Highly sensitive weather radar a gain for climate researchAugust 27, 2007TU Delft has taken a new weather radar system into use, the 'Drizzle Radar', which can observe even the lightest of drizzles. This is an enormous gain for climate researchers and is attracting international attention. The radar was successfully installed on the 213 metre-high Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) measurement tower in Cabauw, near Lopik, on Thursday, August 23. From this spot the highly sensitive radar, together with the other advanced instruments of the CESAR observatory (Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research), is to provide a complete picture of the interaction between dust, clouds, rain and radiation. The latter is still one of the least understood factors in climate models. Clouds and the climate Clouds are of great importance for the greenhouse effect. On the one hand, clouds wrap a blanket round the Earth which retains heat, but they also cool the planet through the reflection of sunlight. Clouds can therefore compensate for some of the global warming, but the question is how much, and how precisely does it work. Dust particles play a crucial role in the formation of clouds and precipitation. They act as condensation nuclei, around which small droplets form. The more dust particles, the more dense the clouds, the more solar radiation is reflected and the cooler the Earth stays. A cooler Earth leads, in its turn, to less precipitation, because cooler air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air. Thus we have an extremely complicated interplay of factors that can be elucidated only through detailed measurements. The new 'Drizzle radar' is able to measure cloud droplets and precipitation extremely accurately. In addition, the measurement tower in Cabauw monitors the quantity and composition of dust particles and of clouds. Climate researchers are particularly interested in the extent to which dust particles influence rainfall. IDRA The International Research Centre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR) Drizzle Radar, or IDRA, developed by TU Delft, is able to measure the smallest raindrops in a thirty kilometre zone around the observatory. The data are used to determine cloud life cycles, and their relationship to radiation and airborne dust These measurements, which will lead to a better understanding of the climate system, are unique in the world and can be done nowhere else. CESAR The CESAR Observatory in Cabauw is one of the world's most advanced observatories for atmospheric research. Its highly accurate, multi-instrument array constantly measures atmospheric characteristics , to obtain a better picture of the atmosphere's role in the climate system. The most eye-catching feature is the 213 metre-high measurement tower of the KNMI, where the Drizzle Radar has now been installed. CESAR is a consortium of KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute), TU Delft (Delft University of Technology), TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), RIVM (National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection), ECN (Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands), Wageningen University and ESA (European Space Agency). Delft University of Technology |
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| Related Climate Research Current Events and Climate Research News Articles How much water does the ocean have? The calculation of variations in the sea level is relatively simple. It is by far more complicated to then determine the change in the water mass. Do dust particles curb climate change? A knowledge gap exists in the area of climate research: for decades, scientists have been asking themselves whether, and to what extent man-made aerosols, that is, dust particles suspended in the atmosphere, enlarge the cloud cover and thus curb climate warming. Hot and cold moves of cyanide and water Scientists have long known that molecules dance about as the temperature rises, but now researchers know the exact steps that water takes with a certain molecule. Water in a changing climate New research announced at the international Water in a changing climate science conference in Melbourne 24-28 August, implicates pollution from Asia, Europe and North America as a contributor to recent Australian rainfall changes. The Sky Is Not Falling: Pollution in eastern China cuts light, useful rainfall New research shows that air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country. Research to secure a safe water supply World Water Day on Sunday, 22 March aims to raise public awareness of the increasing scarcity of clean drinking water on our planet. In a densely populated world, droughts and floods are causing more damage than ever before. Federal government should give greater support to decision makers coping with climate change Many state and local officials and private organizations are basing decisions -- such as how to build bridges or manage water supplies -- on the assumption that current climate conditions will continue, but that assumption is no longer valid. New greenhouse gas identified A gas used for fumigation has the potential to contribute significantly to future greenhouse warming, but because its production has not yet reached high levels there is still time to nip this potential contributor in the bud, according to an international team of researchers. Termite Killer Lingers as a Potent Greenhouse Gas Sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2), a gas commonly used to rid buildings of termites and other pests, is a greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere about 36 years, six to 10 times longer than previously thought, according to a research team led by Jens Mühle, an atmospheric chemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Rising sea levels set to have major impacts around the world Research presented today at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen shows that the upper range of sea level rise by 2100 could be in the range of about one meter, or possibly more. More Climate Research Current Events and Climate Research News Articles |
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