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- Author or Editor: S. A. Buehler x
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Abstract
This study examines the relationship between frozen hydrometeors and latent heating in model simulations and evaluates the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to reproduce the observed frozen hydrometeors and their relationship to tropical cyclone (TC) intensification. Previous modeling studies have emphasized the importance of both the amount and location of latent heating in modulating the evolution of TC intensity. However, the lack of observations limits a full understanding of its importance in the real atmosphere. Idealized simulations using WRF indicate that latent heating is strongly correlated to the amount of ice water content, suggesting that ice water content can serve as an observable proxy for latent heat release in the mid- to upper troposphere. Based on this result, satellite observations are used to create storm-centered composites of ice water path as a function of TC intensity. The model reasonably captures the vertical and horizontal distribution of ice water content and its dependence upon TC intensity, with differences typically less than 20%. The model also captures the signature of increased ice water content for intensifying TCs, suggesting that observations of ice water content provide a useful diagnostic for understanding and evaluating model simulations of TC intensification.
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between frozen hydrometeors and latent heating in model simulations and evaluates the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to reproduce the observed frozen hydrometeors and their relationship to tropical cyclone (TC) intensification. Previous modeling studies have emphasized the importance of both the amount and location of latent heating in modulating the evolution of TC intensity. However, the lack of observations limits a full understanding of its importance in the real atmosphere. Idealized simulations using WRF indicate that latent heating is strongly correlated to the amount of ice water content, suggesting that ice water content can serve as an observable proxy for latent heat release in the mid- to upper troposphere. Based on this result, satellite observations are used to create storm-centered composites of ice water path as a function of TC intensity. The model reasonably captures the vertical and horizontal distribution of ice water content and its dependence upon TC intensity, with differences typically less than 20%. The model also captures the signature of increased ice water content for intensifying TCs, suggesting that observations of ice water content provide a useful diagnostic for understanding and evaluating model simulations of TC intensification.
Abstract
The outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) emitted to space is a fundamental component of the Earth’s energy budget. There are numerous, entangled physical processes that contribute to OLR and that are responsible for driving, and responding to, climate change. Spectrally resolved observations can disentangle these processes, but technical limitations have precluded accurate space-based spectral measurements covering the far infrared (FIR) from 100 to 667 cm−1 (wavelengths between 15 and 100 µm). The Earth’s FIR spectrum is thus essentially unmeasured even though at least half of the OLR arises from this spectral range. The region is strongly influenced by upper-tropospheric–lower-stratospheric water vapor, temperature lapse rate, ice cloud distribution, and microphysics, all critical parameters in the climate system that are highly variable and still poorly observed and understood. To cover this uncharted territory in Earth observations, the Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission has recently been selected as ESA’s ninth Earth Explorer mission for launch in 2026. The primary goal of FORUM is to measure, with high absolute accuracy, the FIR component of the spectrally resolved OLR for the first time with high spectral resolution and radiometric accuracy. The mission will provide a benchmark dataset of global observations which will significantly enhance our understanding of key forcing and feedback processes of the Earth’s atmosphere to enable more stringent evaluation of climate models. This paper describes the motivation for the mission, highlighting the scientific advances that are expected from the new measurements.
Abstract
The outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) emitted to space is a fundamental component of the Earth’s energy budget. There are numerous, entangled physical processes that contribute to OLR and that are responsible for driving, and responding to, climate change. Spectrally resolved observations can disentangle these processes, but technical limitations have precluded accurate space-based spectral measurements covering the far infrared (FIR) from 100 to 667 cm−1 (wavelengths between 15 and 100 µm). The Earth’s FIR spectrum is thus essentially unmeasured even though at least half of the OLR arises from this spectral range. The region is strongly influenced by upper-tropospheric–lower-stratospheric water vapor, temperature lapse rate, ice cloud distribution, and microphysics, all critical parameters in the climate system that are highly variable and still poorly observed and understood. To cover this uncharted territory in Earth observations, the Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission has recently been selected as ESA’s ninth Earth Explorer mission for launch in 2026. The primary goal of FORUM is to measure, with high absolute accuracy, the FIR component of the spectrally resolved OLR for the first time with high spectral resolution and radiometric accuracy. The mission will provide a benchmark dataset of global observations which will significantly enhance our understanding of key forcing and feedback processes of the Earth’s atmosphere to enable more stringent evaluation of climate models. This paper describes the motivation for the mission, highlighting the scientific advances that are expected from the new measurements.
