Analysis of shortwave spectrometry during MAGIC

 

Authors

Connor J. Flynn — University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology
Alexander Marshak — NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
J.-Y. Christine Chiu — Colorado State University
Ernie R. Lewis — Brookhaven National Laboratory
Sebastian Schmidt — University of Colorado, Boulder
Weidong Yang — Universities Space Research Association
Patrick McBride — Atmospheric and Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA)

Category

Warm Low Clouds and Interactions with Aerosol

Description

Our research group has a particular interest in analyzing the MAGIC (Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds) campaign’s spectral measurements. In addition to Shortwave Array Spectroradiometer-Zenith (SAS-Ze) and the Cimel working in cloud mode, the Solar Spectral Flux Radiometer (SSFR) that had been used in numerous aircraft and ship experiments have been also deployed there. With a much more homogeneous surface albedo compared to the SGP, and with the variety of clouds of different type and structure, the time-resolved hyperspectral measurements during MAGIC provide a unique opportunity to study both clouds and aerosols in the transition zone between cloudy and clear skies. We will report the results of comparison between spectral measurements of the three shortwave spectrometers for both cloudy and clear conditions. We will discuss how the difference between spectral measurements may affect the analysis of the transition zone between clear and cloudy air. Finally, we will compare cloud properties in the transition zone derived from different spectral measurements.