Journal Article
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 100, iss. 5, pp. 821-840, 2019
Authors
Jerome D. Fast, Larry K. Berg, Lizbeth Alexander, David Bell, Emma D’Ambro, John Hubbe, Chongai Kuang, Jiumeng Liu, Chuck Long, Alyssa Matthews, Fan Mei, Rob Newsom, Mikhail Pekour, Tamara Pinterich, Beat Schmid, Siegfried Schobesberger, John Shilling, James N. Smith, Stephen Springston, Kaitlyn Suski, Joel A. Thornton, Jason Tomlinson, Jian Wang, Heng Xiao, Alla Zelenyuk
Abstract
AbstractShallow convective clouds are common, occurring over many areas of the world, and are an important component in the atmospheric radiation budget. In addition to synoptic and mesoscale meteorological conditions, land–atmosphere interactions and aerosol–radiation–cloud interactions can influence the formation of shallow clouds and their properties. These processes exhibit large spatial and temporal variability and occur at the subgrid scale for all current climate, operational forecast, and cloud-system-resolving models; therefore, they must be represented by parameterizations. Uncertainties in shallow cloud parameterization predictions arise from many sources, including insufficient coincident data needed to adequately represent the coupling of cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties with inhomogeneity in the surface-layer, boundary layer, and aerosol properties. Predictions of the transition of shallow to deep convection and the onset of precipitation are also affected by errors in simulated shallow clouds. Coincident data are a key factor needed to achieve a more complete understanding of the life cycle of shallow convective clouds and to develop improved model parameterizations. To address these issues, the Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols and Land Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) campaign was conducted near the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site in north-central Oklahoma during the spring and summer of 2016. We describe the scientific objectives of HI-SCALE as well as the experimental approach, overall weather conditions during the campaign, and preliminary findings from the measurements. Finally, we discuss scientific gaps in our understanding of shallow clouds that can be addressed by analysis and modeling studies that use HI-SCALE data.
