Tropical‐extratropical cloudband climatology based on satellite data

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Abstract
A global tropical‐extratropical cloudband (TECB) climatology, using a clear definition of TECBs, and based on NOAA IR satellite imagery for the period 1979–1983, is presented. It is shown that on a global scale we can distinguish between 14 different TECBs, seven of them in each hemisphere. The cross‐correlations of the TECB frequency anomalies with tropical pressure and sea‐surface temperature anomalies indicate that the activity of these phenomena can respond strongly to tropical forcing from different parts of the world. Whereas only 10 TECBs show a significant response in their activity to the Southern Oscillation, the frequency anomalies of all 14 TECBs correlate significantly with other pressure anomaly indices.