Cloud Types and Geometrical Properties Observed above PANGEA Observatory in the Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

In this work, we utilize space-based radar products from CloudSat mission and provide statistics on the properties of the clouds observed above the PANGEA (PANhellenic GEophysical observatory of Antikythera) observatory, located in the Eastern Mediterranean. We found that the variable atmospheric conditions that prevailed above the region in 2007–2017 resulted in complex cloud structures. From the clouds observed, 39.8% were low-level clouds formed at the top of the marine boundary layer (≤2 km), 34.2% were mid-level clouds (between 2–7 km), and 25.9% were high-level or deep convective clouds (between 7–15 km). Thin clouds (6 km) in 15% of the cases. The results of this study can be used from regional and climate models to evaluate their cloud predictions and investigate the performance of different cloud microphysics schemes.

Keywords

• clouds
• microphysical properties
• remote sensing
• CloudSat
• PANGEA