Title: Tropical Cirrus in Global Storm-Resolving Models. Part II: Cirrus Life Cycle and Top-of-Atmosphere Radiative Fluxes

Journal Article · · Earth and Space Science
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean
+ Show Author Affiliations

Cirrus clouds of various thicknesses and radiative characteristics extend over much of the tropics, especially around deep convection. They are difficult to observe due to their high altitude and sometimes small optical depths. They are also difficult to simulate in conventional global climate models, which have coarse grid spacings and simplified parameterizations of deep convection and cirrus formation. We investigate the representation of tropical cirrus in global storm-resolving models (GSRMs), which have higher spatial resolution and explicit convection and could more accurately represent cirrus cloud processes. This study uses GSRMs from the DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domains (DYAMOND) project. The aggregate life cycle of tropical cirrus is analyzed using joint albedo and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) histograms to assess the fidelity of models in capturing the observed cirrus cloud populations over representative tropical ocean and land regions. The proportions of optically-thick deep convection, anvils, and cirrus vary across models and are portrayed in the vertical distribution of cloud cover and top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes. Model differences in cirrus populations, likely driven by subgrid processes such as ice microphysics, dominate over regional differences between convectively-active tropical land and ocean locations.

Research Organization:
ARM Data Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1837438
Journal Information:
Earth and Space Science, Journal Name: Earth and Space Science Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 9; ISSN 2333-5084
Publisher:
Wiley, American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (29)

Cloud properties and radiative effects of the Asian summer monsoon derived from A-Train data: CLOUD ICE WATER AND RADIATIVE EFFECTS journal August 2014
Representing the Sensitivity of Convective Cloud Systems to Tropospheric Humidity in General Circulation Models journal September 2011
Comparison of cloud-top height retrievals from ground-based 35 GHz MMCR and GMS-5 satellite observations at ARM TWP Manus site journal November 2004
Horizontal transport and the dehydration of the stratosphere journal July 2001
Tropical tropopause layer journal January 2009
Combined CloudSat-CALIPSO-MODIS retrievals of the properties of ice clouds journal January 2010
Improvements of top-of-atmosphere and surface irradiance computations with CALIPSO-, CloudSat-, and MODIS-derived cloud and aerosol properties journal January 2011
What Drives the Life Cycle of Tropical Anvil Clouds? journal August 2019
Tropical Anvil Clouds: Radiative Driving Toward a Preferred State journal November 2020
Tropical Cirrus in Global Storm‐Resolving Models: 1. Role of Deep Convection journal February 2022
Assessments of Doppler Velocity Errors of EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar Using Global Cloud System Resolving Simulations: Effects of Doppler Broadening and Folding journal January 2022
Cloud-Radiative Forcing and Climate: Results from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment journal January 1989
On the Observed Near Cancellation between Longwave and Shortwave Cloud Forcing in Tropical Regions journal April 1994
Trimodal Characteristics of Tropical Convection journal August 1999
Tropical Convection and the Energy Balance at the Top of the Atmosphere journal December 2001
On the Use of Earth Radiation Budget Statistics for Studies of Clouds and Climate journal June 1980
Heating Rates in Tropical Anvils journal May 1988
Tropical Tropopause Transition Layer Cirrus as Represented by CALIPSO Lidar Observations journal October 2010
Evaluation of Several A-Train Ice Cloud Retrieval Products with In Situ Measurements Collected during the SPARTICUS Campaign journal April 2013
Clouds and Water Vapor in the Tropical Tropopause Transition Layer over Mesoscale Convective Systems journal November 2015
Cloud Feedbacks in the Climate System: A Critical Review journal January 2005
Computing and Partitioning Cloud Feedbacks Using Cloud Property Histograms. Part I: Cloud Radiative Kernels journal June 2012
Surface Irradiances of Edition 4.0 Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) Data Product journal June 2018
The Life Cycle of Anvil Clouds and the Top-of-Atmosphere Radiation Balance over the Tropical West Pacific journal December 2018
Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Data Products for Climate Research journal January 2015
Intercomparison of Cloud Properties in DYAMOND Simulations over the Atlantic Ocean journal January 2021
Cloud Clusters and Large-Scale Vertical Motions in the Tropics [熱帯の雲クラスターと大規模上昇流] journal January 1982
Deep-convective influence on the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere composition in the Asian monsoon anticyclone region: 2017 StratoClim campaign results journal January 2020
Evolution of DARDAR-CLOUD ice cloud retrievals: new parameters and impacts on the retrieved microphysical properties journal January 2019

Similar Records

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DYAMOND
cirrus
global storm-resolving models
life cycle
model comparison
tropical tropopause layer