Collaborative Research: Global Distribution of Diurnal Cycles and Long-term Changes in Cloud Amounts from Surface Observations

该项目将根据从陆地气象站(自1971年起)和海洋气象站(自1952年起)收集的数据集编制一份云图。将使用的基本海洋数据集可从COADS(由国家大气研究中心和国家海洋和大气管理局联合存档的综合海洋大气数据集)获得。地图集将特别侧重于对气候研究有用的日循环、年际变化和长期趋势。将提供总云量、低云量、三层云类型(层云、层积云和雾)、高层云和高积云类型以及观测时的当前天气状况(例如降雨量、雾)和云底高度的信息。白天和夜间的观测将分开进行。基于卫星的数据集将被用来补充与形态定义的云类型相关的光学特性的目录。该项目产生的云目录预计将被证明对科学界的气候变化研究非常有用；例如，在改进对地球辐射预算的估计方面。

This project will result in a catalogue of clouds compiled from data sets gathered from weather stations, both land (from 1971 onward) and ocean (from 1952 onward). The basic ocean data set to be used is readily available from COADS (the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set jointly archived by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).The atlas will be compiled with special emphasis on diurnal cycles, interannual variability and long-term trends useful for climate studies. Information on total cloud cover, low cloud amount, cloud types at three levels (stratus, stratocumulus and fog), types altostratus and altocumulus, and present weather conditions at the time of observation (e.g., precipitation, fog), and cloud base height will be provided. Day and night-time observations will be separated. Satellite-based data sets will be used to supplement the catalogue with optical properties associated with morphologically defined types of cloud.The cloud catalogue arising from this project is expected to prove highly useful to the scientific community for climate change studies; for example, in improving estimates of the Earth's radiation budget.