Universität zu Köln

Schween, Jan H., del Rio, Camilo, Garcia, Juan-Luis, Osses, Pablo, Westbrook, Sarah and Lohnert, Ulrich (2022). Life cycle of stratocumulus clouds over 1 year at the coast of the Atacama Desert. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22 (18). S. 12241 - 12268. GOTTINGEN: COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH. ISSN 1680-7324

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Abstract

Marine stratocumulus clouds of the eastern Pacific play an essential role in the earth's energy and radiation budget. Parts of these clouds off the western coast of South America form the major source of water to the hyperarid Atacama Desert coastal region at the northern coast of Chile. For the first time, a full year of vertical structure observations of the coastal stratocumulus and their environment is presented and analyzed. Installed at Iquique Airport in northern Chile in 2018/2019, three state-of-the-art remote sensing instruments provide vertical profiles of cloud macro- and micro-physical properties, wind, turbulence, and temperature as well as integrated values of water vapor and liquid water. Distinct diurnal and seasonal patterns of the stratocumulus life cycle are observed. Embedded in a land-sea circulation with a superimposed southerly wind component, maximum cloud occurrence and vertical extent occur at night but minima at local noon. Nighttime clouds are maintained by cloud-top cooling, whereas afternoon clouds reappear within a convective boundary layer driven through local moisture advection from the Pacific. During the night, these clouds finally re-connect to the maritime clouds in the upper branch of the land-sea circulation. The diurnal cycle is much more pronounced in austral winter, with lower, thicker, and more abundant (5x) clouds than in summer. This can be associated with different sea surface temperature (SST) gradients in summer and winter, leading to a stable or neutral stratification of the maritime boundary layer at the coast of the Atacama Desert in Iquique.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Schween, Jan H. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED del Rio, Camilo UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Garcia, Juan-Luis UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Osses, Pablo UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Westbrook, Sarah UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Lohnert, Ulrich UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-673538
DOI:	10.5194/acp-22-12241-2022
Journal or Publication Title:	Atmos. Chem. Phys.
Volume:	22
Number:	18
Page Range:	S. 12241 - 12268
Date:	2022
Publisher:	COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH
Place of Publication:	GOTTINGEN
ISSN:	1680-7324
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language BOUNDARY-LAYER; DOPPLER LIDAR; FOG OASES; TEMPERATURE; VARIABILITY; PERFORMANCE; CONVECTION; RADIOMETER; RETRIEVAL; PROFILES Multiple languages Environmental Sciences; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/67353