On the relationship between satellite-observed cloud cover and precipitation.

Abstract

The effect of averaging over various spatial scales (0.5-2.5o latitude) and times (1-24h) on the relationship between the mean fraction of the averaging area covered by clouds colder than various IR equivalent blackbody temperature thresholds and the precipitation over that area is examined. While a linear relationship between fractional coverage and rainfall amount shows considerable scatter at the smallest scale, there is much better correspondence at the larger scales, with linear correlation coefficients often exceeding 0.8. -from Authors