Abstract

Abstract The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA) results for July 1987 are compared with stratocumulus observations for the same period made during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Regional Experiment (FIRE). The FIRE I experiment, conducted off the coast of California, provided a comprehensive observational set of data on marine stratocumulus during July 1987. The observations reported in this paper and used as a basis for comparison with the ERA results include the mean diurnal variation of cloud cover, liquid water path, cloud-base and cloud-top height, incoming shortwave and longwave radiation at the surface, and monthly mean vertical profiles of (potential) temperature and specific humidity. It is concluded that the ERA thermal structure in the boundary layer is quite realistic and the ERA data reveal some diurnal variability. However, in ERA the cloud thickness is overestimated and cloud cover and liquid water path are strong...

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