Cloud Population Measurements Using Photographs Taken From the Space Shuttle

摘要

The orbiting space shuttle serves as a platform from which high resolution photographs of various cloud scenes are taken. Two totally distinct photographic systems are used, one consisting of hand-held 35 mm camera(s) and the other being a remotely operated 24 cm format camera mounted in the payload bay. The CLOUDS experiment uses the 35 mm format equipment. This experiment is sponsored by the U.S. Air Force and is directed by the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory. The Orbiter Camera Payload System (OCPS) uses the 24 cm large format camera (LFC). OCPS is co-sponsored by 6 U.S. Government agencies and is directed by the LFC Interagency Working Group (Molliberg, 1984). The CLOUDS experiment has flown on 3 shuttle missions, the OCPS on one. Although the LFC is designed primarily for cartographic purposes, which are often frustrated by clouds, the presence of clouds in numerous LFC photographs is serendiptous. The two shuttle-borne photographic systems are here documented and some applications of these new data to cloud population studies are discussed.