https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202023708015
On the Shapes and Sizes of Cirrus Particles Causing Specular Reflections in Lidar Signals
Richard-Aßmann-Observatorium, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Am Observatorium 12, 15848 Lindenberg, Germany
* Email: jens.reichardt@dwd.de
Published online: 7 July 2020
A new method to determine the projection-area- equivalent radius of cirrus particles is presented. Together with direct lidar measurements of ice water content and a simple particle model, the technique facilitates the retrieval of ice particle shape and size. As a first application, cirrus clouds are studied that feature layers with lidar and depolarization ratios highly depressed by mirror reflections from horizontally aligned particles. It is found that in most cases not thin hexagonal plates dominate the ensemble of scatterers but rather compact particles.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
