ACTRIS Cloudnet¶

The actris_cloudnet gatherer downloads continuous vertical profiling observations of clouds and aerosols produced by the ACTRIS Cloudnet processing chain.

Overview¶

Provider: ACTRIS Cloudnet Data Portal / Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)
Official Website & Data Portal: cloudnet.fmi.fi
API Documentation: Cloudnet HTTP API
Coverage: European and international profiling stations
Instruments: Cloud radar (35/94 GHz), ceilometer/lidar, microwave radiometer (MWR)
Authentication: None required (open access under CC BY 4.0, no registration required)
Output Format: Standard CF-compliant NetCDF-4 files

Supported Products¶

Product Code	Name	Description
`categorize`	Categorize	Target classification, radar reflectivity, lidar backscatter, liquid/ice flags
`classification`	Target Classification	Categorized cloud/aerosol hydrometeor types
`radar`	Cloud Radar	Calibrated radar reflectivity factor, Doppler velocity, spectral width
`lidar`	Ceilometer / Lidar	Attenuated backscatter coefficient profiles
`mwr`	Microwave Radiometer	Brightness temperatures and retrieved liquid water path (LWP)
`iwc`	Ice Water Content	Derived vertical profiles of ice water content (g/m³)
`lwc`	Liquid Water Content	Scaled liquid water content profiles (g/m³)
`drizzle`	Drizzle Properties	Drizzle drop size, flux, and liquid water content

Parameters Reference¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`station`	`str`	required	Station name (e.g. `"granada"`, `"hyytiala"`, `"juelich"`, `"palaiseau"`)
`product`	`str \\| list[str]`	required	Cloudnet product name(s)
`start_date` / `date`	`str`	required	Start date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`end_date`	`str \\| None`	`None`	End date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format (defaults to `start_date`)
`overwrite_cache`	`bool`	`False`	Force re-download even if cached

Python API Usage¶

from gathering import Task

# Task 1: Categorize file
task = Task.actris_cloudnet(
    station="granada",
    product=["categorize", "iwc"],
    start_date="2023-06-01",
    end_date="2023-06-03",
)

results = task.run()

CLI Usage¶

gathering actris_cloudnet \
  --station granada \
  --product categorize iwc \
  --date 2023-06-01

YAML Configuration¶

# ==============================================================================
# ACTRIS Cloudnet — Cloud & Aerosol Profiling (Radar, Lidar, Categorize)
# ==============================================================================

logging:
  level: INFO

tasks:
  # Task 1: Cloudnet Target Classification / Categorize
  - source: actris_cloudnet
    site: "granada"                     # Station name (e.g. 'granada', 'hyytiala', 'juelich')
    product: "categorize"               # Options: 'categorize', 'classification', 'radar', 'lidar', 'mwr', 'iwc', 'lwc'
    start_date: "2023-06-01"
    end_date: "2023-06-03"
    overwrite_cache: false

  # Task 2: Cloud Water Content (IWC / LWC)
  - source: actris_cloudnet
    site: "granada"
    product: "iwc"                      # Ice Water Content
    start_date: "2023-06-01"
    end_date: "2023-06-03"
    overwrite_cache: false

Download Directory Structure¶

/workspace/.cache/gathering/actris_cloudnet/
└── granada/
    ├── categorize/
    │   └── 20230601_granada_categorize.nc
    └── iwc/
        └── 20230601_granada_iwc.nc