Cloud Life Cycle

The mission of the Cloud Life Cycle Working Group is to document from observations and modeling, and thereby develop understanding of, the dynamical, thermodynamical, microphysical, and radiative processes that together determine the evolution of clouds from formation to dissipation, and to translate this understanding into methods for representing cloud processes in numerical weather and climate models.

1. Identify guiding science questions regarding cloud life cycles that are based on model uncertainties/limitations, that can be addressed using ARM observations, and that support broader programmatic objectives outlined in the ASR Science Plan.
2. Facilitate, organize, and maximize the efforts of individual Principal Investigator projects towards answering these broader scientific questions through the formation and organization of subgroups with similar and complementary research goals.
3. Identify, prioritize, and help implement the observational campaigns, measurement strategies, and data products that are needed to understand cloud life cycle processes and represent them in models.

To facilitate programmatic science objectives, the Cloud Life Cycle Working Group activities are organized around a collection of thematic research topics and Focus Groups. The broad thematic areas are described here while Focus Groups described on a dedicated page.

• Ice Physical and Radiative Properties
• Cloud Phase Partitioning / Mixed-Phase
• Warm Low Clouds
• Mesoscale Convective Organization