A far-infrared radiometer to study optically thin ice clouds in the Arctic

Abstract:

The water cycle in the dry and cold Arctic is not well understood. In particular, ice clouds, which play a significant role in the radiative budget of this region, are poorly known. In addition to filling a gap in cloud observation at high latitudes, the deployment of CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites also highlighted the ubiquity of optically thin ice clouds during the polar night in the Arctic. These clouds can significantly alter the amount of far infrared radiation escaping the Earth, and consequently the temperatures in the upper atmosphere. Since their signature in the far infrared is also very sensitive to their microphysical properties (crystals size and shape) and optical depth, these quantities can be retrieved from satellite observations. Such measurements in the far infrared (particularly beyond 30 μm), were until recently constrained by technical limitations, but recent advancements in micro-bolometers technology at INO (Québec) has allowed to study this under-explored spectral region. In this context, a satellite mission dedicated to studying thin ice clouds in the Arctic (TICFIRE) is under review at the Canadian Space Agency. We present here the Far InfraRed Radiometer (FIRR), which is meant to be a breadboard for the future satellite instrument.

The FIRR measures atmospheric radiation in 9 spectral bands extending from 8 to 50 μm. After characterization in the laboratory, it was operated from the ground under various atmospheric conditions. These measurements were successfully compared to radiative transfer simulations, pointing out the potential of the FIRR to detect ice clouds and to measure low water vapor contents. In April 2015, the FIRR was operated on board an aircraft during the pan-arctic NETCARE campaign. It was looking downward to mimic satellite observations, which is to our knowledge a first in the far infrared. Simultaneously, atmospheric profiles and clouds microphysical properties were measured by probes mounted on the same aircraft. To our knowledge, it’s also the first time that far infrared measurements are performed concomitantly with retrieval of cloud microphysical properties. These measurements are meant to validate the representation of ice clouds in radiative transfer models, as a first step toward a cloud retrieval algorithm based on satellite observations in the far infrared.