Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations
Cloud base height (CBH) is crucial for parameterizing the cloud vertical structure (CVS), but knowledge concerning the temporal and spatial distribution of CBH is still poor owing to the lack of large-scale and continuous CBH observations. Taking advantage of high temporal and spatial resolution obs...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/13/3424 |
| _version_ | 1797590849637318656 |
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| author | Zhonghui Tan Xianbin Zhao Shensen Hu Shuo Ma Li Wang Xin Wang Weihua Ai |
| author_facet | Zhonghui Tan Xianbin Zhao Shensen Hu Shuo Ma Li Wang Xin Wang Weihua Ai |
| author_sort | Zhonghui Tan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cloud base height (CBH) is crucial for parameterizing the cloud vertical structure (CVS), but knowledge concerning the temporal and spatial distribution of CBH is still poor owing to the lack of large-scale and continuous CBH observations. Taking advantage of high temporal and spatial resolution observations from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on board the geostationary Himawari-8 satellite, this study investigated the climatology of CBH by applying a novel CBH retrieval algorithm to AHI observations. We first evaluated the accuracy of the AHI-derived CBH retrievals using the active measurements of CVS from the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites, and the results indicated that our CBH retrievals for single-layer clouds perform well, with a mean bias of 0.3 ± 1.9 km. Therefore, the CBH climatology was compiled based on AHI-derived CBH retrievals for single-layer clouds for the time period between September 2015 and August 2018. Overall, the distribution of CBH is tightly associated with cloud phase, cloud type, and cloud top height and also exhibits significant geographical distribution and temporal variation. Clouds at low latitudes are generally higher than those at middle and high latitudes, with CBHs peaking in summer and lowest in winter. In addition, the surface type affects the distribution of CBH. The proportion of low clouds over the ocean is larger than that over the land, while high cloud occurs most frequently over the coastal area. Due to periodic changes in environmental conditions, cloud types also undergo significant diurnal changes, resulting in periodic changes in the vertical structure of clouds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:30:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-583e86abec8744e5aec68395a71928c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:30:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-583e86abec8744e5aec68395a71928c52023-11-18T17:26:04ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-07-011513342410.3390/rs15133424Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite ObservationsZhonghui Tan0Xianbin Zhao1Shensen Hu2Shuo Ma3Li Wang4Xin Wang5Weihua Ai6College of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCollege of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaKey Laboratory for Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaCollege of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, ChinaCloud base height (CBH) is crucial for parameterizing the cloud vertical structure (CVS), but knowledge concerning the temporal and spatial distribution of CBH is still poor owing to the lack of large-scale and continuous CBH observations. Taking advantage of high temporal and spatial resolution observations from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on board the geostationary Himawari-8 satellite, this study investigated the climatology of CBH by applying a novel CBH retrieval algorithm to AHI observations. We first evaluated the accuracy of the AHI-derived CBH retrievals using the active measurements of CVS from the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites, and the results indicated that our CBH retrievals for single-layer clouds perform well, with a mean bias of 0.3 ± 1.9 km. Therefore, the CBH climatology was compiled based on AHI-derived CBH retrievals for single-layer clouds for the time period between September 2015 and August 2018. Overall, the distribution of CBH is tightly associated with cloud phase, cloud type, and cloud top height and also exhibits significant geographical distribution and temporal variation. Clouds at low latitudes are generally higher than those at middle and high latitudes, with CBHs peaking in summer and lowest in winter. In addition, the surface type affects the distribution of CBH. The proportion of low clouds over the ocean is larger than that over the land, while high cloud occurs most frequently over the coastal area. Due to periodic changes in environmental conditions, cloud types also undergo significant diurnal changes, resulting in periodic changes in the vertical structure of clouds.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/13/3424cloud base heightgeostationary satellitecloud climatology |
| spellingShingle | Zhonghui Tan Xianbin Zhao Shensen Hu Shuo Ma Li Wang Xin Wang Weihua Ai Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations Remote Sensing cloud base height geostationary satellite cloud climatology |
| title | Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations |
| title_full | Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations |
| title_fullStr | Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations |
| title_short | Climatology of Cloud Base Height Retrieved from Long-Term Geostationary Satellite Observations |
| title_sort | climatology of cloud base height retrieved from long term geostationary satellite observations |
| topic | cloud base height geostationary satellite cloud climatology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/13/3424 |
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