Search Results
Abstract
Recommendations are presented for in situ and remote sensing instruments and capabilities needed to advance the study of convection and turbulence in the atmosphere. These recommendations emerged from a community workshop held on 22–24 May 2017 at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Four areas of research were distinguished at this workshop: i) boundary layer flows, including convective and stable boundary layers over heterogeneous land use and terrain conditions; ii) dynamics and thermodynamics of convection, including deep and shallow convection and continental and maritime convection; iii) turbulence above the boundary layer in clouds and in clear air, terrain driven and elsewhere; and iv) cloud microphysical and chemical processes in convection, including cloud electricity and lightning.
The recommendations presented herein address a series of facilities and capabilities, ranging from existing ones that continue to fulfill science needs and thus should be retained and/or incrementally improved, to urgently needed new facilities, to desired capabilities for which no adequate solutions are as yet on the horizon. A common thread among all recommendations is the need for more highly resolved sampling, both in space and in time. Significant progress is anticipated, especially through the improved availability of airborne and ground-based remote sensors to the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported community.
Abstract
Recommendations are presented for in situ and remote sensing instruments and capabilities needed to advance the study of convection and turbulence in the atmosphere. These recommendations emerged from a community workshop held on 22–24 May 2017 at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Four areas of research were distinguished at this workshop: i) boundary layer flows, including convective and stable boundary layers over heterogeneous land use and terrain conditions; ii) dynamics and thermodynamics of convection, including deep and shallow convection and continental and maritime convection; iii) turbulence above the boundary layer in clouds and in clear air, terrain driven and elsewhere; and iv) cloud microphysical and chemical processes in convection, including cloud electricity and lightning.
The recommendations presented herein address a series of facilities and capabilities, ranging from existing ones that continue to fulfill science needs and thus should be retained and/or incrementally improved, to urgently needed new facilities, to desired capabilities for which no adequate solutions are as yet on the horizon. A common thread among all recommendations is the need for more highly resolved sampling, both in space and in time. Significant progress is anticipated, especially through the improved availability of airborne and ground-based remote sensors to the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported community.
Abstract
In this essay, we highlight some challenges the atmospheric community is facing concerning adequate treatment of flows over mountains and their implications for numerical weather prediction (NWP), climate simulations, and impact modeling. With recent increases in computing power (and hence model resolution) numerical models start to face new limitations (such as numerical instability over steep terrain). At the same time there is a growing need for sufficiently reliable NWP model output to drive various impact models (for hydrology, air pollution, agriculture, etc.). The input information for these impact models is largely produced by the boundary layer (BL) parameterizations of NWP models. All known BL parameterizations assume flat and horizontally homogeneous surface conditions, and their performance and interaction with resolved flows is massively understudied over mountains—hence their output may be accidentally acceptable at best. We therefore advocate the systematic investigation of the so-called “mountain boundary layer” (MoBL), introduced to emphasize its many differences to the BL over flat and horizontally homogeneous terrain.
An international consortium of scientists has launched a research program, TEAMx (Multi-Scale Transport and Exchange Processes in the Atmosphere over Mountains–Program and Experiment), to address some of the most pressing scientific challenges. TEAMx is endorsed by World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) and the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project as a “cross-cutting project.” A program coordination office was established at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). This essay introduces the background to and content of a recently published white paper outlining the key research questions of TEAMx.
Abstract
In this essay, we highlight some challenges the atmospheric community is facing concerning adequate treatment of flows over mountains and their implications for numerical weather prediction (NWP), climate simulations, and impact modeling. With recent increases in computing power (and hence model resolution) numerical models start to face new limitations (such as numerical instability over steep terrain). At the same time there is a growing need for sufficiently reliable NWP model output to drive various impact models (for hydrology, air pollution, agriculture, etc.). The input information for these impact models is largely produced by the boundary layer (BL) parameterizations of NWP models. All known BL parameterizations assume flat and horizontally homogeneous surface conditions, and their performance and interaction with resolved flows is massively understudied over mountains—hence their output may be accidentally acceptable at best. We therefore advocate the systematic investigation of the so-called “mountain boundary layer” (MoBL), introduced to emphasize its many differences to the BL over flat and horizontally homogeneous terrain.
An international consortium of scientists has launched a research program, TEAMx (Multi-Scale Transport and Exchange Processes in the Atmosphere over Mountains–Program and Experiment), to address some of the most pressing scientific challenges. TEAMx is endorsed by World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) and the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project as a “cross-cutting project.” A program coordination office was established at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). This essay introduces the background to and content of a recently published white paper outlining the key research questions of TEAMx.
