'Cloudiest Year' Study: An Analysis of the 3DNEPH and RTNEPH Databases.

摘要

Nephanalysis data from the Air Force Global Weather Central's (AFGWC's) two nephanalysis models (3-Dimensional Nephanalysis, or 3DNEPH, and Real-Time Nephanalysis, or RTNEPH) has been archived by USAFETAC's Operating Location A at Asheville, NC, since 1973. It has been used and applied by USAFETAC analysts since the data became part of the Air Weather Service's overall operational database. USAFETAC is frequently asked how one year's nephanalysis data compares with another in terms of global cloudiness. Up to now, that question hasn't been answered because of the immensity of the 3DNEPH and RTNEPH databases. But by combining new technologies with a scheme to reduce data volume, USAFETAC/DOS was recently able to rank data by years and months to determine the existence or non-existence of so-called 'cloudiest' periods. The study, the results of which are documented here, used 3DNEPH and RTNEPH data from 1977 to 1991 to determine the years and months with maximum mean total cloudiness.