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This study investigates the internal structure of marine stratocumulus (Sc) using the spatial fluctuations of liquid water content (LWC) measured along horizontal flights off the coast of southern California during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) in summer of 1987. The results of FIRE 87 data analyses are compared to similar ones for marine Sc probed during the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) in summer 1992 near the Azores. In this first of two parts, the authors use spectral analysis to determine the main scale-invariant regimes, defined by the ranges of scales where wavenumber spectra follow power laws; from there, they discuss stationary issues. Although crucial for obtaining meaningful spatial statistics (eg, in climate diagnostics), the importance of establishing stationarity—statistical invariance under translation—is often overlooked. The sequel uses multifractal analysis …