Break-up of stratus cloud structure predicted from non-Brownian motion liquid water and brightness temperature fluctuations

The Detrended Fluctuation Analysis statistical method is applied to microwa ve radiometer and infrared thermometer radiance data in order to examine st ratus cloud dynamics. The existence of long-range power law correlations in stratus cloud liquid water path and radiance (brightness temperature) fluc tuations is demonstrated to occur over about a two-hour period. Moreover, u sing a finite-size (time) interval window, a change from non-Brownian to Br ownian fluctuation regimes is clearly shown to define the cloud structure c hanges.