No abstract

We have developed a new observational screening technique for inverse model. This technique was applied to our transport models with re‐analysed meteorological data and the inverse model to estimate the global distribution of CO2 concentrations and fluxes. During the 1990s, we estimated a total CO2 uptake by the biosphere of 1.4–1.5 PgC yr−1 and a total CO2 uptake by the oceans of 1.7–1.8 PgC yr−1. The uncertainty of global CO2 flux estimation is about 0.3 PgC yr−1. We also obtained monthly surface CO2 concentrations in the marine boundary layer to precisions of 0.5–1.0 ppm. To utilize non‐processed (statistical monthly mean) observational data in our analysis, we developed a quality control procedure for such observational data including a repetition of inversion. This technique is suitable for other inversion setups. Observational data by ships were placed into grids and used in our analysis to add to the available data from fixed stations. The estimated global distributions are updated and extended every year.

Internal structure and time evolution of a cloud cluster in the ITCZ of the western tropical Pacific which appeared on 8-9 June 1990 was analyzed by using meteorological radar data on board of the Keifu Maru, a research vessel of Japan Meteorological Agency. The radar observed the cloud cluster throughout almost all its life cycle. The horizontal size of the cloud cluster was about 500km in diameter and its life time was about 15 hours. The cloud cluster in the mature stage was shown to be composed of four sub-systems of echoes in different stages of development, with earlier stages on the windward side of the low-level wind. The life time of each sub-system was found to be about 8-10 hours. Development and motion of this cloud cluster was characterized by the succesive formation and development of these sub-systems on the windward side of the low level inflow. A schematic model of this cloud cluster is proposed.

Optical and microphysical properties of the upper clouds at an altitude range of 5-11 km were measured over Tsukuba, Japan, on 29-30 March 2004 using a ground-based Raman lidar and a balloon-borne hydrometeor videosonde (HYVIS). The Raman lidar measured the vertical distributions of the particle extinction coefficient, backscattering coefficients, depolarization ratio, and extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) at 532 nm; further, it measured the water vapor mixing ratio. The HYVIS measured the vertical distributions of the particle size, shape, cross-sectional area, and number concentration of the cloud particles by taking microscopic images. The HYVIS measurement showed that the cloud particles were ice crystals whose shapes were columnar, bulletlike, platelike, and irregular, and 7-400 m in size. The Raman lidar measurement showed that the depolarization ratio ranged from 0% to 35% and the lidar ranged from 0.3 to 30 sr for the clouds in ice-saturated air. The comparison between the measured data and theoretical calculations of the cloud optical properties suggests that the observed variations in the depolarization ratio and lidar ratio were primarily due to the variation in the proportion of the horizontally oriented ice crystals in the clouds. The optical thickness of the cloud obtained from the lidar was about 2 times lower than that calculated from the HYVIS data, and the maximum extinction coefficient was about 5 times lower than the HYVIS data. The most probable reason for the differences is the horizontal inhomogeneities of the cloud properties between the measurements sites for the two instruments.

During the TOGA COARE TOP (Tropical