Affiliation:
1. Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tsukuba, Japan
2. Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom
Abstract
This paper reports on a new index for low cloud cover (LCC), the estimated cloud-top entrainment index (ECTEI), which is a modification of estimated inversion strength (EIS) and takes into account a cloud-top entrainment (CTE) criterion. Shipboard cloud observation data confirm that the index is strongly correlated with LCC. It is argued here that changes in LCC cannot be fully determined from changes in EIS only, but can be better determined from changes in both EIS and sea surface temperature (SST) based on the ECTEI. Furthermore, it is argued that various proposed predictors of LCC change, including the moist static energy vertical gradient, SST, and midlevel clouds, can be better understood from the perspective of the ECTEI.
Funder
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan
UK BEIS/Defra Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Cited by
39 articles.
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