Summary
Satellite observations of cloud cover have been used to compile average daily cloud charts for the intertropical Indian Ocean in 1967 and 1968. Annual, semiannual, seasonal and monthly averages have been examined to identify the major features of cloud distributions. Trend surface coefficients for average cloud cover have also been calculated, partly to aid comparisons between different periods, and partly as an experiment to determine their applicability to such problems. The greatest variations in cloud cover have been found to occur over the northern part of the Indian Ocean; three relatively cloud-free zones persisted throughout both years, as did a broad corss-equatorial belt of relatively large cloud amounts; considerable variations were apparent in cloud cover associated with the south-west monsoon; and there was evidence for inter-hemispheric linkages both before and during the south-west monsoon season.
Zusammenfassung
Auf Grund von Satellitenbeobachtungen der Wolkendecke wurden Karten der täglichen Bewölkungsmittel aus den Jahren 1967 und 1968 für den tropischen Indischen Ozean entworfen. Aus Jahres-, Halbjahres-, Jahreszeiten- und Monatsmittelwerten wurden die Hauptmerkmale der Wolkenverteilung abgeleitet. Es wurden Koeffizienten der Gleichungen für Regressionsflächen zur Approximierung der mittleren Wolkenverteilung berechnet, teils als Hilfsmittel für Vergleiche verschiedener Perioden und teils als Experiment zur Prüfung ihrer Anwendbarkeit auf solche Probleme. Die größten Änderungen der Wolkenbedeckung wurden über dem nördlichen Teil des Indischen Ozeans festgestellt. Drei relativ wolkenfreie Zonen existierten in beiden Jahren wie auch ein den Äquator kreuzender breiter Gürtel starker Bewölkung. Beträchtliche Änderungen der Bewölkung traten im Zusammenhang mit dem Südwest-Monsun auf, und es zeigte sich eine deutliche Verkettung zwischen beiden Hemisphären sowohl vor wie auch während des Südwestmonsuns.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barrett, E. C.: Re-thinking Climatology: a Critical Appraisal of the Uses of Weather Satellite Data in Climatological Studies. Progress in Geography2, London: Arnold, 1970.
Barrett, E. C.: Notes on the Evolution and Interpretation of Satellite Global-Scale Mosaics. Weather23, 198–205 (1968).
Sadler, J. C.: Utilization of Meteorological Satellite Cloud Data in Tropical Meteorology, Research Note, AFCRL-62-829, Air Force Cambridge Res. Labor. Massachusetts, 1962.
Miller, F. R.: An Application of TIROS Cloud Observations in Sparse Data Regions. Mon. Weath. Rev.91, 433–451 (1963).
Rutherford, G. T.: Synoptic Use of Meteorological Satellite Data in Sparse Data Regions. Australian Met. Mag.14, 133–151 (1966).
Nordberg, W.: Satellite Studies of the Lower Atmosphere. Space Science Revs.7, 539–578 (1967).
Davis, P. A., and S. M. Serebreny: Satellite Viewed Cloud Cover and Computed Atmospheric Transports for the Antarctic. Antarctic J. of the U. S.3, 185–186 (1968).
Mason, B. J.: The Role of Satellites in Observing and Forecasting the Global Behaviour of the Atmosphere. Proc. Roy. Soc., A,308, 1493–1498 (1969).
Barrett, E. C.: A Contribution to the Dynamic Climatology of the Equatorial Eastern Pacific and Central America. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr.50, 24–53 (1970).
Barrett, E. C.: The Estimation of Monthly Rainfall from Satellite Data. Mon. Weath. Rev.92, 322–327 (1970).
Flohn, H.: Investigations on the Tropical Easterly Jet. Bonn. Met. Abhandl.4, 1–83 (1964).
Flohn, H.: Dry Equatorial Zones and Asymmetry of the Global Atmospheric Circulation. Bonn. Met. Abhandl.7, 3–8 (1967).
Ramage, C. S.: Problems of a Monsoon Ocean. Weather23, 28–37 (1968).
Hobbs, J. E.: A New Approach to the Dynamic Climatology of the Tropical Indian Ocean, Based on Meteorological Satellite Data. Unpublished Ph. D. thesis. University of New England, Australia, 1972.
Zipser, E. J.: The Line Islands Experiment: Its Place in Tropical Meteorology and the Rise of the Fourth School of Thought. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc.51, 1136–1146 (1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
With 8 Figures
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hobbs, J.E. Cloud cover over the intertropical Indian Ocean. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biokl. B. 22, 1–25 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02242819
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02242819