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Global hydrometeor occurrence as observed by CloudSat: Initial observations from summer 2006
Author(s) -
Mace Gerald G.,
Marchand Roger,
Zhang Qiquing,
Stephens Graeme
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2006gl029017
Subject(s) - environmental science , climatology , hadley cell , cloud cover , storm , meteorology , intertropical convergence zone , atmospheric sciences , general circulation model , climate change , precipitation , geography , cloud computing , geology , oceanography , computer science , operating system
Measurements of global hydrometeor coverage and occurrence frequencies as observed by the cloud radar on CloudSat are summarized using data collected during Summer 2006. CloudSat was launched on 28 April 2006 and began collecting data routinely on 7 June 2006. In this article we document the distribution of cloudiness from the ITCZ to the Polar regions as observed by CloudSat during the first summer of operations. The overall global hydrometeor coverage as observed by CloudSat is found to be 0.506. The vertical distribution of zonally averaged hydrometeor occurrence shows the relationship of clouds with components of the atmospheric general circulation such as the Hadley Cell, the ubiquitous storms over the Southern Ocean, and the subtropical stratocumulus regimes.