The Cloud Top Distribution and Diurnal Variation of Clouds Over East Asia: Preliminary Results From Advanced Himawari Imager

Abstract

Clouds, as one of the most uncertain factors in climate system, have been intensively studied as satellites with advanced instruments emerged in recent years. However, few studies examine the vertical distributions of cloud top and their temporal variations over East Asia based on geostationary satellite data. In this study, the vertical structures of cloud top and its diurnal variations in summer of 2016 are analyzed using the Advanced Himawari Imager/Himawari‐8 cloud products. Results show that clouds occur most frequently over the southern Tibetan Plateau and the Bay of Bengal. We find a steep gradient of cloud occurrence frequency extending from southwest to northeast China and low‐value centers over the eastern Pacific and the Inner Mongolia Plateau. The vertical structures of cloud top are highly dependent on latitude, in addition to the nonnegligible roles of both terrain and land‐sea thermal contrast. In terms of the diurnal cycle, clouds tend to occur more often in the afternoon, peaking around 1700 local time over land and ocean. The amplitude of cloud diurnal variation over ocean is much smaller than that over land, and complex terrain tends to be linked to larger amplitude. In vertical, the diurnal cycle of cloud frequency exhibits bimodal pattern over both land and ocean. The high‐level peaks occur at almost the same altitude over land and ocean. In contrast, the low‐level peaks over ocean mainly reside in the boundary layer, much lower than those over land, which could be indicative of the frequent occurrence of marine boundary layer clouds.

Characteristics of Warm Clouds and Precipitation in South China during the Pre-Flood Season Using Datasets from a Cloud Radar, a Ceilometer, and a Disdrometer

“…where ∆D i (mm) is the diameter interval, P D i (mW) is the power caused by a single particle with a diameter of D i , P i (mW) is the radar-measured power for the particles with a diameter of D i , D min and D max (mm) represent the detected minimum and maximum diameters in the Doppler spectra, respectively, and ρ (g•cm −3 ) is the water density. = 6000 × × ( ) × ∆ (19) where ∆ (mm) is the diameter interval, P (mW) is the power caused by a single particle with a diameter of , (mW) is the radar-measured power for the particles with a diameter of , and (mm) represent the detected minimum and maximum diameters in the Doppler spectra, respectively, and (g•cm −3 ) is the water density.…”

“…They can provide data without any topographic limitations. For instance, geostationary satellites, such as the Himawari series, geostationary operational environmental satellite series, Fengyun-2 (FY-2) series, and Fengyun-4A (FY-4A) can offer real-time cloud maps over fixed areas with large regional coverages and provide multispectral measurements, including cloud top height, cloud temperature, cloud types, and cloud movement [19][20][21][22]. Nonetheless, the spatial and temporal resolutions of geostationary satellites are still relatively low and can hardly satisfy the requirements of fine-scale observation and research of clouds and precipitation [2].…”

Mesoscale Convective Systems in the Asian Monsoon Region From Advanced Himawari Imager: Algorithms and Preliminary Results

“…Asian monsoon region is seriously afflicted by aerosol pollution, which further modifies the cloud and precipitation properties (Guo et al, , , ; Z. Li et al, ; L. Li, Zhang, et al, ; Z. Li, Guo, et al, ; Wang et al, ; Zhao et al, ). The role of observations from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) onboard Himawari‐8 (HW8) has been well recognized in characterizing the variation and climatology of clouds in this region (e.g., D. Chen et al, ; Letu et al, ; Zhang & Fu, ). However, the features of MCSs from AHI/HW8 have been less appreciated.…”

“…Li, Guo, et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2018). The role of observations from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) onboard Himawari-8 (HW8) has been well recognized in characterizing the variation and climatology of clouds in this region (e.g., D. Chen et al, 2018;Letu et al, 2019;Zhang & Fu, 2018). However, the features of MCSs from AHI/HW8 have been less appreciated.…”

Comparison of Cloud Properties from Himawari-8 and FengYun-4A Geostationary Satellite Radiometers with MODIS Cloud Retrievals

“…These products are widely used for weather analysis and forecasting, short-term climate prediction, and environmental and disaster monitoring in Asia [19][20][21]. For example, Chen et al [24] discussed the vertical distributions and the diurnal variations in the cloud top over East Asia using the AHI/H-8 cloud products. Shang et al [25] evaluated the quality of AHI cloud mask and studied the diurnal and the seasonal variations in clouds over the Tibetan Plateau using the AHI/H-8 hourly cloud mask products.…”