CIRRUS

Cirrus clouds are high, thin, tropospheric clouds composedpredominately of ice. In the last ten years, considerablework has shown that cirrus is widespread--more common thanpreviously believed--and has a significant impact on climateand global change. As the next generation weather satellitesare being designed, the impact of cirrus on remote sensingand the global energy budget must be recognized andaccommodated. This book, the first to be devoted entirely tocirrus clouds, captures the state of knowledge of cirrus andserves as a practical handbook as well. Each chapter isbased on an invited review talk presented at Cirrus, ameeting hosted by the Optical Society of America andco-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union and theAmerican Meteorological Society. All aspects of cirrusclouds are covered, an approach that reaches into diversefields. Topics include: the definition of cirrus, cirrusclimatologies, nucleation, evolution and dissipation,mixed-phase thermodynamics, crystallinity, orientationmechanisms, dynamics, scattering, radiative transfer, insitu sampling, processes that produce or influence cirrus(and vice versa), contrails, and the influence of cirrus onclimate.