TY - JOUR
T1 - EUREC4A
T2 - A Field Campaign to Elucidate the Couplings Between Clouds, Convection and Circulation
AU - Bony, Sandrine
AU - Stevens, Bjorn
AU - Ament, Felix
AU - Bigorre, Sebastien
AU - Chazette, Patrick
AU - Crewell, Susanne
AU - Delanoë, Julien
AU - Emanuel, Kerry
AU - Farrell, David
AU - Flamant, Cyrille
AU - Gross, Silke
AU - Hirsch, Lutz
AU - Karstensen, Johannes
AU - Mayer, Bernhard
AU - Nuijens, Louise
AU - Ruppert, James H.
AU - Sandu, Irina
AU - Siebesma, Pier
AU - Speich, Sabrina
AU - Szczap, Frédéric
AU - Totems, Julien
AU - Vogel, Raphaela
AU - Wendisch, Manfred
AU - Wirth, Martin
PY - 2017/9/27
Y1 - 2017/9/27
N2 - Trade-wind cumuli constitute the cloud type with the highest frequency of occurrence on Earth, and it has been shown that their sensitivity to changing environmental conditions will critically influence the magnitude and pace of future global warming. Research over the last decade has pointed out the importance of the interplay between clouds, convection and circulation in controling this sensitivity. Numerical models represent this interplay in diverse ways, which translates into different responses of trade-cumuli to climate perturbations. Climate models predict that the area covered by shallow cumuli at cloud base is very sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, while process models suggest the opposite. To understand and resolve this contradiction, we propose to organize a field campaign aimed at quantifying the physical properties of trade-cumuli (e.g., cloud fraction and water content) as a function of the large-scale environment. Beyond a better understanding of clouds-circulation coupling processes, the campaign will provide a reference data set that may be used as a benchmark for advancing the modelling and the satellite remote sensing of clouds and circulation. It will also be an opportunity for complementary investigations such as evaluating model convective parameterizations or studying the role of ocean mesoscale eddies in air–sea interactions and convective organization.
AB - Trade-wind cumuli constitute the cloud type with the highest frequency of occurrence on Earth, and it has been shown that their sensitivity to changing environmental conditions will critically influence the magnitude and pace of future global warming. Research over the last decade has pointed out the importance of the interplay between clouds, convection and circulation in controling this sensitivity. Numerical models represent this interplay in diverse ways, which translates into different responses of trade-cumuli to climate perturbations. Climate models predict that the area covered by shallow cumuli at cloud base is very sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, while process models suggest the opposite. To understand and resolve this contradiction, we propose to organize a field campaign aimed at quantifying the physical properties of trade-cumuli (e.g., cloud fraction and water content) as a function of the large-scale environment. Beyond a better understanding of clouds-circulation coupling processes, the campaign will provide a reference data set that may be used as a benchmark for advancing the modelling and the satellite remote sensing of clouds and circulation. It will also be an opportunity for complementary investigations such as evaluating model convective parameterizations or studying the role of ocean mesoscale eddies in air–sea interactions and convective organization.
KW - Atmospheric circulation
KW - Cloud feedback
KW - Field campaign
KW - Shallow convection
KW - Trade-wind cumulus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030099198&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10712-017-9428-0
DO - 10.1007/s10712-017-9428-0
M3 - Article
SN - 0169-3298
VL - 38
SP - 1529
EP - 1568
JO - Surveys in Geophysics: an international review journal covering the entire field of geosciences and related areas
JF - Surveys in Geophysics: an international review journal covering the entire field of geosciences and related areas
ER -