Dear All,
I would like to propose new standard names for liquid and ice cloud fractions (as far as I can see, they don't exist).
I am not sure if they follow the spirit of the CF conventions because cloud phase is not a well defined concept. I would appreciate your comments on this.
Regards,
Alejandro
** liquid_cloud_area_fraction
"X_area_fraction" means the fraction of horizontal area occupied by X. "X_area" means the horizontal area occupied by X within the grid cell. Cloud area fraction is also called "cloud amount" and "cloud cover". The cloud area fraction is for the whole atmosphere column, as seen from the surface or the top of the atmosphere. The cloud area fraction in a layer of the atmosphere has the standard name cloud_area_fraction_in_atmosphere_layer.
Units: 1
** ice_cloud_area_fraction
"X_area_fraction" means the fraction of horizontal area occupied by X. "X_area" means the horizontal area occupied by X within the grid cell. Cloud area fraction is also called "cloud amount" and "cloud cover". The cloud area fraction is for the whole atmosphere column, as seen from the surface or the top of the atmosphere. The cloud area fraction in a layer of the atmosphere has the standard name cloud_area_fraction_in_atmosphere_layer.
Units: 1
** liquid_cloud_area_fraction_in_atmosphere_layer
"Layer" means any layer with upper and lower boundaries that have constant values in some vertical coordinate. There must be a vertical coordinate variable indicating the extent of the layer(s). If the layers are model layers, the vertical coordinate can be model_level_number, but it is recommended to specify a physical coordinate (in a scalar or auxiliary coordinate variable) as well. "X_area_fraction" means the fraction of horizontal area occupied by X. "X_area" means the horizontal area occupied by X within the grid cell. Cloud area fraction is also called "cloud amount" and "cloud cover".
Units: 1
** ice_cloud_area_fraction_in_atmosphere_layer
"Layer" means any layer with upper and lower boundaries that have constant values in some vertical coordinate. There must be a vertical coordinate variable indicating the extent of the layer(s). If the layers are model layers, the vertical coordinate can be model_level_number, but it is recommended to specify a physical coordinate (in a scalar or auxiliary coordinate variable) as well. "X_area_fraction" means the fraction of horizontal area occupied by X. "X_area" means the horizontal area occupied by X within the grid cell. Cloud area fraction is also called "cloud amount" and "cloud cover".
Units: 1
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Dr Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo Earth Observation Research Scientist
Met Office Hadley Centre
FitzRoy Rd Exeter EX1 3PB United Kingdom
E-mail: alejandro.bodas at metoffice.gov.uk http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
See our guide to climate change at
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change
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Received on Fri Feb 20 2015 - 09:59:32 GMT
