Project: Using Satellite Measurements to Understand/Improve Low Clouds and Their Climate Feedbacks in GCMs
Minghua Zhang (PI), Stony Brook University
Brian Colle (co-I), ), Stony Brook University
Julio Bacmeister, Wei-kuo Tao, Arthur Hou (co-Is), NASA GSFC
Kuanman Xu, Norman Loeb (co-I), NASA Langley
Tony Del Genio (co-I), NASA GISS
Work Plan
We will use the GEOS-5, ModelE, and the NCAR CAM3 to study responses of low clouds in the subtropics of the eastern Pacific to large scale atmospheric circulation in the models. We will also use satellite data from multiple platforms and the ECMWF as well as NCEP/NCAR analyses to study low clouds and their responses to large-scale conditions from observations and to potentially improve the models.
One focus of our research will thus be to understand the processes of low clouds in the three models. For this purpose, we will analyze behaviors of the single-column versions (SCM) of these models under idealized and observed forcing conditions in producing low clouds. This research will follow two steps: the first is to evaluate the basic distribution of low clouds under current climate conditions; the second is to evaluate the variation of low clouds climate changes.
Our other focus is to understand low cloud processes in the real world. We plan to carry out case studies by using available satellite measurements and large-eddy models (LES) as well as cloud resolving models (CRM) to study low clouds at the process level. The knowledge from these analyses will then be used to improve the models.
What we need:
It is very desirable for us to get assistance from a CMAI infrastructure to facilitate some of our effort so that we do not need to repeat what other people have already done and can do better than us. By saving these efforts, we can devote more time to go after the science questions we wish to address. The followings are what we desire from an CMAI infrastructure if available:
(1) Assemble satellite measurements of low clouds in the Eastern Pacific in the region of 180W-70W, 40S to 40N from multiple platforms for our selected cases with high spatial resolutions (MODIS, CERES, AIRS, AMSU-A and AMSU-E, MISR, GOES digital etc., and CloudSat for the future).
(2) Obtain high temporal resolution output (20-min or hourly) of GCM simulations of all physical variables at selected sites for at least one year in the ModelE and GEOS-5 models.
(3) Provide the possibility of carrying out controlled simulations using the NASA GCMs.
