The cloud vertical structure directly affect the atmospheric heating rate and exert great influence on atmospheric radiation and circulation.This paper focused on investigating the difference of the cloud vertical properties over two 4°×4° adjacent regions centered at(39.5°N,116°E) as E1 region and at(39.5°N,112°E) as E2 in North China.The CloudSat 2B products and the DARDAR products from Cloud-Aerosol-Water-Radiation Interactions(ICARE) from January 2008 to October 2014 were used to give a statistical analysis on the distribution characteristics of the cloud vertical structures and cloud microphysical parameters.
The CALIPSO level 2 products from June 2006 to September 2008 were used to analyze the statistical distribution characteristics of the cloud vertical structures.The latitudes of the two regions are different but the longitude ranges are the same.E1 is centered in the Jing-Jin-Ji metropolis circle where the atmospheric environment such as aerosol pollution levels and humidity conditions are different from that in E2.To investigate the impacts of aerosols on cloud distributions and other properties in different atmospheric environments,the two adjacent regions were selected and compared in terms of the distribution characteristics of the clouds in different temperatures which can reflect the cloud droplet phase.The statistical results show that:
1)The cloud structures of the two regions are obviously disparate in the mixed cloud layer(-40-0℃),warm cloud layer(>0℃) and ice cloud layer(<-40℃).The largest value of the cloud occurrence probability(COP) in E1 in the warm cloud layers appear in spring,which is 4.3 times of that in E2,and the largest one in E2 appears in autumn,which is 4.6 times of that in E1.The COP in the mixed cloud layers in E1 reaches the maximum in winter and in spring in E2 with 71% and 83% respectively.The COP in the ice cloud layers in E1 and E2 both reach maximum in spring with 29% and 16%.
2)There are obvious differences in seasons for the layer thicknesses of the COPs with high values.The layers with large COPs mainly appear in spring and winter in E1 or spring and summer in E2.The higher the height is,the smaller value of the reflectivity with higher cops.The largest reflectivity in E1 is stronger than that in E2 in autumn and winter.
3)The liquid water content(LWC),liquid effective radius(LRE),ice effective radius(IRE) and ice water content(IWC) in E2 are larger than those in E1,which is closely related to the stronger aerosol loading in E1.The statistical characteristics show that the interaction between aerosols and clouds has a complex feedback effect on the changes and liquid water content.The research results from the present study are expected to provide the knowledge that is needed for parameterizing cloud formation in climate models.