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Understanding the synoptic variability of stratocumulus cloud liquid water path over the Southeastern Pacific

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Abstract

The spatial and temporal variance of stratocumulus cloud liquid water path (CLWP) over Southeastern Pacific has been investigated by combining satellite moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer cloud products, CLWP from advanced microwave scanning radiometer-EOS observations and NCEP final analysis atmospheric products with empirical orthogonal function (EOF) Analysis. CLWP variance is the most complicated factor among three fundamental cloud quantities (the microphysical cloud droplet concentration, and the macrophysical CLWP and cloud fractional cover). The results show that EOF/PC1 of CLWP represents the variation of domain-averaged CLWP, which is mainly controlled by surface meteorological factors. Sea surface temperature and cold advection drive the synoptic and seasonal scales of variance of CLWP, while surface wind speed plays a fundamental role in stratocumulus cloud formation and daily variance of CLWP. EOF/PC2 of CLWP describes the spatial variance of CLWP. This daily spatial variance of CLWP is controlled by the factors of lower tropospheric stability and cloud top relative humidity, which determine cloud thickness and, consequently, CLWP through thermodynamic and entrainment processes. Further study indicates a twofold interaction of the surface wind speed on stratocumulus CLWP: (1) dynamically through modulation of surface latent heat and sensible heat fluxes and (2) microphysically through enhanced marine aerosol production.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by US NSF under contract AGS-1138495, by the DOE’s Atmospheric System Research program (Office of Science, OBER) under contract DE-FG02-03ER63531, and by the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) under cooperative agreements NA17AE1625 and NA17AE1623, and supported by Science and Technology Research Foundation of SGCC contract DZB17201200260.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Lanxi Min, Wei Gong & Qilong Min

  2. Smart Grid Operation Research Center, China Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing, China

    Guangyi Liu

  3. Atmospheric Science Research Center, State University of New York, Albany, NY, 12203, USA

    Lanxi Min & Qilong Min

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  1. Lanxi Min
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  2. Wei Gong
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  4. Qilong Min
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Correspondence to Qilong Min.

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Responsible Editor: S. Hong.

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Min, L., Gong, W., Liu, G. et al. Understanding the synoptic variability of stratocumulus cloud liquid water path over the Southeastern Pacific. Meteorol Atmos Phys 127, 625–634 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-015-0392-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-015-0392-2

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