The Composite Characteristics of Cirrus Clouds: Bulk Properties Revealed by One Year of Continuous Cloud Radar Data

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Abstract
The properties of midlatitude cirrus clouds are examined using one year of continuous vertically pointing millimeter-wave cloud radar data collected at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma. The goal of this analysis is to present the cloud characteristics in a manner that will aid in the evaluation and improvement of cirrus parameterizations in large-scale models. Using a temperature- and radar reflectivity–based definition of cirrus, the occurrence frequency of cirrus, the vertical location and thickness of cirrus layers, and other fundamental statistics are examined. Also the bulk microphysical properties of optically thin cirrus layers that occur in isolation from other cloud layers are examined. During 1997, it is found that cirrus were present 22% of the time, had a mean layer thickness of 2.0 km, and were most likely to occur in the 8.5–10-km height range. On average, the cirrus clouds tended to be found in layers in which the synoptic-scale v... Abstract The properties of midlatitude cirrus clouds are examined using one year of continuous vertically pointing millimeter-wave cloud radar data collected at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma. The goal of this analysis is to present the cloud characteristics in a manner that will aid in the evaluation and improvement of cirrus parameterizations in large-scale models. Using a temperature- and radar reflectivity–based definition of cirrus, the occurrence frequency of cirrus, the vertical location and thickness of cirrus layers, and other fundamental statistics are examined. Also the bulk microphysical properties of optically thin cirrus layers that occur in isolation from other cloud layers are examined. During 1997, it is found that cirrus were present 22% of the time, had a mean layer thickness of 2.0 km, and were most likely to occur in the 8.5–10-km height range. On average, the cirrus clouds tended to be found in layers in which the synoptic-scale v...

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