Preliminary investigation of radiatively driven convection in marine stratocumulus clouds
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
Marine stratocumulus play an important yet still poorly modeled role in the climate system. These clouds cool the planet, having a large albedo, but little infrared effect. A fundamental question is whether such clouds will exist at a given time and location. Stratocumulus is often formed at higher latitudes as stratus and advected equatorward until it breaks up. Possible mechanisms for cloud breakup include strong subsidence, cloud top entrainment instability (CTEI), drizzle, solar heating and resultant boundary layer decoupling, and surface forcing. The Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) was conducted to investigate these potential cloud breakup mechanisms. 5 refs., 3 figs.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
- OSTI ID:
- 232600
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER--0661T; ON: DE96000982
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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