This postdoctoral research aims to develop the first long-term satellite climatology of cloudiness (cloud mask, cloud types and cloud-top temperatures and height) with high spatial resolution (1.1 km) and other environmental parameters (snow cover and the normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI) for the Iberian Peninsula. Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) polar-orbiting satellites will be collected for a 31-yr study period 1979-2010. The study area covers the entire Iberian Peninsula, with focus on the Ebro river basin, the Pyrenees, and the Mediterranean region. Cloud detection algorithms will be performed to identify clouds (amount and typology) and derive daily cloud temperatures and cloud frequency composites at different time-scales. The study will attempt to statistically quantify the spatial-temporal variability of cloud cover and cloud types in a context of global climate change, and to physically explain the role of atmospheric circulation on this evolution. The results from this remote sensing study will be of great environmental and scientific interest, and could have practical applications for many people including those that forecast the weather and climate, and those that use the forecast for making decisions related to energy use or agriculture activities, as well as for issuing warnings for heavy rain (flash flooding) or drought episodes, among many other issues
