Cloud's center of Gravity-A compact approach to analyze convective cloud development

I. Koren*, O. Altaratz, G. Feingold, Z. Levin, T. Reisin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

As cloud resolving models become more detailed, with higher resolution outputs, it is often complicated to isolate the physical processes that control the cloud attributes. Moreover, due to the high dimensionality and complexity of the model output, the analysis and interpretation of the results can be very complicated. Here we suggest a novel approach to convective cloud analysis that yields more insight into the physical and temporal evolution of clouds, and is compact and efficient. The different (3-D) cloud attributes are weighted and projected onto a single point in space and in time, that has properties of, or similar to, the Center Of Gravity (COG). The location, magnitude and spread of this variable are followed in time. The implications of the COG approach are demonstrated for a study of aerosol effects on a warm convective cloud. We show that in addition to reducing dramatically the dimensionality of the output, such an approach often enhances the signal, adds more information, and makes the physical description of cloud evolution clearer, allowing unambiguous comparison of clouds evolving in different environmental conditions. This approach may also be useful for analysis of cloud data retrieved from surface or space-based cloud radars.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)155-161
Number of pages7
JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Jan 2009

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cloud's center of Gravity-A compact approach to analyze convective cloud development'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this