A Methodology for Measuring Cirrus Cloud Visible-to-Infrared Spectral Optical Depth Ratios

Abstract

Knowledge of cirrus cloud optical depths is necessary to understand the earth?s current climate and to model the cloud radiation impact on future climate. Cirrus clouds, depending on the ratio of their shortwave ?visible? to longwave ?infrared? optical depth, can act to either cool or warm the planet. In this study, visible-to-infrared cirrus cloud optical depth ratios were measured using ground-based lidar and Fourier transform spectrometry. A radiosonde temperature profile combined with the 0.532-?m-high spectral resolution lidar vertical cloud optical depth profile provided an effective weighting to the cloud radiance measured by the interferometer. This allowed evaluation of cirrus cloud optical depths in 18 infrared microwindows between water vapor absorption lines within the 800?1200-cm?1 infrared atmospheric window. The data analysis was performed near the peak solar and terrestrial emission regions, which represent the effective radiative cloud forcing efficiency of the given cloud sample. Results are also presented that demonstrate the measurement of infrared optical depth using an assumed uniform cloud extinction cross section, which requires generic lidar cloud boundary data. The measured cloud extinction profile provided a more robust solution that would allow analysis of multiple-layer clouds and removed the uniform cloud extinction cross-section assumption. Mie calculations for ice particles were used to generate visible and infrared extinction coefficients; these were compared against the measured visible-to-infrared optical depth ratios. The results demonstrate strong particle size and shape sensitivity across the infrared atmospheric window.