Journal of University of Science and Technology of China ›› 2017, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (12): 1006-1014.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-2778.2017.12.006

• Original Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Cloud property differences between precipitating and non-precipitating warm clouds over global oceans derived from satellite remote sensing

XIE Lei, LIU Qi   

  1. 1. Shandong Linqu Meteorological Bureau,Weifang 262600,China;2. School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Techonology of China, Hefei 230026,China)
  • Received:2017-03-07 Revised:2017-06-02 Online:2017-12-30 Published:2017-12-30

Abstract: Data collected from quasi-synchronous Aqua/MODIS and CloudSat/CPR measurements were used to compare cloud parameters between precipitating and non-precipitating warm clouds over global oceans. The characteristics of cloud water vertical structure near cloud top, which were implied by the contrasts among the three cloud droplet effective radii (R16, R21, R37) retrieved from distinct near-infrared channels of MODIS, were especially examined and their discrepancies between the two cloud categories were clarified. It is found that the global distribution of warm clouds has notable regional features. The valid range of most cloud properties are similar for precipitating and non-precipitating warm clouds, including cloud top temperature (CTT), optical thickness (COT), geometrical thickness, cloud droplet effective radius (Re), cloud water path (CWP). But there is still evident distinction between their averages, with the COT, Re, CWP of precipitating warm clouds significantly higher than non-precipitating ones. According to the statistics, the model of R37

Key words: warm cloud, precipitating; non-precipitating; cloud droplet effective radius; cloud water vertical structure

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