Shupe, MD, Brooks, IM and Canut, G (2012) Evaluation of turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from Doppler Cloud Radar. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 5 (6). 1375 - 1385. ISSN 1867-1381
Abstract
Turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from cloud radar Doppler velocity measurements are evaluated using independent, in situ observations in Arctic stratocumulus clouds. In situ validation data sets of dissipation rate are derived using sonic anemometer measurements from a tethered balloon and high frequency pressure variation observations from a research aircraft, both flown in proximity to stationary, ground-based radars. Modest biases are found among the data sets in particularly low- or high-turbulence regimes, but in general the radar-retrieved values correspond well with the in situ measurements. Root mean square differences are typically a factor of 4-6 relative to any given magnitude of dissipation rate. These differences are no larger than those found when comparing dissipation rates computed from tetheredballoon and meteorological tower-mounted sonic anemometer measurements made at spatial distances of a few hundred meters. Temporal lag analyses suggest that approximately half of the observed differences are due to spatial sampling considerations, such that the anticipated radar-based retrieval uncertainty is on the order of a factor of 2-3. Moreover, radar retrievals are clearly able to capture the vertical dissipation rate structure observed by the in situ sensors, while offering substantially more information on the time variability of turbulence profiles. Together these evaluations indicate that radar-based retrievals can, at a minimum, be used to determine the vertical structure of turbulence in Arctic stratocumulus clouds.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2012, Shupe, MD, Brooks, IM and Canut, G. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. |
Keywords: | aircraft; balloon observation; data set; dissipation; Doppler radar; ground-based measurement; in situ measurement; sampling; stratocumulus; turbulence |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2014 12:02 |
Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2014 02:33 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1375-2012 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | European Geosciences Union |
Identification Number: | 10.5194/amt-5-1375-2012 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:77214 |