Weather Analysis of Cloud Cover Percentage in Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph. D Student of Climatology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, Department of Physical Geography, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Climatology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, Department of Physical Geography, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Climatology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, Department of Physical Geography, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

 
The cloud fraction data from MODIS Terra and MODIS Aqua sensors for the morning and afternoon were used. The principal component analysis and cluster analysis methods were used to process the data. The long-term mean cloud fraction in Iran is 27.4 percent. In the cold period, especially in the months of January and February, morning cloudiness is higher, while in the warm period of the year, afternoon cloudiness is higher than morning. The first component represents the climatology of cloudiness in Iran. The coasts and backwaters of the Caspian Sea are distinct from other parts of the country. The role of altitudes, especially Alborz through damming and Zagros through orographic, in the formation of cloud density is obvious. The second component represents convective activities. The summer cloud pattern is active in the Caspian region under the influence of the lake effect and in the southeastern region of the country under the influence of the Indian monsoon. The third component is the cloud dominance in the transitional period. This period of cloud dominance is in the Caspian region, northern Azerbaijan, the Sahand Mountains, Sabalan, and the border heights of Iran and Turkey. The spring pattern peaks in May and the autumn pattern in October. The fourth component is more local in nature and represents another form of the spring cloud pattern in the peaks located on the ridge of the central Alborz Mountains, the Urmia Lake basin, Sahand, Sabalan, Chehel Cheshmeh of Kurdistan, and the border heights of Iran and Turkey.
 

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History

  • Receive Date: 29 January 2025
  • Revise Date: 04 April 2025
  • Accept Date: 07 April 2025

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