| Summary: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited === The radiative and spatial characteristics of 63 ship tracks are analyzed in cloudiness transition regions using AVHRR satellite data. Channels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are utilized to determine the variations in ship track albedo and temperature in three distinct cloud environments: stratus, broken
stratus, and cumulus. Stratus Tracks in a stratus environment are brightest with respect to broken stratus and cumulus tracks. Cumulus tracks
have the highest percentage increase in albedo over their environment in Channel 1 , while broken stratus tracks have the highest percentage
change over their environment in Channel 3. There is little temperature difference between the ambient cloud and ship track in all three
environments. Stratus tracks tend to be longer than either broken stratus or cumulus tracks. No significant variation in track width was observed
between environments.
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