Dynamical characteristics of cirrus clouds from aircraft and radar observations in micro and meso-γ scales

I. Gultepe, D. O. Starr, A. J. Heymsfield, T. Uttal, T. P. Ackerman, D. L. Westphal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cirrus clouds that formed on 26 November and 6 December 1991 during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE) II, which took place over the Kansas region, are studied. Observations are obtained from the NCAR King Air, NOAA Doppler, and PSU conventional radar. For this reason coherent structures (eg, cells, cortex) that transfer significant heat, moisture, and turbulence are analyzed using aircraft and radar observations. Aircraft data is collected at 20 Hz, and calculations are made at two different scales. Scale separation is chosen at about 1 km. A coherence analysis technique is used to specify the correlation between temperature and vertical velocity w fluctuations. A swirling coefficient, indicating spirality, is calculated to better understand cloud dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4060-4078
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Volume52
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 1995

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