Open Access Library Journal 2022, Volume 9, e9582 ISSN Online: 2333-9721 ISSN Print: 2333-9705 DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1109582 Dec. 30, 2022 1 Open Access Library Journal Long-Term Assessment of the Spatial Temporal Trends in Selected Cloud Physical Properties over the Three Distinct Sites in Kenya Sostine N. Makokha 1 , John W. Makokha 1 , Festus B. Kelonye 2 1 Department of Science, Technology and Engineering, Kibabii University, Bungoma, Kenya 2 Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Kibabii University, Bungoma, Kenya Abstract The presence of clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere plays a pivotal role in regu- lating the Earth’s energy budget. Increased anthropogenic activities and emis- sions can significantly lead to changes in cloud composition and cloud struc- ture affecting the clouds physical characteristics, hence causing alterations in the climatic conditions over Kenya. Given this, the present study examined the spatial temporal physical properties of clouds over three study sites, by paying a special consideration on cloud parameters, such as: Cloud Effective Radius (CER), Cloud Top Pressure (CTP), Cloud Top Temperature (CTT) and the Cloud Fraction (CF). These cloud parameters were retrieved from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor and the Modern Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) model between January 2005 and December 2020. The data re- trieved on clouds physical properties was utilized to estimate the trends and spatial variations and assess their statistical significance on climate over the study domain. The Spatial patterns of seasonal mean of cloud parameters from the sensors and the model were generally characterized with positive and negative trends over Kenya observed during the four seasons. Trends in CER were found as follows: Nairobi (0.04, 0, -0.04 and -0.01) for the four seasons respectively, Malindi (0.04, 0.01, 0.04 and 0.01) and lastly Mbita (-0.06, -0.06, 0.04 and -0.05); for CTT, Nairobi, -0.1, -0.2, -0.1 and -0.2, Malindi, 0.1, -0.2, 0.1 and 0.05 and Mbita, 0.2, 0.2, -0.2 and 0.15 respectively for every season. Trends in CTP were observed to vary seasonally as follows: Nairobi -0.5, -1, 0.5 and -0.5, Malindi -0.5, -3, 1, and 0.5 and lastly Mbita 0.5, 0, -1 and -1 respectively. And finally, the spatial trends in CF observed over the four seasons over the study domains were obtained a follows: Nairobi (0.3, 0, -0.002 and 0), Malindi (0.3, 0.002, 0 and 0.001) and lastly for Mbita (0.3, How to cite this paper: Makokha, S.N., Makokha, J.W. and Kelonye, F.B. (2022) Long-Term Assessment of the Spatial Tem- poral Trends in Selected Cloud Physical Properties over the Three Distinct Sites in Kenya. Open Access Library Journal, 9: e9582. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1109582 Received: November 17, 2022 Accepted: December 27, 2022 Published: December 30, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Open Access Library Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access