'Environmental Controls on Aerosol-Induced Changes in Convective Cloud Updraft Velocities'

The aim of this project is to determine which environments conducive to convective clouds (using parameters such as CAPE, shear and entrainment) exhibit large aerosol sensitivity in convective cloud updrafts. Previous work has related changes in aerosols to changes in convective updraft strength and how aerosol effect is modulated by environmental factors. However, these investigations used idealized models and theoretical calculations, limiting our knowledge on how these relationships function in the real world. We use a suite of approximately 1000 simulations produced from the ESCAPE field campaign in Houston, which exhibits both convection and varying aerosol conditions. The simulations have varying aerosol conditions, meteorology, and model physics, which we use to investigate if there are significant statistical relationships between aerosol effects on deep convective cloud characteristics As humans continue to emit pollutants and increase aerosol concentration, it will be important to understand how deep convection in different environments will be impacted.