Characterization of clouds and their radiative effects using ground-based instrumentation at a low-mountain site [Elektronische Ressource] / Kerstin Ebell

Characterization of clouds and their radiative effectsusing ground-based instrumentationat a low-mountain siteInaugural-DissertationzurErlangung des Doktorgradesder Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult¨atder Universit¨at zu K¨olnvorgelegt vonKerstin Ebellaus BeckumK¨oln2010Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. S. CrewellProf. Dr. M. KerschgensTag der mu¨ndlichen Pru¨fung: 26.11.2010AbstractThe interaction of clouds with radiation and aerosols is the greatest source of uncertainty infuture climate projections. Part of the reason is the limited amount of observations of cloudsand hence the limited knowledge of cloud macro- and microphysical statistics in connectionto their effects on the radiative budget and on the vertical redistribution of energy within theatmosphere.In 2007, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program’s (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF)was operated for a nine-month period in the Murg Valley, Black Forest, Germany, in supportof the Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS). Based on themeasurements of the AMF and COPS partner instrumentation, the present study aims atimproving the data basis of cloud macro- and microphysical statistics and to assess thepotential of the derived cloud properties to estimate the radiative effects of clouds. Thesynergyofvariousinstrumentsisexploitedtoderiveadatasetofhighqualitythermodynamicand cloud property profiles with a temporal resolution of 30s.