Characteristics of cumulus population and properties over Southeast Atlantic
Poster PDF
Authors
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J.-Y. Christine Chiu — Colorado State University
Robin J. Hogan — University of Reading
Bradley Isom — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Category
Warm low clouds, including aerosol interactions
Description
Tropical marine boundary layer clouds are known to be the regime where climate models disagree substantially in the magnitude of cloud feedback. In particular, the representation of cloud processes and interactions with radiation in cumulus regime is challenging, because the cloud field is highly heterogeneous and because cloud size and cover are small. To improve the representativeness of cloud simulations, detailed observations in clouds are crucial for quantifying their variability across scales and for evaluating their physical relationships with aerosols and dynamics. In this study, we will characterize cumulus populations and properties using more than 700 three-dimensional (3D) cloud fields observed from the Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) campaign at Ascension Island during July–September 2017. These fields are retrieved at high spatial resolution and are accounted for 3D radiative effects, capitalizing on an ensemble optimization approach and synergistic measurements of scanning cloud radar, lidar and shortwave spectrometer. We will highlight the differences in cloud statistics between one-dimensional and 3D, and more importantly, the associated implications in cloud schemes and cloud-radiation parameterizations.
