Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs): I. Cloud morphology and occurrence

被引:63
作者
Peter, T
Luo, BP [1 ]
Wirth, M
Kiemle, C
Flentje, H
Yushkov, VA
Khattatov, V
Rudakov, V
Thomas, A
Borrmann, S
Toci, G
Mazzinghi, P
Beuermann, J
Schiller, C
Cairo, F
Di Donfrancesco, G
Adriani, A
Volk, CM
Strom, J
Noone, K
Mitev, V
MacKenzie, RA
Carslaw, KS
Trautmann, T
Santacesaria, V
Stefanutti, L
机构
[1] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Atmospher & Climate Sci, Zurich, Switzerland
[2] DLR Oberpfaffenhofen, Inst Atmospher Phys, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
[3] Cent Aerol Observ, Moscow, Russia
[4] Johannes Gutenberg Univ Mainz, Inst Atmospher Phys, D-6500 Mainz, Germany
[5] CNR, IEQ, Florence, Italy
[6] Natl Inst Appl Opt, Florence, Italy
[7] Forschungszentrum Julich, Inst Stratosphere 1, Julich, Germany
[8] CNR, Inst Atmospher Sci & Climate, Rome, Italy
[9] ENEA Casaccia, Rome, Italy
[10] Goethe Univ Frankfurt, Inst Meteorol & Geophys, D-6000 Frankfurt, Germany
[11] Univ Stockholm, Inst Appl Environm Res, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
[12] Univ Stockholm, Dept Meteorol, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
[13] Observ Cantonal, Neuchatel, Switzerland
[14] Univ Lancaster, Dept Environm Sci, Lancaster LA1 4YW, England
[15] Univ Leeds, Sch Environm, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England
[16] Univ Leipzig, Inst Meteorol, Leipzig, Germany
[17] IROE CNR Nello Carrara, Florence, Italy
[18] CNR, Geophys GEIE, Florence, Italy
关键词
D O I
10.5194/acp-3-1083-2003
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
Subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) may contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause. The higher and colder SVCs and the larger their ice crystals, the more likely they represent the last efficient point of contact of the gas phase with the ice phase and, hence, the last dehydrating step, before the air enters the stratosphere. The first simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of SVCs were taken during the APE-THESEO campaign in the western Indian ocean in February/March 1999. The observed clouds, termed Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs), belong to the geometrically and optically thinnest large-scale clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. Individual UTTCs may exist for many hours as an only 200-300 m thick cloud layer just a few hundred meters below the tropical cold point tropopause, covering up to 10(5) km(2). With temperatures as low as 181 K these clouds are prime representatives for defining the water mixing ratio of air entering the lower stratosphere.
引用
收藏
页码:1083 / 1091
页数:9
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