The Properties and Formation of Cirrus Clouds over the Tibetan Plateau Based on Summertime Lidar Measurements

Abstract

s part of the Tibet Ozone, Aerosol and Radiation (TOAR) project, a micropulse lidar was operated in Naqu (31.5°N, 92.1°E; 4508 m MSL) on the Tibetan Plateau to observe cirrus clouds continuously from 19 July to 26 August 2011. During the experiment, the time coverage of ice clouds only was 15% in the upper troposphere (above 9.5 km MSL). The cirrus top/bottom altitudes (mean values of 15.6/14.7 km) are comparable to those measured previously at tropical sites but relatively higher than those measured at midlatitude sites. The majority of the cloud layers yielded a lidar ratio between 10 and 40 sr, with a mean value of 28 ± 15 sr, characterized by a bimodal frequency distribution. Subvisible, thin, and opaque cirrus formation was observed in 16%, 34%, and 50% of all cirrus cases, respectively. A mean cirrus optical depth of 0.33 was observed over the Tibetan Plateau, slightly higher than those in the subtropics and tropics. With decreasing temperature, the lidar ratio increased slightly, whereas the mean extinction coefficient decreased significantly. The occurrence of clouds is highly correlated with the outgoing longwave radiation and the strong cold perturbations in the upper troposphere. Deep convective activity and Rossby waves are important dynamical processes that control cirrus variations over the Tibetan Plateau, where both anvil cirrus outflowing from convective cumulonimbus clouds and large-scale strong cold perturbations in the upper troposphere should play an important role in cirrus formation.