VAP : Active Remotely-Sensed Cloud Locations (ARSCL)

Instrument Categories
Cloud Properties

The Active Remote Sensing of Clouds (ARSCL) VAP combines data from active remote sensors to produce an objective determination of hydrometeor height distributions and estimates of their radar reflectivities, vertical velocities, and Doppler spectral widths, which are optimized for accuracy. These data provide fundamental information for retrieving cloud microphysical properties and assessing the radiative effects of clouds on climate.

For more details, see http://science.arm.gov/vaps/arscl.stm.

Output Products

arscl1cloth : ARSCL: multiple outputs from first Clothiaux algorithms on Vaisala or Belfort ceilometers, Micropulse lidar, and MMCR
arsclbnd1cloth : ARSCL: cloud boundaries from first Clothiaux algorithms on Vaisala or Belfort ceilometers, Micropulse lidar, and MMCR
arsclcbh1cloth : ARSCL: cloud base height from first Clothiaux algorithms on Vaisala or Belfort ceilometers, Micropulse lidar, and MMCR
mplcmask1cloth : MPL: cloud mask using the first Clothiaux, et al algorithm
mplsmask1cloth : MPL: "significance" mask using the first Clothiaux, et al algorithm
rhbarscl1cloth : ARSCL: multiple outputs from first Clothiaux algorithms, Ron Brown ship, Nauru

Primary Measurements

The following measurements are those considered scientifically relevant.

Locations

North Slope Alaska (NSA)
- Central Facility, Barrow AK (C1)
Southern Great Plains (SGP)
- Central Facility, Lamont, OK (C1)
Tropical Western Pacific (TWP)
- Central Facility, Darwin, Australia (C3)
- Central Facility, Manus I., PNG (C1)
- Central Facility, Nauru Island (C2)