1.8 CF Standard Names: Isccp Cloud Area Fraction (isccp_cloud_area_fraction)

Record Label : isccp_cloud_area_fraction

Record Title : Isccp Cloud Area Fraction

CF Standard Name : isccp_cloud_area_fraction

Record Description : "Area fraction" is the fraction of a grid cell's horizontal area that has some characteristic of interest. It is evaluated as the area of interest divided by the grid cell area. It may be expressed as a fraction, a percentage, or any other dimensionless representation of a fraction. The cloud area fraction is for the whole atmosphere column, as seen from the surface or the top of the atmosphere. For the cloud area fraction between specified levels in the atmosphere, standard names including "cloud_area_fraction_in_atmosphere_layer" are used. Standard names also exist for high, medium and low cloud types. The ISCCP cloud area fraction is diagnosed from atmosphere model output by the ISCCP simulator software in such a way as to be comparable with the observational diagnostics of ISCCP (the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project). Cloud area fraction is also called "cloud amount" and "cloud cover".

Canonical Units : 1