Abstract

The main goal of this research effort is to improve methods for calculating cloud cover within climate models. Until now, cloud cover and heights have been diagnosed from the US Air Force RTNEPH and 3DNEPH archive, and recently, CART measurements are available for analysis. Improved cloud cover formulations have been compared with existing climate model algorithms. The authors earlier conclusions were that relative humidity and convective potential were the strongest factors influencing cloud cover on regional scales. Therefore, they are refining and validating an innovative Single Column Model (SCM) cumulus parameterization for calculating heating and moistening tendencies, and precipitation rates attributable to subgrid-scale convection not resolved by climate models. This SCM will be tested and evaluated using tropical convective measurements (GATE) and they will also be applied to the incoming measurements from the Oklahoma ARM site. Further development and testing of this SCM will improve their ability to predict convective effects and cloud cover in climate models. They will quantify the influence of convection on cloud cover using convective measures derived from this SCM. The output of this research will be a family of validated algorithms for assessing cloud cover under a variety of stable, unstable, continental or oceanic conditions,more » and an improved cumulus parameterization scheme.« less

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