<p> This dissertation presents new studies of waves and turbulence in the Arctic middle atmosphere. The study has a primary focus on wintertime conditions when the large-scale circulation of the middle atmosphere is disrupted by the breaking of planetary waves associated with sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events. We used ongoing Rayleigh lidar measurements of density and temperature to conduct a multi-year study of gravity waves in the upper stratosphere-lower mesosphere (USLM) over Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) at Chatanika, Alaska. We analyzed the night-to-night gravity wave activity in terms of the wind structure and the ageostrophy. We find that the weak winds during disturbed conditions block the vertical propagation of gravity waves into the mesosphere. The gravity wave activity is correlated with the altitudes where the winds are weakest. During periods of weak winds we find little correlation with ageostrophy. However, during periods of stronger winds we find the USLM gravity wave activity is correlated with the ageostrophy in the upper troposphere indicating that ageostrophy in this region is a source of the gravity waves. Inter-annually we find the wintertime gravity wave activity is correlated with the level of disturbance of the middle atmosphere, being reduced in those winters with a higher level of disturbance and weaker winds. We used rocket-borne ion gauges to measure turbulence in the wintertime middle atmosphere while documenting the larger meteorological context from Rayleigh lidar and satellites. This investigation of turbulence was called the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment (MTeX). During MTeX we found a highly disturbed atmosphere associated with an SSW where winds were weak and gravity wave activity was low. We found low levels of turbulence in the upper mesosphere. The turbulence was primarily found in regions of convective instability in the topside of mesospheric inversion layers (MILs). The strongest and most persist turbulence was found in a MIL that is associated with the breaking of a monochromatic gravity wave. These MTeX observations indicate that turbulence is generated by gravity wave breaking as opposed to gravity wave saturation. These MTeX findings of low levels of turbulence are consistent with recent model studies of vertical transport during SSWs and support the view that eddy transport is not a dominant transport mechanism during SSWs.</p>

<p> In this thesis, we aim to systematically understand the relationship between cloud spatial structure and its radiation imprints, i.e., three-dimensional (3D) cloud effects, with the ultimate goal of deriving accurate radiative energy budget estimates from space, aircraft, or ground-based observations under spatially inhomogeneous conditions. By studying the full spectral information in the measured and modeled shortwave radiation fields of heterogeneous cloud scenes sampled during aircraft field experiments, we find evidence that cloud spatial structure reveals itself through spectral signatures in the associated irradiance and radiance fields in the near-ultraviolet and visible spectral range.</p><p> The spectral signature of 3D cloud effects in irradiances is apparent as a domain- wide, consistent correlation between the magnitude and spectral dependence of net horizontal photon transport. The physical mechanism of this phenomenon is molecular scattering in conjunction with cloud heterogeneity. A simple parameterization with a single parameter &epsiv; is developed, which holds for individual pixels and the domain as a whole. We then investigate the impact of scene parameters on the discovered correlation and find that it is upheld for a wide range of scene conditions, although the value of &epsiv; varies from scene to scene.</p><p> The spectral signature of 3D cloud effects in radiances manifests itself as a distinct relationship between the magnitude and spectral dependence of reflectance, which cannot be reproduced in the one-dimensional (1D) radiative transfer framework. Using the spectral signature in radiances and irradiances, it is possible to infer information on net horizontal photon transport from spectral radiance perturbations on the basis of pixel populations in sub-domains of a cloud scene.</p><p> We show that two different biases need to be considered when attempting radiative closure between measured and modeled irradiance fields below inhomogeneous cloud fields: the remote sensing bias (affecting cloud radiances and thus retrieved properties of the inhomogeneous scene) and the irradiance bias (ignoring 3D effects in the calculation of irradiance fields from imagery-based cloud retrievals). The newly established relationships between spatial and spectral structure lay the foundation for first-order corrections for these 3D biases within a 1D framework, once the correlations are explored on a more statistical basis.</p>

<p> Ultra-spectrometers with a spectral resolution better than 1 cm_-1, such as AIRS on the AQUA, IASI on the Metop-A/B, and CrIS on the Suomi-NPP, have become operational during the past decade. The radiance spectra measured by these satellite-borne spectrometers provide soundings of the atmosphere with relatively high vertical resolution and high accuracy except for the lower atmosphere. Meanwhile, many ground-based ultra-spectrometers based on the Michelson Interferometer have been incorporated into the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facilities and aboard NOAA research vessels. These instruments provide temperature and water vapor soundings within the planetary boundary layer continuously with very high vertical resolution. This dissertation develops a retrieval procedure which can combine the radiance measured by ground-based spectrometers and coincident observation from satellite-borne instruments to improve retrieval results throughout the lower atmosphere. </p><p> To verify the feasibility and improved accuracy of the combined retrieval, 90 clear sky cases from four in-situ radiosonde measurement locations or geographical regions, were selected for this study. Each region consists of radiosonde measurements of temperature and water vapor, downwelling radiance spectra measured at approximately the balloon launch time, and upwelling radiance observation by IASI at the location and time coincident with the surface radiance and radiosonde measurements. </p><p> These cases indicate, that when compared with the retrieval from upwelling radiance or downwelling radiance spectra only, there is a significant improvement of the retrieval using combined upwelling and downwelling radiance spectra is observed. At altitude below the 800 hPa pressure level, the errors using the combined retrieval are about 0.5 &ndash; 1 K in temperature, and 20 &ndash; 40 % for water vapor mixing ratio. These errors are approximately one-third the magnitude of errors for the sounding retrieval obtained using satellite upwelling radiance alone.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: B, page: 7191. Adviser: Larry Di Girolamo. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-184) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2005. / (UMI)AAI3237695. Advisers: Thorsten Markus; Lynn Sparling. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-10, Section: B, page: 5611.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 0883. Adviser: Robert Rauber. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-121) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> This works presents the results for the first study to ever attempt to analyze the full potential and limitations of incorporating aerosols within a truly physical SST retrieval for operational weather forecasting purposes. This is accomplished through the application of a satellite sea surface temperature (SST) physical retrieval for satellite split-window and hyperspectral infrared (IR) sensors that allows a better representation of the atmospheric state under aerosol-laden conditions. The new algorithm includes 1) accurate specification of the surface emissivity that characterizes the surface leaving radiance and 2) transmittance and physical characterization of the atmosphere by using the Community Radiative transfer model (CRTM). This project includes application of the NEMS-Global Forecasting System Aerosol Component (NGAC) fields, which corresponds to the first global interactive atmosphere-aerosol forecast system ever implemented at NOAA&rsquo;s National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). </p><p> A number of limiting factors were identified by analysing brightness temperatures and SST outputs biases as a function of latitude, zenith angle, wind and moisture for cases in January and November 2013. SST ouputs are validated against a bulk SST (Reynolds SST) and a parameterized SST derived from operational products and partly against observed measurements from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, which is dominated by Saharan dust throughout most of the year and that is also a genesis region for Atlantic tropical cyclones. These observations are obtained from the NOAA Aerosols and Ocean Science Expeditions (AEROSE). The improved physical SST methodology has the potential to allow for improved representation of the geophysical state under dust-laden conditions. </p>

<p> The amplitude and spectral shape of shortwave radiation are used to retrieve aerosol and cloud properties from airborne and ground based measurements. By interacting with clouds and aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere, the wavelength-dependent radiation emitted by the sun is modified. This thesis presents the change in radiation due to absorption and scattering by clouds and aerosols, which result in distinct spectral signatures in shortwave radiation spectra. </p><p> The spectral signature in shortwave radiation due to aerosols is quantified by airborne measurements of irradiance above and below aerosol layers. This radiative effect is quantified by the relative forcing efficiency, which is used to compare the impact of aerosols from different air masses, locations, and time of day. The relative forcing efficiency is the net irradiance change due to the presence of aerosols normalized by aerosol optical thickness and incident irradiance. It is shown to vary by less than 20% per unit of midvisible aerosol optical thickness for aerosols sampled during 4 different experiments, except for highly absorbing aerosols near Mexico City. The similarity in relative forcing efficiency for these experiments, not expected a priori, suggests that this quantity is constrained for various types of aerosols with differing scattering and absorption characteristics even when surface albedo differs. To estimate the radiative effect of aerosols sampled in the Los Angeles basin during one of the experiments, where no concurrent measurements of optical thickness with spectral irradiance were available, a new iterative technique was devised to use aerosol optical thickness measurements from another airborne platform. </p><p> Cloud-transmitted zenith radiance spectra were measured from the ground in Boulder, Colorado. In these measurements, spectral signatures of cloud optical and microphysical properties were uncovered. The spectral signatures are the result of radiation that is transmitted through clouds, where ice or liquid water cloud particles modulate the radiation by absorbing and scattering incident light in a wavelength-dependent manner. Typically, the magnitudes of radiance at 2 wavelengths have been used to retrieve cloud properties, but by using wavelength-dependent features more sensitivity to cloud microphysical properties is obtained. This thesis presents a method to analyze wavelength-dependent signal, where spectral features such as slopes, curvatures, and shifts in locations of maxima and minima are parameterized. These spectral features found in normalized radiance are quantified by introducing 15 parameters. These 15 parameters form the basis of a new generalized retrieval obtaining cloud optical thickness (&tau;), effective radius (<i>r_e</i>), and thermodynamic phase (&phis;). When applied to a liquid water cloud case, this retrieval matched a measured transmittance spectrum with a smaller root mean square difference over the entire spectrum (3.1%) than two other methods (up to 6.4%). To quantify the retrieval over all possible combinations of &tau;, <i> r_e</i>, and &phis;, simulated measurements were used in conjunction with realistic measurement and model error characteristics. By combining these error characteristics within the GEneralized Nonlinear Retrieval Analysis (GENRA) a solution probability distributions can be built. The information of cloud properties contained within cloud-transmitted radiance is greater on average for liquid water clouds than for ice clouds. For all possible combinations of cloud properties, radiance transmitted through clouds with &tau;&lt;20 contain the most information on cloud properties, indicating that the 15 parameters have greatest sensitivity to cloud properties of optically thin clouds (&tau;&lt;20). Of the 15 parameters, only 10 are required to retrieve accurately &tau;, <i> r_e</i>, and &phis; for any cloud except for ice clouds with &tau;>25 and <i>r_e</i>>30 &mu;m. Using this retrieval, the correct thermodynamic phase is determined from transmittance with a probability greater than 99.4% for horizontally homogeneous clouds that contain either ice or liquid water cloud particles.</p>

<p> Thermal remote sensing is a powerful tool for measuring the spatial variability of evapotranspiration due to the cooling effect of vaporization. The residual method is a popular technique which calculates evapotranspiration by subtracting sensible heat from available energy. Estimating sensible heat requires aerodynamic surface temperature which is difficult to retrieve accurately. Methods such as SEBAL/METRIC correct for this problem by calibrating the relationship between sensible heat and retrieved surface temperature. Disadvantage of these calibrations are 1) user must manually identify extremely dry and wet pixels in image 2) each calibration is only applicable over limited spatial extent. Producing larger maps is operationally limited due to time required to manually calibrate multiple spatial extents over multiple days. This dissertation develops techniques which automatically detect dry and wet pixels. LANDSAT imagery is used because it resolves dry pixels. Calibrations using 1) only dry pixels and 2) including wet pixels are developed. Snapshots of retrieved evaporative fraction and actual evapotranspiration are compared to eddy covariance measurements for five study areas in Florida: 1) Big Cypress 2) Disney Wilderness 3) Everglades 4) near Gainesville, FL. 5) Kennedy Space Center. The sensitivity of evaporative fraction to temperature, available energy, roughness length and wind speed is tested. A technique for temporally interpolating evapotranspiration by fusing LANDSAT and MODIS is developed and tested.</p><p> The automated algorithm is successful at detecting wet and dry pixels (if they exist). Including wet pixels in calibration and assuming constant atmospheric conductance significantly improved results for all but Big Cypress and Gainesville. Evaporative fraction is not very sensitive to instantaneous available energy but it is sensitive to temperature when wet pixels are included because temperature is required for estimating wet pixel evapotranspiration. Data fusion techniques only slightly outperformed linear interpolation. Eddy covariance comparison and temporal interpolation produced acceptable bias error for most cases suggesting automated calibration and interpolation could be used to predict monthly or annual ET. Maps demonstrating spatial patterns of evapotranspiration at field scale were successfully produced, but only for limited spatial extents. A framework has been established for producing larger maps by creating a mosaic of smaller individual maps.</p>

<p> An experiment was designed to capture micrometeorological observations during a fire spread on a simple slope. Three towers equipped with a variety of instrumentation, an array of fire-sensing packages, and a Doppler lidar was deployed to measure various aspects of the fire. Pressure and temperature perturbations were analyzed for each of the grid packages to determine if the fire intensity could be observed in the covariance of the two variables. While two of the packages measured a covariance less than &ndash;15 &deg;C hPa, there was no clear trend across the grid. The fire front passage at each of the three towers on the slope yielded extreme swings in observed turbulent kinetic energy and sensible heat flux. Vertical velocity turbulence spectra showed that the high-intensity fire front passage at the bottom tower was 2 to 3 orders of magnitude larger than the low-intensity fire front passages at the top two towers. Opposing wind regimes on the slope caused a unique L-shaped pattern to form in the fire front. A vorticity estimation from the sonic anemometers showed that vorticity reached a maximum just as a fire whirl formed in the bend of the L-shaped fire front, leading to a rapid increase in fire spread.</p><p>