Dry Salt Lake Generated Thermal Mesoscale Circulations and Their Influence on Regional Cloud Signature

This research explores the impacts that dry salt lake circulations, or salt breezes, may have on cloud occurrences over Lakes Mackay, Disappointment and Eyre in Australia. The results obtained indicated that the clouds over the lake surfaces experienced either suppression or enhancement on a monthly and seasonal pattern. The northernmost lakes, Mackay and Disappointment, produced results more consistent with an influence from an operating salt breeze. Examination of cloud heights over Lake Mackay and Lake Eyre during September and October indicated Lake Mackay frequently suppressed low-level clouds.