An analysis of cloud microphysical features over United Arab Emirates using multiple data sources

Abstract. Water is a precious resource and is important for human health, agriculture, industry, and the environment. When water is in short supply, monitoring and predicting the current and future occurrence of precipitating clouds is essential. In this study, we investigate the cloud microphysical features in several convective cloud systems in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using multiple data sources, including aircraft measurements, satellite observations, weather radar observations, and reanalysis data. The aircraft observation dataset is from an airborne research campaign conducted in August 2019 in the UAE. The cloud cases were identified through analysis of cloud spectrometers mounted on the aircraft. Then, we investigated the microphysical features of those cloud cases, with a focus on precipitation microphysics. The effective radius of the cloud particles retrieved from geostationary satellite data was compared with the aircraft in situ measurement. Using the effective radius retrieved from satellite data, we developed a framework to identify five microphysical zones: the diffusional droplet growth zone, droplet coalescence growth zone, supercooled-water zone, mixed-phase zone, and glaciated zone. The identified zones were verified using the aircraft observations, and the transferability of the five-zone concept was tested using additional cloud cases. The results show that our five-zone concept successfully detects the microphysical features related to precipitation using satellite data in the UAE. This study provides scientific support for the development of an applicable framework to examine cloud precipitation processes and detect suitable cloud features that could be tracked for further precipitation analysis and nowcasting.