scholarly journals Global and regional modeling of clouds and aerosols in the marine boundary layer during VOCALS: the VOCA intercomparison

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Wyant ◽  
C. S. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood ◽  
G. R. Carmichael ◽  
A. Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Quantitative Estimation ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. A diverse collection of models are used to simulate the marine boundary layer in the southeast Pacific region during the period of the October–November 2008 VOCALS REx (VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study Regional Experiment) field campaign. Regional models simulate the period continuously in boundary-forced free-running mode, while global forecast models and GCMs (general circulation models) are run in forecast mode. The models are compared to extensive observations along a line at 20° S extending westward from the South American coast. Most of the models simulate cloud and aerosol characteristics and gradients across the region that are recognizably similar to observations, despite the complex interaction of processes involved in the problem, many of which are parameterized or poorly resolved. Some models simulate the regional low cloud cover well, though many models underestimate MBL (marine boundary layer) depth near the coast. Most models qualitatively simulate the observed offshore gradients of SO2, sulfate aerosol, CCN (cloud condensation nuclei) concentration in the MBL as well as differences in concentration between the MBL and the free troposphere. Most models also qualitatively capture the decrease in cloud droplet number away from the coast. However, there are large quantitative intermodel differences in both means and gradients of these quantities. Many models are able to represent episodic offshore increases in cloud droplet number and aerosol concentrations associated with periods of offshore flow. Most models underestimate CCN (at 0.1% supersaturation) in the MBL and free troposphere. The GCMs also have difficulty simulating coastal gradients in CCN and cloud droplet number concentration near the coast. The overall performance of the models demonstrates their potential utility in simulating aerosol–cloud interactions in the MBL, though quantitative estimation of aerosol–cloud interactions and aerosol indirect effects of MBL clouds with these models remains uncertain.

scholarly journals Global and regional modeling of clouds and aerosols in the marine boundary layer during VOCALS: the VOCA Intercomparison

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 6537-6587 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Wyant ◽  
C. S. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood ◽  
G. R. Carmichael ◽  
A. Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Quantitative Estimation ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
South American ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
Forecast Models ◽  
Low Cloud Cover ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. A diverse collection of models are used to simulate the marine boundary layer in the Southeast Pacific region during the period of the October–November 2008 VOCALS REx field campaign. Regional models simulate the period continuously in boundary-forced free-running mode, while global forecast models and GCMs are run in forecast mode. The models are compared to extensive observations along a line at 20° S extending westward from the South American coast. Most of the models simulate cloud and aerosol characteristics and gradients across the region that are recognizably similar to observations, despite the complex interaction of processes involved in the problem, many of which are parameterized or poorly resolved. Some models simulate the regional low cloud cover well, though many models underestimate MBL depth near the coast. Most models qualitatively simulate the observed offshore gradients of SO2, sulfate aerosol, CCN concentration in the MBL, and the related gradient in cloud droplet concentrations, but there are large quantitative intermodel differences in both means and gradients of these quantities. Most models underestimate large CCN (at 0.1% supersaturation) in the MBL and free troposphere. The GCMs also have difficulty simulating coastal gradients in CCN and cloud droplet number concentration. The overall performance of the models demonstrates their potential utility in simulating aerosol-cloud interactions in the MBL, though quantitative estimation of aerosol-cloud interactions and aerosol indirect effects of MBL clouds with these models remains uncertain.

scholarly journals Investigation of Regional and Seasonal Variations in Marine Boundary Layer Cloud Properties from MODIS Observations

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 4955-4973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Jensen ◽  
Andrew M. Vogelmann ◽  
William D. Collins ◽  
Guang J. Zhang ◽  
Edward P. Luke
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
Cloud Properties ◽  
Peak Versus

Abstract To aid in understanding the role that marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds play in climate and assist in improving their representations in general circulation models (GCMs), their long-term microphysical and macroscale characteristics are quantified using observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Terra satellite. Six years of MODIS pixel-level cloud products are used from oceanic study regions off the west coasts of California, Peru, the Canary Islands, Angola, and Australia where these cloud types are common. Characterizations are given for their organization (macroscale structure), the associated microphysical properties, and the seasonal dependencies of their variations for scales consistent with the size of a GCM grid box (300 km × 300 km). MBL mesoscale structure is quantified using effective cloud diameter CD, which is introduced here as a simplified measure of bulk cloud organization; it is straightforward to compute and provides descriptive information beyond that offered by cloud fraction. The interrelationships of these characteristics are explored while considering the influences of the MBL state, such as the occurrence of drizzle. Several commonalities emerge for the five study regions. MBL clouds contain the best natural examples of plane-parallel clouds, but overcast clouds occur in only about 25% of the scenes, which emphasizes the importance of representing broken MBL cloud fields in climate models (that are subgrid scale). During the peak months of cloud occurrence, mesoscale organization (larger CD) increases such that the fractions of scenes characterized as “overcast” and “clumped” increase at the expense of the “scattered” scenes. Cloud liquid water path and visible optical depth usually trend strongly with CD, with the largest values occurring for scenes that are drizzling. However, considerable interregional differences exist in these trends, suggesting that different regression functionalities exist for each region. For peak versus off-peak months, the fraction of drizzling scenes (as a function of CD) are similar for California and Angola, which suggests that a single probability distribution function might be used for their drizzle occurrence in climate models. The patterns are strikingly opposite for Peru and Australia; thus, the contrasts among regions may offer a test bed for model simulations of MBL drizzle occurrence.

scholarly journals Implementation of aerosol–cloud interactions in the regional atmosphere–aerosol model COSMO-MUSCAT(5.0) and evaluation using satellite data

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 2231-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudhakar Dipu ◽  
Johannes Quaas ◽  
Ralf Wolke ◽  
Jens Stoll ◽  
Andreas Mühlbauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Data ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Aerosol Model ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. The regional atmospheric model Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO) coupled to the Multi-Scale Chemistry Aerosol Transport model (MUSCAT) is extended in this work to represent aerosol–cloud interactions. Previously, only one-way interactions (scavenging of aerosol and in-cloud chemistry) and aerosol–radiation interactions were included in this model. The new version allows for a microphysical aerosol effect on clouds. For this, we use the optional two-moment cloud microphysical scheme in COSMO and the online-computed aerosol information for cloud condensation nuclei concentrations (Cccn), replacing the constant Cccn profile. In the radiation scheme, we have implemented a droplet-size-dependent cloud optical depth, allowing now for aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions. To evaluate the models with satellite data, the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project Observation Simulator Package (COSP) has been implemented. A case study has been carried out to understand the effects of the modifications, where the modified modeling system is applied over the European domain with a horizontal resolution of 0.25°  ×  0.25°. To reduce the complexity in aerosol–cloud interactions, only warm-phase clouds are considered. We found that the online-coupled aerosol introduces significant changes for some cloud microphysical properties. The cloud effective radius shows an increase of 9.5 %, and the cloud droplet number concentration is reduced by 21.5 %.

scholarly journals The source of discrepancies in aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions between GCM and A-Train retrievals

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (23) ◽  
pp. 15413-15424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuro Michibata ◽  
Kentaroh Suzuki ◽  
Yousuke Sato ◽  
Toshihiko Takemura
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Systematic Difference ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Light Rain ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Nonlinear Complexity ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. Aerosol–cloud interactions are one of the most uncertain processes in climate models due to their nonlinear complexity. A key complexity arises from the possibility that clouds can respond to perturbed aerosols in two opposite ways, as characterized by the traditional “cloud lifetime” hypothesis and more recent “buffered system” hypothesis. Their importance in climate simulations remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the response of the liquid water path (LWP) to aerosol perturbations for warm clouds from the perspective of general circulation model (GCM) and A-Train remote sensing, through process-oriented model evaluations. A systematic difference is found in the LWP response between the model results and observations. The model results indicate a near-global uniform increase of LWP with increasing aerosol loading, while the sign of the response of the LWP from the A-Train varies from region to region. The satellite-observed response of the LWP is closely related to meteorological and/or macrophysical factors, in addition to the microphysics. The model does not reproduce this variability of cloud susceptibility (i.e., sensitivity of LWP to perturbed aerosols) because the parameterization of the autoconversion process assumes only suppression of rain formation in response to increased cloud droplet number, and does not consider macrophysical aspects that serve as a mechanism for the negative responses of the LWP via enhancements of evaporation and precipitation. Model biases are also found in the precipitation microphysics, which suggests that the model generates rainwater readily even when little cloud water is present. This essentially causes projections of unrealistically frequent and light rain, with high cloud susceptibilities to aerosol perturbations.

scholarly journals A double ITCZ phenomenology of wind errors in the equatorial Atlantic in seasonal forecasts with ECMWF models

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 11383-11399
Author(s):  
Jonathan K. P. Shonk ◽  
Teferi D. Demissie ◽  
Thomas Toniazzo
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Seasonal Forecasts ◽  
Coupled Models ◽  
Trade Winds ◽  
Double Itcz ◽  
Rapid Transition

Abstract. Modern coupled general circulation models produce systematic biases in the tropical Atlantic that hamper the reliability of long-range predictions. This study focuses on a common springtime westerly wind bias in the equatorial Atlantic in seasonal hindcasts from two coupled models – ECMWF System 4 and EC-Earth v2.3 – and in hindcasts also based on System 4, but with prescribed sea-surface temperatures. The development of the equatorial westerly bias in early April is marked by a rapid transition from a wintertime easterly, cold tongue bias to a springtime westerly bias regime that displays a marked double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The transition is a seasonal feature of the model climatology (independent of initialisation date) and is associated with a seasonal increase in rainfall where a second branch of the ITCZ is produced south of the Equator. Excess off-equatorial convergence redirects the trade winds away from the Equator. Based on arguments of temporal coincidence, the results of our analysis contrast with those from previous work, and alleged causes hereto identified as the likely cause of the equatorial westerly bias in other models must be discarded. Quite in general, we find no evidence of remote influences on the development of the springtime equatorial bias in the Atlantic in the IFS-based models. Limited evidence however is presented that supports the hypothesis of an incorrect representation of the meridional equatorward flow in the marine boundary layer of the southern Atlantic as a contributing factor. Erroneous dynamical constraints on the flow upstream of the Equator may generate convergence and associated rainfall south of the Equator. This directs attention to the representation of the properties of the subtropical boundary layer as a potential source for the double ITCZ bias.

scholarly journals Snow-induced buffering in aerosol–cloud interactions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuro Michibata ◽  
Kentaroh Suzuki ◽  
Toshihiko Takemura
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Regional Pattern ◽  
Cloud Droplets ◽  
Microphysical Process ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Effective Radiative Forcing ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. Complex aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions lead to large differences in estimates of aerosol impacts on climate among general circulation models (GCMs) and satellite retrievals. Typically, precipitating hydrometeors are treated diagnostically in most GCMs, and their radiative effects are ignored. Here, we quantify how the treatment of precipitation influences the simulated effective radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions (ERFaci) using a state-of-the-art GCM with a two-moment prognostic precipitation scheme that incorporates the radiative effect of precipitating particles, and investigate how microphysical process representations are related to macroscopic climate effects. Prognostic precipitation substantially weakens the magnitude of ERFaci (by approximately 75 %) compared with the traditional diagnostic scheme, and this is the result of the increased longwave (warming) and weakened shortwave (cooling) components of ERFaci. The former is attributed to additional adjustment processes induced by falling snow, and the latter stems largely from riming of snow by collection of cloud droplets. The significant reduction in ERFaci does not occur without prognostic snow, which contributes mainly by buffering the cloud response to aerosol perturbations through depleting cloud water via collection. Prognostic precipitation also alters the regional pattern of ERFaci, particularly over northern mid-latitudes where snow is abundant. The treatment of precipitation is thus a highly influential controlling factor of ERFaci, contributing more than other uncertain tunable processes related to aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions. This change in ERFaci caused by the treatment of precipitation is large enough to explain the existing difference in ERFaci between GCMs and observations.

scholarly journals Shepard and Hardy Multiquadric Interpolation Methods for Multicomponent Aerosol–Cloud Parameterization

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru Rap ◽  
Satyajit Ghosh ◽  
Michael H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Interpolation Techniques ◽  
Cloud Parameterization

Abstract This paper presents a novel method based on the application of interpolation techniques to the multicomponent aerosol–cloud parameterization for global climate modeling. Quantifying the aerosol indirect effect still remains a difficult task, and thus developing parameterizations for general circulation models (GCMs) of the microphysics of clouds and their interactions with aerosols is a major challenge for climate modelers. Three aerosol species are considered in this paper—namely sulfate, sea salt, and biomass smoke—and a detailed microphysical chemical parcel model is used to obtain a dataset of points relating the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) to the three aerosol input masses. The resulting variation of CDNC with the aerosol mass has some nonlinear features that require a complex but efficient parameterization to be easily incorporated into GCMs. In bicomponent systems, simple interpolation techniques may be sufficient to relate the CDNC to the aerosol mass, but with increasing components, simple methods fail. The parameterization technique proposed in this study employs either the modified Shepard interpolation method or the Hardy multiquadrics interpolation method, and the numerical results obtained show that both methods provide realistic results for a wide range of aerosol mass loadings. This is the first application of these two interpolation techniques to aerosol–cloud interaction studies.

scholarly journals New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (21) ◽  
pp. 5812-5819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Feingold ◽  
Allison McComiskey ◽  
Takanobu Yamaguchi ◽  
Jill S. Johnson ◽  
Kenneth S. Carslaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Radiative Effect ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Cloud Radiative Effect ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

The topic of cloud radiative forcing associated with the atmospheric aerosol has been the focus of intense scrutiny for decades. The enormity of the problem is reflected in the need to understand aspects such as aerosol composition, optical properties, cloud condensation, and ice nucleation potential, along with the global distribution of these properties, controlled by emissions, transport, transformation, and sinks. Equally daunting is that clouds themselves are complex, turbulent, microphysical entities and, by their very nature, ephemeral and hard to predict. Atmospheric general circulation models represent aerosol−cloud interactions at ever-increasing levels of detail, but these models lack the resolution to represent clouds and aerosol−cloud interactions adequately. There is a dearth of observational constraints on aerosol−cloud interactions. We develop a conceptual approach to systematically constrain the aerosol−cloud radiative effect in shallow clouds through a combination of routine process modeling and satellite and surface-based shortwave radiation measurements. We heed the call to merge Darwinian and Newtonian strategies by balancing microphysical detail with scaling and emergent properties of the aerosol−cloud radiation system.

scholarly journals A global satellite view of aerosol cloud interactions

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 6823-6836 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Luo
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Cloud Amount ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. Long-term and large-scale correlations between Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aerosol optical depth and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) monthly cloud amount data show significant regional scale relationships between cloud amount and aerosols, consistent with aerosol-cloud interactions. Positive correlations between aerosols and cloud amount are associated with North American and Asian aerosols in the North Atlantic and Pacific storm tracks, and mineral aerosols in the tropical North Atlantic. Negative correlations are seen near biomass burning regions of North Africa and Indonesia, as well as south of the main mineral aerosol source of North Africa. These results suggest that there are relationships between aerosols and clouds in the observations that can be used by general circulation models to verify the correct forcing mechanisms for both direct and indirect radiative forcing by clouds.

scholarly journals Reducing uncertainties in satellite estimates of aerosol-cloud interactions over the subtropical ocean by integrating vertically resolved aerosol observations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Painemal ◽  
Fu-Lung Chang ◽  
Richard Ferrare ◽  
Sharon Burton ◽  
Zhujun Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Cloud Droplet ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Error Characterization ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions

Abstract. Satellite quantification of aerosol effects on clouds relies on aerosol optical depth (AOD) as a proxy for aerosol concentration or cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). However, the lack of error characterization of satellite-based results hampers their use for the evaluation and improvement of global climate models. We show that the use of AOD for assessing aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) is inadequate over vast oceanic areas in the subtropics. Instead, we postulate that a more physical approach that consists of matching vertically resolved aerosol data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite at the cloud-layer height with Aqua Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud retrievals reduces uncertainties in satellite-based ACI estimates. Combined aerosol extinction coefficients (σ) below cloud-top (σBC) from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd) from Aqua-MODIS yield high correlations across a broad range of σBC values, with σBC quartile correlations > 0.78. In contrast, CALIOP-based AOD yields correlations with MODIS Nd of less than 0.62 for the two lower AOD quartiles. Moreover, σBC explains 41 % of the spatial variance in MODIS Nd, whereas AOD only explains 17 %, primarily caused by the lack of spatial covariability in the eastern Pacific. Compared with σBC, near-surface σ weakly correlates in space with MODIS Nd, accounting for a 16 % variance. It is concluded that the linear regression calculated from ln(Nd)−ln(σBC) (the standard method for quantifying ACI) is more physically meaningful than that derived from the Nd−AOD pair.

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