Scattering Phase Functions and Particle Sizes for Polar Mesospheric Clouds from the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) Explorer
Abstract
The Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) instrument on the AIM spacecraft is a 4-camera nadir pointed imager with a bandpass centered at 265 nm and a field of view of 120 by 80 degrees. CIPS observes Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) against the sunlit Rayleigh-scattered background. At individual polar locations approximately 5km by 5km in area, CIPS observes the same volume of air multiple times over a range of scattering angles from about 35 to 150 degrees. These multi-angle observations allow the identification and extraction of the PMC scattered radiance from the Rayleigh-scattered background. Ice phase functions have been obtained throughout the polar cap for two full northern PMC seasons and most of one southern season. We will overview the spatial and temporal variability of the measured phase functions and compare the results for the northern and southern seasons. With assumptions about the shape of the ice particles, the PMC phase functions yield mean particle radius. We will report on the spatial and temporal variability of the particle radii. In particular we will focus will be on times and locations observed by both CIPS and SOFIE. Comparisons between CIPS and SOFIE particle size detections will be presented.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFMSA43A1570B
- Keywords:
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- 0319 Cloud optics;
- 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry;
- 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry;
- 3332 Mesospheric dynamics;
- 3334 Middle atmosphere dynamics (0341;
- 0342)