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Title: Observation and Reanalysis Derived Relationships Between Cloud and Land Surface Fluxes Across Cumulus and Stratiform Coupling Over the Southern Great Plains

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. AOSC &, ESSIC University of Maryland at College Park College Park MD USA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA USA
  2. AOSC &, ESSIC University of Maryland at College Park College Park MD USA
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore CA USA
  4. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science University of Houston Houston TX USA, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science University of Houston Houston TX USA
+ Show Author Affiliations

Abstract Understanding interactions between low clouds and land surface fluxes is critical to comprehending Earth's energy balance, yet their relationships remain elusive, with discrepancies between observations and modeling. Leveraging long‐term field observations over the Southern Great Plains, this investigation revealed that cloud‐land interactions are closely connected to cloud‐land coupling regimes. Observational evidence supports a dual‐mode interaction: coupled stratiform clouds predominate in low sensible heat scenarios, while coupled cumulus clouds dominate in high sensible heat scenarios. Reanalysis data sets, MERRA‐2 and ERA‐5, obscure this dichotomy owing to a shortfall in representing boundary layer clouds, especially in capturing the initiation of coupled cumulus in high sensible heat scenarios. ERA‐5 demonstrates a relatively closer alignment with observational data, particularly in capturing relationships between cloud frequency and latent heat, markedly outperforming MERRA‐2. Our study underscores the necessity of distinguishing different cloud coupling regimes, essential to the understanding of their interactions for advancing land‐atmosphere interactions.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0022919; SC0024185
OSTI ID:
2335953
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 51; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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