Articles | Volume 18, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2721-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2721-2025
Research article
 | 
26 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 26 Jun 2025

Satellite-based detection of deep-convective clouds: the sensitivity of infrared methods and implications for cloud climatology

Andrzej Z. Kotarba and Izabela Wojciechowska

Related authors

Evaluation of a moist-adiabat cloud-top height retrieval for parallax correction of deep convective clouds across Meteosat generations
Andrzej Kotarba
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1500,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1500, 2026
Short summary
Evaluation of the operational MODIS cloud mask product for detecting cirrus clouds
Żaneta Nguyen Huu, Andrzej Z. Kotarba, and Agnieszka Wypych
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3897–3915, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3897-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3897-2025, 2025
Short summary
Impact of the revisit frequency on cloud climatology for CALIPSO, EarthCARE, Aeolus, and ICESat-2 satellite lidar missions
Andrzej Z. Kotarba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4307–4322, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4307-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4307-2022, 2022
Short summary

Cited articles

Ackerman, S. A.: Global satellite observations of negative brightness temperature differences between 11 and 6.7 µm, J. Atmos. Sci., 53, 2803–2812, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<2803:GSOONB>2.0.CO;2, 1996. 
Afzali Gorooh, V., Kalia, S., Nguyen, P., Hsu, K., Sorooshian, S., Ganguly, S., and Nemani, R. R.: Deep Neural Network Cloud-Type Classification (DeepCTC) Model and Its Application in Evaluating PERSIANN-CCS, Remote Sens., 12, 316, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12020316, 2020.​​​​​​​ 
Ai, Y., Li, J., Shi, W., Schmit, T. J., Cao, C., and Li, W.: Deep convective cloud characterizations from both broadband imager and hyperspectral infrared sounder measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 122, 1700–1712, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025408, 2017. 
Apke, J. M., Mecikalski, J. R., Bedka, K., McCaul, E. W., Homeyer, C. R., and Jewett, C. P.: Relationships between Deep Convection Updraft Characteristics and Satellite-Based Super Rapid Scan Mesoscale Atmospheric Motion Vector–Derived Flow, Mon. Weather Rev., 146, 3461–3480, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0119.1, 2018. 
Aumann, H. H. and Ruzmaikin, A.: Frequency of deep convective clouds in the tropical zone from 10 years of AIRS data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10795–10806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10795-2013, 2013. 
Download
Short summary
The research investigates methods for detecting deep convective clouds (DCCs) using satellite infrared data, essential for understanding long-term climate trends. By validating three popular detection methods against lidar–radar data, it found moderate accuracy (below 75 %), emphasizing the importance of fine-tuning thresholds regionally. The study shows how small threshold changes significantly affect the climatology of severe storms.
Share