Articles | Volume 11, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5461-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5461-2018
Research article
 | 
05 Oct 2018
Research article |  | 05 Oct 2018

First fully diurnal fog and low cloud satellite detection reveals life cycle in the Namib

Hendrik Andersen and Jan Cermak

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Cited articles

Adebiyi, A. A., Zuidema, P., and Sciences, A.: Low cloud cover sensitivity to biomass-burning aerosols and meteorology over the southeast Atlantic, J. Climate, 2, 4329–4346, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0406.1, 2018. a
Andersen, H. and Cermak, J.: How thermodynamic environments control stratocumulus microphysics and interactions with aerosols, Environ. Res. Lett., 10, 24004, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/2/024004, 2015. a
Andersen, H., Cermak, J., Fuchs, J., Knutti, R., and Lohmann, U.: Understanding the drivers of marine liquid-water cloud occurrence and properties with global observations using neural networks, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9535–9546, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9535-2017, 2017. a, b
Azúa-Bustos, A., González-Silva, C., Mancilla, R. A., Salas, L., Gómez-Silva, B., McKay, C. P., and Vicuña, R.: Hypolithic Cyanobacteria Supported Mainly by Fog in the Coastal Range of the Atacama Desert, Microb. Ecol., 61, 568–581, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9784-5, 2011. a
Bauer, K., Neben, S., Schreckenberger, B., Emmermann, R., Hinz, K., Fechner, N., Gohl, K., Schulze, A., Trumbull, R. B., and Weber, K.: Deep structure of the Namibia continental margin as derived from integrated geophysical studies, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 25829, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JB900227, 2000. a
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Short summary
Fog and low clouds (FLCs) are a valuable source of water for many ecosystems in the Namib. This study presents the first fully diurnal satellite detection of FLCs, revealing the spatial and temporal patterns in the Namib. A validation is conducted against station measurements in the central Namib and shows a high overall accuracy. The average timing and persistence of FLCs seem to depend on the distance to the coast, suggesting that the region is dominated by advection-driven FLCs.
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