The Radiative, Cloud, and Thermodynamic Properties of the Major Tropical Western Pacific Cloud Regimes

摘要: This study investigates the radiative, cloud, and thermodynamic characteristics of atmosphere separated into objectively defined cloud regimes in tropical western Pacific (TWP). A cluster analysis is applied to 2 yr daytime-only data from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) identify four major TWP region. variety collected at Department Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) site on Manus Island then used main regimes. Those include surface top-of-the-atmosphere radiative fluxes properties derived a suite ground-based active remote sensors, as well temperature water vapor distribution measured radiosondes. The identified area are two suppressed regimes—one dominated by occurrence mostly shallow clouds, other thin cirrus—as convectively regimes— one exhibiting large coverage optically cirrus characterized with thick clouds. All these shown exist varying frequency ARM Manus. It further that detailed available can be characterize each regimes, demonstrating potential regime separation facilitate extrapolation observations location larger scales. applications discussed.