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Wavelet Analysis of Properties of Marine Boundary Layer Mesoscale Cells Observed From AMSR‐E
Author(s) -
Zhou Xiaoli,
Bretherton Christopher S.,
Eastman Ryan,
McCoy Isabel L.,
Wood Robert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2021jd034666
Subject(s) - mesoscale meteorology , environmental science , water vapor , boundary layer , wavelength , subtropics , scale (ratio) , atmospheric sciences , microwave radiometer , convection , meteorology , remote sensing , geology , climatology , radiometer , materials science , geography , physics , cartography , optoelectronics , fishery , biology , thermodynamics
Marine boundary layer clouds tend to organize into closed or open mesoscale cellular convection (MCC). Here, two‐dimensional wavelet analysis is applied for the first time to passive microwave retrievals of cloud water path (CWP), water vapor path (WVP), and rain rate (RR) from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System in 2008 over the Northeast and Southeast Pacific, and the Southeast Atlantic subtropical stratocumulus to cumulus transition regions. The (co‐)variability between CWP, WVP, and RR in 160 × 160 km 2 analysis boxes is partitioned between four mesoscale wavelength octaves (20, 40, 80, and 160 km). The cell scale is identified as the wavelength of the peak CWP variance. Together with a machine‐learning classification of cell type, this allows the statistical characteristics of open and closed MCC of various scales, and its relation to WVP, RR, and potential environmental controlling factors to be analyzed across a very large set of cases. The results show that the cell wavelength is most commonly 40–80 km. Cell‐scale CWP perturbations are good predictors of the WVP and RR perturbations. For cells larger than 20 km, there is no obvious dependence of cell scale on the environmental controlling factors tested, suggesting that the cell scale may depend more on its historical evolution than the current environmental conditions.