Abstract:
The First ISCCP Regional Experiments have been designed to improve
data products and cloud/radiation parameterizations used in general
circulation models (GCMs). Specifically, the goals of FIRE are (1) to
seek the basic understanding of the interaction of physical processes
in determining life cycles of cirrus and marine stratocumulus systems
and the radiative properties of these clouds during
... their life cycles
and (2) to investigate the interrelationships between the ISCCP data,
GCM parameterizations, and higher space and time resolution cloud
data.
To-date, four intensive field-observation periods were planned and
executed: a cirrus IFO (October 13 - November 2, 1986); a marine
stratocumulus IFO off the southwestern coast of California (June 29 -
July 20, 1987) a second cirrus IFO in southeastern Kansas (November 13
- December 7, 1991); and a second marine stratocumulus IFO in the
eastern North Atlantic Ocean (June 1 - June 28, 1992). Each mission
combined coordinated satellite, airborne, and surface observations
with modeling studies to investigate the cloud properties and physical
processes of the cloud system.
During the period from June 1 to June 29, 1992, 203 soundings were
obtained. At present two forms of data exist - Level I and Level II.
Level I are the raw data produced in real time by the software of the
Atmospheric Instrumentation Research (AIR) radiosonde system. These
data are at irregular pressure and height levels. Level II data
consist of processed thermodynamic and wind data at a uniform
resolution of 10m, which essentially retains the highest possible
vertical resolution in the original data. The Level II thermodynamic
data seem to be reasonably free of errors; however, as mentioned in
Schubert et. al., (1992) the wind data requires additional filtering
before use. 
