Shape and radiative properties of convective systems observed from infrared satellite images |
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Authors: | D A Vila L A T Machado |
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Affiliation: | 1. Instituto Nacional del Agua , Aut. Ezeiza, Ca?uelas km. 1, 60, Ezeiza, Buenos Aires, (1804), Argentina E-mail: dvila@ina.gov.ar;2. Luiz Augusto Toledo Machado, Divis@o Ciências Atmosféricas, Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espa?o , Centro Técnico Aeroespacial , P?a. Mal. Eduardo Gomes 50, S?o José dos Campos, Brazil E-mail: machado@iae.cta.br |
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Abstract: | The main purpose of this study is to identify a series of parameters to characterize the shape and internal structure of a convective system (CS). One year of brightness temperatures derived from Meteosat 3 (July 1992-June 1993) (ISCCP-B3 data) was used to develop this work. The identification of convective systems was performed by pixels whose brightness infrared temperature values (T ir) were below 245 K. The main results obtained are: (a) the shape of a given system which can be categorized in three classes: (i) linear systems, (ii) circular and elliptical systems and (iii) fragmented systems; (b) the restitution of a given CS using only statistical information; (c) the identification of the distribution of the number of coldest tops inside a given system; and (d) the evaluation of the stage of the life cycle through a statistical study of internal structure and radiative parameters. |
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