Identification and classification of Cirrus (IC-CIR): A cirrus classification based on satellite and reanalysis data (2003-2013)
Cirrus clouds play an important role in determining the radiation budget of the earth, but many of their properties remain uncertain, particularly their response to aerosol variations and to warming. Part of the reason for this uncertainty is the dependence of cirrus cloud properties on the cloud formation mechanism, which itself is strongly dependent on the local meteorological conditions. This classification system is designed to identify cirrus clouds by the cloud formation mechanism. Using re-analysis and satellite data, cirrus clouds are separated in four main types: orographic, frontal, convective and synoptic. Comparisons with convection-permitting model simulations and back-trajectory based analysis have shown that this classification can provide useful information on the cloud scale updraughts and the frequency of occurrence of liquid-origin ice, with the convective regime having higher updraughts and a greater occurrence of liquid-origin ice compared to the synoptic regimes (see description paper).
This classification is designed to be easily implemented in global climate models - the observational classification results are made available make this comparison easier. The classification has been generated globally for the years 2003-2013 inclusive. Making use of the moderate
resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) on-board the Aqua satellite, the classification exists only at 13:30 local solar time each day.
The regimes used within this classification are defined as follows (further details are given in the description paper)
Orographic - proximity to regions of large-scale topography variation
Frontal - satellite detected cirrus clouds that intersect to atmospheric fronts determined from reanalysis data
Convective - satellite detected cirrus clouds in regions of large scale ascent determined from reanalysis data
Synoptic - Not assigned as one of the other regimes.
Data are gridded NetCDF V4 files, provided on a regular longitude-latitude grid at a 1 by 1 degree resolution across the whole globe. The files provide the classification at 13:30 local solar time (the satellite overpass time) and are at a daily resolution, within a folder defining the year. The filename structure is: {year}/IC-CIR.{year}.{day_of_year}.v1.nc where {year} is the year of the data and {doy of year} starts with 001 on the first of January.
Further details about the data, including comparisons to convection-resolving model simulations can be found in the description paper (Gryspeerdt et al., ACP, 2018).
Default
Identification info
- Metadata Language
- English (en)
- Dataset Reference Date ()
- 2018-03-16T16:35:32
- Dataset Reference Date ()
- 2018-03-16T16:35:32
- Identifier
- Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA) / cddfe3093be247d7bac56c9fa9edb3d5
- Identifier
- doi / http://dx.doi.org/10.5285/cddfe3093be247d7bac56c9fa9edb3d5
- Maintenance and update frequency
- notPlanned
- Update scope
- dataset
- Keywords
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- Not defined
- GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 ()
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- atmospheric conditions
- Limitations on Public Access
- otherRestrictions
- Other constraints
- Public data: access to these data is available to both registered and non-registered users.
- Use constraints
- otherRestrictions
- Spatial representation type
- grid
- Topic category
-
- Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
- Begin date
- 2003-01-01T00:00:00
- End date
- 2013-12-31T00:00:00
- Code
- WGS 84
Distribution Information
- Data format
-
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NetCDF
()
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NetCDF
()
- Resource Locator
-
CEDA Data Catalogue Page
Detail and access information for the resource
- Resource Locator
-
DOWNLOAD
Download Data
- Resource Locator
-
Gryspeerdt, E., Quaas, J., Goren, T., Klocke, D., and Brueck, M.: An automated cirrus classification, Atmos. Chem. Phys., accepted, 2018.
No further details.
- Resource Locator
-
CEDA Data Catalogue Page
Detail and access information for the resource
- Resource Locator
-
DOWNLOAD
Download Data
- Resource Locator
-
Gryspeerdt, E., Quaas, J., Goren, T., Klocke, D., and Brueck, M.: An automated cirrus classification, Atmos. Chem. Phys., accepted, 2018.
No further details.
- Quality Scope
- dataset
Report
- Dataset Reference Date ()
- 2010-12-08
- Statement
- This classification is derived using data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) on-board the Aqua satellite and from the ERA-Interim Reanalysis, created by ECMWF. The MODIS data used is collection 6 of the 1 by 1 degree gridded daily product (MYD08_D3), originating from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Metadata
- File identifier
- cddfe3093be247d7bac56c9fa9edb3d5 XML
- Metadata Language
- English (en)
- Character set
- 8-bit variable size UCS Transfer Format, based on ISO/IEC 10646
- Resource type
- dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2024-03-05T00:25:15
- Metadata standard name
- UK GEMINI
- Metadata standard version
- 2.3