Analysis of ship tracks in cloudiness transition regions.

Abstract

The radiative and spatial characteristics of 63 ship tracks are analyzed in cloudiness transition regions using AVHRR satellite data. Channels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are utilized to determine the variations in ship track albedo and temperature in three distinct cloud environments: stratus, broken stratus, and cumulus. Stratus Tracks in a stratus environment are brightest with respect to broken stratus and cumulus tracks. Cumulus tracks have the highest percentage increase in albedo over their environment in Channel 1 , while broken stratus tracks have the highest percentage change over their environment in Channel 3. There is little temperature difference between the ambient cloud and ship track in all three environments. Stratus tracks tend to be longer than either broken stratus or cumulus tracks. No significant variation in track width was observed between environments.