CUMULUS CLOUD LINES VS. SURFACE WIND IN EQUATORIAL LATITUDES

Abstract

A large majority of cumulus cloud lines seen by the weather satellites ESSA 1 and ESSA 2 over the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans, between the latitudes of 10° N. and 10° S., are approximately parallel to the surface wind direction. Although as yet undetermined with confidence, certain characteristics of the cloud lines themselves seem to indicate whether a cloud line is nearly parallel to or normal to the wind direction. A method is proposed for using the satellite observations of cumulus cloud lines as an aid to drawing streamlines in data-sparse areas.