Design and development status of the EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar

Nakatsuka, Hirotaka; Kimura, Tomoki; Seki, Y.; Kadosaki, G.; Iide, Y.; Okada, Kazuyuki; Yue, Jun; Takahashi, Nobuhiro; Ohno, Yuuichi; Horie, Hiroaki; Sakai, Kenji

doi:10.1109/igarss.2012.6351004

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It is also possible that the difference in cloud vertical structure between land and ocean is caused by the difference in updraft strength or other meteorological factors as well. The mission Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (Earth-CARE), which will start in 2016, is helpful because it will equip the CPR with Doppler speed sensor functions (e.g., Sy et al, 2013;Nakatsuka et al, 2012;Schutgens, 2008) that can detect vertical velocity. In addition, numerical modeling experiments are required for further understanding of aerosol-cloud-radiation interaction.…”

Section: Cloud Vertical Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of aerosols on water cloud microphysics and macrophysics based on satellite-retrieved data over East Asia and the North Pacific

Michibata

Kawamoto

2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. This study examines the characteristics of the microphysics and macrophysics of water clouds from East Asia to the North Pacific, using data from active CloudSat radar measurements and passive MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals. Our goals are to clarify differences in microphysics and macrophysics between land and oceanic clouds, seasonal differences unique to the midlatitudes, characteristics of the drizzling process, and cloud vertical structure. In pristine oceanic areas, fractional occurrences of cloud optical thickness (COT) and cloud droplet effective radius (CDR) increase systematically with an increase in drizzle intensity, but these characteristics of the COT and CDR transition are less evident in polluted land areas. In addition, regional and seasonal differences are identified in terms of drizzle intensity as a function of the liquid water path (LWP) and cloud droplet number concentration (N c ). The correlations between drizzle intensity and LWP, and between drizzle intensity and N c , are both more robust over oceanic areas than over land areas. We also demonstrate regional and seasonal characteristics of the cloud vertical structure. Our results suggest that aerosol-cloud interaction mainly occurs around the cloud base in polluted land areas during the winter season. In addition, a difference between polluted and pristine areas in the efficiency of cloud droplet growth is confirmed. These results suggest that water clouds over the midlatitudes exhibit a different drizzle system to those over the tropics.

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Section: Cloud Vertical Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of aerosols on water cloud microphysics and macrophysics based on satellite-retrieved data over East Asia and the North Pacific

Michibata

Kawamoto

2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…The satellite instruments have been previously described, in particular by Wallace et al (2014Wallace et al ( , 2016; Heliere et al (2017). The CPR has been described previously by Nakatsuka et al (2012). However, meanwhile, some details of the instruments have changed and their calibration and performance verifications have been completed.…”

Section: Satellite Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The EarthCARE Mission – Science and System Overview

Wehr

Kubota

Tzeremes

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. The Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) is a satellite mission implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to measure global profiles of aerosols, clouds and precipitation properties together with radiative fluxes and derived heating rates. The data will be used in particular to evaluate the representation of clouds, aerosols, precipitation and associated radiative fluxes in weather forecasting and climate models. The satellite scientific payload consists of four instruments, a lidar, a radar, an imager and a broad-band radiometer. The measurements of these instruments are processed in the ground segment, which produces and distributes the science data products. The EarthCARE observational requirements are addressed. An overview is given of the space segment with a detailed description of the four science instruments. Furthermore, the elements of the Space Segment and Ground Segment that are relevant for the science data users are described.

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“…The satellite instruments have been previously described, in particular by Wallace et al (2014Wallace et al ( , 2016 and Heliere et al (2017). The CPR has been described previously by Nakatsuka et al (2012). However, meanwhile, some details of the instruments have changed and their calibration and performance verifications have been completed.…”

Section: Satellite Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The EarthCARE mission – science and system overview

Wehr,

Kubota,

Tzeremes

et al. 2023

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

Self Cite

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Abstract. The Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) is a satellite mission implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to measure global profiles of aerosols, clouds and precipitation properties together with radiative fluxes and derived heating rates. The simultaneous measurements of the vertical structure and horizontal distribution of cloud and aerosol fields, together with outgoing radiation, will be used in particular to evaluate their representation in weather forecasting and climate models and to improve our understanding of cloud and aerosol radiative impact and feedback mechanisms. To achieve the objective, the goal is that a retrieved scene with footprint size of 10 km × 10 km is measured with sufficiently high resolution that the atmospheric vertical profile of short-wave (solar) and long-wave (thermal) flux can be reconstructed with an accuracy of 10 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere. To optimise the performance of the two active instruments, the platform will fly at a relatively low altitude of 393 km, with an equatorial revisit time of 25 d. The scientific payload consists of four instruments: an atmospheric lidar, a cloud-profiling radar with Doppler capability, a multi-spectral imager and a broadband radiometer. Co-located measurements from these instruments are processed in the ground segment, which produces and distributes a wide range of science data products. As well as the Level 1 (L1) product of each instrument, a large number of multiple-instrument L2 products have been developed, in both Europe and Japan, benefiting from the data synergy. An end-to-end simulator and several test scenes have been developed that simulate EarthCARE observations and provide a development and test environment for L1 and L2 processors. Within this paper the EarthCARE observational requirements are addressed. An overview is given of the space segment with a detailed description of the four science instruments, demonstrating how the observational requirements will be met. Furthermore, the elements of the space segment and ground segment that are relevant for science data users are described and the data products are introduced.

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Design and development status of the EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

The effects of aerosols on water cloud microphysics and macrophysics based on satellite-retrieved data over East Asia and the North Pacific

The effects of aerosols on water cloud microphysics and macrophysics based on satellite-retrieved data over East Asia and the North Pacific

The EarthCARE Mission – Science and System Overview

The EarthCARE mission – science and system overview

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