Diurnal cycle of stratocumulus mesoscale convective cells in the South-East Pacific

Monnier, Emma; Brient, Florent; Dufresne, Jean-Louis

doi:10.5194/acp-26-10509-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10509-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-10509-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 14

Research article

|

28 Jul 2026

Research article |

| 28 Jul 2026

Diurnal cycle of stratocumulus mesoscale convective cells in the South-East Pacific

Emma Monnier, Florent Brient, and Jean-Louis Dufresne

Data sets

MODIS/Terra Geolocation Fields 5-Min L1A Swath 1km MODIS Science Data Support Team https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD03.061

MODIS/Aqua Geolocation Fields 5-Min L1A Swath 1km MODIS Science Data Support Team https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD03.061

MODIS Atmosphere L2 Cloud Product (06_L2) S. Platnick et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD06_L2.061

MODIS Atmosphere L2 Cloud Product (06_L2) S. Platnick et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD06_L2.061

NOAA GOES-R Series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Level 1b Radiances GOES-R Calibration Working Group and GOES-R Series Program https://doi.org/10.7289/V5BV7DSR

NOAA GOES-R Series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Level 2 Cloud Top Phase (ACTP) GOES-R Algorithm Working Group and GOES-R Program Office https://doi.org/10.7289/V5NP22QW

Model code and software

cloudmetrics (Version v0.3.0) L. Denby and M. Janssens https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10154543

Short summary

Stratocumulus clouds over the ocean form large cellular patterns whose physics and dynamics remains poorly understood but reflects boundary layer circulation. Using five years of geostationary satellite data, we show these patterns follow a diurnal cycle in the South-East Pacific, growing in the morning, decaying in the afternoon, and stabilizing at night. Despite changes in cell size, their proportion relative to boundary layer depth stays stable, suggesting a fundamental organizing mechanism.