The 27-28 October 1986 FIRE cirrus case study: Meteorology and clouds

摘要

Detailed descriptions of the rawinsonde resolved meteorological conditions (3 hourly soundings) associated with a succession of five distinct mesoscale cirrus cloud regimes, that were intensively observed over a 36 hour period, are given. The synoptic scale systems in which these features were embedded are described and a brief overview of the experiment is given. Regional analyses of the static stability structure and vertical motion are presented and interpreted with respect to the characteristics of the corresponding cloud fields as deduced from satellite and lidar observations. The cloud fields exhibited a high degree of persistent mesoscale organization on scales of 20 to 500 km reflecting corresponding scales of dynamic and thermodynamic structure/variability as on the synoptic scale. Cloud generation was usually confined to layers less than 1 km deep (typically 0.5 km in depth) and cellular organization was evident in most cases irrespective of the thermal stratification. Multilayered development was prevalent (2 to 3 layers) and was associated with vertical structure of the temperature and moisture fields resulting primarily from vertical gradients in horizontal advection.