Science is for Sharing

Our long awaited publication exploring the Descending Cirrus clouds over Gadanki. Int'l. Journal of Remote Sensing It is the story of Cirrus clouds which descends / ascends altitude ..... their characteristic properties ....using NARL's long term Lidar data. Nellore Manoj Kumar, Kannan Venkatramanan, Anish Kumar M. Nair & Shekatam Satheesh Kumar   (2020)   On the characterization of descending nature of cirrus clouds over a tropical site, Gadanki,   International Journal of Remote Sensing,   41:17,   6550-6569,   DOI:  10.1080/01431161.2020.1742942 https://t.co/vpReYZZZsY https://t.co/3zJDq2KNjM https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01431161.2020.1742942 The interesting feature of Cirrus cloud's descending & ascending are well characterized using ~6 years of lidar observations. The study roots back to the inspiration from my earlier work published in J.Geophysicsl Research in 2012 Nair,  A. K. M.   ,  K....

Our paper published in the Atmospheric Science Letters on different types of clouds during monsoon phases. The study was mainly carried out using Ka-band doppler weather radar of IITM. https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/asl.847 Chakravarty, K., Pokhrel, S., Kalshetti, M., Nair, A. K. M., Kalapureddy, M. C. R., Deshpande, S. M., … Goswami, B. N. (2018). Unraveling of cloud types during phases of monsoon intra-seasonal oscillations by a Ka-band Doppler weather radar. Atmospheric Science Letters , 19 (9), e847. http://doi.org/10.1002/asl.847 https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.847

An Equinox is the astronomical event when both the hemispheres have equal duration and amount of sunshine. Sun would be exactly overhead of the equator. It happens twice in a year Spring (Summer) equinox (20 March) and Vernal (Autumnal) equinox (22 September) . Here is the view of the beautiful event from space for 22 September 2016. I have animated it (time series for the day). Watch the day-night solar terminator move through the earth. Observe the equal area of sunshine and night on either hemisphere. The visible imagery is from MeteoSat VISSR (IODC) stationed at 57deg.E longitude above equator in a geostationary orbit. For a typical comparison of Equinoxes with Solistices, you may go through this link http://akmnscience.blogspot.in/2012/07/equinox-solstice-better-view.html Image Courtesy: Dundee Satellite Receiving Station http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/

I am sharing a few photos of Lightning I had clicked yesterday night over National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Dept. of Space located at Gadanki, Andhra Pradesh, India. Cumulonimbus cloud band was observed in the eastern and southern sky and Gadanki was in periphery of the rain band. Also see the animated time series photos of the steps of lightning .  ~~~~~~~~~ Note the return stokes and bolts...!! ~~~~~~~~~ Recommended viewing: Full screen. Thanks to my Asus Zenfone.

2012 was the ninth warmest year since 1880. The map at the top depicts temperature anomalies, or changes, by region in 2012; it does not show absolute temperature. Reds and blues show how much warmer or cooler each area was in 2012 compared to an averaged base period from 1951–1980. For more explanation of how the analysis works, read  World of Change: Global Temperatures. The average temperature in 2012 was about 14.6 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 0.55°C (1.0°F) warmer than the mid-20th century base period. The average global temperature has increased 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880, and most of that change has occurred in the past four decades. Read more:  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80167&src=eoa-iotd

Climate model projections that show a greater rise in global temperature are likely to prove more accurate than those showing a lesser rise. The study was published in the journal - Science. National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists John Fasullo and Kevin Trenberth analyzed how well 16 leading sophisticated climate models reproduce observed relative humidity in Earth's tropics and subtropics. They used observations from two NASA satellite instruments - the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft and the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) . Climate model projections showing a greater rise in global temperature are likely to prove more accurate than those showing a lesser rise, according to them. Read in detail:  https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/8264/future-warming-likely-be-high-side-climate-projections-analysis-finds http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20121108.html

Have you heard of Cirrus cloud descending .........? What is it ......? Is it a frequent phenomenon .....? Does it have seasonal dependence ....? Where does it occur ......? Why do cirrus descend .....? What is it's impact .......? We have discovered the phenomenon using 3 years of lidar observations over Thiruvananthapuram, near southern tip of India that Cirrus clouds frequently DESCEND.....! After analysing the data together with other observations and models, we have come up answers to the above questions.  The observations and results are now accepted by the scientific community and it finds a place in the Journal of Geophysical Research - JGR (Atmosphere). Read more... Here is the link:  http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011JD017406.shtml   Nair, A. K. M. , K. Rajeev, M. K. Mishra, B. V. Thampi, and K. Parameswaran  ( 2012 ),  Multiyear lidar observations of the descending nature of tropical cirrus clouds ,...

Have a look at these images, captured 2 hrs apart by MODIS of TERRA & AQUA. We can clearly decipher the transition of contrail to contrail cirrus clouds....... Increasing air pollution by planes is definitely pointing towards increase the in Longwave radiative forcing and thereby increasing the global warming potential.... Read more:  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78154 Image credit:  Jeff Schmaltz,  LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team,  Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Adam Voiland., NASA earth observatory

Clouds and aerosol particles have bedevilled climate modellers for decades. Now researchers are starting to gain the upper hand. Researchers say they are beginning to turn a corner in simulating clouds and aerosols. In recent months, climate scientists have started rolling out initial results from the newest generation of models, which represent atmospheric chemistry and microphysics in much more sophisticated ways than previous incarnations. These models allow clouds and aerosols to evolve as they interact with each other and respond to factors such as temperature, relative humidity and air currents.  Read more : http://www.nature.com/news/climate-forecasting-a-break-in-the-clouds-1.10593 Nature International weekly journal of science Go Advanced search

Earth’s clouds descended a little — about one percent on average — during last decade, finds a new NASA-funded university study based on NASA satellite data.  The results have potential implications for future global climate. Decreasing global cloud heights suggest negative feedback over the last decade Data from NASA's MISR instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft show that global average cloud height declined by about 1 percent over the decade from 2000 to 2010, or around 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters). (Image credit: University of Auckland/NASA JPL-Caltech) The study was recently published in GRL. Global cloud height fluctuations measured by MISR on Terra from 2000 to 2010 Roger Davies & Matthew Molloy http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011GL050506.shtml Read Reports: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/earths-clouds-are-sinking-and-could-help-cool-planet http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2012/02/22/nasa-satellite-finds-earths-clouds-are...

An apparent inconsistency has been diagnosed between interannual variations in the net radiation imbalance inferred from satellite measurements and upper-ocean heating rate from in situ measurements, and this inconsistency has been interpreted as ‘missing energy’. Where was it going? Now Scientists come up with an answer..... "Missing Energy" is in the Ocean  "Our data show that Earth has been accumulating heat in the ocean at a rate of half a watt per square meter (10.8 square feet), with no sign of a decline," Loeb said. "This extra energy will eventually find its way back into the atmosphere and increase temperatures on Earth." Read more: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-029 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2093947/Nasa-solves-mystery-Earths-missing-energy--going-sea-says-space-agency.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Paper:  http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1375.html#/access doi:10.1038/ngeo...

 Clouds on Venus are made concentrated sulfuric acid ...! not Water as in earth's atmosphere.... Venus experienced tremendous volcanic activity, flooding the surface with new lava and filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, causing a runaway greenhouse effect...  Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Read more: http://fettss.arc.nasa.gov/collection/details/venus-globe-1/

Waves created by lightning flashes – here shown in blue, green, and red – circle around Earth, creating something called Schumann resonance. These waves can be used to study the nature of the atmosphere they travel through. (Credit: NASA/Simoes)  At any given moment about 2,000 thunderstorms roll over Earth, producing some 50 flashes of lightning every second. Each lightning burst creates electromagnetic waves that begin to circle around Earth captured between Earth's surface and a boundary about 60 miles up. Some of the waves -- if they have just the right wavelength -- combine, increasing in strength, to create a repeating atmospheric heartbeat known as Schumann resonance. NASA's Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite has detected Schumann resonance from space. This comes as a surprise. Fernando Simões, Robert Pfaff, Henry Freudenreich. Satellite observations of Schu...

Here is the link to see the Mapped mosaics are daily images by NOAA seeries of satellites. The data are from the AVHRR instrument on NOAA/ESA’s polar orbiting satellites (NOAA-16, 17, 18, 19, and METOP-A). Here is the link and descriptions http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/imagery/mosaics.html

Climate models have a hard time representing clouds accurately because they lack the spatial resolution necessary to accurately simulate the clouds.... Livermore scientists and international collaborators have developed a new tool that will help scientists better represent the clouds observed in the sky in climate models. Stephen Klein, who along with LLNL's Yuying Zhang and other collaborators have developed the Cloud-Feedback-Model Intercomparison Project Observation Simulator Package (COSP). The COSP is now used worldwide by most of the major models for climate and weather prediction, and it will play an important role in the evaluation of models that will be reviewed by the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Klein said. More information: More information about the COSP appears in the August issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2011BAMS2856.1

Deforestation in the rainforests of West Africa reduces rainfall over the rest of the forest, according to new University of Leeds research published in Geophysical Research Letters. The study shows that changing land use from forest to crop land reduces rainfall over neighbouring trees by around 50% due to changes in the surface temperature which affects the formation of rain clouds. More information: 'How does local tropical deforestation affect rainfall' by L Garcia-Carreras and Douglas J Parker is published in Geophysical Research Letters doi:10.1029/2011GL049099 http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011GL049099.shtml http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-deforestation-rainfall-africa.html

Have a look at these CAP clouds seen in France...!            Beautiful! Guess how they form....! Guess the wind direction ...! and then check this link for the correct answer and explanation....! http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2011/09/cap-cloud-over-mt-blanc-france.html