Angular-resolved light scattering by atmospheric ice particles - From single particle measurements to a global view of cirrus microphysics and radiative properties

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Within this project, the cloud probe PHIPS-HALO of KIT will be upgraded in order to implement an angular-resolved polarization measurement of single ice particles in the rear hemisphere in addition to the simultaneous scattering phase function measurement and the stereo-microscopic imaging, which already exist on PHIPS-HALO. The new measurement capabilities of the PHIPS-HALO/SID-3 package will be comprehensively tested and characterized in AIDA cloud simulation experiments in order to have them available at the end of the first funding period for measurements on HALO. Well before the first deployment of the improved instrument package on HALO in the northern polar and mid-latitude CIRRUS mission (winter 2018/2019), these laboratory measurements will provide novel and relevant ice particle data sets that will be of great value for the particle light scattering and remote sensing communities. In addition to the laboratory measurements, the improved PHIPS-HALO instrument and the PHIPS-HALO/SID-3 package will be operated also on other airborne platforms. With the extended capabilities of the PHIPS-HALO/SID-3 package novel validations of polarimetric satellite observations can be conducted during future HALO missions. Since polarimetric measurements are highly sensitive to the ice particle complexity (shape complexity and surface roughness) such validation missions could help to answer the question whether ice particle complexity is a global feature of cirrus clouds. This question is of great importance for the assessment of the radiative impact of ice clouds.