New product version (P1_R05) has been released. All R04 products are still available.
2B-CLDCLASS
Product Availability: Full mission availability except for anomalies and maneuver data gaps.
Classifying cloud type is an important task for global cloud climatology studies. Different types of clouds are governed by different cloud dynamical processes and have different microphysical properties, which can result in quite different cloud radiative forcings. Because cloud type corresponds to specific cloud physical properties, cloud classification is also needed to apply other algorithms to derive quantitative cloud content and radiative data. 2B-CLDCLASS classifies clouds into either stratus (St), stratus (Sc), cumulus (Cu, including cumulus congestus), nimbostratus (Ns), altocumulus (Ac), altostratus (As), deep convective (cumulonimbus), or high (cirrus and cirrostratus) clouds, based on different rules for hydrometeor vertical and horizontal scales, the maximum Ze measured by the CPR, indications of precipitation, and ancillary data including ECMWF predicted temperature profiles and surface topography height.
Primary Publication
Process Description and Interface Control Document (PDICD)
| File Name | Last Modified | |
|---|---|---|
| 2B-CLDCLASS P1_R05 PDICD rev0 (2.34 MB) | August 25, 2017 |
Algorithm Specifications
| Popup | Type | Dimensions | Units | Range | Missing | Miss Op | Factor | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT(2) | nbin,nray | none | 0 to 32767 | 1 | 0 | |||
| UINT(1) | nray | -- | 0 to 127 | 1 | 0 | |||
| UINT(1) | nray | -- | 0 to 127 | 1 | 0 | |||
| UINT(1) | nray | -- | 0 to 81 | 1 | 0 |
| Popup | Type | Dimensions | Units | Range | Missing | Miss Op | Factor | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INT(2) | nray | meters | -9999 to 8850 | 9999 | == | 1 | 0 | |
| INT(2) | nbin,nray | m | -5000 to 30000 | -9999 | == | 1 | 0 | |
| REAL(4) | nray | degrees | -90 to 90 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | nray | degrees | -180 to 180 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | <scalar> | degrees | -90 to 90 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | nray | seconds | 0 to 6000 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | nray | km | 600 to 800 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | <scalar> | degrees | -90 to 90 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(8) | <scalar> | seconds | 0 to 6e+008 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | <scalar> | seconds | 0 to 86400 | 1 | 0 | |||
| REAL(4) | <scalar> | m | to | -9999 | == | 1 | 0 |