Examinando por Autor "Vilaplana, J. M."

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Cirrus-induced shortwave radiative effects depending on their optical and physical properties: Case studies using simulations and measurements
(Elsevier BV, 2020-12-01) Córdoba Jabonero, C.; Gómez Martín, L.; Del Águila, A.; Vilaplana, J. M.; López Cayuela, M. A.; Zorzano, María Paz; Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); European Research Council (ERC); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO); 000-0002-6655-7659; 0000-0002-4492-9650; 0000-0002-8825-830X; 0000-0003-4859-471X; Unidad de Excelencia Científica María de Maeztu Centro de Astrobiología del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial y CSIC, MDM-2017-0737
Cirrus (Ci) clouds play an important role in the atmospheric radiative balance, and hence in Climate Change. In this work, a polarized Micro-Pulse Lidar (P-MPL), standard NASA/Micro Pulse NETwork (MPLNET) system, deployed at the INTA/El Arenosillo station in Huelva (SW Iberian Peninsula) is used for Ci detection and characterization for the first time at this site. Three days were selected on the basis of the predominantly detected Ci clouds in dependence on their cloud optical depth (COD). Hence, three Ci cloud categories were examined at day-times for comparison with solar radiation issues: 19 cases of sub-visuals (svCi, COD: 0.01-0.03) on 1 October 2016, 7 cases of semitransparents (stCi, COD: 0.03-0.30) on 8 May 2017, and 17 cases of opaques (opCi, COD: 0.3-3.0) on 28 October 2016. Their radiative-relevant optical, macro- and micro-physical properties were retrieved. The mean COD for the svCi, stCi and opCi groups was 0.02 +/- 0.01, 0.22 +/- 0.08 and 0.93 +/- 0.40, respectively; in overall, their lidar ratio ranged between 25 and 35 sr. Ci clouds were detected at 11-13 km height (top boundaries) with geometrical thicknesses of 1.7-2.0 km. Temperatures reported at those altitudes corresponded to lower values than the thermal threshold for homogenous ice formation. Volume linear depolarization ratios of 0.3-0.4 (and normalized backscattering ratios higher than 0.9) also confirmed Ci clouds purely composed of ice particles. Their effective radius was within the interval of 9-15 mu m size, and the ice water path ranged from 0.02 (svCi) to 9.9 (opCi) g m(-2). The Cirrus Cloud Radiative Effect (CCRE) was estimated using a Radiative Transfer (RT) model for Ci-free conditions and Ci-mode (Ci presence) scenarios. RT simulations were performed for deriving the CCRE at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and on surface (SRF), and also the atmospheric CCRE, for the overall shortwave (SW) range and their spectral sub-intervals (UV, VIS and NIR). A good agreement was first obtained for the RT simulations as validated against solar radiation measurements under clean conditions for solar zenith angles less than 75 degrees (differences were mainly within +/- 20 W m(-2) and correlation coefficients close to 1). By considering all the Ci clouds, independently on their COD, the mean SW CCRE values at TOA and SRF were, respectively, -30 +/- 26 and -24 +/- 19 W m(-2), being the mean atmospheric CCRE of -7 +/- 7 W m(-2); these values are in good agreement with global annual estimates found for Ci clouds. By using linear regression analysis, a Ci-induced enhancing cooling radiative effect was observed as COD increased for all the spectral ranges, with high correlations. In particular, the SW CCRE at TOA and SRF, and the atmospheric CCRE, presented COD-dependent rates of -74 +/- 4, -55 +/- 5, -19 +/- 2 W m(-2) tau(-1), respectively. Additionally, increasing negative rates are found from UV to NIR for each Ci category, reflecting a higher cooling NIR contribution w.r.t. UV and VIS ranges to the SW CCRE, and being also more pronounced at the TOA w.r.t. on SRF, as expected. The contribution of the SW CCRE to the net (SW + LW) radiative balance can be also potentially relevant. These results are especially significant for space-borne photometric/radiometric instrumentation and can contribute to validation purposes of the next ESA's EarthCARE mission, whose principal scientific goal is focused on radiation-aerosol-cloud interaction research.
Acceso Abierto
Real-time UV index retrieval in Europe using Earth observation-based techniques: system description and quality assessment
(European Geoscience Union (EGU), 2021-08-19) Kosmopoulos, P. G.; Kazadzis, S.; Schmalwieser, A. W.; Raptis, P. I.; Papachristopoulou, K.; Fountoulakis, I.; Masoom, A.; Bais, A.; Bilbao, J.; Blumthaler, M.; Kreuter, A.; Maria Siani, A.; Eleftheratos, K.; Topaloglou, C.; Gröbner, J.; Johnsen, B.; Svendby, T. M.; Vilaplana, J. M.; Doppler, L.; Webb, A. R.; Khazova, M.; De Backer, H.; Heikkilä, T.; Lakkala, K.; Jaroslawski, J.; Meleti, C.; Diémoz, H.; Hülsen, G.; Klotz, B.; Rimmer, J.; Kontoes, C.; European Research Council (ERC); Schmalwieser, A. [0000-0003-0719-391X]; Raptis, P. I. [0000-0002-4221-992X]; Fountoulakis, I. [0000-0002-1511-0603]; Bais, A. [0000-0003-3899-2001]; Bilbao, J. [0000-0001-8760-9086]; Siani, A. M. [0000-0001-7435-1426]; Eleftheratos, K. [0000-0001-8897-3867]; Svendby, T. [0000-0002-8981-0805]; Vilaplana, J. M. [0000-0001-6254-8555]; Doppler, L. [0000-0003-3162-8602]; Webb, A. [0000-0003-2173-0902]; De Backer, H. [0000-0002-0693-3587]; Lakkala, K. [0000-0003-2840-1132]; Diémoz, H. [0000-0001-7189-4134]
This study introduces an Earth observation (EO)-based system which is capable of operationally estimating and continuously monitoring the ultraviolet index (UVI) in Europe. UVIOS (i.e., UV-Index Operating System) exploits a synergy of radiative transfer models with high-performance computing and EO data from satellites (Meteosat Second Generation and Meteorological Operational Satellite-B) and retrieval processes (Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Global Land Service). It provides a near-real-time nowcasting and short-term forecasting service for UV radiation over Europe. The main atmospheric inputs for the UVI simulations include ozone, clouds and aerosols, while the impacts of ground elevation and surface albedo are also taken into account. The UVIOS output is the UVI at high spatial and temporal resolution (5 km and 15 min, respectively) for Europe (i.e., 1.5 million pixels) in real time. The UVI is empirically related to biologically important UV dose rates, and the reliability of this EO-based solution was verified against ground-based measurements from 17 stations across Europe. Stations are equipped with spectral, broadband or multi-filter instruments and cover a range of topographic and atmospheric conditions. A period of over 1 year of forecasted 15 min retrievals under all-sky conditions was compared with the ground-based measurements. UVIOS forecasts were within ±0.5 of the measured UVI for at least 70 % of the data compared at all stations. For clear-sky conditions the agreement was better than 0.5 UVI for 80 % of the data. A sensitivity analysis of EO inputs and UVIOS outputs was performed in order to quantify the level of uncertainty in the derived products and to identify the covariance between the accuracy of the output and the spatial and temporal resolution and the quality of the inputs. Overall, UVIOS slightly overestimated the UVI due to observational uncertainties in inputs of cloud and aerosol. This service will hopefully contribute to EO capabilities and will assist the provision of operational early warning systems that will help raise awareness among European Union citizens of the health implications of high UVI doses.