Cirrus Cloud Properties and the Large-Scale Meteorological Environment: Relationships Derived from A-Train and NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis Data

Empirical knowledge of how cirrus cloud properties are coupled with the large-scale meteorological environment is a prerequisite for understanding the role of microphysical processes in the life cycle of cirrus cloud systems. Using active and passive remote sensing data from the A-Train, relationships between cirrus cloud properties and the large-scale dynamics are examined. Mesoscale cirrus events from along the A-Train track from 1 yr of data are sorted on the basis of vertical distributions of radar reflectivity and on large-scale meteorological parameters derived from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis using a K-means cluster-analysis algorithm. With these defined regimes, the authors examine two questions: Given a cirrus cloud type defined by cloud properties, what are the large-scale dynamics? Vice versa, what cirrus cloud properties tend to emerge from large-scale dynamics regimes that tend to form cirrus? From the answers to these questions, the links between the large-scale dynamics regimes and the genre of cirrus that evolve within these regimes are identified. It is found that, to a considerable extent, the large-scale environment determines the bulk cirrus properties and that, within the dynamics regimes, cirrus cloud systems tend to evolve through life cycles, the details of which are not necessarily explained by the large-scale motions alone. These results suggest that, while simple relationships may be used to parameterize the gross properties of cirrus, more sophisticated parameterizations are required for representing the detailed structure and radiative feedbacks of these clouds.