Description:

This session focuses on the struggle to accurately represent microphysical cloud, aerosol, and precipitation processes in climate models and the consequences of process uncertainties for cloud macrophysics, global radiative fluxes, circulation, and other quantities that impact climate projections. Intensive field, lab, and simulation work over the last half century has sought to better understand the linkages between aerosol-cloud interactions and climate, yet uncertainty in the forcing and feedbacks associated with aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions remains a dominant factor in climate projection uncertainties. This session seeks to highlight failures and successes of global models in demonstrably improving the representation of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions and consider means of optimally leveraging current or future observational data sets to shrink uncertainty in the prediction of anthropogenic forcing due to aerosol-cloud interactions issuing from global models. Studies highlighting successful observational approaches towards improving global models and suggesting protocols for designing future observations (including laboratory, field, and satellite) are strongly encouraged.