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Comprehensive analysis of cloudiness over Iran with CloudSat data

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Abstract

The spatial distribution of different clouds has a significant effect on the supply of water resources, especially in countries with water shortages. Eight-years CloudSat 2B-CLDCLASS data for extended winters (October to March) from 2010 to 2017 has been used here to analyze the characteristics of the cloud cover over Iran. The results show that cirrus-type clouds are the most abundant, with a presence of 28%, followed by altostratus, with a presence of 22.5%. High variability in spatial distribution has also been observed. The most frequent type of cloudiness associated with each region of the country is detailed in this article. The average height of each type of cloudiness observed is also analyzed, being, in the case of the two most frequent types, 10.47 km for cirrus and 7.36 for altostratus. The greatest contribution to rainfall was, however, made by the nimbostratus, with a rate close to 45%. Behind them, stratocumulus, altocumulus, and clouds associated with deep convection show rates of 23.8%, 9.8%, and 8.33%.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are gratefully thankful to the CloudSat 2B-CLDCLASS team to providing this dataset.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Satellite Climatology, Department of Physical Geography, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Elham Ghasemifar & Mohammad Rezaei

  2. Environmental Physics Laboratory (EPhysLab), CIM-UVIGO, Universidade de Vigo, Ourense, Spain

    Jorge Eiras-Barca, Luis Gimeno & Raquel Nieto

Authors
  1. Elham Ghasemifar
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  2. Jorge Eiras-Barca
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  3. Mohammad Rezaei
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  4. Luis Gimeno
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  5. Raquel Nieto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elham Ghasemifar.

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Responsible editor: Zhihua Zhang

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Ghasemifar, E., Eiras-Barca, J., Rezaei, M. et al. Comprehensive analysis of cloudiness over Iran with CloudSat data. Arab J Geosci 14, 325 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06576-8

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