Cloud, precipitation, vertical motion, and turbulence properties from radar, lidar, and radiometer measurements in cirrus, snow, and stratocumulus clouds

Description

The cycling of water through cloud systems is intimately linked to processes that are modulated by turbulent motions in the atmosphere. Understanding these coupled processes requires measurements that can constrain them. The measurements routinely collected by the ARM Climate Research Facility have been specifically tailored to provide these measurement constraints. We have been working to develop an algorithm that can provide simultaneous estimates of cloud, precipitation, vertical motion, and turbulence properties using routine ARM measurements in ice, mixed, and liquid-phase precipitating cloud systems. We will describe the algorithm, provide validation using in situ aircraft data collected during ARM-sponsored field campaigns, and discuss directions for future work.