Comparative study of aircraft- and satellite-derived aerosol and cloud microphysical parameters during CAIPEEX-2009 over the Indian region

Abstract

This article presents the spatial and vertical distribution of aerosols and cloud microphysical parameters from the combined data sets of aircraft and satellites. The aircraft-based Cloud Aerosol Interactions and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) was conducted in India during May to September 2009. During the experimental period, 3 days were identified on which space-borne lidar (CALIPSO) and radar (CloudSat) were nearby/over passed the observational regions, which covered north, south central, and southern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The results obtained from these three cases are explored. Similar features of aerosol layering and water/ice cloud signatures are observed by both aircraft and CALIPSO. In addition, events where dust aerosols acting as ice nuclei and polluted aerosols increase the depth of warm rain initiation are observed. The CloudSat profiles of liquid water content, droplet number concentration, and effective radii are underestimated when compared with the corresponding aircraft profiles. The aircraft measurements are able to bring out fine variability in vertical distribution, which would be more useful for regional parameterization schemes and model evaluation.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India, for project funding, CAIPEEX team members and Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. They acknowledge NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center for CALIPSO data and the NASA CloudSat project for cloud parameters.

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