Spatial inhomogeneities of cirrus clouds as derived from in situ ice particle measurements

Spatial inhomogeneities of cirrus cloud properties are commonly present on different scales. They reflect the variations of microphysical parameters s uch as particle concentration, average diameter and ice water content and o ften show a kind of wave structure caused by different atmospheric processe s. This work utilizes airborne in situ data from the European Cloud and Radiat ion Experiment (EUCREX), collected during several flights through different types of cirrus clouds to describe spatial inhomogeneities in terms of mic rophysical properties. The results of several flights will be shown in this paper in order to give an outline on the appearance of wave structures in cirrus clouds. Spectral analysis is used to acquire information on the char acteristic spatial scales of these waves. Derived scales are on average 14 km, 4.9 km and 2.3 km. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.