%0 Journal Article
%4 dpi.inpe.br/plutao/2013/05.31.17.15.40
%2 dpi.inpe.br/plutao/2013/05.31.17.15.41
%@doi 10.1007/s00703-013-0245-9
%@issn 0177-7971
%F lattes: 5690147684647144 2 SilvaSouz:2013:GrMeLo
%T Ground-based measurements of local cloud cover
%D 2013
%9 journal article
%A Silva, Abel Antonio da,
%A Souza Echer, Mariza Pereira de,
%@affiliation Instituto de Estudos Avanc¸ados, Rod. dos Tamoios km 5.5, Torra˜o de Ouro II, Sa˜o Jose´ dos Campos, SP
%@affiliation Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)
%@electronicmailaddress
%@electronicmailaddress mariza.echer@inpe.br
%B Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics
%V 120
%P 201-212
%K cloud, climate.
%X Clouds are believed to reflect temporal climate changes through variations in their amounts, characteristics, and occurrence. In addition, they reflect both weather and climate in a region. In this work, a methodology to determine the local cloud cover (LCC) is proposed using sky images obtained from a ground-based instrument. Three years of sky images from an urban, tropical site were obtained and analyzed through that methodology. Monthly average LCC varied from 3 to 96 %, while seasonal average values were 68 % for summer, 54 % for spring, 46 % for fall, and 23 % for winter. LCC results show a clear seasonal dependence and a fair agreement (r2 = 0.72) with satellite data, which typically underestimate the cloud cover in relation to LCC. Our analysis also suggests the possibility of a measurable link between LCC and natural events like the El Nino Southern Oscillation.
%@language en