Description:

Conveners:

Prof. Xiquan Dong, University of Arizona (xdong@email.arizona.edu, 520-621-4652)    

Dr. Yangang Liu, DOE BNNL; lyg@bnl.gov

Dr. Kuan-man Xu, NASA Langley Research Center; kuan-man.xu@nasa.gov

The treatment of aerosols, clouds, and precipitation in climate models and their interactions and associated feedbacks have long been one of the largest sources of uncertainty in predicting any potential future climate changes. Although many improvements have been made in Phase 5/6 of the CMIP, aerosols, clouds, precipitation, and their feedbacks are still a problem in climate models as concluded in the IPCC AR5 (2013). Many studies have shown that modeled aerosol, clouds, and precipitation, agree with observations within a certain range on a global scale, however, large biases occur at the regional scale, particular for the regimes of subtropical marine boundary layer (MBL). Characterizing the effects of aerosols and clouds on the energy and hydrological cycle and understanding the interactions of aerosols, clouds, and precipitation are critical for weather forecast and climate models. Significant improvements are needed, which requires advanced observations and modelings in a range of spatial and temporal scales.  

This session solicits observational and modeling studies on aerosols, clouds, precipitation, and their interactions. The datasets collected during DOE during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) field campaign and other field campaigns are preferable for this session. Presentations using an integrated analysis of observations (surface and satellite observations, and aircraft in situ measurements), and modeling efforts (CRM/SCM/GCM/NWP, such as IPCC AR6), that address the interactions among these processes and the climate feedbacks through the effects of aerosols and clouds on precipitation, are particularly encouraged.