Water Vapor, Clouds and Precipitation play important roles in the balance of radiative energy and in the hydrological cycle. Water vapor is the gaseous form of water in the atmosphere. Clouds are suspensions of condensation from water vapor and precipitation is the fallout of water or ice crystals from the atmosphere (Britannica Online, 1997).
World:
- Cloud Coverage and Atmospheric Water Vapor Data (Science Data Search and Order Tools: Search Form-select a geographic coverage, data parameter and date, NASA/EOSDIS)
- International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP)
- NASA Water Vapor Project Data (NASA Langley Distributed Active Archive Center)
Pacific:
- West Coast Satellite Image (cloud cover image, The Weather Channel)
Other Links:
- Global Hydrology and Climate Center (NASA/MSFC)
- JCCS Home Page (Japanese Cloud-Climate Study)
- Ozone and Water Vapor Group (NOAA/ERL/CMDL/OWV)
Educational links:
- A Review of Theoretical and Observational Studies in Cloud and Precipitation Physics (American Geophysical Union, Ray M. Rasmussen, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado )
- Clouds and Precipitation (WW2010 Weather World Project, Dept of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain)
- Hydrological Cycle (WW2010 Weather World Project, Dept of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain)
- The Ocean Component of the Global Water Cycle (American Geophysical Union, Raymond W. Schmitt, Dept. of Phys. Ocean., Woods Hole Ocean. Inst., Woods Hole, Massachusetts )
PMEL Publications
Listed below are direct links to abstracts of PMEL articles relating to clouds, precipitation, and vapor beginning 1968 to the present, using PMEL's Publication Information Search Engine: