Inferring spatial clouds statistics from limited field-of-view, zenith observations

Many of the Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) measurements produce a time series of zenith observations, but spatial averages are often the desired data product. One possible approach to deriving spatial averages from temporal averages is to invoke Taylor`s hypothesis where and when it is valid. Taylor`s hypothesis states that when the turbulence is small compared with the mean flow, the covariance in time is related to the covariance in space by the speed of the mean flow. For clouds fields, Taylor`s hypothesis would apply when the {open_quotes}local{close_quotes} turbulence is small compared with advective flow (mean wind). The objective of this study is to determine under what conditions Taylor`s hypothesis holds or does not hold true for broken cloud fields.