Work

Trends in Global Cloud Cover in Two Decades of HIRS Observations

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: The frequency of cloud detection and the frequency with which these clouds are found in the upper troposphere have been extracted from NOAA High Resolution Infrared Radiometer Sounder (HIRS) polar-orbiting satellite data from 1979 to 2001. The HIRS/2 sensor was flown on nine satellites from the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-Next Generation (TIROS-N) through NOAA-14, forming a 22-yr record. Carbon dioxide slicing was used to infer cloud amount and height. Trends in cloud cover and high-cloud frequency were found to be small in these data. High clouds show a small but statistically significant increase in the Tropics and the Northern Hemisphere. The HIRS analysis contrasts with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), which shows a decrease in both total cloud cover and high clouds during most of this period.

Source: Journal of Climate

DOI: 10.1175/jcli3461.1

Authors: Donald Wylie, Darren L. Jackson, W. Paul Menzel, John J. Bates

Institutions: University of Wisconsin–Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service

Language: English

Topic: Atmospheric aerosols and clouds

Subfield: Global and Planetary Change

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Climate action

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration