Highlights will be written for high-level accomplishments and published journal articles of ASR research. Each ASR principal investigator (PI) is expected to submit at least one highlight per fiscal year.
Research Highlights
Recent Highlights
SCREAM Underestimates Supercooled Cloud Liquid Water
11 September 2024
Zhang, Yunyan; Zheng, Xue
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
Cold air outbreaks (CAOs) happen when cold, dry air flows over warmer ocean areas, creating extensive boundary layer clouds. Marine CAOs and their associated planetary boundary layer and cloud fields present challenges for numerical models, including kilometer-scale models like the DOE global Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM). This is [...]
Turbulent effects on droplet coalescence: a crucial factor for observed rain development
3 September 2024
Morrison, Hugh Clifton
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
As a critical factor governing the life cycle and radiative forcing of clouds, rain formation is a key element of weather and climate. Cloud microphysics–turbulence interactions occur across a wide range of scales and are challenging to represent in atmospheric models with limited resolution. The goal of this study is [...]
Using SAIL data to examine cold-season precipitation in complex terrain
28 August 2024
Feldman, Daniel; Heflin, Stella
Supported by:
Research area: Atmospheric Thermodynamics and Vertical Structures
This case study focused on a series of successive winter storms in the Rocky Mountain range of the Upper Colorado River Basin, where a deeper understanding of precipitation is important not just to advancing atmospheric science in complex terrain, but also to many end-users, including those that focus on avalanche [...]
How well does the global storm-resolving E3SM simulate clouds and precipitation over the Amazon?
23 August 2024
Zhang, Yunyan; Tian, Jingjing
Supported by:
Research area: General Circulation and Single Column Models/Parameterizations
Emerging global storm-resolving models (GSRMs) at kilometer resolution, such as the U.S. Department of Energy Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmospheric Model (SCREAMv0), greatly improve the simulations of precipitation and clouds. However, they still suffer from the so-called “popcorn convection” issue, in which previous studies showed the modeled sizes of precipitating systems [...]
Examining sources of ice particle diversity in cirrus clouds
20 August 2024
Morrison, Hugh Clifton
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
Cirrus clouds are critical for climate, yet many associated microphysical and dynamical processes are uncertain. The goal of this study is to understand sources of variability of ice microphysical properties like crystal size and density associated with the wide variety of ice crystals observed in cirrus clouds.