File:Joint distributions of thin cirrus properties and relative humidity from AIRS-7 (8385555714).jpg

English: These images show the joint distributions of cloud top temperature, particle size, and optical depth with relative humidity with respect to ice (RHic), all of which are calculated from AIRS. (A) Normalized frequency distributions of RHic binned into intervals of 10%. (B) Percentage of cases with specific humidity between 15-30 ppmv; instances with specific humidity <15 ppmv not included because of the insensitivity and unreliability of specific humidity in dry conditions. (C) RHic vs. cloud top temperature (K). (D) RHic vs. particle size (microns). These figures show that RHic tends to increase with decreasing cloud top temperature, increasing optical depth, and decreasing particle size. Even though the thin cirrus clouds are usually geometrically thinner than the vertical resolution of AIRS temperature and specific humidity, these results are consistent with those from some in situ campaigns and demonstrate the utility of AIRS to characterize joint distributions of humidity and cloud properties.

Citation Kahn, B. H., Liang, C. K., Eldering, A., Gettelman, A., Yue, Q., and Liou, K. N.: Tropical thin cirrus and relative humidity observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 1501-1518, 2008.

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About AIRS The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, AMSU, sense emitted infrared and microwave radiation from the Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS and AMSU fly onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and are managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Credit NASA/JPL AIRS Project

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