Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations
One of the largest uncertainties in climate sensitivity predictions is the influence of clouds. While some aspects of cloud formation and evolution are well understood, others such as the diurnal variability of their heights remains largely unexplored at global scales. Aiming to fill that fundamenta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.780243/full |
| _version_ | 1797972462635319296 |
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| author | A. Delgado-Bonal A. Delgado-Bonal A. Marshak Y. Yang L. Oreopoulos |
| author_facet | A. Delgado-Bonal A. Delgado-Bonal A. Marshak Y. Yang L. Oreopoulos |
| author_sort | A. Delgado-Bonal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One of the largest uncertainties in climate sensitivity predictions is the influence of clouds. While some aspects of cloud formation and evolution are well understood, others such as the diurnal variability of their heights remains largely unexplored at global scales. Aiming to fill that fundamental gap in cloud knowledge, this paper studies the daytime evolution of cloud top height using the EPIC instrument aboard the DSCOVR satellite, complemented by coincident cloud height retrievals by GOES-R’s ABI instrument. Both datasets indicate that cloud height exhibits a minimum around midday for low clouds with amplitudes between 250 and 600 m depending on the season. The two datasets also agree that high clouds exhibit a contrasting behavior with steady increase of cloud height from morning to evening. We investigate dependences on the type of underlying surface, finding that the amplitude of the diurnal cycles is weaker over ocean than over land for both EPIC and ABI retrievals. We also find a positive correlation between cloud fraction and height over ocean which turns negative over land for low clouds, while for high clouds the correlation is largely positive. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:48:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a7af769dc37e43a48f7fa39a848a7302 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-6187 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:48:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-a7af769dc37e43a48f7fa39a848a73022023-01-02T02:19:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Remote Sensing2673-61872022-02-01310.3389/frsen.2022.780243780243Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI ObservationsA. Delgado-Bonal0A. Delgado-Bonal1A. Marshak2Y. Yang3L. Oreopoulos4Earth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesUniversities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD, United StatesEarth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesEarth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesEarth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesOne of the largest uncertainties in climate sensitivity predictions is the influence of clouds. While some aspects of cloud formation and evolution are well understood, others such as the diurnal variability of their heights remains largely unexplored at global scales. Aiming to fill that fundamental gap in cloud knowledge, this paper studies the daytime evolution of cloud top height using the EPIC instrument aboard the DSCOVR satellite, complemented by coincident cloud height retrievals by GOES-R’s ABI instrument. Both datasets indicate that cloud height exhibits a minimum around midday for low clouds with amplitudes between 250 and 600 m depending on the season. The two datasets also agree that high clouds exhibit a contrasting behavior with steady increase of cloud height from morning to evening. We investigate dependences on the type of underlying surface, finding that the amplitude of the diurnal cycles is weaker over ocean than over land for both EPIC and ABI retrievals. We also find a positive correlation between cloud fraction and height over ocean which turns negative over land for low clouds, while for high clouds the correlation is largely positive.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.780243/fullcloud heightglobal variabilityDSCOVREarth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC)diurnal cloud cycles |
| spellingShingle | A. Delgado-Bonal A. Delgado-Bonal A. Marshak Y. Yang L. Oreopoulos Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations Frontiers in Remote Sensing cloud height global variability DSCOVR Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) diurnal cloud cycles |
| title | Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations |
| title_full | Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations |
| title_fullStr | Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations |
| title_short | Cloud Height Daytime Variability From DSCOVR/EPIC and GOES-R/ABI Observations |
| title_sort | cloud height daytime variability from dscovr epic and goes r abi observations |
| topic | cloud height global variability DSCOVR Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) diurnal cloud cycles |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2022.780243/full |
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