|
Read Full Article Cited by
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 25, NO. 8,
PAGES 1165–1168,
1998
Contrail Properties Derived from High-Resolution Polarization Lidar Studies During SUCCESS
Kenneth Sassen
Department of Meteorology, University of Utah
Ching-yu Hsueh
Department of Meteorology, University of Utah
Abstract
During the April 1996 SUCCESS field campaign, our ground-based polarization lidar studied a variety of contrails ranging
from a new NASA DC-8 contrail to persisting contrails from commercial jet aircraft that had spread into an almost invisible
cirrostratus sheet. What distinguishes these contrails from natural cirrus is their tendency to remain thin (∼50-500 m), and
to generate strong laser backscattering and depolarization, often along with solar coronas, even an hour or more after formation.
Lidar depolarization ratios in persisting contrails ranged from ∼0.3-0.7. Contrail-cirrus clouds composed of high numbers
of small (20-30 µm) particles would satisfy these findings, which has implications for comprehending their radiative and climatic
effects.
Received 25
June
1997;
accepted 20
November
1997.
Read Full Article Cited by
Citation: Sassen, K., and C. Hsueh
(1998),
Contrail Properties Derived from High-Resolution Polarization Lidar Studies During SUCCESS,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
25(8),
1165–1168.
Copyright 1998 by the American Geophysical Union.
|