Search Results
You are looking at 31 - 32 of 32 items for
- Author or Editor: R. Paul Lawson x
- Refine by Access: All Content x
A first-of-a-kind, extended-term cloud aircraft campaign was conducted to obtain an in situ statistical characterization of continental boundary layer clouds needed to investigate cloud processes and refine retrieval algorithms. Coordinated by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility (AAF), the Routine AAF Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign operated over the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site from 22 January to 30 June 2009, collecting 260 h of data during 59 research flights. A comprehensive payload aboard the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft measured cloud microphysics, solar and thermal radiation, physical aerosol properties, and atmospheric state parameters. Proximity to the SGP's extensive complement of surface measurements provides ancillary data that support modeling studies and facilitates evaluation of a variety of surface retrieval algorithms. The five-month duration enabled sampling a range of conditions associated with the seasonal transition from winter to summer. Although about twothirds of the flights during which clouds were sampled occurred in May and June, boundary layer cloud fields were sampled under a variety of environmental and aerosol conditions, with about 77% of the cloud flights occurring in cumulus and stratocumulus. Preliminary analyses illustrate use of these data to analyze aerosol– cloud relationships, characterize the horizontal variability of cloud radiative impacts, and evaluate surface-based retrievals. We discuss how an extended-term campaign requires a simplified operating paradigm that is different from that used for typical, short-term, intensive aircraft field programs.
A first-of-a-kind, extended-term cloud aircraft campaign was conducted to obtain an in situ statistical characterization of continental boundary layer clouds needed to investigate cloud processes and refine retrieval algorithms. Coordinated by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility (AAF), the Routine AAF Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign operated over the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site from 22 January to 30 June 2009, collecting 260 h of data during 59 research flights. A comprehensive payload aboard the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft measured cloud microphysics, solar and thermal radiation, physical aerosol properties, and atmospheric state parameters. Proximity to the SGP's extensive complement of surface measurements provides ancillary data that support modeling studies and facilitates evaluation of a variety of surface retrieval algorithms. The five-month duration enabled sampling a range of conditions associated with the seasonal transition from winter to summer. Although about twothirds of the flights during which clouds were sampled occurred in May and June, boundary layer cloud fields were sampled under a variety of environmental and aerosol conditions, with about 77% of the cloud flights occurring in cumulus and stratocumulus. Preliminary analyses illustrate use of these data to analyze aerosol– cloud relationships, characterize the horizontal variability of cloud radiative impacts, and evaluate surface-based retrievals. We discuss how an extended-term campaign requires a simplified operating paradigm that is different from that used for typical, short-term, intensive aircraft field programs.
Abstract
Convective clouds play an important role in the Earth’s climate system and are a known source of extreme weather. Gaps in our understanding of convective vertical motions, microphysics, and precipitation across a full range of aerosol and meteorological regimes continue to limit our ability to predict the occurrence and intensity of these cloud systems. Towards improving predictability, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a large field experiment entitled “Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Environment (ESCAPE).” ESCAPE took place between 30 May - 30 Sept. 2022 in the vicinity of Houston, TX because this area frequently experiences isolated deep convection that interacts with the region's mesoscale circulations and its range of aerosol conditions.
ESCAPE focused on collecting observations of isolated deep convection through innovative sampling, and on developing novel analysis techniques. This included the deployment of two research aircraft, the National Research Council of Canada Convair-580 and the Stratton Park Engineering Company Learjet, which combined conducted 24 research flights from 30 May to 17 June. On the ground, three mobile X-band radars, and one mobile Doppler lidar truck equipped with soundings, were deployed from 30 May to 28 June. From 1 August to 30 Sept. 2022, a dual-polarization C-band radar was deployed and operated using a novel, multi-sensor agile adaptive sampling strategy to track the entire lifecycle of isolated convective clouds. Analysis of the ESCAPE observations has already yielded preliminary findings on how aerosols and environmental conditions impact the convective life cycle.
Abstract
Convective clouds play an important role in the Earth’s climate system and are a known source of extreme weather. Gaps in our understanding of convective vertical motions, microphysics, and precipitation across a full range of aerosol and meteorological regimes continue to limit our ability to predict the occurrence and intensity of these cloud systems. Towards improving predictability, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a large field experiment entitled “Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Environment (ESCAPE).” ESCAPE took place between 30 May - 30 Sept. 2022 in the vicinity of Houston, TX because this area frequently experiences isolated deep convection that interacts with the region's mesoscale circulations and its range of aerosol conditions.
ESCAPE focused on collecting observations of isolated deep convection through innovative sampling, and on developing novel analysis techniques. This included the deployment of two research aircraft, the National Research Council of Canada Convair-580 and the Stratton Park Engineering Company Learjet, which combined conducted 24 research flights from 30 May to 17 June. On the ground, three mobile X-band radars, and one mobile Doppler lidar truck equipped with soundings, were deployed from 30 May to 28 June. From 1 August to 30 Sept. 2022, a dual-polarization C-band radar was deployed and operated using a novel, multi-sensor agile adaptive sampling strategy to track the entire lifecycle of isolated convective clouds. Analysis of the ESCAPE observations has already yielded preliminary findings on how aerosols and environmental conditions impact the convective life cycle.
