Abstract. The Western Mediterranean is a climatic hotspot with strong variability in cloud processes. However, Cloudnet sites there are scarce compared to northern Europe. This study presents for the first time a five-year cloud statistical analysis at the AGORA ACTRIS-CCRES station in Granada (Spain), using 94 GHz Doppler radar, microwave radiometer, and ceilometer data. Analyses focus on single-layer clouds and their interannual variability in macrophysical and microphysical properties. A new cluster-based algorithm (CBA) is introduced for cloud classification, reducing spurious correlations found in earlier methods. The CBA shows single-layer cloud minima in summer, with annual occurrences of 5.0 % for ice, 3.6 % for precipitating ice, 3.4 % for mixed-phase, 3.2 % for precipitating mixed-phase, and 1.4 % (1.2 %) for liquid (precipitating liquid) clouds. Liquid clouds are observed at 1–2 km, thin (∼ 200–300 m), with a droplet radius of 5 µm and liquid water paths of 12 g m−2. Mixed-phase clouds occur at 5–6 km, nearly 1 km thicker, with larger droplets (10.8 µm) and ice water paths of 3.5 g m−2. Ice clouds dominate at 7–8 km, the thickest type, with higher ice water paths (8.5 g m−2) but smaller particles (∼ 39 µm) than mixed-phase (∼ 45 µm). Across all phases, precipitating clouds have lower bases, greater thickness, and higher water content and particle sizes than non-precipitating clouds. These results provide benchmark data for satellite and model evaluation. The algorithm can be applied to other Cloudnet sites, supporting consistent European cloud statistics.
Tolentino et al. (Thu,) studied this question.