Overview of the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transmission Experiment -- ASTEX

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:467655

Albrecht, B A ^[1]; Bretherton, C S ^[2]; Johnson, D ^[3]

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1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
2. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
3. Meteorological Research Flight, Farnborough (United Kingdom)

Because of the importance of marine boundary layer clouds to their understanding of climate, marine stratocumulus clouds have been the focus of recent major field programs. Intensive observations in marine stratocumulus were made off the coast of California in 1987 as part of the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE). Although excellent solid cloud conditions were observed during FIRE, few broken cloud conditions were observed. Consequently, the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) was designed to provide improved understanding of the processes responsible for the transition to broken cloud conditions and the processes that control cloud amount and type. The experiment was conducted June 1--28, 1992 over the eastern Atlantic. In this paper the authors describe the various components of ASTEX and highlight some preliminary findings.

• Sponsoring Organization: Office of Naval Research, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 467655
• Report Number(s): CONF-9409461--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CALIFORNIA
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CLOUDS
COASTAL REGIONS
MONITORING
REMOTE SENSING