The Impact of Resolving Subkilometer Processes on Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions of Low‐Level Clouds in Global Model Simulations
Abstract
Subkilometer processes are critical to the physics of aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) but have been dependent on parameterizations in global model simulations. We thus report the strength of ACI in the Ultra-Parameterized Community Atmosphere Model (UPCAM), a multiscale climate model that uses coarse exterior resolution to embed explicit cloud-resolving models with enough resolution (250 m horizontal, 20 m vertical) to quasi-resolve subkilometer eddies. To investigate the impact on ACIs, UPCAM's simulations are compared to a coarser multiscale model with 4 km horizontal resolution. UPCAM produces cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd) and cloud liquid water path (LWP) values that are higher than the coarser model but equally plausible compared to observations. Our analysis focuses on the Northern Hemisphere (20–50°N) oceans, where historical aerosol increases have been largest. We find similarities in the overall radiative forcing from ACIs in the two models, but this belies fundamental underlying differences. The radiative forcing from increases in LWP is weaker in UPCAM, whereas the forcing from increases in Nd is larger. Surprisingly, the weaker LWP increase is not due to a weaker increase in LWP in raining clouds, but a combination of weaker increase in LWP in nonraining clouds and a smaller fraction of raining cloudsmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[3];
[3]
- Department of Earth System Science University of California Irvine CA USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA USA
- Department of Earth System Science University of California Irvine CA USA
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences University of Washington Seattle WA USA
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1698114
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1762841; OSTI ID: 1781232
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-812724
Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 17‐SC‐20‐SC; AC52-07NA27344; 17-SC-20-SC; AGS-1912130; AGS-191213; ACI-1548562
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Journal Volume: 12 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 1942-2466
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; aerosol-cloud interaction; clouds; climate change; GCM; multiscale model
Citation Formats
Terai, C. R., Pritchard, M. S., Blossey, P., and Bretherton, C. S. The Impact of Resolving Subkilometer Processes on Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions of Low‐Level Clouds in Global Model Simulations. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1029/2020MS002274.
Terai, C. R., Pritchard, M. S., Blossey, P., & Bretherton, C. S. The Impact of Resolving Subkilometer Processes on Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions of Low‐Level Clouds in Global Model Simulations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002274
Terai, C. R., Pritchard, M. S., Blossey, P., and Bretherton, C. S. Tue .
"The Impact of Resolving Subkilometer Processes on Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions of Low‐Level Clouds in Global Model Simulations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002274.
@article{osti_1698114,
title = {The Impact of Resolving Subkilometer Processes on Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions of Low‐Level Clouds in Global Model Simulations},
author = {Terai, C. R. and Pritchard, M. S. and Blossey, P. and Bretherton, C. S.},
abstractNote = {Subkilometer processes are critical to the physics of aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) but have been dependent on parameterizations in global model simulations. We thus report the strength of ACI in the Ultra-Parameterized Community Atmosphere Model (UPCAM), a multiscale climate model that uses coarse exterior resolution to embed explicit cloud-resolving models with enough resolution (250 m horizontal, 20 m vertical) to quasi-resolve subkilometer eddies. To investigate the impact on ACIs, UPCAM's simulations are compared to a coarser multiscale model with 4 km horizontal resolution. UPCAM produces cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd) and cloud liquid water path (LWP) values that are higher than the coarser model but equally plausible compared to observations. Our analysis focuses on the Northern Hemisphere (20–50°N) oceans, where historical aerosol increases have been largest. We find similarities in the overall radiative forcing from ACIs in the two models, but this belies fundamental underlying differences. The radiative forcing from increases in LWP is weaker in UPCAM, whereas the forcing from increases in Nd is larger. Surprisingly, the weaker LWP increase is not due to a weaker increase in LWP in raining clouds, but a combination of weaker increase in LWP in nonraining clouds and a smaller fraction of raining clouds in UPCAM. The implication is that as global modeling moves toward finer than storm-resolving grids, nuanced model validation of ACI statistics conditioned on the existence of precipitation and good observational constraints on the baseline probability of precipitation will become key for tighter constraints and better conceptual understanding.},
doi = {10.1029/2020MS002274},
journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems},
number = 11,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {2020},
month = {11}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002274
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002274
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Reducing the aerosol forcing uncertainty using observational constraints on warm rain processes
journal, May 2020
- Mülmenstädt, Johannes; Nam, Christine; Salzmann, Marc
- Science Advances, Vol. 6, Issue 22
Aerosol effects on cloud water amounts were successfully simulated by a global cloud-system resolving model
journal, March 2018
- Sato, Yousuke; Goto, Daisuke; Michibata, Takuro
- Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1
The multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF: model description and evaluation
journal, January 2011
- Wang, M.; Ghan, S.; Easter, R.
- Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Influence of Superparameterization and a Higher-Order Turbulence Closure on Rainfall Bias Over Amazonia in Community Atmosphere Model Version 5: How Parameterization Changes Rainfall
journal, September 2017
- Zhang, Kai; Fu, Rong; Shaikh, Muhammad J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 18
On the precipitation susceptibility of clouds to aerosol perturbations
journal, January 2009
- Sorooshian, Armin; Feingold, Graham; Lebsock, Matthew D.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 13
A New Two-Moment Bulk Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 (CAM3). Part I: Description and Numerical Tests
journal, August 2008
- Morrison, Hugh; Gettelman, Andrew
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 21, Issue 15
Toward a minimal representation of aerosols in climate models: description and evaluation in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5
journal, January 2012
- Liu, X.; Easter, R. C.; Ghan, S. J.
- Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 5, Issue 3
Bounding global aerosol radiative forcing of climate change
journal, November 2019
- Bellouin, N.; Quaas, J.; Gryspeerdt, E.
- Reviews of Geophysics
Breaking the Cloud Parameterization Deadlock
journal, November 2003
- Randall, David; Khairoutdinov, Marat; Arakawa, Akio
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 84, Issue 11
DYAMOND: the DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domains
journal, September 2019
- Stevens, Bjorn; Satoh, Masaki; Auger, Ludovic
- Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, Vol. 6, Issue 1
On the characteristics of aerosol indirect effect based on dynamic regimes in global climate models
journal, January 2016
- Zhang, Shipeng; Wang, Minghuai; Ghan, Steven J.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 5
The Multisensor Advanced Climatology of Liquid Water Path (MAC-LWP)
journal, December 2017
- Elsaesser, Gregory S.; O’Dell, Christopher W.; Lebsock, Matthew D.
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 30, Issue 24
Multiple‐Instance Superparameterization: 2. The Effects of Stochastic Convection on the Simulated Climate
journal, November 2019
- Jones, Todd R.; Randall, David A.; Branson, Mark D.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 11
Sensitivity of climate simulations to the parameterization of cumulus convection in the Canadian climate centre general circulation model
journal, September 1995
- Zhang, G. J.; McFarlane, Norman A.
- Atmosphere-Ocean, Vol. 33, Issue 3
Cloud droplet sedimentation, entrainment efficiency, and subtropical stratocumulus albedo
journal, January 2007
- Bretherton, C. S.; Blossey, P. N.; Uchida, J.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 3
Separating radiative forcing by aerosol–cloud interactions and rapid cloud adjustments in the ECHAM–HAMMOZ aerosol–climate model using the method of partial radiative perturbations
journal, January 2019
- Mülmenstädt, Johannes; Gryspeerdt, Edward; Salzmann, Marc
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 24
Deconvolution of boundary layer depth and aerosol constraints on cloud water path in subtropical stratocumulus decks
journal, January 2020
- Possner, Anna; Eastman, Ryan; Bender, Frida
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 20, Issue 6
Volcano and Ship Tracks Indicate Excessive Aerosol-Induced Cloud Water Increases in a Climate Model: CLOUD WATER RESPONSE TO AEROSOLS
journal, December 2017
- Toll, Velle; Christensen, Matthew; Gassó, Santiago
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 24
The impact of humidity above stratiform clouds on indirect aerosol climate forcing
journal, December 2004
- Ackerman, Andrew S.; Kirkpatrick, Michael P.; Stevens, David E.
- Nature, Vol. 432, Issue 7020
Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness
journal, September 1989
- Albrecht, B. A.
- Science, Vol. 245, Issue 4923
Global observations of aerosol impacts on precipitation occurrence in warm maritime clouds
journal, January 2009
- L'Ecuyer, Tristan S.; Berg, Wesley; Haynes, John
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue D9
Can aerosol decrease cloud lifetime?
journal, January 2009
- Small, Jennifer D.; Chuang, Patrick Y.; Feingold, Graham
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 16
Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave
journal, July 1997
- Mlawer, Eli J.; Taubman, Steven J.; Brown, Patrick D.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 102, Issue D14
XSEDE: Accelerating Scientific Discovery
journal, September 2014
- Towns, John; Cockerill, Timothy; Dahan, Maytal
- Computing in Science & Engineering, Vol. 16, Issue 5
The source of discrepancies in aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions between GCM and A-Train retrievals
journal, January 2016
- Michibata, Takuro; Suzuki, Kentaroh; Sato, Yousuke
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 23
Simulations of the Atmospheric General Circulation Using a Cloud-Resolving Model as a Superparameterization of Physical Processes
journal, July 2005
- Khairoutdinov, Marat; Randall, David; DeMott, Charlotte
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 62, Issue 7
A comprehensive numerical study of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in marine stratocumulus
journal, January 2011
- Chen, Y. -C.; Xue, L.; Lebo, Z. J.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 11, Issue 18
Evaluating cloud tuning in a climate model with satellite observations: EVALUATION OF CLOUD TUNING
journal, August 2013
- Suzuki, Kentaroh; Golaz, Jean-Christophe; Stephens, Graeme L.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 16
Does precipitation susceptibility vary with increasing cloud thickness in marine stratocumulus?
journal, January 2012
- Terai, C. R.; Wood, R.; Leon, D. C.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 10
Climate goals and computing the future of clouds
journal, January 2017
- Schneider, Tapio; Teixeira, João; Bretherton, Christopher S.
- Nature Climate Change, Vol. 7, Issue 1
Understanding the tropical cloud feedback from an analysis of the circulation and stability regimes simulated from an upgraded multiscale modeling framework: TROPICAL CLOUD FEEDBACK FROM AN MMF
journal, December 2016
- Xu, Kuan-Man; Cheng, Anning
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 8, Issue 4
The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system
journal, April 2011
- Dee, D. P.; Uppala, S. M.; Simmons, A. J.
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 137, Issue 656
Large-Eddy Simulations of Trade Wind Cumuli: Investigation of Aerosol Indirect Effects
journal, June 2006
- Xue, Huiwen; Feingold, Graham
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 63, Issue 6
Global assessment of marine boundary layer cloud droplet number concentration from satellite
journal, January 2007
- Bennartz, R.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue D2
Constraining cloud lifetime effects of aerosols using A-Train satellite observations: CONSTRAINING CLOUD LIFETIME EFFECTS
journal, August 2012
- Wang, Minghuai; Ghan, Steven; Liu, Xiaohong
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 39, Issue 15
A simplified PDF parameterization of subgrid-scale clouds and turbulence for cloud-resolving models: TURBULENCE SCHEME FOR CLOUD-RESOLVING MODELS
journal, April 2013
- Bogenschutz, Peter A.; Krueger, Steven K.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 5, Issue 2
A review of cloud top height and optical depth histograms from MISR, ISCCP, and MODIS
journal, January 2010
- Marchand, Roger; Ackerman, Thomas; Smyth, Mike
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue D16
The Influence of Pollution on the Shortwave Albedo of Clouds
journal, July 1977
- Twomey, S.
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 34, Issue 7
Insensitivity of the Cloud Response to Surface Warming Under Radical Changes to Boundary Layer Turbulence and Cloud Microphysics: Results From the Ultraparameterized CAM
journal, December 2018
- Parishani, Hossein; Pritchard, Michael S.; Bretherton, Christopher S.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 12
Effect of precipitation on the albedo susceptibility of clouds in the marine boundary layer
journal, November 1994
- Pincus, Robert; Baker, Marcia B.
- Nature, Vol. 372, Issue 6503
Aerosol indirect effects in a multi-scale aerosol-climate model PNNL-MMF
journal, January 2011
- Wang, M.; Ghan, S.; Ovchinnikov, M.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 11, Issue 11
Surprising similarities in model and observational aerosol radiative forcing estimates
journal, January 2020
- Gryspeerdt, Edward; Mülmenstädt, Johannes; Gettelman, Andrew
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 20, Issue 1
Radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models
journal, January 2008
- Iacono, Michael J.; Delamere, Jennifer S.; Mlawer, Eli J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, Issue D13
Constraining the aerosol influence on cloud liquid water path
journal, January 2019
- Gryspeerdt, Edward; Goren, Tom; Sourdeval, Odran
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 8
PDF Parameterization of Boundary Layer Clouds in Models with Horizontal Grid Spacings from 2 to 16 km
journal, January 2012
- Larson, Vincent E.; Schanen, David P.; Wang, Minghuai
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 140, Issue 1
Dreary state of precipitation in global models: MODEL AND OBSERVED PRECIPITATION
journal, December 2010
- Stephens, Graeme L.; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; Forbes, Richard
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 115, Issue D24
Evaluation of Large-Eddy Simulations via Observations of Nocturnal Marine Stratocumulus
journal, June 2005
- Stevens, Bjorn; Moeng, Chin-Hoh; Ackerman, Andrew S.
- Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 133, Issue 6
Remote Sensing of Droplet Number Concentration in Warm Clouds: A Review of the Current State of Knowledge and Perspectives
journal, June 2018
- Grosvenor, Daniel P.; Sourdeval, Odran; Zuidema, Paquita
- Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 56, Issue 2
Beyond deadlock: BEYOND DEADLOCK
journal, November 2013
- Randall, David A.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 22
Ensemble daily simulations for elucidating cloud–aerosol interactions under a large spread of realistic environmental conditions
journal, January 2020
- Dagan, Guy; Stier, Philip
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 20, Issue 11
Coupling Cloud Processes with the Large-Scale Dynamics Using the Cloud-Resolving Convection Parameterization (CRCP)
journal, May 2001
- Grabowski, Wojciech W.
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 58, Issue 9
Robust effects of cloud superparameterization on simulated daily rainfall intensity statistics across multiple versions of the C ommunity E arth S ystem M odel
journal, February 2016
- Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Pritchard, Michael S.; Burt, Melissa A.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Aerosol impacts on drizzle properties in warm clouds from ARM Mobile Facility maritime and continental deployments: Aerosol impacts on drizzle at AMF sites
journal, April 2014
- Mann, Julian A. L.; Christine Chiu, J.; Hogan, Robin J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 119, Issue 7
Aerosol effects on the lifetime of shallow cumulus
journal, January 2006
- Jiang, Hongli; Xue, Huiwen; Teller, Amit
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 14
Technical Note: On the use of nudging for aerosol–climate model intercomparison studies
journal, January 2014
- Zhang, K.; Wan, H.; Liu, X.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 16
Effects of Aerosols on Cloud Albedo: Evaluation of Twomey’s Parameterization of Cloud Susceptibility Using Measurements of Ship Tracks
journal, August 2000
- Ackerman, Andrew S.; Toon, Owen B.; Taylor, Jonathan P.
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 57, Issue 16
Time-dependent, non-monotonic response of warm convective cloud fields to changes in aerosol loading
journal, January 2017
- Dagan, Guy; Koren, Ilan; Altaratz, Orit
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 12
The Art and Science of Climate Model Tuning
journal, March 2017
- Hourdin, Frédéric; Mauritsen, Thorsten; Gettelman, Andrew
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 98, Issue 3
Constraining the influence of natural variability to improve estimates of global aerosol indirect effects in a nudged version of the Community Atmosphere Model 5: ESTIMATES OF AEROSOL INDIRECT EFFECTS
journal, December 2012
- Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Pritchard, Michael S.; Ghan, Steven J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 117, Issue D23
The Explicit-Cloud Parameterized-Pollutant hybrid approach for aerosol–cloud interactions in multiscale modeling framework models: tracer transport results
journal, April 2008
- Gustafson Jr, William I.; Berg, Larry K.; Easter, Richard C.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 2
Precipitation driving of droplet concentration variability in marine low clouds: PRECIPITATION DRIVING OF DROP CONC
journal, October 2012
- Wood, Robert; Leon, David; Lebsock, Matthew
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 117, Issue D19
Toward low-cloud-permitting cloud superparameterization with explicit boundary layer turbulence: LOW-CLOUD ULTRAPARAMETERIZATION
journal, July 2017
- Parishani, Hossein; Pritchard, Michael S.; Bretherton, Christopher S.
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 9, Issue 3
Satellite-based estimate of global aerosol–cloud radiative forcing by marine warm clouds
journal, August 2014
- Chen, Yi-Chun; Christensen, Matthew W.; Stephens, Graeme L.
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 7, Issue 9
The Influence of Entrainment and Mixing Assumption on Aerosol–Cloud Interactions in Marine Stratocumulus
journal, May 2009
- Hill, Adrian A.; Feingold, Graham; Jiang, Hongli
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 66, Issue 5