---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '21755'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Tropical shallow clouds are a major source of uncertainty in Earth's climate
    sensitivity, especially through their spatial arrangement, which global climate
    models do not represent. Efforts to understand their organization have partly
    relied on classifying observed scenes, identifying four patterns as archetypal
    regimes. Here we analyze geostationary satellite imagery of the western tropical
    Atlantic using the L‐function, a tool based on point pattern theory that quantifies
    cloud organization across spatial scales. Classical examples of the four patterns
    show distinct L‐function fingerprints, revealing their characteristic clustering
    and regularity scales and aiding physical interpretation. Yet, when evaluating
    many scenes at fixed spatial scales, the L‐function distribution lacks the distinct
    modes expected from discrete regimes. This is corroborated by analyses of other
    organization indices employing diverse approaches, from inter‐cloud nearest‐neighbor
    distances to fractal analysis. Implications for the parameterization of mesoscale
    cloud organization in climate models are discussed.
acknowledgement: GB was supported by an ICTP Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Agreement.
  GM was supported by the CNRS. AC was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020
  research and innovation programme Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant agreement No 101034413.
  LJF acknowledges funding from the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental
  Research Grant NE/S007474/1. We thank three anonymous reviewers and Jiawei Bao for
  their insightful comments, which greatly improved this manuscript.
article_number: e2025GL119921
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Giovanni
  full_name: Biagioli, Giovanni
  last_name: Biagioli
- first_name: Giulio
  full_name: Mandorli, Giulio
  last_name: Mandorli
- first_name: Lilli Johanna
  full_name: Freischem, Lilli Johanna
  last_name: Freischem
- first_name: Alejandro
  full_name: Casallas Garcia, Alejandro
  id: 92081129-2d75-11ef-a48d-b04dd7a2385a
  last_name: Casallas Garcia
  orcid: 0000-0002-1988-5035
- first_name: Adrian Mark
  full_name: Tompkins, Adrian Mark
  last_name: Tompkins
citation:
  ama: 'Biagioli G, Mandorli G, Freischem LJ, Casallas Garcia A, Tompkins AM. Spatial
    patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes. <i>Geophysical
    Research Letters</i>. 2026;53(8). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921">10.1029/2025gl119921</a>'
  apa: 'Biagioli, G., Mandorli, G., Freischem, L. J., Casallas Garcia, A., &#38; Tompkins,
    A. M. (2026). Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined
    regimes. <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921">https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921</a>'
  chicago: 'Biagioli, Giovanni, Giulio Mandorli, Lilli Johanna Freischem, Alejandro
    Casallas Garcia, and Adrian Mark Tompkins. “Spatial Patterns of Shallow Clouds:
    Challenging the Concept of Defined Regimes.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>.
    Wiley, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921">https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921</a>.'
  ieee: 'G. Biagioli, G. Mandorli, L. J. Freischem, A. Casallas Garcia, and A. M.
    Tompkins, “Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined
    regimes,” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>, vol. 53, no. 8. Wiley, 2026.'
  ista: 'Biagioli G, Mandorli G, Freischem LJ, Casallas Garcia A, Tompkins AM. 2026.
    Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes.
    Geophysical Research Letters. 53(8), e2025GL119921.'
  mla: 'Biagioli, Giovanni, et al. “Spatial Patterns of Shallow Clouds: Challenging
    the Concept of Defined Regimes.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>, vol. 53,
    no. 8, e2025GL119921, Wiley, 2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921">10.1029/2025gl119921</a>.'
  short: G. Biagioli, G. Mandorli, L.J. Freischem, A. Casallas Garcia, A.M. Tompkins,
    Geophysical Research Letters 53 (2026).
date_created: 2026-04-21T06:04:41Z
date_published: 2026-04-28T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-04-28T13:35:53Z
day: '28'
ddc:
- '550'
department:
- _id: CaMu
doi: 10.1029/2025gl119921
ec_funded: 1
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 2cd4ae120b14b244f5b2f50eaae0efc1
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: acasalla
  date_created: 2026-04-21T06:07:22Z
  date_updated: 2026-04-21T06:07:22Z
  file_id: '21756'
  file_name: Gio_Casallas_2026.pdf
  file_size: 1544417
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-04-21T06:07:22Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        53'
issue: '8'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: fc2ed2f7-9c52-11eb-aca3-c01059dda49c
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '101034413'
  name: 'IST-BRIDGE: International postdoctoral program'
publication: Geophysical Research Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1944-8007
  issn:
  - 0094-8276
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 53
year: '2026'
...