Heiko and all,
Please find attached illustration. Yes there is correlation of
latitude-altitude (table 1) so "high cloud" is found in higher altitude in
tropics than in Norway. Also it is worth noting that, even in one place,
some cloud type (genera) may occupy wide range of altitude (table 2).
Regarding names, unfortunately I found no good name is defined in WMO
International Cloud Atlas. It says only CL, CM, and CH for what we want.
So I could say like "low type cloud is CL defined in WMO International Cloud
Atlas".
Best,
Eizi
----- Original Message -----
From: "Heiko Klein" <Heiko.Klein at met.no>
To: "John Graybeal" <jgraybeal at ucsd.edu>; <cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] Standard_name for cloud-cover by phenomenon
> The 'type'-word was chosen after a discussion in this mailing list. You
> are right that the high/middle/low are slightly correlated to the altitude
> of the cloud-types, but the altitude dependents on pressure, temperature
> and latitude, so e.g. a middle type cloud can be found in higher altitudes
> than a high type cloud.
>
> So, the word 'type' should catch anybodies eyes to read the explanatory
> text: high type clouds are Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus ... and for
> those familiar with clouds, the terms 'high', 'middle' and 'low' are very
> common.
>
> Heiko
>
> On 2012-05-07 17:53, John Graybeal wrote:
>> So, anytime I see the word 'type' in a variable name, it catches my
>> eye -- it usually indicates a concept that exists but hasn't been named.
>> (Because there was *some* reason for grouping the clouds that way,
>> right?)
>>
>> In this case, I know pretty much nothing about clouds, but it looks to me
>> like the concept may be altitude or height. If that were true I would
>> much prefer 'high_altitude_cloud_area_fraction' and so on. Or whatever
>> the right concept is.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> On May 7, 2012, at 01:29, Heiko Klein wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Jonathan,
>>>
>>> I just had a short side-discussion with Eizi, and we settled on 'type',
>>> i.e. we propose the standard names:
>>>
>>> high_type_cloud_area_fraction
>>> middle_type_cloud_area_fraction
>>> low_type_cloud_area_fraction
>>>
>>>
>>> As explanatory text, the one of cloud_area_fraction is a good start, and
>>> then an addition like:
>>>
>>> high type clouds are: Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus
>>> middle type clouds are: Altostratus, Altocumulus, Nimbostratus
>>> low type clouds are: Stratus, Stratocumulus, Cumulus, Cumulonimbus
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Heiko
>>>
>>> On 2012-04-27 17:30, Jonathan Gregory wrote:
>>>> Dear Eizi and Heiko
>>>>
>>>> I think this kind of idea is good
>>>>>> high_genera_cloud_area_fraction:
>>>> etc.
>>>>
>>>> "type" or "genera" would both be OK, but "genera" is a plural so better
>>>> English
>>>> would probably be "type" (or "genus").
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>>
>>>> Jonathan
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> CF-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
>>> http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Dr. Heiko Klein Tel. + 47 22 96 32 58
> Development Section / IT Department Fax. + 47 22 69 63 55
> Norwegian Meteorological Institute http://www.met.no
> P.O. Box 43 Blindern 0313 Oslo NORWAY
> _______________________________________________
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Received on Tue May 08 2012 - 02:34:43 BST
