dark pixel next to an ice edge results in uncertainties of up to 90 % in retrievals of tau and up to 30 % in retrievals of the effective radius reff. With the help of detlaL quantified here, an estimate of the distance to the ice edge is given where the retrieval uncertainties due to 3D-effects are negligible.Mit Hilfe flugzeuggetragener abbildender spektraler Beobachtungen wurden 3-D Strahlungseffekte zwischen arktischen Grenzschichtwolken sowie der hochvariablen arktischen Bodenoberfläche identifiziert und quantifiziert. Eine Methode zur Differenzierung von Meereis und offener Wasserflächen, auf Grundlage flugzeuggetragener Messungen der aufwärtsgerichteten Strahldichte im sichtbaren Spektralbereich, während bewölkter Bedingungen wird vorgestellt. Diese Differenzierung zeigt gleichzeitig auf, dass die Strahldichtereduzierung beim Übergang vom Meereis zu den offenen Wasserflächen nicht unmittelbar erfolgt, sondern horizontal geglättet ist. Allgemein verringern Wolken in der Umgebung von Eiskanten die Nadir-Strahldichte über den hellen Eisflächen und erhöhen sie über dunklen Meeresoberflächen. Mit Hilfe von 3-D Strahlungstransferrechnungen wurde dieser Effekt quantifiziert. Die Reichweite dieses Effektes wird sowohl von den Wolken- als auch den Oberflächeneigenschaften beeinflusst. Für eine flache Wolke zwischen 0 und 200 m, so wie sie während der arktischen Feldkampagne Vertical Distribution of Ice in Arctic Clouds (VERDI), 2012 beobachtet werden konnte, führt eine Erhöhung der wolkenoptischen Dicke von tau = 1 zu tau = 10 zu einer Verringerung in deltaL von 600 zu 250 m. Zudem führt eine Erhöhung der Wolkenhöhe und ihrer geometrischen Dicke zu einer Zunahme von deltaL. Anschließend wurde der Einfluss dieser 3-D Strahlungseffekte auf die Ableitungsergebnisse von tau untersucht. Die Aufhellung eines dunkleren Pixels neben der Eiskante führt zu Unsicherheiten von bis zu 90 % bei der Ableitung von . Beim effektiven Radius zu bis zu 30 %. DeltaL ist ein Maß mit Hilfe dessen die Entfernung zur Eiskante bestimmt werden kann, ab welcher die Unsicherheiten bezüglich der 3-D Effekte vernachlässigt werden können.
14
Thomas, Anita. "Classification of Man-made Urban Structures from Lidar Point Clouds with Applications to Extrusion-based 3-D City Models." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429484410.
Full text
15
Lauermann, Felix, Fanny Finger, André Ehrlich, and Manfred Wendisch. "Analysis of Water Content Profiles in Arctic Mixed-Phase Clouds during VERDI." Universität Leipzig, 2016. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A16700.
Full textAbstract:
Airborne measurements of liquid water content (LWC) and ice water content (IWC) were performed in mixed-phase clouds during the field campaign VERDI in Canada in April and May 2012. In single-layer and multi-layer clouds different vertical profiles of LWC and IWC could be observed. For single layer clouds the maximum LWC occurred in the upper half of the clouds while the IWC had a maximum near the cloud base. This pattern was attributed to the sedimentation of ice particles. In the lowest cloud layer of a multi-layer system both LWC and IWC reached a maximum near cloud top. Together with measured particles size distributions this suggests the presence of the seeder-feeder-process described by Fleishauer et al. (2012) for mid-level clouds.Im Rahmen der VERDI-Kampagne im April und Mai 2012 in Kanada wurden flugzeuggetragene Messungen von Flüssigwassergehalt (LWC) und Eiswassergehalt (IWC) durchgeführt. Für Einschicht- und Mehrschichtwolkensysteme konnten unterschiedliche Vertikalprofile von LWC und IWC nachgewiesen werden. In Einschichtsystemen wurden die größten Flüssigwassergehalte in der oberen Wolkenhälfte und die größten Eiswassergehalte nahe der Wolkenunterkante gemessen. Diese Verteilung wurde auf die Sedimentation von Eispartikeln zurückgeführt. In der untersten Wolkenschicht eines Mehrschichtsystems befanden sich die Maxima von LWC und IWC nahe der Wolkenoberkante. Diese Beobachtung deutet zusammen mit gemessenen Partikelgrößenverteilungen auf das Vorhandensein des Seeder-Feeder- Prozesses hin, welcher von Fleishauer et al. (2012) für mittelhohe Wolken beschrieben wurde.
16
Nam, Christine C. W., and Johannes Quaas. "Geographically versus dynamically defined boundary layer cloud regimes and their use to evaluate general circulation model cloud parameterizations: Geographically versus dynamically defined boundary layer cloudregimes and their use to evaluate general circulation model cloud parameterizations." American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2013. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13460.
Full textAbstract:
Regimes of tropical low-level clouds are commonly identified according to large-scale subsidence and lower tropospheric
stability (LTS). This definition alone is insufficient for the distinction between regimes and limits the comparison of low-level clouds from CloudSat radar observations and the ECHAM5 GCM run with the COSP radar simulator. Comparisons of CloudSat radar cloud altitude-reflectivity histograms for stratocumulus and shallow cumulus regimes,
as defined above, show nearly identical reflectivity profiles,
because the distinction between the two regimes is dependent
upon atmospheric stability below 700 hPa and observations above 1.5 km. Regional subsets, near California and Hawaii, for example, have large differences in reflectivity profiles than the dynamically defined domain; indicating different reflectivity profiles exist under a given
large-scale environment. Regional subsets are better for the
evaluation of low-level clouds in CloudSat and ECHAM5 as there is less contamination between 2.5 km and 7.5 km from precipitating hydrometeors which obscured cloud reflectivities.
17
Arvidsson, Simon, and Marcus Gullstrand. "Predicting forest strata from point clouds using geometric deep learning." Thesis, Jönköping University, JTH, Avdelningen för datavetenskap, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-54155.
Full textAbstract:
Introduction: Number of strata (NoS) is an informative descriptor of forest structure and is therefore useful in forest management. Collection of NoS as well as other forest properties is performed by fieldworkers and could benefit from automation. Objectives: This study investigates automated prediction of NoS from airborne laser scanned point clouds over Swedish forest plots.Methods: A previously suggested approach of using vertical gap probability is compared through experimentation against the geometric neural network PointNet++ configured for ordinal prediction. For both approaches, the mean accuracy is measured for three datasets: coniferous forest, deciduous forest, and a combination of all forests. Results: PointNet++ displayed a better point performance for two out of three datasets, attaining a top mean accuracy of 46.2%. However only the coniferous subset displayed a statistically significant superiority for PointNet++. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential of geometric neural networks for data mining of forest properties. The results show that impediments in the data may need to be addressed for further improvements.
18
Fernandes, maligo Artur otavio. "Unsupervised Gaussian mixture models for the classification of outdoor environments using 3D terrestrial lidar data." Thesis, Toulouse, INSA, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016ISAT0053/document.
Full textAbstract:
Le traitement de nuages de points 3D de lidars permet aux robots mobiles autonomes terrestres de construire des modèles sémantiques de l'environnement extérieur dans lequel ils évoluent. Ces modèles sont intéressants car ils représentent des informations qualitatives, et ainsi donnent à un robot la capacité de raisonner à un niveau plus élevé d'abstraction. Le coeur d'un système de modélisation sémantique est la capacité de classifier les observations venant du capteur. Nous proposons un système de classification centré sur l'apprentissage non-supervisé. La prémière couche, la couche intermédiaire, consiste en un modèle de mélange gaussien. Ce modèle est déterminé de manière non-supervisée lors d'une étape de training. Il definit un ensemble de classes intermédiaires qui correspond à une partition fine des classes présentes dans l'environnement. La deuxième couche, la couche finale, consiste en un regroupement des classes intermédiaires dans un ensemble de classes finales qui, elles, sont interprétables dans le contexte de la tâche ciblée. Le regroupement est déterminé par un expert lors de l'étape de training, de manière supervisée, mais guidée par les classes intermédiaires. L'évaluation est basée sur deux jeux de données acquis avec de différents lidars et possédant différentes caractéristiques. L'évaluation est quantitative pour l'un des jeux de données, et qualitative pour l'autre. La concéption du système utilise la procédure standard de l'apprentissage, basée sur les étapes de training, validation et test. L'opération suit la pipeline standard de classification. Le système est simple, et ne requiert aucun pré-traitement ou post-traitementThe processing of 3D lidar point clouds enable terrestrial autonomous mobile robots to build semantic models of the outdoor environments in which they operate. Such models are interesting because they encode qualitative information, and thus provide to a robot the ability to reason at a higher level of abstraction. At the core of a semantic modelling system, lies the capacity to classify the sensor observations. We propose a two-layer classi- fication model which strongly relies on unsupervised learning. The first, intermediary layer consists of a Gaussian mixture model. This model is determined in a training step in an unsupervised manner, and defines a set of intermediary classes which is a fine-partitioned representation of the environment. The second, final layer consists of a grouping of the intermediary classes into final classes that are interpretable in a considered target task. This grouping is determined by an expert during the training step, in a process which is supervised, yet guided by the intermediary classes. The evaluation is done for two datasets acquired with different lidars and possessing different characteristics. It is done quantitatively using one of the datasets, and qualitatively using another. The system is designed following the standard learning procedure, based on a training, a validation and a test steps. The operation follows a standard classification pipeline. The system is simple, with no requirement of pre-processing or post-processing stages
19
Weber, Torsten, and Johannes Quaas. "Incorporating the subgrid-scale variability of clouds in the autoconversion parameterization using a PDF-scheme." American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13851.
Full textAbstract:
An investigation of the impact of the subgrid-scale variability of cloud liquid water on the autoconversion process as parameterized in a general circulation model is presented in this paper. For this purpose, a prognostic statistical probability density distribution (PDF) of the subgrid scale variability of cloud water is incorporated in a continuous autoconversion parameterization. Thus, the revised autoconversion rate is calculated by an integral of the autoconversion equation over the PDF of total water
mixing ratio from the saturation vapor mixing ratio to the maximum of total water mixing ratio. An evaluation of the new autoconversion parameterization is carried out by means of one year simulations with the ECHAM5 climate model. The results indicate that the new autoconversion scheme causes an increase of the frequency of occurrence of high autoconversion rates and a decrease of low ones compared to the
original scheme. This expected result is due to the emphasis on areas of high cloud liquid water in the new approach, and the non-linearity of the autoconversion with respect to liquid water mixing ratio. A similar trend as in the autoconversion is observed in the accretion process resulting from the coupling of both processes. As a consequence of the altered autoconversion, large-scale surface precipitation also shows a shift of occurrence from lower to higher rates. The vertically integrated cloud
liquid water estimated by the model shows slight improvements compared to satellite data. Most importantly, the artificial tuning factor for autoconversion in the continuous parameterization could be reduced by almost an order of magnitude using the revised parameterization.
20
Peters, Karsten, Johannes Quaas, and Helmut Graßl. "A search for large-scale effects of ship emissions on clouds and radiation in satellite data." Wiley, 2011. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13452.
Full textAbstract:
Ship tracks are regarded as the most obvious manifestations of the effect of anthropogenic aerosol particles on clouds (indirect effect). However, it is not yet fully quantified whether there are climatically relevant effects on large scales beyond the narrow ship tracks visible in selected satellite images. A combination of satellite and reanalysis
data is used here to analyze regions in which major shipping lanes cut through otherwise pristine marine environments in subtropical and tropical oceans. We expect the region downwind of a shipping lane is affected by the aerosol produced by shipping emissions but not the one upwind. Thus, differences in microphysical and macrophysical cloud properties are analyzed statistically. We investigate microphysical and macrophysical cloud properties as well as the aerosol optical depth and its fine-mode fraction for the years
2005–2007 as provided for by retrievals of the two Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instruments. Water-cloud properties include cloud optical depth, cloud droplet effective radius, cloud top temperature, and cloud top pressure. Large-scale
meteorological parameters are taken from ERA-Interim reanalysis data and microwave remote sensing (sea surface temperature). We analyze the regions of interest in a Eulerian and Lagrangian sense, i.e., sampling along shipping lanes and sampling along wind
trajectories, respectively. No statistically significant impacts of shipping emissions on large-scale cloud fields could be found in any of the selected regions close to major shipping lanes. In conclusion, the net indirect effects of aerosols from ship emissions are not large enough to be distinguishable from the natural dynamics controlling cloud presence and formation.
21
Zygmuntowska, Marta, Thorsten Mauritsen, Johannes Quaas, and Lars Kaleschke. "Arctic clouds and surface radiation: a critical comparison of satellite retrievals and the ERA-Interim reanalysis." Atmospheric chemistry and physics (2012) 12, S. 6667-6677, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13793.
Full textAbstract:
Clouds regulate the Earth’s radiation budget, both by reflecting part of the incoming sunlight leading to cooling and by absorbing and emitting infrared radiation which tends to have a warming effect. Globally averaged, at the top of the atmosphere the cloud radiative effect is to cool the climate, while at the Arctic surface, clouds are thought to be warming. Here we compare a passive instrument, the AVHRR-based
retrieval from CM-SAF, with recently launched active instruments
onboard CloudSat and CALIPSO and the widely used ERA-Interim reanalysis. We find that in particular in winter months the three data sets differ significantly. While passive satellite instruments have serious difficulties, detecting only half the cloudiness of the modeled clouds in the reanalysis, the active instruments are in between. In summer, the
two satellite products agree having monthly means of 70–80 percent, but the reanalysis are approximately ten percent higher. The monthly mean long- and shortwave components of the surface cloud radiative effect obtained from the ERAInterim reanalysis are about twice that calculated on the basis of CloudSat’s radar-only retrievals, while ground based measurements from SHEBA are in between. We discuss these
differences in terms of instrument-, retrieval- and reanalysis
characteristics, which differ substantially between the analyzed
datasets.
22
Gimeno, García Sebastián, and Thomas Trautmann. "Radiative transfer modelling in inhomogeneous clouds by means of the Monte Carlo Method." Universität Leipzig, 2003. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A15234.
Full textAbstract:
The Monte Carlo (MC) method is an effective approach to simulate the radiative transfer in an inhomogeneous cloudy atmosphere. It is based on the direct physical simulation of the extinction processes that solar and thermal photons incur when traveling through the atmosphere. A detailed description of the MC method is presented in the second chapter. A new three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer model, based on a pre-existing model (Trautmann et al. [1999]), has been developed. Some outstanding characteristics of this model are discussed in chapter 3. Several simulations of reflectances, transmittances, absorptances and horizontal flux densities have been performed, the results of which have been compared with worldwide accepted codes (chapter 4). The two cases selected for the radiative transfer computations were taken from the Intercomparison of 3D Radiative Codes (I3RC) project: an ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurements) reconstructed cloud and a 3D marine boundary layer cloudDie Monte Carlo (MC) Methode ist ein effektives Verfahren, um den Strahlungstransport in einer inhomogenen bewölkten Atmosphäre zu simulieren. Es begründet sich auf der direkten Simulation der Extinktionsprozesse eines solaren oder thermischen Photons auf seinem Weg durch die Atmosphäre. Eine detallierte Beschreibung der MC Methode erfolgt in Kapitel 2. In Kapitel 3 wird ein neues dreidimensionales MC-Strahlungstranportmodell vorgestellt, das, aufbauend auf einem schon bestehenden Modell (Trautmann et al. [1999]), entwickelt wurde. Mehrere Simulationen von Reflektanzen, Transmittanzen, Absorptanzen und Strahlungsflussdichten für zwei Fälle des \'Intercomparison of 3D radiative Codes\' projektes, nämlich eine ARM rekonstruierte Wolke und eine 3D marine Grenzschichwolke, wurden durchgeführt, und mit den Ergebnissen anderer weltweit akzeptierten Codes verglichen.
23
Nam, Christine C. W., Johannes Quaas, Roel Neggers, Drian Colombe Siegenthaler-Le, and Francesco Isotta. "Evaluation of boundary layer cloud parameterizations in the ECHAM5 general circulation model using CALIPSO and CloudSat satellite data." American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2014. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13458.
Full textAbstract:
Three different boundary layer cloud models are incorporated into the ECHAM5 general circulation model (GCM) and compared to CloudSat and CALIPSO satellite observations. The first boundary layer model builds upon the standard Tiedtke (1989) parameterization for shallow convection with an adapted convective trigger; the second is a bulk parameterization of the effects of transient shallow cumulus clouds;
and lastly the Dual Mass Flux (DMF) scheme adjusted to better represent shallow convection. The three schemes improved (Sub)Tropical oceanic low-level cloud cover, however, the fraction of low-level cloud cover remains underestimated compared to CALIPSO observations. The representation of precipitation was improved by all schemes as they reduced the frequency of light intensity events <0.01 mm d-1, which were found to dominate the radar reflectivity histograms as well as be the greatest source of differences
between ECHAM5 and CloudSat radar reflectivity histograms. For both lidar and radar diagnostics, the differences amongst the schemes are smaller than the differences compared to observations. While the DMF
approach remains experimental, as its top-of-atmosphere radiative balance has not been retuned, it shows the most promise in producing nonprecipitating boundary layer clouds. With its internally consistent
boundary layer scheme that uses the same bimodal joint distribution with a diffusive and an updraft component for clouds and turbulent transport, the ECHAM5_DMF produces the most realistic boundary layer depth as indicated by the cloud field. In addition, it reduced the frequency of large-scale precipitation intensities of <0.01 mm d-1 the greatest.
24
Rennó, Nilton O., Earle Williams, Daniel Rosenfeld, David G. Fischer, Jürgen Fischer, Tibor Kremic, Arun Agrawal, et al. "CHASER: an innovative satellite mission concept to measure the effects of aerosols on clouds and climate." American Meteorological Society, 2013. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13464.
Full textAbstract:
The formation of cloud droplets on aerosol particles, technically known as the activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), is the fundamental process driving the interactions of aerosols with clouds and precipitation. Knowledge of these interactions is foundational to our understanding of weather and climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Decadal Survey
(NRC 2007) indicate that the uncertainty in how clouds adjust to aerosol perturbations dominates the uncertainty in the overall quantification of the radiative forcing attributable to human activities.
The Clouds, Hazards, and Aerosols Survey for Earth Researchers (CHASER) satellite mission concept responds to the IPCC and Decadal Survey concerns by studying the activation of CCN and their interactions with clouds and storms. The CHASER satellite mission was developed to remotely sense quantities necessary for determining
the interactions of aerosols with clouds and storms. The links between the Decadal Survey recommendations and the CHASER goals, science objectives, measurements, and instruments are described in
Table 1. Measurements by current satellites allow a rough determination of profiles of cloud particle size but not of the activated CCN that seed them. CHASER will use an innovative technique (Freud et al. 2011; Freud and Rosenfeld 2012; Rosenfeld et al. 2012) and
high-heritage (flown in a previous spaceflight mission) instruments to produce satellite-based remotely sensed observations of activated CCN and the properties of the clouds associated with them. CHASER will estimate updraft velocities at cloud base to calculate
the number density of activated CCN as a function of the water vapor supersaturation. CHASER will determine the CCN concentration and cloud thermodynamic forcing (i.e., forcing caused by changes
in the temperature and humidity of the boundary layer air) simultaneously, allowing their effects to be distinguished. Changes in the behavior of a group of weather systems in which only one of the quantities varies (a partial derivative of the intensity of the
weather system with respect to the desirable quantity) will allow the determination of each effect statistically.
25
Rosenfeld, Daniel, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ari Asmi, Mian Chin, Leeuw Gerrit de, David P. Donovan, Ralph Kahn, et al. "Global observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate interactions: Global observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climateinteractions." American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2014. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13459.
Full textAbstract:
Cloud drop condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN) particles determine to a large extent cloud microstructure and, consequently, cloud albedo and the dynamic response of clouds to aerosol-induced
changes to precipitation. This can modify the reflected solar radiation and the thermal radiation emitted to space. Measurements of tropospheric CCN and IN over large areas have not been possible and can be only roughly approximated from satellite-sensor-based estimates of optical properties of aerosols. Our lack of ability to
measure both CCN and cloud updrafts precludes disentangling the effects ofmeteorology fromthose of aerosols and represents the largest component in our uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing.Ways to improve the retrieval accuracy include multiangle and multipolarimetric passive measurements of the optical signal and
multispectral lidar polarimetric measurements. Indirect methods include proxies of trace gases, as retrieved by hyperspectral sensors. Perhaps the most promising emerging direction is retrieving the CCN properties by simultaneously retrieving convective cloud drop number concentrations and updraft speeds, which amounts to using clouds as natural CCN chambers. These satellite observations have to be constrained by in situ observations of aerosol-cloud-precipitation-climate (ACPC) interactions, which in turn constrain a hierarchy of model simulations of ACPC. Since the essence of a general circulation model is an accurate quantification of the energy and mass fluxes in all forms between the surface, atmosphere and outer space, a route to progress is proposed here in the form of a series of box flux closure experiments in the various climate regimes. A roadmap is provided for quantifying the ACPC interactions and thereby reducing the uncertainty in anthropogenic climate forcing.
26
Grützun, Verena, Johannes Quaas, Cyril J. Morcrette, and Felix Ament. "Evaluating statistical cloud schemes: what can we gain from ground-based remote sensing?" Wiley, 2013. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13450.
Full textAbstract:
Statistical cloud schemes with prognostic probability distribution functions have become more important in atmospheric modeling, especially since they are in principle scale adaptive and capture cloud physics in more detail. While in theory the schemes have a great potential, their accuracy is still questionable. High-resolution
three-dimensional observational data of water vapor and cloud water, which could be used for testing them, are missing. We explore the potential of ground-based remote sensing such as lidar, microwave, and radar to evaluate prognostic distribution moments using the “perfect model approach.” This means that we employ a high-resolution weather model as virtual reality and retrieve full three-dimensional atmospheric quantities and virtual ground-based observations. We then use statistics from the virtual observation to validate the modeled 3-D statistics. Since the data are entirely consistent, any discrepancy occurring is due to the method. Focusing on total water mixing ratio, we find that the mean ratio can be evaluated decently but that it strongly depends on the meteorological conditions as to whether the variance and skewness are reliable. Using
some simple schematic description of different synoptic conditions, we show how statistics obtained from point or line measurements can be poor at representing the full three-dimensional distribution of water in the atmosphere. We argue that a careful analysis of measurement data and detailed knowledge of the meteorological situation is
necessary to judge whether we can use the data for an evaluation of higher moments of the humidity distribution used by a statistical cloud scheme.
27
Kazil, Jan, Philip Stier, Kai Zhang, Johannes Quaas, Stefan Kinne, D. O''Donnell, Sebastian Rast, et al. "Aerosol nucleation and its role for clouds and Earth’s radiative forcing in the aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM." Copernicus Publication, 2010. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13791.
Full textAbstract:
Nucleation from the gas phase is an important source of aerosol particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to the number of cloud condensation nuclei, which form cloud droplets. We have implemented in the aerosolclimate model ECHAM5-HAM a new scheme for neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid and water based on laboratory data, and nucleation of an organic compound and sulfuric acid using a parametrization of cluster activation based on field measurements. We give details of the implementation, compare results with observations, and investigate the role of the individual aerosol nucleation mechanisms
for clouds and the Earth’s radiative forcing. The results of our simulations are most consistent with observations when neutral and charged nucleation of sulfuric acid proceed throughout the troposphere and nucleation due to cluster activation is limited to the forested boundary layer. The globally averaged annual mean contributions of the individual
nucleation processes to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation
via the direct, semi-direct, indirect cloud-albedo and cloud-lifetime effects in our simulations are −1.15 W/m2 for charged H2SO4/H2O nucleation, −0.235 W/m2 for cluster activation, and −0.05 W/m2 for neutral H2SO4/H2O nucleation. The overall effect of nucleation is −2.55 W/m2, which exceeds the sum of the individual terms due to feedbacks
and interactions in the model. Aerosol nucleation contributes over the oceans with −2.18 W/m2 to total absorbed solar short-wave radiation, compared to −0.37 W/m2 over land.
We explain the higher effect of aerosol nucleation on Earth’s radiative forcing over the oceans with the larger area covered by ocean clouds, due to the larger contrast in albedo between clouds and the ocean surface compared to continents, and the larger susceptibility of pristine clouds owing to the saturation of effects. The large effect of charged nucleation in our simulations is not in contradiction with small effects seen in local measurements: over southern Finland, where cluster activation
proceeds efficiently, we find that charged nucleation of sulfuric acid and water contributes on average less than 10% to ultrafine aerosol concentrations, in good agreement with observations.
28
Quaas, Johannes, Sandrine Bony, William D. Collins, Leo Donner, Anthony Illingworth, Andy Jones, Ulrike Lohmann, et al. "Current understanding and quantification of clouds in the changing climate system and strategies for reducing critical uncertainties." MIT Press, 2009. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A14124.
Full textAbstract:
To date, no observation-based proxy for climate change has been successful in quantifying the feedbacks between clouds and climate. The most promising, yet demanding, avenue to gain confi dence in cloud–climate feedback estimates is to utilize observations and large-eddy simulations (LES) or cloud-resolving modeling (CRM) to improve cloud process parameterizations in large-scale models. Sustained and improved satellite observations are essential to evaluate large-scale models. A reanalysis of numerical prediction models with assimilation of cloud, aerosol, and precipitation observations would provide a valuable dataset for examining cloud interactions. The link between climate modeling and numerical weather prediction (NWP) may be exploited by evaluating
how accurate cloud characteristics are represented by the parameterization schemes in NWP models. A systematic simplifi cation of large-scale models is an important avenue to isolate key processes linked to cloud–climate feedbacks and would guide the formulation of testable hypotheses for fi eld studies. Analyses of observation-derived correlations between cloud and aerosol properties in combination with modeling studies may allow aerosol–cloud interactions to be detected and quantifi ed. Reliable representations of cloud dynamic and physical processes
in large-scale models are a prerequisite to assess aerosol indirect effects on a large scale with confi dence. To include aerosol indirect effects in a consistent manner, we recommend that a “radiative fl ux perturbation” approach be considered as a complement to radiative forcing.
29
Schneider, Nadine, Johannes Quaas, Martin Claussen, and Christian Reick. "Satellite-based analysis of clouds and radiation properties of different vegetation types in the Brazilian Amazon region." American Institute of Physics, 2013. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A12942.
Full textAbstract:
Land-use changes impact the energy balance of the Earth system, and feedbacks in the Earth system can dampen or amplify this perturbation. We analyze here from satellite data the response of clouds and subsequently radiation to a change of land use for the example of deforestation in the Amazon Basin. In this region, the characteristics
of different cloud types over two vegetation types (forest and crop-/grasslands) were calculated for a time period of five
years by using satellite data from the instruments MODIS and CERES. The cloud types are defined according to height, optical thickness, and fraction of cloud cover. For calculating the radiative forcing caused by deforestation, the dependency of spatial and temporal averages for the reflected shortwave and outgoing longwave radiation of the top of
the atmosphere on vegetation types were determined as well. The results show distinct differences in cloud cover and radiative forcing over crop-/grasslands and forests for the two vegetation regimes, implying a potentially significant positive cloud feedback to deforestation.
30
Devasthale, Abhay, Karl-Göran Karlsson, Johannes Quaas, and Hartmut Graßl. "Correcting orbital drift signal in the time series of AVHRR derived convective cloud fraction using rotated empirical orthogonal function: Correcting orbital drift signal in the time series of AVHRR derivedconvective cloud fraction using rotated empirical orthogonal function." Copernicus Publications, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13465.
Full textAbstract:
The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instruments onboard the series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites offer the longest available meteorological data records from space. These satellites have drifted in orbit resulting in shifts in the local time sampling during the life span of the sensors onboard. Depending upon the amplitude of the diurnal cycle of the geophysical parameters derived, orbital drift
may cause spurious trends in their time series. We investigate
tropical deep convective clouds, which show pronounced diurnal
cycle amplitude, to estimate an upper bound of the impact of orbital drift on their time series. We carry out a rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis (REOF) and show that the REOFs are useful in delineating orbital drift signal and, more importantly, in subtracting this signal in the time series of convective cloud amount. These results will help facilitate the derivation of homogenized data series of
cloud amount from NOAA satellite sensors and ultimately
analyzing trends from them. However, we suggest detailed
comparison of various methods and rigorous testing thereof
applying final orbital drift corrections.
31
Sanchez-Lorenzo, Arturo, Patrick Laux, Harrie-Jan Hendricks-Franssen, Josep Calbo, Stefanie Vogl, Aristeidis Georgoulias, and Johannes Quaas. "Assessing large-scale weekly cycles in meteorological variables." Copernicus Publication, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13746.
Full textAbstract:
Several studies have claimed to have found significant weekly cycles of meteorological variables appearing over large domains, which can hardly be related to urban effects exclusively. Nevertheless, there is still an ongoing scientific debate whether these large-scale weekly cycles exist
or not, and some other studies fail to reproduce them with statistical significance. In addition to the lack of the positive proof for the existence of these cycles, their possible physical explanations have been controversially discussed during the last years. In this work we review the main results about this topic published during the recent two decades, including a summary of the existence or non-existence of significant
weekly weather cycles across different regions of the world, mainly over the US, Europe and Asia. In addition, some shortcomings of common statistical methods for analyzing weekly cycles are listed. Finally, a brief summary of supposed causes of the weekly cycles, focusing on the
aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions and their impact on meteorological
variables as a result of the weekly cycles of anthropogenic activities, and possible directions for future research, is presented.
32
Mölders, Nicole. "On the influence of the geostrophic wind direction on the atmospheric response to landuse changes." Universität Leipzig, 1998. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A15076.
Full textAbstract:
Simulations alternatively assuming a landscape with and without urbanization plus open-cast mining were performed with a non-hydrostatic model. lt is examined whether the atmospheric response to landuse changes is sensitive to the direction of the geostrophic wind. The results of simulations with the same geostrophic wind direction show that except for the cloud and precipitating particles the daily domain-averages of the variables of state hardly differ for the
different landscapes. Nevertheless, the local weather may be affected appreciably over and downwind of the altered surfaces. The significant differences in the cloud and precipitating particles, however, are not bound to the environs of the landuse changes. Generally, the most significant differences occur for the cloud and precipitation particles, the soil wetness factors and the vertical component of the wind vector. The latter changes strongly influence the cloud and precipitation formation by the interaction cloud microphysics-dynamics. The results also indicate that for most of the quantities the local magnitude of the atmospheric response changes for the various directions of the geostrophic wind. However, the differences of the domain-averaged 24h-accumulated evapotranspiration are similar for all geostrophic wind
directions.Um zu untersuchen, ob die atmosphärische Antwort auf Landnutzungsänderungen sensitiv zur Richtung des geostrophischen Windes ist, wurden Simulationen durchgeführt, bei denen alternativ eine Landschaft mit und ohne Urbanisierung plus Tagebauten angenommen wurde. Die Simulationsergebnisse zeigen, daß - außer für Wolken- und Niederschlagspartikel - die täglichen Gebietsmittelwerte der Zustandsvariablen sich kaum für die beiden Landschaften unterscheiden. Trotzdem kann das lokale Wetter merklich über und im Lee der Oberflächen mit veränderter Landnutzung beeinflußt werden. Die signifikanten Differenzen in den Wolken- und Niederschlagspartikeln sind jedoch nicht an die unmittelbare Nähe der Landnutzungsänderungen gebunden. Generell treten die signifikanten Unterschiede bei den Wolkenund Niederschlagspartikeln, der Bodenfeuchte und der Vertikalkomponente des Windvektors auf. Letztere beeinflussen stark die Wolken- und Niederschlagsbildung durch die Wechselwirkung Wolkenmikrophysik-Dynamik. Die Ergebnisse zeigen außerdem, daß lokal der Grad der atmosphärischen Reaktion für die meisten Größen bei unterschiedlicher Richtung des geostrophischen Windes anders ausfällt. Die Differenzen der Gebietsmittelwerte der 24h-akkumulierten Evapotranspiration gleichen sich jedoch für alle Richtungen des geostrophischen Windes.
33
Quaas, Johannes. "Evaluating the “critical relative humidity” as a measure of subgrid-scale variability of humidity in general circulation model cloud cover parameterizations using satellite data." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2015. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-177265.
Full textAbstract:
A simple way to diagnose fractional cloud cover in general circulation models is to relate it to the simulated relative humidity, and allowing for fractional cloud cover above a “critical relative humidity” of less than 100%. In the formulation chosen here, this is equivalent to assuming a uniform “top-hat” distribution of subgrid-scale total water content with a variance related to saturation. Critical relative humidity has frequently been treated as a “tunable” constant, yet it is an observable. Here, this parameter, and its spatial distribution, is examined from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite retrievals, and from a combination of relative humidity from the ECMWF Re-Analyses (ERA-Interim) and cloud fraction obtained from CALIPSO lidar satellite data. These observational data are used to evaluate results from different simulations with the ECHAM general circulation model (GCM). In sensitivity studies, a cloud feedback parameter is analyzed from simulations applying the original parameter choice, and applying parameter choices guided by the satellite data. Model sensitivity studies applying parameters adjusted to match the observations show larger positive cloud-climate feedbacks, increasing by up to 30% compared to the standard simulation.
34
Serra, Sabina. "Deep Learning for Semantic Segmentation of 3D Point Clouds from an Airborne LiDAR." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Datorseende, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-168367.
Full textAbstract:
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors have many different application areas, from revealing archaeological structures to aiding navigation of vehicles. However, it is challenging to interpret and fully use the vast amount of unstructured data that LiDARs collect. Automatic classification of LiDAR data would ease the utilization, whether it is for examining structures or aiding vehicles. In recent years, there have been many advances in deep learning for semantic segmentation of automotive LiDAR data, but there is less research on aerial LiDAR data. This thesis investigates the current state-of-the-art deep learning architectures, and how well they perform on LiDAR data acquired by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). It also investigates different training techniques for class imbalanced and limited datasets, which are common challenges for semantic segmentation networks. Lastly, this thesis investigates if pre-training can improve the performance of the models. The LiDAR scans were first projected to range images and then a fully convolutional semantic segmentation network was used. Three different training techniques were evaluated: weighted sampling, data augmentation, and grouping of classes. No improvement was observed by the weighted sampling, neither did grouping of classes have a substantial effect on the performance. Pre-training on the large public dataset SemanticKITTI resulted in a small performance improvement, but the data augmentation seemed to have the largest positive impact. The mIoU of the best model, which was trained with data augmentation, was 63.7% and it performed very well on the classes Ground, Vegetation, and Vehicle. The other classes in the UAV dataset, Person and Structure, had very little data and were challenging for most models to classify correctly. In general, the models trained on UAV data performed similarly as the state-of-the-art models trained on automotive data.
35
Quaas, Johannes, Jean-Louis Dufresne, Olivier Boucher, and Treut Hervé Le. "Impacts of greenhouse gases and aerosol direct and indirect effects on clouds and radiation in atmospheric GCM simulations of the 1930-1989 period." Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, 2004. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13985.
Full textAbstract:
Among anthropogenic perturbations of the Earth\''s atmosphere, greenhouse gases and aerosols are considered to have a major impact on the energy budget through their impact on radiative fluxes. We use three ensembles of simulations with the LMDZ general circulation model to investigate the radiative impacts of five species of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, CFC-11 and CFC-12) and sulfate aerosols for the period 1930-1989. Since our focus is on the atmospheric changes in clouds and radiation from greenhouse gases and aerosols, we prescribed sea surface temperatures in these simulations. Besides the direct impact on radiation through the greenhouse effect and scattering of sunlight by aerosols, strong radiative impacts of both perturbations through changes
in cloudiness are analysed. The increase in greenhouse gas concentration leads to a reduction of clouds at all atmospheric levels, thus decreasing the total greenhouse effect in the longwave spectrum and increasing absorption of solar radiation by reduction of cloud albedo. Increasing
anthropogenic aerosol burden results in a decrease in high-level cloud cover through a cooling of the atmosphere, and an increase in the low-level cloud cover through the second aerosol indirect effect. The trend in low-level cloud lifetime due to aerosols is quantified to 0.5 min day-1 decade-1 for the simulation period. The different changes in high (decrease) and low-level (increase) cloudiness due to the response of cloud processes to aerosols impact shortwave radiation in a contrariwise manner, and the net effect is slightly positive. The total aerosol effect including also the aerosol direct and first indirect effects remains strongly negative.
36
Mülmenstädt, Johannes, Odran Sourdeval, Julien Delanoë, and Johannes Quaas. "Frequency of occurrence of rain from liquid-, mixed-, and ice-phase clouds derived from A-Train satellite retrievals." Geophysical research letters (2015), 42, S. 6502-6509, 2015. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A14690.
Full textAbstract:
A climatology of thermodynamic phase of precipitating cloud is presented derived from global—land and ocean—, retrievals from Cloudsat, CALIPSO, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Like precipitation rate, precipitation frequency is dominated by warm rain, defined as
rain produced via the liquid phase only, over the tropical oceans outside the Intertropical Convergence Zone and by cold rain, produced via the ice phase, over the midlatitude oceans and continents. Warm rain is very infrequent over the continents, with significant warm rain found only in onshore flow in the tropics, and over India, China, and Indochina. Comparison of the properties of precipitating and nonprecipitating
warm clouds shows that the scarcity of warm rain over land can be explained by smaller effective radii in continental clouds that delay the onset of precipitation. The results highlight the importance of ice-phase
processes for the global hydrological cycle and may lead to an improved parameterization of precipitation in general circulation models.
37
Peters, Karsten, Johannes Quaas, and Nicolas Bellouin. "Effects of absorbing aerosols in cloudy skies: a satellite study over the Atlantic Ocean." Copernicus Publication, 2011. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A12777.
Full textAbstract:
We present a method for deriving the radiative effects of absorbing aerosols in cloudy scenes from satellite retrievals only. We use data of 2005–2007 from various passive sensors aboard satellites of the “A-Train” constellation. The study area is restricted to the tropical- and subtropical
Atlantic Ocean. To identify the dependence of the local planetary albedo in cloudy scenes on cloud liquid water path and aerosol optical depth (AOD), we perform a multiple linear regression. The OMI UV-Aerosolindex serves as an indicator for absorbing-aerosol presence. In our method, the
aerosol influences the local planetary albedo through direct-
(scattering and absorption) and indirect (Twomey) aerosol effects.
We find an increase of the local planetary albedo (LPA) with increasing AOD of mostly scattering aerosol and a decrease of the LPA with increasing AOD of mostly absorbing aerosol. These results allow us to derive the direct aerosol effect of absorbing aerosols in cloudy scenes, with the effect of cloudy-scene aerosol absorption in the tropical- and subtropical Atlantic contributing (+21.2±11.1)×10−3 Wm−2 to the
global top of the atmosphere radiative forcing.
38
Schäfer, Michael, Katharina Loewe, André Ehrlich, Corinna Hoose, and Manfred Wendisch. "Comparison of simulated and observed horizontal inhomogeneities of optical thickness of Arctic stratus." Universität Leipzig, 2019. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A74176.
Full textAbstract:
Two-dimensional horizontal fields of cloud optical thickness derived from
airborne measurements of solar spectral, reflected radiance are compared with semiidealized large eddy simulations (LESs) of Arctic stratus performed with the Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO) atmospheric model. The measurements were collected during the Vertical Distribution of Ice in Arctic Clouds (VERDI) campaign carried out in Inuvik, Canada, in April/May 2012. The input for the LESs is obtained from collocated dropsonde observations of a persistent Arctic stratus above the sea-icefree Beaufort Sea. Simulations are performed for spatial resolutions of 50 m (1.6 km by 1.6 km domain) and 100 m (6.4 km by 6.4 kmdomain). Macrophysical cloud properties, such as cloud top altitude and vertical extent, are well captured by the COSMO simulations. However, COSMO produces rather homogeneous clouds compared to the measurements, in particular for the simulations with coarser spatial resolution. For both spatial resolutions, the directional structure of the cloud inhomogeneity is well represented by the model. This study was first published by Schäfer et al., 2018.Zweidimensionale horizontale Felder optischer Dicken abgeleitet aus flugzeuggetragenen Messungen der spektralen, solaren, reflektierten Strahldichte über Arktischem Stratus werden mit teilidealisierten Large Eddy Simulationen (LES) im Atmosphärenmodel des Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO) verglichen. Die Messungen stammen von der Vertical Distribution of Ice in Arctic Clouds (VERDI) Kampagne in Inuvik, Kanada, im April/Mai 2012. Fallsonden- Beobachtungen eines beständigen arktischen Stratus über dem eisfreien Beaufort Meer bilden die LES-Eingangsdaten. Die Simulationen wurden mit räumlichen Auflösungen von 50 m (1.6 km 1.6 km Gebiet) und 100 m (6.4 km 6.4 km Gebiet) durchgeführt. Makroskopische Wolkeneigenschaften (Wolkenhöhe, -ausdehnung) wurden von COSMO erfasst. Allerdings produziert COSMO verglichen zu den Beobachtungen (besonders bei grober räumlicher Auflösung) eher homogenere Wolken. Gerichtete Strukturen der Inhomogenitäten wurden mit beiden räumlichen Auflösungen gut erfasst. Diese Studie wurde als erstes von Schäfer et al., 2018 veröffentlicht.
39
Quaas, Johannes, Olivier Boucher, and François-Marie Bréon. "Aerosol indirect effects in POLDER satellite data and the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique–Zoom (LMDZ) general circulation model." Wiley, 2004. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13454.
Full textAbstract:
The POLDER-1 instrument was able to measure aerosol and cloud properties for eight months in 1996–1997. We use these observational data for aerosol concentration (the aerosol index), cloud optical thickness, and cloud droplet effective radius to establish statistical relationships among these parameters in order to analyze the first and second aerosol indirect effects. We also evaluate the representation of these effects as parameterized in the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique–Zoom (LMDZ) general circulation model. We find a decrease in cloud top droplet radius with increasing aerosol
index in both the model and the observations. Our results are only slightly changed if the analysis is done at fixed cloud liquid water path (LWP) instead of considering all LWP conditions. We also find a positive correlation between aerosol index and cloud liquid water path, which is particularly pronounced over the Northern Hemisphere
midlatitudes. This may be interpreted as observational evidence for the second aerosol indirect effect on a large scale. The model-simulated relationship agrees well with that derived from POLDER data. Model simulations show a rather small change in the two
relationships if preindustrial rather than present-day aerosol distributions are used. However, when entirely switching off the second aerosol indirect effect in our model, we find a much steeper slope than we do when including it.
40
Peters, Karsten, Philip Stier, Johannes Quaas, and Hartmut Graßl. "Aerosol indirect effects from shipping emissions: sensitivity studies with the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM." Copernicus Publication, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13469.
Full textAbstract:
In this study, we employ the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM to globally assess aerosol indirect effects (AIEs) resulting from shipping emissions of aerosols and aerosol precursor gases. We implement shipping emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), black carbon (BC) and particulate organic matter (POM) for the year 2000 into the model and quantify the model’s sensitivity towards uncertainties associated with the emission parameterisation as well as with
the shipping emissions themselves. Sensitivity experiments
are designed to investigate (i) the uncertainty in the size distribution
of emitted particles, (ii) the uncertainty associated with the total amount of emissions, and (iii) the impact of reducing carbonaceous emissions from ships. We use the results from one sensitivity experiment for a detailed discussion of shipping-induced changes in the global aerosol system as well as the resulting impact on cloud properties. From all sensitivity experiments, we find AIEs from
shipping emissions to range from −0.32±0.01Wm−2 to −0.07±0.01Wm−2 (global mean value and inter-annual variability as a standard deviation). The magnitude of the AIEs depends much more on the assumed emission size distribution and subsequent aerosol microphysical interactions than on the magnitude of the emissions themselves. It is important to note that although the strongest estimate of AIEs from shipping emissions in this study is relatively large, still much larger estimates have been reported in the literature before on the basis of modelling studies. We find that omitting
just carbonaceous particle emissions from ships favours new particle formation in the boundary layer. These newly formed particles contribute just about as much to the CCN budget as the carbonaceous particles would, leaving the globally averaged AIEs nearly unaltered compared to a simulation including carbonaceous particle emissions from ships.
41
Zhang, Kai, Declan O''Donnell, Jan Kazil, Philip Stier, Stefan Kinne, Ulrike Lohmann, Sylvaine Ferrachat, et al. "The global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM, version 2: sensitivity to improvements in process representations." Copernicus Publication, 2012. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13752.
Full textAbstract:
This paper introduces and evaluates the second version of the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM. Major changes have been brought into the model, including new parameterizations for aerosol nucleation and water uptake, an explicit treatment of secondary organic aerosols,
modified emission calculations for sea salt and mineral dust, the coupling of aerosol microphysics to a two-moment stratiform cloud microphysics scheme, and alternative wet scavenging parameterizations. These revisions extend the model’s capability to represent details of the aerosol lifecycle and its interaction with climate. Nudged simulations of the year 2000 are carried out to compare the aerosol properties and global distribution in HAM1 and HAM2, and to evaluate them against various observations. Sensitivity experiments are performed to help identify the impact of each individual update in model formulation. Results indicate that from HAM1 to HAM2 there is a marked weakening of aerosol water uptake in the lower troposphere, reducing the total aerosol water burden from 75 Tg to 51 Tg. The main reason is the newly introduced k-Köhler-theory-based water uptake scheme uses a lower value for the maximum relative humidity cutoff. Particulate organic matter loading in HAM2 is considerably higher in the upper troposphere, because the explicit treatment of secondary organic aerosols allows highly volatile oxidation products of the precursors to be vertically transported to regions of very low temperature and to form aerosols there. Sulfate, black carbon,
particulate organic matter and mineral dust in HAM2 have longer lifetimes than in HAM1 because of weaker incloud scavenging, which is in turn related to lower autoconversion efficiency in the newly introduced two-moment cloud microphysics scheme. Modification in the sea salt emission scheme causes a significant increase in the ratio (from 1.6
to 7.7) between accumulation mode and coarse mode emission
fluxes of aerosol number concentration. This leads to a general increase in the number concentration of smaller particles over the oceans in HAM2, as reflected by the higher Ångström parameters. Evaluation against observation reveals that in terms of model performance, main improvements in HAM2 include a marked decrease of the systematic negative bias in the absorption aerosol optical depth, as well as smaller biases over the oceans in Ångström parameter and in the accumulation
mode number concentration. The simulated geographical distribution of aerosol optical depth (AOD) is better correlated with the MODIS data, while the surface aerosol mass concentrations are very similar to those in the old version. The total aerosol water content in HAM2 is considerably closer to the multi-model average from Phase I of the AeroCom
intercomparison project. Model deficiencies that require further efforts in the future include (i) positive biases in AOD over the ocean, (ii) negative biases in AOD and aerosol mass concentration in high-latitude regions, and (iii) negative biases in particle number concentration, especially that
of the Aitken mode, in the lower troposphere in heavily polluted
regions.
42
Kuhlmann, Julian, and Johannes Quaas. "How can aerosols affect the Asian summer monsoon?: assessment during three consecutive pre-monsoon seasons from CALIPSOsatellite data." Copernicus Publications, 2010. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13831.
Full textAbstract:
The impact of aerosols above and around the Tibetan Plateau on the Asian Summer Monsoon during premonsoon seasons March-April-May 2007, 2008, and 2009 is investigated by means of remote sensing and radiative transfer modelling. Four source regions are found to be responsible for the high aerosol loading around the Tibetan Plateau: the Taklamakan Desert, the Ganges Plains, the Indus Plains, and the Arabian Sea. CALIPSO lidar satellite data, providing vertically resolved images of aerosols, shows aerosol concentrations to be highest in the lower 5 km of
the atmosphere with only little amounts reaching the Tibetan Plateau altitude. Using a radiative transfer model we find that aerosol plumes reduce shortwave radiation throughout the Monsoon region in the seasonal average by between 20 and 30 W/m2. Peak shortwave heating in the lower troposphere reaches 0.2 K/day. In higher layers this shortwave heating is partly balanced by longwave cooling. Although
high-albedo surfaces, such as deserts or the Tibetan Plateau,
increase the shortwave heating by around 10%, the overall effect is strongest close to the aerosol sources. A strong elevated heating which could influence large-scale monsoonal circulations as suggested by previous studies is not found.
43
Lohmann, Ulrike, Leon Rotstayn, Trude Storelvmo, Andrew Jones, Surabi Menon, Johannes Quaas, Annica M. L. Ekman, Dorothy Koch, and Reto A. Ruedy. "Total aerosol effect: radiative forcing or radiative flux perturbation?" Copernicus Publications, 2010. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13832.
Full textAbstract:
Uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcings, especially those associated with clouds, contribute to a large extent to uncertainties in the total anthropogenic forcing. The interaction of aerosols with clouds and radiation introduces feedbacks which can affect the rate of precipitation
formation. In former assessments of aerosol radiative forcings, these effects have not been quantified. Also, with global aerosol-climate models simulating interactively aerosols and cloud microphysical properties, a quantification of the aerosol forcings in the traditional way is difficult to
define properly. Here we argue that fast feedbacks should be included because they act quickly compared with the time scale of global warming. We show that for different forcing agents (aerosols and greenhouse gases) the radiative forcings as traditionally defined agree rather well with estimates from a method, here referred to as radiative flux perturbations
(RFP), that takes these fast feedbacks and interactions into account. Based on our results, we recommend RFP as a valid option to compare different forcing agents, and to compare the effects of particular forcing agents in different models.
44
Quaas, Johannes, Bjorn Stevens, Philip Stier, and Ulrike Lohmann. "Interpreting the cloud cover: aerosol optical depth relationship found in satellite data using a general circulation model." Copernicus Publications, 2010. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13833.
Full textAbstract:
Statistical analysis of satellite data shows a positive correlation between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and total cloud cover (TCC). Reasons for this relationship have been disputed in recent literature. The aim of this study is to explore how different processes contribute to one model’s
analog of the positive correlation between aerosol optical depth and total cloud cover seen in the satellite retrievals. We compare the slope of the linear regression between the logarithm of TCC and the logarithm of AOD, or the strength of the relationship, as derived from three satellite data sets to the ones simulated by a global aerosol-climate model. We analyse
model results from two different simulations with and without a parameterisation of aerosol indirect effects, and using dry compared to humidified AOD. Perhaps not surprisingly we find that no single one of the hypotheses discussed in the literature is able to uniquely explain the positive relationship. However the dominant contribution to the model’s
AOD-TCC relationship can be attributed to aerosol swelling in regions where humidity is high and clouds are coincidentally found. This finding leads us to hypothesise that much of the AOD-TCC relationship seen in the satellite data is also carried by such a process, rather than the direct effects of the aerosols on the cloud fields themselves.
45
Jones, Thomas A., Sundar A. Christopher, and Johannes Quaas. "A six year satellite-based assessment of the regional variations in aerosol indirect effects: A six year satellite-based assessment of the regional variations inaerosol indirect effects." Copernicus Publications, 2009. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13837.
Full textAbstract:
Aerosols act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) for cloud water droplets, and changes in aerosol concentrations have significant microphysical impacts on the corresponding cloud properties. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol and cloud properties are combined with NCEP Reanalysis data for six different regions around the globe between March 2000 and December 2005 to study the effects of different aerosol, cloud, and atmospheric conditions on the aerosol indirect effect (AIE). Emphasis is placed in examining the relative importance of aerosol concentration, type, and atmospheric conditions
(mainly vertical motion) to AIE from region to region. Results show that in most regions, AIE has a distinct seasonal cycle, though the cycle varies in significance and period from region to region. In the Arabian Sea (AS), the sixyear mean anthropogenic + dust AIE is −0.27Wm−2 and is greatest during the summer months (<−2.0Wm−2) during which aerosol concentrations (from both dust and anthropogenic sources) are greatest. Comparing AIE as a function of thin (LWP<20 gm−2) vs. thick (LWP≥20 gm−2) clouds under conditions of large scale ascent or decent at 850 hPa
showed that AIE is greatest for thick clouds during periods of upward vertical motion. In the Bay of Bengal, AIE is negligible owing to less favorable atmospheric conditions, a lower concentration of aerosols, and a non-alignment of aerosol and cloud layers. In the eastern North Atlantic, AIE is weakly positive (+0.1Wm−2) with dust aerosol concentration being much greater than the anthropogenic or sea salt
components. However, elevated dust in this region exists above the maritime cloud layers and does not have a hygroscopic coating, which occurs in AS, preventing the dust from acting as CCN and limiting AIE. The Western Atlantic has a large anthropogenic aerosol concentration transported from the eastern United States producing a modest anthropogenic AIE (−0.46Wm−2). Anthropogenic AIE is also present off
the West African coast corresponding to aerosols produced from seasonal biomass burning (both natural and man-made). Interestingly, atmospheric conditions are not particularly favorable for cloud formation compared to the other regions during the times where AIE is observed; however, clouds
are generally thin (LWP<20 gm−2) and concentrated very near the surface. Overall, we conclude that vertical motion, aerosol type, and aerosol layer heights do make a significant contribution to AIE and that these factors are often more important than total aerosol concentration alone and that the relative importance of each differs significantly from region to region.
46
Quaas, Johannes, Olivier Boucher, and Ulrike Lohmann. "Constraining the total aerosol indirect effect in the LMDZ and ECHAM4 GCMs using MODIS satellite data." Copernicus Publications, 2006. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13838.
Full textAbstract:
Aerosol indirect effects are considered to be the most uncertain yet important anthropogenic forcing of climate change. The goal of the present study is to reduce this uncertainty by constraining two different general circulation models (LMDZ and ECHAM4) with satellite data. We build a statistical relationship between cloud droplet number concentration
and the optical depth of the fine aerosol mode as a measure of the aerosol indirect effect using MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data, and constrain the model parameterizations to match this relationship. We include here “empirical” formulations for the cloud albedo effect as well as parameterizations of the cloud lifetime effect. When fitting the model parameterizations to
the satellite data, consistently in both models, the radiative forcing by the combined aerosol indirect effect is reduced considerably, down to −0.5 and −0.3Wm−2, for LMDZ and ECHAM4, respectively.
47
Quaas, Johannes, Olivier Boucher, A. Jones, Graham P. Weedon, Jens Kieser, and Hanna Joos. "Exploiting the weekly cycle as observed over Europe to analyse aerosol indirect effects in two climate models: Exploiting the weekly cycle as observed over Europe to analyseaerosol indirect effects in two climate models." Atmospheric chemistry and physics (2009) 9, S. 8493-8501, 2009. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13844.
Full textAbstract:
A weekly cycle in aerosol pollution and some meteorological quantities is observed over Europe. In the present study we exploit this effect to analyse aerosol-cloudradiation interactions. A weekly cycle is imposed on anthropogenic emissions in two general circulation models that include
parameterizations of aerosol processes and cloud microphysics. It is found that the simulated weekly cycles in sulfur dioxide, sulfate, and aerosol optical depth in both models agree reasonably well with those observed indicating model skill in simulating the aerosol cycle. A distinct weekly
cycle in cloud droplet number concentration is demonstrated in both observations and models. For other variables, such as cloud liquid water path, cloud cover, top-of-the-atmosphere radiation fluxes, precipitation, and surface temperature, large variability and contradictory results between observations, model simulations, and model control simulations without a weekly cycle in emissions prevent us from reaching any firm
conclusions about the potential aerosol impact on meteorology or the realism of the modelled second aerosol indirect effects.
48
Penner, Joyce E., Johannes Quaas, Trude Storelvmo, Toshihiko Takemura, Olivier Boucher, Huan Guo, Alf Kirkevag, Jon Egill Kristjansson, and Ø. Seland. "Model intercomparison of indirect aerosol effects." Atmospheric chemistry and physics (2006) 6, S. 3391-3405, 2006. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13845.
Full textAbstract:
Modeled differences in predicted effects are increasingly used to help quantify the uncertainty of these effects. Here, we examine modeled differences in the aerosol indirect effect in a series of experiments that help to quantify how and why model-predicted aerosol indirect forcing
varies between models. The experiments start with an experiment
in which aerosol concentrations, the parameterization of droplet concentrations and the autoconversion scheme are all specified and end with an experiment that examines the predicted aerosol indirect forcing when only aerosol sources are specified. Although there are large differences in the predicted liquid water path among the models, the predicted aerosol first indirect effect for the first experiment is rather
similar, about −0.6Wm−2 to −0.7Wm−2. Changes to the autoconversion scheme can lead to large changes in the liquid water path of the models and to the response of the liquid water path to changes in aerosols. Adding an autoconversion scheme that depends on the droplet concentration caused a larger (negative) change in net outgoing shortwave radiation compared to the 1st indirect effect, and the increase varied from only 22% to more than a factor of three. The change
in net shortwave forcing in the models due to varying the autoconversion
scheme depends on the liquid water content of the clouds as well as their predicted droplet concentrations, and both increases and decreases in the net shortwave forcing can occur when autoconversion schemes are changed. The parameterization of cloud fraction within models is not
sensitive to the aerosol concentration, and, therefore, the response
of the modeled cloud fraction within the present models appears to be smaller than that which would be associated with model “noise”. The prediction of aerosol concentrations, given a fixed set of sources, leads to some of the largest differences in the predicted aerosol indirect radiative forcing among the models, with values of cloud forcing ranging from
−0.3Wm−2 to −1.4Wm−2. Thus, this aspect of modeling requires significant improvement in order to improve the prediction of aerosol indirect effects.
49
Quaas, Johannes, Yi Ming, Surabi Menon, Toshihiko Takemura, M. Wang, Joyce E. Penner, Andrew Gettelman, et al. "Aerosol indirect effects." Atmospheric chemistry and physics (2009) 9, S. 8697-8717, 2009. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13849.
Full textAbstract:
Aerosol indirect effects continue to constitute one of the most important uncertainties for anthropogenic climate perturbations. Within the international AEROCOM initiative, the representation of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions in ten different general circulation models (GCMs)
is evaluated using three satellite datasets. The focus is on stratiform liquid water clouds since most GCMs do not include ice nucleation effects, and none of the model explicitly parameterises aerosol effects on convective clouds. We compute statistical relationships between aerosol optical depth (tau a) and various cloud and radiation quantities in a manner that is consistent between the models and the satellite data. cloud droplet number concentration (N d) compares relatively well to the satellite data at least over the ocean. The relationship between (tau a) and liquid water path is simulated much too strongly by the models. This suggests that the implementation of the second aerosol indirect effect mainly in terms of an autoconversion parameterisation has to be revisited in the GCMs. A positive relationship between total cloud fraction (fcld) and tau a as found in the satellite data is simulated by the majority of the models, albeit less strongly than that in the satellite data in most of them. In a discussion of the hypotheses proposed in the literature to explain the satellite-derived strong fcld–tau a relationship, our results indicate that none can be identified as a unique explanation. Relationships similar
to the ones found in satellite data between tau a and cloud top
temperature or outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) are simulated
by only a few GCMs. The GCMs that simulate a negative OLR - tau a relationship show a strong positive correlation between tau a and fcld. The short-wave total aerosol radiative forcing as simulated by the GCMs is strongly influenced by the simulated anthropogenic fraction of tau a, and parameterisation assumptions such as a lower bound on Nd. Nevertheless, the strengths of the statistical relationships are good
predictors for the aerosol forcings in the models. An estimate of the total short-wave aerosol forcing inferred from the combination of these predictors for the modelled forcings with the satellite-derived statistical relationships yields a global annual mean value of −1.5±0.5Wm−2. In an alternative approach, the radiative flux perturbation due to anthropogenic
aerosols can be broken down into a component over the cloud-free portion of the globe (approximately the aerosol direct effect) and a component over the cloudy portion of the globe (approximately the aerosol indirect effect). An estimate obtained by scaling these simulated clearand cloudy-sky forcings with estimates of anthropogenic tau a
and satellite-retrieved Nd–tau a regression slopes, respectively, yields a global, annual-mean aerosol direct effect estimate of −0.4±0.2Wm−2 and a cloudy-sky (aerosol indirect effect) estimate of −0.7±0.5Wm−2, with a total estimate of −1.2±0.4Wm−2.
50
Lohmann, Ulrike, Johannes Quaas, Stefan Kinne, and Johann Feichter. "Different approaches for constraining global climate models of the anthropogenic indirect aerosol effect: Different approaches for constraining global climate models of theanthropogenic indirect aerosol effect." American Meteorological Society, 2007. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A13992.
Full text