Cloud vertical structure over a tropical station obtained using long-term high-resolution radiosonde measurements

Abstract

Cloud vertical structure, including top and base altitudes, thickness of cloud layers, and the vertical distribution of multilayer clouds, affects large-scale atmosphere circulation by altering gradients in the total diabatic heating and cooling and latent heat release. In this study, long-term (11 years) observations of high-vertical-resolution radiosondes are used to obtain the cloud vertical structure over a tropical station at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), India. The detected cloud layers are verified with independent observations using cloud particle sensor (CPS) sonde launched from the same station. High-level clouds account for 69.05 %, 58.49 %, 55.5 %, and 58.6 % of all clouds during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter seasons, respectively. The average cloud base (cloud top) altitudes for low-level, middle-level, high-level, and deep convective clouds are 1.74 km (3.16 km), 3.59 km (5.55 km), 8.79 km (10.49 km), and 1.22 km (11.45 km), respectively. Single-layer, two-layer, and three-layer clouds account for 40.80 %, 30.71 %, and 19.68 % of all cloud configurations, respectively. Multilayer clouds occurred more frequently during the monsoon with 34.58 %. Maximum cloud top altitude and cloud thickness occurred during the monsoon season for single-layer clouds and the uppermost layer of multiple-layer cloud configurations. In multilayer cloud configurations, diurnal variations in the thickness of upper-layer clouds are larger than those of lower-layer clouds. Heating and cooling in the troposphere and lower stratosphere due to these cloud layers are also investigated and peak cooling (peak warming) is found below (above) the cold-point tropopause (CPT) altitude. The magnitude of cooling (warming) increases from single-layer to four- or more-layer cloud occurrence. Further, the vertical structure of clouds is also studied with respect to the arrival date of the Indian summer monsoon over Gadanki.