Ubiquitous Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies Increase Spatial Heterogeneity of Trade-Wind Cloudiness on Daily Timescale

Abstract

Abstract The impact of weak submeso- to meso-scale SST anomalies on daily averaged trade cumulus cloudiness is investigated using satellite observations that have been validated against ship-board measurements from the Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign (ATOMIC). Daily spatial SST anomalies are identified from GOES-POES blended SST analysis within a 10° by 10° region during January and February 2020. Daily-averaged cloud fraction and 10-m neutral wind from satellite observations and reanalysis are composited over the identified SST features, using a common coordinate system based on the near surface background wind directions. Composites of satellite cloud fraction show a statistically significant increase of cloudiness over the SST warm core with a reduction of cloudiness away from it. These responses are largely the same but with opposite signs over SST cold anomalies, suggesting that spatial heterogeneity in SST can locally imprint on daily cloud fraction. Composites of daily 10-m wind speed and wind convergence anomalies from both satellite and reanalysis show that surface wind speed is increased over SST warm anomalies, implying enhanced turbulence over warmer SSTs. Correspondingly, the surface convergence anomalies in these composites are located around the maximum downwind SST gradient, offset downwind from the cloudiness anomalies. These results indicate that the response of daily cloudiness to these SST anomalies is more likely generated by spatial variability of surface-driven turbulence and surface fluxes rather than that of surface or boundary layer convergence.