MEAN CLOUDINESS AND GRADIENT-LEVEL WIND CHARTS OVER THE TROPICS. VOLUME I: TEXT. PART A. MONTHLY RESULTANT GRADIENT-LEVEL WIND. PART B. AVERAGE MONTHLY CLOUDINESS.

Abstract : The report describes method of construction and use of a set of 48 climatological charts being published separately as AWS TR 215, Vol II. The charts are for monthly resultant gradient-level wind and for monthly mean cloudiness, on scale of 1:20 million Mercator. Volume I gives the data source and description of the main features of the charts, their usefulness for forecasters, for training and briefing purposes. The gradient-level chart is used for synoptic analysis and forecasting in the tropics, but the sparseness of data reports makes the climatological charts of special value as an aid in analysis. Available climatological charts being inadequate, a new series was prepared. The mean cloudiness charts serve a similar purpose. This report is an adjunct to a manual on tropical forecasting under preparation in Hqs AWS. (Author)