On the Relationship Between the Marine Cold Air Outbreak M Parameter and Low-Level Cloud Heights in the Midlatitudes
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

For very narrow results

When looking for a specific result

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Dates

to

Document Data
Library
People
Clear All
Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

On the Relationship Between the Marine Cold Air Outbreak M Parameter and Low-Level Cloud Heights in the Midlatitudes

Filetype[PDF-1.27 MB]


Details Related Documents You May Also Like

Details:

  • Journal Title:
    Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
  • Personal Author:
  • NOAA Program & Office:
    CIMMS (Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies)
  • Description:
    Focusing on conditions of subsidence when low clouds are present, ground-based observations in both the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean reveal strong relationships between cloud boundary (base and top heights) and different measures of lower tropospheric instability. The difference in potential temperature between the surface and 800 hPa (a metric called M) provides a stronger relationship than measures of inversion strength such as the lower tropospheric stability and estimated inversion strength. This is because (1) inversion strength itself does not correlate well with cloud boundaries, and (2) M contains information that appears important for cloud boundaries. These include the surface forcing through the use of sea surface rather than near-surface air temperature and an upper level close to the real cloud top. These results expand upon previous work on the importance of M as a predictor of cloud morphology. However, important differences are found in low-cloud conditions for the North Atlantic as compared to the Southern Ocean (for a given value of M): stronger inversions, deeper boundary layers, and much larger sea level pressures. Therefore, the relationship between cloud boundaries and M differs between the two regions. A general circulation model provides similar relationships as observed between M and both cloud top height and temperature but tends to place clouds higher and at colder temperatures than observed for a given M. This might cause issues with the representation of precipitation, cloud cover and radiation in the Southern Ocean.
  • Keywords:
  • Source:
    Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125, e2020JD032465
  • DOI:
  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
    Southern Ocean
  • Rights Information:
    Other
  • Compliance:
    Submitted
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:

Supporting Files

  • No Additional Files
More +

Related Documents

You May Also Like

Checkout today's featured content at repository.library.noaa.gov

Version 3.26.1