Cloud systems research seeks to quantify the physics of convective cloud systems, their multi-scale organization, and how they interact with the larger scales of motion. They approach the problem through cloud-resolving numerical models, evaluated against field observations and satellite data where practicable, and compared with theoretical analysis to elucidate basic physical principles. An application of this work is the derivation of physically based parameterizations of clouds, convection, and organized mesoscale systems within atmospheric general circulation models, as well as the new super-parameterization approach, which was invented in the MMM Cloud Systems Group. Research focus is primarily on tropical cloud systems on time scales up to intra-seasonal, and on space scales ranging from about a kilometer to planetary. Another focus is on warm-season convection over continents.
NCAR
Strategic Initiative: Water
Cycle Across Scales
NASA TRMM/GPM convection
studies
GEWEX GCSS-4 Working
Group
Aaron Bansamer
Wotjek Grabowski
Andy Heymsfield
Changhai Liu
Larry Miloshevich
Mitch Moncrieff
Research Highlights