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Detailed Reference Information |
Zhou, M., Zeng, X., Brunke, M., Zhang, Z. and Fairall, C. (2006). An analysis of statistical characteristics of stratus and stratocumulus over eastern Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters 33: doi: 10.1029/2005GL024796. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Observational measurements of cloud base, top, thickness, fraction, and liquid water path (LWP) are analyzed to study the macro- and micro-physical properties of stratus and stratocumulus over the eastern Pacific. It is found that the increase in liquid water content with height in cloud is significantly less than the adiabatic rate. The variations of cloud base and top both contribute to the variation of cloud thickness that approximately fits a normal distribution better than either cloud base or top. Because the distribution of LWP depends on the intervals of cloud fraction (or other environmental variables, for example, relative humidity), the determination of cloud fraction from the mean LWP alone would introduce large uncertainties particularly when LWP is large. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Cloud physics and chemistry, Atmospheric Processes, Instruments and techniques, Atmospheric Processes, Clouds and cloud feedbacks |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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