The distribution of cloud cover over Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa and its watershed
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Date
2000-05-01T00:00:00Z
Authors
Oliveira Pegado, Antonio Jose Salomao de
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Abstract
This study addresses four aspects of cloud cover over Lake Malawi and its watershed, and it is a contribution to the Management Strategy for the long-term conservation of the biodiversity of Lake Malawi as it involves production of maps showing variations of the appropriate parameter under study. The first aspect of this study refers to the temporal variation of cloud cover, the second to the spatial distribution, and the third to the frequency of low, middle and high clouds. The last aspect refers to the variation of solar radiation with cloud cover. Diurnal variation of cloud cover was evaluated with ground observations. Seasonal variation was derived from NOAA-14 AVHRR daytime imagery. Diurnally, cloud cover decreases over the lake while it increases over the watershed. Both the lake and the watershed presented a longitudinal gradient of cloud cover. Low clouds and middle clouds are frequent all year. Correlation between cloud cover and solar radiation was made for two months, July and January. (Abstractshortened by UMI.)