Supercooled Water Cloud Detection From Polarized Multi-Angle Imager Data Using 1.37 μm Water Vapor Polarized Channel

Detecting supercooled water clouds (SWCs) is essential for enhancing artificial rainfall, preventing aircraft ice accretion, and developing a better understanding of radiative energy balance. The 1.37 μm channel, known as strong water vapor absorbing, was made polarized in the polarized multi-angle imager (PMAI) onboard FengYun-3G satellite. The infight data shown that the new 1.37 μm polarized channel could be used to detect SWCs. The cloudbow is observed around the 140° scattering angle in the 1.37 μm polarization image, with a maximum polarization reflectance of approximately 0.04–0.06. The indicated water clouds with spherical particles in the high-level altitude could be SWCs. Then, the SWCs detected by 1.37 μm polarized channel is verified using polarized reflectance of other channels, the reflectance difference of channels, and thermal infrared bright temperature. The presence of cloudbow in 1.03 and 1.64 μm channels indicate liquid water cloud. The reflectance difference between 1.03 and 1.64 μm of SWCs agree with characteristic of water cloud. The thermal infrared channels from the imager on the same platform indicate cold cloud with the brightness temperature far below 273.16 K. Therefore, the only use of 1.37 μm polarized channel could perform the identification of SWCs. PMAI provides a powerful tool for monitoring supercooled water clouds.