Long Term Monitoring and Connection between Topography and Cloud Cover Distribution in Serbia

Abstract

The use of weather satellite recordings has been growing rapidly over the last three decades. Determining the patterns between meteorological and topographical features is an important scientific job. Cloud cover analysis and properties can be of the utmost significance for potential cloud seeding. Here, the analysis of the cloud properties was conducted by means of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite recordings. The resolution of used data was 1 km² within the period of 30 years (1989–2019). This research showed moderate changing of cloudiness in the territory of Serbia with a high cloudiness in February, followed by cloudiness in January and November. For the past three decades, May has been the month with the highest cloudiness. The regions in the east and south-west, and particularly in the west, have a high absolute cloudiness, which is connected with the high elevation of the country. By means of long term monitoring, the whole territory of Serbia was analyzed for the first time, in terms of cloudiness. Apart from the statistical and numerical results obtained, this research showed a connection between relief and clouds, especially in the winter season. Linear regression MK (Mann-Kendall test) has proven this theory right, connecting high elevation sides with high absolute cloudiness through the year.