Student Research Reports

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As part of the GLOBE project, we have continuously been collecting data according to the GLOBE Atmosphere protocol since 2014. We have been recording air temperature, estimating total cloud coverage, measuring the amount of precipitation and identifying types of visible clouds at our measuring station in Kaštel Štafilić. The aim of our research was to investigate the effect different types of clouds and total cloud coverage have on the weather, specifically on air temperature. In the research we used data collected during all seasons in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Clouds play a complex role in climate system. Low-level thick clouds reflect solar radiation, preventing the surface of the Earth from warming and, consequently, preventing air temperature increase. High-level thin clouds transmit incoming solar radiation towards the Earth’s surface thereby warming the surface of the Earth. At the same time, these high clouds absorb a part of the longwave heat radiation emitted by the Earth. We have partially confirmed our assumption regarding the relationship between cloudiness and air temperature, i.e. the assumption that current daytime air temperature is lower when low-level clouds occur than in the clear-sky or high-level clouds conditions. Our data analyses also revealed that air temperatures tend to reach their peak during clear-sky conditions and periods with high-level cloud coverage. However, air temperature decrease is present during the same periods. Hence, we can conclude that type of clouds and total cloud coverage are not the only factors that affect daytime air temperatures and that the interaction of clouds and air temperatures is very complex.