What Goes Up Must Come Down: The Lifecycle of Convective Clouds (492nd Brookhaven Lecture)

Conference · Wed Feb 19 04:00:00 EST 2014

OSTI ID:1132945

Jensen, Michael ^[1]

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1. BNL Environmental Sciences

Some clouds look like cotton balls and others like anvils. Some bring rain, some snow and sleet, and others, just shade. But, whether big and billowy or dark and stormy, clouds affect far more than the weather each day. Armed with measurements of clouds’ updrafts and downdrafts—which resemble airflow in a convection oven—and many other atmospheric interactions, scientists from Brookhaven Lab and other institutions around the world are developing models that are crucial for understanding Earth’s climate and forecasting future climate change. During his lecture, Dr. Jensen provides an overview of the importance of clouds in the Earth’s climate system before explaining how convective clouds form, grow, and dissipate. His discussion includes findings from the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E), a major collaborative experiment between U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA scientists to document precipitation, clouds, winds, and moisture in 3-D for a holistic view of convective clouds and their environment.

• Research Organization: BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States))
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 1132945
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION MEASUREMENT
CLIMATE MODELS
CLOUD ENTRAINMENT
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS
MC3E
UPDRAFTS AND DOWNDRAFTS
WATER CYCLE