986

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS, VOL. 10, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2013

Statistical Properties of Horizontally Oriented Plates

in Optically Thick Clouds From
Satellite Observations
Chen Zhou, Ping Yang, Andrew E. Dessler, and Faming Liang

AbstractSpecular reflection from horizontally oriented plates

(HOPs) has significant effects on lidar backscatter. The intensity
of specular reflection from HOPs is high in warm mixed-phase
clouds and low in cold ice clouds. The theoretical simulations
of lidar backscatter and depolarization ratio are consistent with
spaceborne measurements for optically thick mixed-phase and ice
clouds if an equivalent percentage of HOPs of 0.08%0.3% is
assumed. Based on the joint probability density function of the
attenuated backscatter and depolarization ratio observed by the
CloudAerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization aboard the
CloudAerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations platform, it is estimated that HOPs exist in approximately
60% of optically thick ( > 3) ice and mixed-phase cloud layers.
The cloud-layer temperature is the primary factor affecting the
distribution of HOPs. Specifically, HOPs exist in approximately
88% of optically thick ice and mixed-phase cloud layers warmer
than 30 C, in approximately 84% of ice and mixed-phase cloud
layers between 30 C and 45 C, and in approximately 29%
of cold ice cloud layers below 45 C.
Index TermsCloudAerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder
Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), ice crystal orientation, ice
cloud particles, radiative transfer.

I. I NTRODUCTION

ATELLITE-based retrievals of cloud optical depth and effective size are sensitive to a priori assumptions of particle
shape [1] and orientation [2]. In most radiative transfer models,
ice crystals are assumed to be randomly oriented. However,
in environments with small vertical velocities, ice particles
with certain shapes may become preferentially oriented due
to aerodynamic effects [3]. If a substantial fraction of the ice
crystals in an ice cloud is oriented, it might cause errors in cloud
properties retrievals for some specific measurements unless
properly accounted for. Therefore, quantifying the occurrence
of horizontally oriented ice crystals in ice and mixed-phase
clouds is necessary. We would particularly like to know the
fraction of ice and mixed-phase clouds containing horizontally

Manuscript received May 2, 2012; revised July 31, 2012; accepted

October 25, 2012. Date of publication December 24, 2012; date of current version June 13, 2013. This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration under Grant NNX10AM27G and Grant NNX11AK37G.
C. Zhou, P. Yang, and A. E. Dessler are with the Department of Atmospheric
Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA (e-mail:
pyang@tamu.edu).
F. Liang is with the Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX 77843 USA.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LGRS.2012.2227451

oriented ice crystals and the average percentage of horizontally

oriented ice crystals among the cloud particles.
Ice crystal orientation is generally hard to detect, but satellites and ground lidars [4] can detect horizontally oriented
plates (HOPs) from the specular reflection by their prism facets.
Therefore, this letter focuses on the distribution of HOPs within
cloud particles.
Previous studies have provided estimates of the fraction of
clouds containing HOPs using different methods and data sets,
but the uncertainties remain quite large. From observations
made by the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER) satellite, Chepfer et al. [5] estimated that
HOPs exist in more than 40% of ice clouds, and Breon and
Dubrulle [6] suggested that HOPs exist in more than 50% of
the ice cloud pixels. Using CloudAerosol Lidar and Infrared
Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) data, Noel and
Chepfer [7] suggested that HOPs appear in approximately 6%
of optically thin (i.e., < 3) ice cloud layers. Ground-based
Doppler lidar measurements indicate that the fraction of clouds
showing specular reflection is 26%40% [8].
Estimates of the percentage of HOPs among cloud particles
in ice and mixed-phase clouds are also subject to large uncertainties. Breon and Dubrulle [6] suggested, based on POLDER
data, the typical fraction of HOPs in ice clouds to lie between
0.1% and 1%. Noel and Chepfer [9] estimated, also from
POLDER data, the percentage of HOPs to be less than 10%
in most cases. From CALIPSO observations, Noel and Chepfer
[7] later estimated the fraction of HOPs in optically thin cloud
layers to be 1%5% and the overall HOP percentage in clouds
to lie between 0.1% and 0.5%.
As a follow-up to these previous studies, statistical methods
are employed to analyze CALIPSO data in order to provide an
estimate of the HOP fraction in optically thick ice and mixedphase clouds.
II.  PDF OF I CE AND M IXED -P HASE C LOUDS
Clouds containing HOPs feature strong backscatter and low
depolarization ratios [10] when the lidar beam is perpendicular
to the main facets of the ice crystals due to specular reflection.
At the 532-nm wavelength, optically thick clouds ( > 3) are
opaque to the CALIPSO lidar, and the backscattering intensity
is independent of optical depth. If all ice crystals are randomly
oriented, no statistically significant change should occur in the
joint probability density function (PDF) of the layer-integrated

1545-598X/$31.00 2012 IEEE

ZHOU et al.: STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF HOPS IN THICK CLOUDS FROM SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS

987

 base
attenuated backscatter (defined as  = top  (r) +  (r)dr,
where  (r) and  (r) are the parallel and perpendicular
components of the attenuated backscatter, respectively) or
in the layer-integrated depolarization ratio (defined as =
 base 
 base 
top (r)dr/ top  (r)dr), when the lidar off-nadir angle
increases from 0.3 to 3 .
However, the existence of HOPs enhances the lidar backscatter and reduces the depolarization ratio significantly when the
off-nadir angle is 0.3 , but the effect is negligible when the
off-nadir angle is 3 . This occurs because specular reflection
associated with HOPs gives rise to strong attenuated backscatter
and small depolarization ratios for a lidar off-nadir angle close
to zero [11].
There are substantial uncertainties in the scattering properties
of HOPs largely due to the uncertainty in surface roughness.
In this letter, we calculate the equivalent percentage of fine ice
plates to match the observed specular reflection. Fine ice plates
are defined as horizontally oriented, pristine planar hexagons
without surface roughness and with small deviation angles.
Furthermore, we assume a cloud to be a mixture of fine HOPs
and randomly oriented particles. The  relationship for
optically thick ice and mixed-phase clouds can be described as
follows [12]:

onadir=0.3
=


1 + onadir=0.3
onadir=3 onadir=3
1 + onadir=3
onadir=0.3

(1)


where onadir=0.3
and onadir=0.3 are the layer-integrated
attenuated backscatter and the layer-integrated depolarization

ratio, respectively, at the 0.3 off-nadir angle, and onadir=3

and onadir=3 are the counterparts for the 3 off-nadir angle.

The percentage of fine HOPs in ice clouds specified in the
form of

Wh = C


(onadir=0.3


onadir=3
)

100%

(2)

where Wh is the relative area fraction of fine HOPs in percentage, and the value of C is decided by the particle size
distribution and derivation angles. To estimate the value of
C, we first calculate the scattering properties of HOPs with
the physicalgeometric optics hybrid method [13]. Afterward,
we simulate the variation of  versus using the Monte
Carlo method [12] and calculate the C value with simple
linear regression. In this letter, the size distribution of fine
HOPs used to match the specular reflection of HOPs is n(D >
0.1) = N0 D1.026 exp(8.7D), where D (in millimeters) is the
maximum dimension of HOPs, and N0 is a constant used to normalize the probability distribution function. Considering that
only ice plates with maximum dimensions greater than 0.1 mm
are likely to be quasi-horizontally oriented [14], we set n(D <
0.1) = 0. The tilt angles of the HOPs are assumed to follow
the normal distribution with a standard deviation of 0.8 , and
the characteristic tilt angle of HOPs is less than 1 in most ice
clouds [6]. The simulation results indicate a C value of 0.1 (sr).
By varying the size distribution and tilt angle distribution, we
can estimate an uncertainty interval for C of 0.050.2 (sr). In
this letter, the value of C for fine HOPs is set to be 0.1 (sr)
to match the specular reflection from HOPs. For this value, the

Fig. 1. Global mean joint PDF of attenuated backscatter (  ) and depolarization ratio () at the 0.3 off-nadir angle. (a)  PDF for all single-layer
opaque clouds. (b)(h)  PDFs for clouds at specific temperatures.

backscatter of HOPs at the 0.3 off-nadir angle is approximately

370 times as strong as for randomly oriented ice crystals, very
close to the value provided by Sassen and Benson [4].
The global average  PDF is used to evaluate the distribution of HOPs. The CALIPSO level-2 cloud-layer products
(5-km resolution) used in this analysis are as follows: the
layer-integrated attenuated backscatter  , the layer-integrated
volume depolarization ratio , the opacity flag, the midlayer
temperature, the ice/water phase, and the lidar off-nadir angle.
To reduce the bias brought about by the diurnal circle [15], both
daytime and nighttime observations are included.
Fig. 1(a) shows the global  PDF of single-layer opaque
clouds observed between July 2006 and October 2007 at a lidar
off-nadir angle of 0.3 based on from more than 107 global
observations. The geographic pattern of the crystal orientation
does not cycle noticeably over the year, and the calculations use
almost all the data available at the 0.3 off-nadir angle, similar
to Noel and Chepfer [7]. Pixels in the branch with a positive
slope represent water clouds, and pixels in the branch with a
negative slope represent ice and mixed-phase clouds [10], [16].
Fig. 1(b)(h) shows the  PDF for cloud layers at various
temperatures.
Fig. 2 shows the  PDF of single-layer opaque clouds
observed between July 2009 and October 2010 at a lidar offnadir angle of 3 . The long tail of the ice and mixed-phase cloud

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IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS, VOL. 10, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2013

Fig. 2. Same as Fig. 1, except for the PDF at the 3 off-nadir angle.

branch above the water cloud branch, which represents clouds

containing HOPs, does not exist in Fig. 2.
The differences between the  PDF at the 0.3 and 3 offnadir angles are shown in Fig. 3. It is evident that the  PDF
for different off-nadir angles is because of specular reflection by
the HOPs. Fig. 3(b)(h) indicates that cloud layers containing
HOPs are present over a wide temperature range.
The distribution of HOPs is sensitive to the cloud-layer
temperature. From a comparison between the  PDF in
Fig. 1(b)(g) and Fig. 2(b)(g), HOPs apparently occur frequently in ice and mixed-phase cloud layers warmer than
45 C. However, for ice clouds below 45 C, the difference
in the  PDF is small (the difference accounts for 15% of
the observations) and verifies that HOPs appear less frequently
in extremely cold ice clouds.
III. D ISTRIBUTION OF HOP S
To estimate the distribution of HOPs in ice and mixed-phase
clouds, water cloud signals are removed from the  PDF
based on the CALIPSO ice/water phase discrimination product.
The present approach of removing water cloud signals works
quite well for both the CloudAerosol Lidar with Orthogonal
Polarization 0.3 and 3 off-nadir angles [17].
Using the  PDF for ice and mixed-phase clouds, we
calculated the equivalent percentage of fine HOPs with (1) and
(2). The normalized probability distribution function of fine

Fig. 3. Global mean  PDF at the 0.3 off-nadir angle minus the 
PDF at the 3 off-nadir angle. Pixels are red if the  PDF value at the 0.3
off-nadir angle is larger than that at the 3 off-nadir angle, and pixels are blue
if the  PDF value at the 0.3 off-nadir angle is smaller than that at the 3
off-nadir angle.

HOPs is shown in Fig. 4(a), and the global mean equivalent

percentage of fine HOPs among particles in ice and mixedphase clouds was estimated to be approximately 0.16%. If the
uncertainty of C in (2) is considered, the uncertainty interval
for the equivalent percentage of fine HOPs is 0.08%0.3%. The
result is consistent with some previous studies [6], [7].
Fig. 4(b) shows the zonal mean equivalent percentage of fine
HOPs as a function of latitude. HOP fraction is a minimum in
the tropics and Antarctic and reaches a maximum in the Arctic.
The difference in the HOP percentage with latitude may result
from differences in the thermodynamic environment of clouds.
The percentage of HOPs occurring in clouds critically depends on the temperature [see Fig. 4(c)]. As illustrated in the
figure, fine HOPs exist mainly in warm clouds, particularly in
the mixed-phase clouds above 20 C, and the concentration
sharply decreases as the temperature decreases.
The equivalent percentage of fine HOPs within cloud layers
can be expressed as the summation of exponential distributions
[for example, Fig. 4(a)] and is quantitatively specified as
PHOP = A1 exp(k1 Wh ) + A2 exp(k2 Wh )

(3)

where PHOP is the probability that the equivalent percentage of

HOPs within a cloud layer is Wh . Factors A1 , A2 , k1 , and k2
are constants.

ZHOU et al.: STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF HOPS IN THICK CLOUDS FROM SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS

989

Fig. 4. (a) PDF for the global mean equivalent percentage of fine HOPs in ice and mixed-phase clouds. The solid black line is a fit line, PDF = 8.8e3.9Wh +
0.5e0.72Wh . (b) Equivalent percentage of fine HOPs in ice and mixed-phase clouds as a function of latitude. (c) Equivalent percentage of fine HOPs among ice
and mixed-phase cloud particles as a function of temperature. (d) Fraction of ice and mixed-phase clouds containing HOP as a function of temperature.

The fraction of ice clouds containing HOPs can be estimated

with a statistical approach. Assume x of clouds contain HOPs,
and (1 x) of clouds do not contain HOPs, then

phase clouds warmer than 30 C and in approximately 84%

of optically thick ice and mixed-phase clouds between 30 C
and 45 C. In ice clouds colder than 45 C, approximately
29% contain HOPs.

PDFonadir=3 = xPDFHOP,onadir=3 +(1x)PDFROIC

(4)
PDFonadir=0.3 = xPDFHOP,onadir=0.3 +(1x)PDFROIC

IV. C ONCLUSION AND D ISCUSSION

Using the difference of the  PDFs at 0.3 and 3 off(5) nadir angles, we estimate that HOPs exist in approximately
60% of optically thick ice and mixed-phase cloud layers, a
where PDFonadir=0.3 is the  PDF of ice and mixed- value consistent with previous estimations from POLDER [5],
phase clouds at the 0.3 off-nadir angle, PDFonadir=3 is the [6]. The fraction of clouds containing HOPs is larger than found
 PDF of ice and mixed-phase clouds at the 3 off-nadir by Noel and Chepfer [7], because, in their estimation, only
angle, PDFHOP,onadir=0.3 is the  PDF for clouds con- clouds with very strong specular reflection were considered to
taining HOPs at the 3 off-nadir angle, PDFHOP,onadir=3 is contain HOPs. On the other hand, the equivalent percentage
the  PDF for clouds containing HOPs 3 off-nadir angle, of fine HOPs needed to match observed specular reflection
and PDFROIC is for clouds that do not contain HOPs.
of horizontally oriented crystals is 0.08%0.3%, consistent
Therefore, the difference between the two  PDFs is
with the estimation of HOPs in optically thin ice clouds using
CALIPSO [7].
PDF = PDFonadir=0.3 PDFonadir=3
Although HOPs can be frequently found in cold ice clouds,
= x (PDFHOP,onadir=0.3 PDFHOP,onadir=3 ). (6) the equivalent percentage of HOPs in these clouds is much
smaller than in warm ice and mixed-phase clouds. In mixedAssume PDFHOP,onadir=3 is equal to PDFonadir=3 , then the phase clouds, high supersaturation enables the ice crystals
term PDF can be calculated with any given x by (1)(3). Us- to quickly grow with relatively smooth crystal facets, which
ing the least squares method and for each temperature interval, generate strong specular reflection, despite the fact that crystals
parameters x, A1 , A2 , k1 , and k2 are chosen to minimize the may be partially covered with trans-prismatic strands [18].
differences between the PDF expressed by (6) and the PDF However, in subsaturated ice clouds, evaporation roughens the
observed by CALIPSO. The estimated results and uncertainty ice crystal surfaces [8], and the crystal facets are almost entirely
intervals for x are shown in Fig. 4(d). The results suggest that covered with trans-prismatic strands [18], which results in very
HOPs exist in about 88% of optically thick ice and mixed- weak specular reflection. As a result, the attenuated backscatter

990

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS, VOL. 10, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2013

of HOPs in cold ice clouds is much weaker than that in warm

mixed-phase clouds, which implies that the total weight of
HOPs may be much greater than the equivalent percentage of
fine HOPs needed to match the observed specular reflection.
Therefore, although the equivalent percentage of fine HOPs
needed to match the observed specular reflection of horizontally
oriented crystals is small, considering HOPs in cloud property
retrievals in future radiative transfer models may be important.

[9]
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[11]

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