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Title: Marine Boundary Layer Clouds Associated with Coastally Trapped Disturbances: Observations and Model Simulations

Journal Article · · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado
  3. Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
  5. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
  6. Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
+ Show Author Affiliations

Modeling marine low clouds and fog in coastal environments remains an outstanding challenge due to the inherently complex ocean–land–atmosphere system. This is especially important in the context of global circulation models due to the profound radiative impact of these clouds. This study utilizes aircraft and satellite measurements, in addition to numerical simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, to examine three well-observed coastally trapped disturbance (CTD) events from June 2006, July 2011, and July 2015. Cloud water-soluble ionic and elemental composition analyses conducted for two of the CTD cases indicate that anthropogenic aerosol sources may impact CTD cloud decks due to synoptic-scale patterns associated with CTD initiation. In general, the dynamics and thermodynamics of the CTD systems are well represented and are relatively insensitive to the choice of physics parameterizations; however, a set of WRF simulations suggests that the treatment of model physics strongly influences CTD cloud field evolution. Specifically, cloud liquid water path (LWP) is highly sensitive to the choice of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme; in many instances, the PBL scheme affects cloud extent and LWP values as much as or more than the microphysics scheme. Results suggest that differences in the treatment of entrainment and vertical mixing in the Yonsei University (nonlocal) and Mellor–Yamada–Janjic (local) PBL schemes may play a significant role. Finally, the impact of using different driving models—namely, the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) 12-km analysis and the NCEP North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) 32-km products—is also investigated.

Research Organization:
State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0016354; AGS-1439515; N00014-17-1-2719; N00014-10-1-0811; N00014-16-1-2567
OSTI ID:
1561342
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1612493
Journal Information:
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Journal Name: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences Vol. 76 Journal Issue: 9; ISSN 0022-4928
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 4 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
meteorology & atmospheric sciences
North Pacific Ocean
marine boundary layer
stratiform clouds
cloud parameterizations
numerical analysis/modeling
marine chemistry