Cloud information content analysis of multi-angular measurements in the oxygen A-band: application to 3MI and MSPI

The vertical distribution of cloud cover has a significant impact on a large number of meteorological and climatic processes. Cloud top altitude and cloud geometrical thickness are then essential. Previous studies established the possibility of retrieving those parameters from multi-angular oxygen A-band measurements. Here we perform a study and comparison of the performances of future instruments. The 3MI (Multi-angle, Multi-channel and Multi-polarization Imager) instrument developed by EUMETSAT, which is an extension of the POLDER/PARASOL instrument, and MSPI (Multi-angles Spectro-Polarimetric Imager) develoloped by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will measure total and polarized light reflected by the Earth's atmosphere–surface system in several spectral bands (from UV to SWIR) and several viewing geometries. Those instruments should provide opportunities to observe the links between the cloud structures and the anisotropy of the reflected solar radiation into space. Specific algorithms will need be developed in order to take advantage of the new capabilities of this instrument. However, prior to this effort, we need to understand, through a theoretical Shannon information content analysis, the limits and advantages of these new instruments for retrieving liquid and ice cloud properties, and especially, in this study, the amount of information coming from the A-Band channel on the cloud top altitude (CTOP) and geometrical thickness (CGT). We compare the information content of 3MI A-Band in two configurations and that of MSPI. Quantitative information content estimates show that the retrieval of CTOP with a high accuracy is possible in almost all cases investigated. The retrieval of CGT seems less easy but possible for optically thick clouds above a black surface, at least when CGT > 1–2 km

Contribution of the multiangular measurements of POLDER/PARASOL in the oxygen A band for the vertical characterisation of cloudy structures

Les nuages sont les principaux modulateurs du bilan radiatif terrestre et ils jouent un rôle prépondérant sur le climat de la Terre. Depuis plusieurs années, il est admis que la représentation des propriétés nuageuses est l'une des principales sources d’incertitude dans les modèles de prévision du climat et du temps météorologique. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous nous sommes concentrés sur les propriétés macrophysiques des atmosphères nuageuses et plus particulièrement sur leur structure verticale (caractère monocouche/multicouche, altitude et extension verticale des couches nuageuses). Pour cela, nous nous sommes basés sur les mesures multiangulaires effectuées dans la bande A de l’oxygène par le radiomètre POLDER embarqué sur la plateforme satellitaire PARASOL. Dans un premier temps, nous avons cherché à caractériser puis à distinguer de manière statistique les situations nuageuses monocouches et multicouches en construisant un arbre de décision. Ensuite, nous avons construit des paramétrisations permettant d'estimer les pressions de sommet et de milieu des nuages monocouches, ainsi que leur extension verticale. Enfin, des analyses statistiques réalisées sur cinq ans de données, complétées par des cas d'étude variés, ont permis de vérifier la validité de ces nouveaux produits géophysiques et d'en déterminer leurs limites. Cette étude a été rendue possible par la richesse des informations colocalisées de POLDER avec celles de deux instruments de télédétection active de la constellation de satellites A-Train, qui fournissent des informations précises, mais avec une faible couverture spatiale, sur le profil vertical de l'atmosphère.Clouds are key modulators of the Earth's radiative balance and they play a major role in the climate of Earth. It has been recognized for several years that the representation of cloud properties is one of the main sources of uncertainty in climate and meteorological prediction models. In this thesis, we focused on the macrophysical properties of cloudy atmospheres and particularly on their vertical structure (single /multi-layered character, altitude and vertical extension of cloud layers). For this purpose, we relied on the multiangular measurements in the oxygen A band made by the radiometer POLDER on board PARASOL satellite platform. As a first step, we intended to characterize and to statistically distinguish monolayer and multilayer cloudy situations by designing a decision tree. Then, we built parameterizations in order to estimate top and middle pressures of monolayers clouds as well as their vertical extension. Finally, statistical analyses performed on five years of data, completed by various case studies, allowed us to check the validity of these new geophysical products and to determine their limits. This study was made possible by the richness of POLDER information collocated with two active sensors of the satellite constellation A- Train, which provide accurate information on the vertical profile of the atmosphere, but with a low spatial coverage

Inferences about pressures and vertical extension of cloud layers from POLDER3/PARASOL measurements in the oxygen A-band

We present new inferences about cloud vertical structures from multidirectionnal measurements in the oxygen A-band. The analysis of collocated data provided by instruments onboard satellite platforms within the A-Train, as well as simulations have shown that for monolayered clouds, the cloud oxygen pressure PO2PO2 derived from the POLDER3 instrument was sensitive to the cloud vertical structure in two ways: First, PO2PO2 is actually close to the pressure of the geometrical middle of cloud and we propose a method to correct it to get the cloud top pressure (CTP), and then to obtain the cloud geometrical extent. Second, for the liquid water clouds, the angular standard deviation σPO2σPO2 of PO2PO2 is correlated with the geometrical extent of cloud layers, which makes possible a second estimation of the cloud geometrical thickness. The determination of the vertical location of cloud layers from passive measurements, eventually completed from other observations, would be useful in many applications for which cloud macrophysical properties are neede