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Origin and transport of tropical cirrus clouds observed over Paramaribo, Suriname (5.8°N, 55.2°W)
- Source :
- EPIC3Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, D09107, Journal of Geophysical Research. D, Atmospheres, 112(9):D09107, D09107-1/19. Wiley-Blackwell
- Publication Year :
- 2007
-
Abstract
- [1] The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) passes twice a year over tropical Suriname, bringing two wet and two dry seasons. During a pilot study campaign in Suriname, cirrus clouds were observed with a mobile aerosol Raman lidar (MARL) and with balloon sondes containing a frost point hygrometer called Snow White, over the period October–November 2004. These observations are used to study the origin of cirrus clouds and the dynamical processes that determine their transport, using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses. The height of cirrus occurrence is in phase with the height of the cold point tropopause, with maximum heights occurring during Northern Hemisphere winter that are about 2 km above the minimum values in summertime. The occurrence of cirrus often corresponds with a northerly meridional wind flow (in a layer underneath the tropopause), also when the ITCZ lies to the south in the period January–May. ECMWF analyses point out that inertial instability flow, in the form of vertically stacked meridional circulation cells in the upper troposphere (UT), can explain the transport of these cirrus events. Also evident is that radiative cooling of a moist layer transported in the UT leads to a thermal wind in the form of an easterly/westerly jet associated with the southward/northward transport of moist air. An interactive play between the inertial instability and thermal wind mechanisms explains many of the observed features of cirrus occurrence over Suriname. The observed cirrus mostly originates from the ITCZ or from deep convective centers to the south that form during the early summer monsoon.
- Subjects :
- Atmospheric Science
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Soil Science
Aquatic Science
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
Oceanography
Atmospheric sciences
Monsoon
01 natural sciences
Troposphere
Geochemistry and Petrology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Earth-Surface Processes
Water Science and Technology
Ice cloud
Ecology
Intertropical Convergence Zone
Northern Hemisphere
Paleontology
Forestry
Thermal wind
Geophysics
13. Climate action
Space and Planetary Science
Climatology
Cirrus
Tropopause
Geology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2169897X
- Volume :
- 112
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Geophysical Research. D, Atmospheres
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dab837ccda0258c5551851a332f94be7