Parameterization of trade- cumulus cloud amounts.

A scheme for parameterizing the fractional cloud coverage of trade cumuli is developed which gives the cloud cover in terms of the cloud-layer relative humidity and the liquid water content of the convective elements. This parameterization gives good agreement with cloud observations obtained during the Atlantic Trade-Wind Experiment, 1969. The scheme was incorporated into a simple one-dimensional model of the thermodynamic structure of the trade-wind boundary layer in order to evaluate the dependence of cloud cover on sea surface temperature, surface wind speed, and radiative processes. -from Author