MODIS cloud fraction, GPCP/TRMM precipitation, AMSR-E sea surface temperature, CERES longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes, CMIP5 simulations of cloud fraction, precipitation and radiative fluxes
Geographic foci
global, tropics (15S-15N), subtropics (15-30S/N), mid-latitude (30-50S/N) and selected regions (ITCZ, northeast Pacific and southeast Pacific)
Questions
What are the spatial distributions of clouds and precipitation? Are their distributions related to underlying sea surface temperature? (2-D maps; zonal-mean plots; scatter plots; conditional sampling plots)
What are the seasonal and interannual variations of clouds and precipitation over the regions above? Are there detectable trends in each region?
What are the radiative effects of clouds? How are the cloud radiative effects varying with time?
How do climate models simulate the spatial and temporal variabilities of clouds and precipitation?