A Level 3 monthly gridded ice cloud dataset derived from 12 years of CALIOP measurements

作者：David M. Winker, X. Cai, Mark Vaughan, Anne Garnier, Brian Magill, M. A. Avery, Brian Getzewich · 发表于：Earth system science data · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.5194/essd-16-2831-2024 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Atmospheric aerosols and clouds、Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols、Atmospheric Ozone and Climate

Abstract. Clouds play important roles in weather, climate, and the global water cycle. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) spacecraft has measured global vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols in the Earth’s atmosphere since June 2006. CALIOP provides vertically resolved information on cloud occurrence, thermodynamic phase, and properties. We describe version 1.0 of a monthly gridded ice cloud product derived from over 12 years of global, near-continuous CALIOP measurements. The primary contents are monthly vertically resolved histograms of ice cloud extinction coefficient and ice water content (IWC) retrievals. The CALIOP Level 3 Ice Cloud product is built from the CALIOP Version 4.20 Level 2 5 km Cloud Profile product that, relative to previous versions, features substantial improvements due to more accurate lidar backscatter calibration, better extinction coefficient retrievals, and a temperature-sensitive parameterization of IWC. The gridded ice cloud data are reported as histograms, which provides data users with the flexibility to compare CALIOP’s retrieved ice cloud properties with those from other instruments with different measurement sensitivities or retrieval capabilities. It is also convenient to aggregate monthly histograms for seasonal, annual, or decadal trend and climate analyses. This CALIOP gridded ice cloud product provides a unique characteri...