First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa
Clouds cover more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface and play a dominant role in the energy and water cycle of our planet. Cirrus clouds are high-level clouds composed mostly of ice crystals and affect the earth’s radiation allocation mainly by absorbing outgoing longwave radiation and by reflec...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/9/4631 |
| _version_ | 1797505557715746816 |
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| author | Nkanyiso Mbatha Lerato Shikwambana |
| author_facet | Nkanyiso Mbatha Lerato Shikwambana |
| author_sort | Nkanyiso Mbatha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Clouds cover more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface and play a dominant role in the energy and water cycle of our planet. Cirrus clouds are high-level clouds composed mostly of ice crystals and affect the earth’s radiation allocation mainly by absorbing outgoing longwave radiation and by reflecting solar radiation. This study presents the characterization of cirrus clouds observed on 10 and 11 April 2019 using the ground-based University of Zululand (UZ) light detection and ranging (lidar) for the first time. Dense cirrus clouds with an average thickness of ~1.5 km at a height range of 9.5–12 km on 10 and 11 April 2019 were observed by the UZ lidar. The UZ lidar observation on 10 April 2019 agreed with the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:20:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c22f0801d1fd4697bd9620b825adbcce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:20:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c22f0801d1fd4697bd9620b825adbcce2023-11-23T07:51:44ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-05-01129463110.3390/app12094631First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South AfricaNkanyiso Mbatha0Lerato Shikwambana1Department of Geography, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South AfricaEarth Observation Directorate, South African National Space Agency, Pretoria 0001, South AfricaClouds cover more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface and play a dominant role in the energy and water cycle of our planet. Cirrus clouds are high-level clouds composed mostly of ice crystals and affect the earth’s radiation allocation mainly by absorbing outgoing longwave radiation and by reflecting solar radiation. This study presents the characterization of cirrus clouds observed on 10 and 11 April 2019 using the ground-based University of Zululand (UZ) light detection and ranging (lidar) for the first time. Dense cirrus clouds with an average thickness of ~1.5 km at a height range of 9.5–12 km on 10 and 11 April 2019 were observed by the UZ lidar. The UZ lidar observation on 10 April 2019 agreed with the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observation.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/9/4631lidarcirrus cloudsCALIPSOcloud optical depthextinction coefficient |
| spellingShingle | Nkanyiso Mbatha Lerato Shikwambana First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa Applied Sciences lidar cirrus clouds CALIPSO cloud optical depth extinction coefficient |
| title | First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa |
| title_full | First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa |
| title_short | First Observations of Cirrus Clouds Using the UZ Mie Lidar over uMhlathuze City, South Africa |
| title_sort | first observations of cirrus clouds using the uz mie lidar over umhlathuze city south africa |
| topic | lidar cirrus clouds CALIPSO cloud optical depth extinction coefficient |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/9/4631 |
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