C<sup>3</sup>ONTEXT: a Common Consensus on Convective OrgaNizaTion during the EUREC<sup>4</sup>A eXperimenT

Abstract

Abstract. The C3ONTEXT (a Common Consensus on Convective OrgaNizaTion during the EUREC4A eXperimenT) dataset is presented as an overview of the mesoscale cloud patterns identified during the EUREC4A (Elucidating the role of clouds–circulation coupling in climate) field campaign in early 2020. Based on infrared and visible satellite images, 50 researchers of the EUREC4A science team manually identified the four prevailing mesoscale patterns of shallow convection observed by Stevens et al. (2020). The common consensus on the observed mesoscale cloud patterns emerging from these manual classifications is presented. It builds the basis for future studies and reduces the subjective nature of these visually defined cloud patterns. This consensus makes it possible to contextualize the measurements of the EUREC4A field campaign and interpret them in the mesoscale setting. Commonly used approaches to capture the mesoscale patterns are computed for comparison and show good agreement with the manual classifications. All four patterns as classified by Stevens et al. (2020) were present in January–February 2020, although not all were dominant during the observing period of EUREC4A. Supplemental classifications of storm-resolving simulations suggest that the latter have a limited ability to replicate the observed cloud patterns and require further research. The full dataset including post-processed datasets for easier usage are openly available at the Zenodo archive at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5979718 (Schulz, 2022a).