Break-up of stratus cloud structure predicted from non-Brownian motion liquid water and brightness temperature fluctuations

Abstract

The Detrended Fluctuation Analysis statistical method is applied to microwave radiometer and infrared thermometer radiance data in order to examine stratus cloud dynamics. The existence of long-range power law correlations in stratus cloud liquid water path and radiance (brightness temperature) fluctuations is demonstrated to occur over about a two-hour period. Moreover, using a finite-size (time) interval window, a change from non-Brownian to Brownian fluctuation regimes is clearly shown to define the cloud structure changes.