Cloud Microphysical Processes Research Articles

How Do Outer Spiral Rainbands Affect Tropical Cyclone Structure and Intensity?*

Abstract A long-standing issue on how outer spiral rainbands affect the structure and intensity of tropical cyclones is studied through a series of numerical experiments using the cloud-resolving tropical cyclone model TCM4. Because diabatic heating due to phase changes is the main driving force of outer spiral rainbands, their effect on the tropical cyclone structure and intensity is evaluated by artificially modifying the heating and cooling rate due to cloud microphysical processes in the model. The view proposed here is that the effect of diabatic heating in outer spiral rainbands on the storm structure and intensity results mainly from hydrostatic adjustment; that is, heating (cooling) of an atmospheric column decreases (increases) the surface pressure underneath the column. The change in surface pressure due to heating in the outer spiral rainbands is significant on the inward side of the rainbands where the inertial stability is generally high. Outside the rainbands in the far field, where the inertial stability is low and internal atmospheric heating is mostly lost to gravity wave radiation and little is left to warm the atmospheric column and lower the local surface pressure, the change in surface pressure is relatively small. This strong radially dependent response reduces the horizontal pressure gradient across the radius of maximum wind and thus the storm intensity in terms of the maximum low-level tangential wind while increasing the inner-core size of the storm. The numerical results show that cooling in the outer spiral rainbands maintains both the intensity of a tropical cyclone and the compactness of its inner core, whereas heating in the outer spiral rainbands decreases the intensity but increases the size of a tropical cyclone. Overall, the presence of strong outer spiral rainbands limits the intensity of a tropical cyclone. Because heating or cooling in the outer spiral rainbands depends strongly on the relative humidity in the near-core environment, the results have implications for the formation of the annular hurricane structure, the development of concentric eyewalls, and the size change in tropical cyclones.

Comparison of the bright band characteristics measured by Micro Rain Radar (MRR) at a mountain and a coastal site in South Korea

Data from a long term measurement of Micro Rain Radar (MRR) at a mountain site (Daegwallyeong, DG, one year period of 2005) and a coastal site (Haenam, HN, three years 2004–2006) in South Korea were analyzed to compare the MRR measured bright band characteristics of stratiform precipitation at the two sites. On average, the bright band was somewhat thicker and the sharpness (average gradient of reflectivity above and below the reflectivity peak) was slightly weaker at DG, compared to those values at HN. The peak reflectivity itself was twice as strong and the relative location of the peak reflectivity within the bright band was higher at HN than at DG. Importantly, the variability of these values was much larger at HN than at DG. The key parameter to cause these differences is suggested to be the difference of the snow particle densities at the two sites, which is related to the degree of riming. Therefore, it is speculated that the cloud microphysical processes at HN may have varied significantly from un-rimed snow growth, producing low density snow particles, to the riming of higher density particles, while snow particle growth at DG was more consistently affected by the riming process, and therefore high density snow particles. Forced uplifting of cloudy air over the mountain area around DG might have resulted in an orographic supercooling effect that led to the enhanced riming of supercooled cloud drops.

A lightweight balloon-carried cloud charge sensor

Despite the importance of microphysical cloud processes on the climate system, some topics are under-explored. For example, few measurements of droplet charges in nonthunderstorm clouds exist. Balloon carried charge sensors can be used to provide new measurements. A charge sensor is described for use with meteorological balloons, which has been tested over a range of atmospheric temperatures from -60 to 20 degrees C, in cloudy and clear air. The rapid time response of the sensor (to >10 V s(-1)) permits charge densities from 100 fC m(-3) to 1 nC m(-3) to be determined, which is sufficient for it to act as a cloud edge charge detector at weakly charged horizontal cloud boundaries.

Sensitivity of convective and stratiform rainfall to sea surface temperature

The sensitivity of surface rainfall and associated cloud microphysical processes to sea surface temperature (SST) and its diurnal variation is investigated with a series of two-dimensional cloud-resolving model experiments. Experiments with time-invariant SST of 27 °C (SST27) and 31 °C (SST31) and experiments with diurnal SST amplitudes of 1 °C (SST29D1) and 2 °C (SST29D2) and time-mean SST of 29 °C are, respectively, compared with the control experiment with time-invariant SST of 29 °C (SST29). The model with a cyclic lateral boundary is imposed by zero vertical velocity and a constant zonal wind and is integrated for 40 days to reach quasi-equilibrium states for all experiments. Although the time and model domain mean surface evaporation rate is smaller in SST27 than in SST29, the addition of mean local atmospheric drying rate in SST27 leads similar mean surface rain rates in the two experiments. The smaller surface evaporation associated with the colder SST causes the larger local atmospheric drying rate over clear sky regions and the smaller local atmospheric moistening rate in SST27 than in SST29. The larger surface evaporation over clear sky regions associated with the warmer SST causes the larger water vapor transport to convective regions that leads to the larger convective rain rate and thus the larger mean surface rain rate in SST 31 than in SST29. The mean local atmospheric drying and decrease of mean hydrometeor concentration in SST29D1 and increase of mean hydrometeor concentration in SST29 cause the larger mean surface rain rates in SST29D1 than in SST29. The slight increase of mean surface rain rate with increasing diurnal SST amplitude is simply caused by increase of mean surface evaporation rate.

Enrichment of surface‐active compounds in coalescing cloud drops

Surfactants often found in tropospheric aerosols, can affect the onset and development of clouds. Due to high dilution during droplet growth, the effects of surfactants on cloud microphysical processes have been mostly neglected. However, while cloud growth by coalescence conserves the combined volume of all cloud droplets, it reduces the combined surface area. This could lead to enrichment of water‐insoluble surfactants (WIS) and to reduced surface tension of droplets forming in warm processes. Measurements of individual raindrops reveal the presence of water insoluble surfactants. Our field and laboratory studies as well as simple theoretical arguments suggest that by causing varying and size‐dependent surface tension, WIS can affect cloud microphysics.

Global identification of warm cloud microphysical processes with combined use of A‐Train observations

The layer‐mean radar reflectivity e observed by CloudSat and the columnar effective particle radius Re obtained from a combined microwave‐shortwave analysis are combined to investigate the joint relationships between e and Re for warm clouds. Global statistics for seasonally averaged data reveals that radar reflectivities e less than about −10 dBZ tend to relate to the effective radius via a sixth‐power dependency, corresponding to a constant number concentration implying that the condensation particle growth process mainly takes place within the cloud layer for e < −10 dBZ. For e > −10 dBZ, e depends on Re through a cubic relation, corresponding to a constant mass concentration implying coagulation as the dominant particle growth process. These microphysical regimes so identified are shown to be consistent with CloudSat‐inferred rainfall rate.

Robust relations between CCN and the vertical evolution of cloud drop size distribution in deep convective clouds

Abstract. In-situ measurements in convective clouds (up to the freezing level) over the Amazon basin show that smoke from deforestation fires prevents clouds from precipitating until they acquire a vertical development of at least 4 km, compared to only 1–2 km in clean clouds. The average cloud depth required for the onset of warm rain increased by ~350 m for each additional 100 cloud condensation nuclei per cm3 at a super-saturation of 0.5% (CCN0.5%). In polluted clouds, the diameter of modal liquid water content grows much slower with cloud depth (at least by a factor of ~2), due to the large number of droplets that compete for available water and to the suppressed coalescence processes. Contrary to what other studies have suggested, we did not observe this effect to reach saturation at 3000 or more accumulation mode particles per cm3. The CCN0.5% concentration was found to be a very good predictor for the cloud depth required for the onset of warm precipitation and other microphysical factors, leaving only a secondary role for the updraft velocities in determining the cloud drop size distributions. The effective radius of the cloud droplets (re) was found to be a quite robust parameter for a given environment and cloud depth, showing only a small effect of partial droplet evaporation from the cloud's mixing with its drier environment. This supports one of the basic assumptions of satellite analysis of cloud microphysical processes: the ability to look at different cloud top heights in the same region and regard their re as if they had been measured inside one well developed cloud. The dependence of re on the adiabatic fraction decreased higher in the clouds, especially for cleaner conditions, and disappeared at re≥~10 μm. We propose that droplet coalescence, which is at its peak when warm rain is formed in the cloud at re=~10 μm, continues to be significant during the cloud's mixing with the entrained air, cancelling out the decrease in re due to evaporation.

Formation of large (≃100 μm) ice crystals near the tropical tropopause

Abstract. Recent high-altitude aircraft measurements with in situ imaging instruments indicated the presence of relatively large (≃100 μm length), thin (aspect ratios of ≃6:1 or larger) hexagonal plate ice crystals near the tropical tropopause in very low concentrations (<0.01 L−1). These crystals were not produced by deep convection or aggregation. We use simple growth-sedimentation calculations as well as detailed cloud simulations to evaluate the conditions required to grow the large crystals. Uncertainties in crystal aspect ratio leave a range of possibilities, which could be constrained by knowledge of the water vapor concentration in the air where the crystal growth occurred. Unfortunately, water vapor measurements made in the cloud formation region near the tropopause with different instruments ranged from <2 ppmv to ≃3.5 ppmv. The higher water vapor concentrations correspond to very large ice supersaturations (relative humidities with respect to ice of about 200%). If the aspect ratios of the hexagonal plate crystals are as small as the image analysis suggests (6:1, see companion paper (Lawson et al., 2008)) then growth of the large crystals before they sediment out of the supersaturated layer would only be possible if the water vapor concentration were on the high end of the range indicated by the different measurements (>3 ppmv). On the other hand, if the crystal aspect ratios are quite a bit larger (≃10:1), then H2O concentrations toward the low end of the measurement range (≃2–2.5 ppmv) would suffice to grow the large crystals. Gravity-wave driven temperature and vertical wind perturbations only slightly modify the H2O concentrations needed to grow the crystals. We find that it would not be possible to grow the large crystals with water concentrations less than 2 ppmv, even with assumptions of a very high aspect ratio of 15 and steady upward motion of 2 cm s−1 to loft the crystals in the tropopause region. These calculations would seem to imply that the measurements indicating water vapor concentrations less than 2 ppmv are implausible, but we cannot rule out the possibility that higher humidity prevailed upstream of the aircraft measurements and the air was dehydrated by the cloud formation. Simulations of the cloud formation with a detailed model indicate that homogeneous freezing should generate ice concentrations larger than the observed concencentrations (20 L−1), and even concentrations as low as 20 L−1 should have depleted the vapor in excess of saturation and prevented growth of large crystals. It seems likely that the large crystals resulted from ice nucleation on effective heterogeneous nuclei at low ice supersaturations. Improvements in our understanding of detailed cloud microphysical processes require resolution of the water vapor measurement discrepancies in these very cold, dry regions of the atmosphere.

A review of cloud-resolving model studies of convective processes

Convective processes affect large-scale environments through cloud-radiation interaction, cloud microphysical processes, and surface rainfall processes. Over the last three decades, cloud-resolving models (CRMs) have demonstrated to be capable of simulating convective-radiative responses to an imposed largescale forcing. The CRM-produced cloud and radiative properties have been utilized to study the convective-related processes and their ensemble effects on large-scale circulations. This review summarizes the recent progress on the understanding of convective processes with the use of CRM simulations, including precipitation processes; cloud microphysical and radiative processes; dynamical processes; precipitation efficiency; diurnal variations of tropical oceanic convection; local-scale atmosphere-ocean coupling processes; and tropical convective-radiative equilibrium states. Two different ongoing applications of CRMs to general circulation models (GCMs) are discussed: replacing convection and cloud schemes for studying the interaction between cloud systems and large-scale circulation, and improving the schemes for climate simulations.

Factorial method as a tool for estimating the relative contribution to precipitation of cloud microphysical processes and environmental conditions: Method and application

The factorial experiment method is presented as a tool for evaluating the sensitivity of precipitation to changes in atmospheric thermodynamic conditions and cloud microphysical characteristics in mixed phase convective clouds. As an example, the method is adopted here for analysis of the sensitivity of precipitation to changes in various parameters using simulations with the Tel Aviv University 2D (TAU 2D) cloud model. The cloud model was run in 80 scenarios in order to determine the relative sensitivity of precipitation in eastern Mediterranean winter mixed phase convective clouds to changes in cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration, parameterization of ice formation mechanisms and initial atmospheric thermodynamic conditions. When these parameters act synergistically to suppress precipitation (by increasing the concentration of CCN and of small ice crystals and reducing the water vapor mixing ratio), for the cases simulated here, a decrease of about 2°C in the entire profile of the ambient temperature while keeping the relative humidity constant has the same contribution to precipitation suppression as an increase of about 400 cm−3 in the CCN concentration. It is shown that under the warmest and most humid atmospheric thermodynamic conditions simulated here, the suppression of precipitation is affected more by the increased CCN than by the ice generation processes, whereas in colder atmospheric conditions the reverse is true. For a given atmospheric sounding the time of rain initiation strongly depends on the CCN concentrations. The role of ice generation begins to affect precipitation at a later stage when the cloud is more mature.

On the selection of prognostic moments in parametrization schemes for drop sedimentation

Common parametrizationmodels for cloud microphysical processes use condensate mass density and/or particle number density as prognostic properties. However, other moments of the particle size distribution can likewise be chosen for prediction. This study deals with parametrization models with one and two, respectively, prognostic moments for the sedimentation of drop ensembles. The spectral resolving model defines the reference solution.The evolution of the vertical profiles of liquid water content, drop number density and rain rate strongly depend on the choice of the prognostic moments in the parametrizationmodels. Inmodels with a single prognostic moment, its vertical profile is copied by all other moments. The moment of most physical pertinence is recommended for prediction. In models with two prognostic moments, the vertical profiles of all moments differ. The orders of the prognostic moments should be chosen close to the order of moments of highest relevance. Otherwise large errors occur. For example, comparison of modelled versus observed radar reflectivity (6th moment with respect to diameter) does not tell much about the quality of other properties if reflectivity is diagnosed from for example, number density and mass density. Furthermore, mass conservation is fulfilled only if mass density is forecasted.

Retrieval of Atmospheric Integrated Water Vapor and Cloud Liquid Water Content Over the Ocean From Satellite Data Using the 1-D-Var Ice Cloud Microphysics Data Assimilation System (IMDAS)

Reliable prediction of precipitation by numerical weather prediction (NWP) models depends on the appropriate representation of cloud microphysical processes and accurate initial conditions of observations of atmospheric variables. Therefore, to retrieve reasonable cloud distributions, a 1-D variational Ice Cloud Microphysics Data Assimilation System (IMDAS) is developed to improve the predictability of NWP models. The general framework of IMDAS includes the Lin ice cloud microphysics scheme as a model operator, a four-stream fast microwave radiative transfer model in the atmosphere as an observation operator, and a global minimization method that is known as the shuffled complex evolution. IMDAS assimilates the satellite microwave radiometer data set of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) and retrieves integrated water vapor and integrated cloud liquid water content. This new method successfully introduces heterogeneity into the initial state of the atmosphere, and the modeled microwave brightness temperatures agree well with the observations of the Wakasa Bay Experiment 2003 in Japan. It has significantly improved the performance of the cloud microphysics scheme by the intrusion of heterogeneity into the external global reanalysis data, which resultantly improved atmospheric initial conditions.

Cosmic Rays and Climate

Among the most puzzling questions in climate change is that of solar-climate variability, which has attracted the attention of scientists for more than two centuries. Until recently, even the existence of solar-climate variability has been controversial - perhaps because the observations had largely involved temporary correlations between climate and the sunspot cycle. Over the last few years, however, diverse reconstructions of past climate change have revealed clear associations with cosmic ray variations recorded in cosmogenic isotope archives, providing persuasive evidence for solar or cosmic ray forcing of the climate. However, despite the increasing evidence of its importance, solar climate variability is likely to remain controversial until a physical mechanism is established. Although this remains a mystery, observations suggest that cloud cover may be influenced by cosmic rays, which are modulated by the solar wind and, on longer time scales, by the geomagnetic field and by the galactic environment of Earth. Two different classes of microphysical mechanisms have been proposed to connect cosmic rays with clouds: firstly, an influence of cosmic rays on the production of cloud condensation nuclei and, secondly, an influence of cosmic rays on the global electrical circuit in the atmosphere and, in turn, on ice nucleation and other cloud microphysical processes. Considerable progress on understanding ion-aerosol-cloud processes has been made in recent years, and the results are suggestive of a physically- plausible link between cosmic rays, clouds and climate. However, a concerted effort is now required to carry out definitive laboratory measurements of the fundamental physical and chemical processes involved, and to evaluate their climatic significance with dedicated field observations and modelling studies.

Challenges in Mesoscale Prediction of a Nocturnal Stratocumulus-Topped Marine Boundary Layer and Implications for Operational Forecasting

Abstract A numerical study using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) was performed to assess the impact of initial and boundary conditions, the parameterization of turbulence transfer and its coupling with cloud-driven radiation, and cloud microphysical processes on the accuracy of mesoscale predictions and forecasts of the cloud-capped marine boundary layer. Aircraft, buoy, and satellite data and the large eddy simulation (LES) results during the Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus field experiment (DYCOMS II) in July 2001 were used in the assessment. Three of the tested input fields (Eta, NCEP, and ECMWF) show deficiencies, mainly in the thermodynamic structure of the lowest 1500 m of the marine atmosphere. On a positive note, the simulated marine-layer depth showed good agreement with aircraft observations using the Eta fields, while using the NCEP and ECMWF datasets underestimated the marine-layer depth by about 20%–30%. The predicted turbulence kinetic energy (inversion strength) was about 50% of that obtained from the LES results (aircraft observed). As a consequence of moisture overprediction, the predicted liquid water path was twice the observed by 1–2 g kg−1. The sensitivity tests have shown that the selections of turbulence and cloud microphysical schemes significantly influence the turbulence estimates and cloud parameters. Two of the tested turbulence schemes (Eta PBL and Burk–Thompson) did not exhibit the coupling with radiation. The significant differences in the simulated turbulence estimates appear to be a consequence of the use of water-conserving potential temperature variables. The microphysical parameterization, which uses the number concentration of cloud drops in the autoconversion process, simulates a realistic evolution of precipitable hydrometeors in the cloudy marine layer on the positive side, but on the other hand enhances the decoupling in the turbulence structure. This study can provide guidance to operational forecasters concerning accuracy issues of the commonly used large-scale analyses for model initialization, and optimal selection of model parameterizations in order to simulate and forecast the cloudy atmospheric boundary layer over the ocean.

Characteristics and Momentum Flux Spectrum of Convectively Forced Internal Gravity Waves in Ensemble Numerical Simulations

Abstract Characteristics of convectively forced gravity waves are investigated through ensemble numerical simulations for various ideal and real convective storms. For ideal storm cases, single-cell-, multicell-, and supercell-type storms are considered, and for real cases, convection events observed during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) and in Indonesia are used. For each storm case, wave perturbations and the momentum flux spectrum of convective gravity waves in a control simulation with nonlinearity and cloud microphysical processes are compared with those in quasi-linear dry simulations forced by either diabatic forcing or nonlinear forcing obtained from the control simulation. In any case, gravity waves in the control simulation cannot be represented well by wave perturbations induced by a single forcing. However, when both diabatic and nonlinear forcing terms are considered, the gravity waves and their momentum flux spectrum become comparable to those in the control simulation, because of cancellation between wave perturbations by two forcing terms. These results confirm that the two forcing mechanisms of convective gravity waves proposed by previous studies based on a single convective event can be applied generally to various types of convective storms. This suggests that nonlinear forcing, as well as diabatic forcing, should be considered appropriately in parameterizations of convectively forced gravity waves.

On parametrization of microphysical processes of electrification in a three-phase model of a convective cloud

For constructing a three-dimensional model of a convective thundercloud, an important task is to include elementary mechanisms of electrification of cloud particles, which lead to the formation of spatially extended electric charge structures and large-scale electric fields in the cloud. Methods of parametrization of microphysical processes of electrification of cloud and precipitation particles (droplets, ice crystals, hail, and graupel), attributed to the mechanism connected with collisions between particles in different phase states and their separation, are reviewed. Expressions for the generation rate of electric charges are discussed which are based both on the parametric description, when distribution functions of cloud and precipitation particles are initially prescribed with respect to radii (or masses) and on a detailed microphysical description, when particle distribution functions are determined from a numerical modeling of microphysical cloud processes.

Aerosol indirect effect over Indo-Gangetic plain

Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are analyzed over the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) to study the effect of aerosol optical depth (AOD) on the water ( R eff , w) and ice ( R eff , i) cloud effective radius for the period 2001–2005. The temporal variation of R eff , w and R eff , i shows reverse trend as that of AOD for most of the time. The intensity of positive indirect effect (i.e. increase of R eff , w/i with decrease of AOD and vice versa) is the highest in winter (Δ R eff , w/ΔAOD∼−9.67 μm and Δ R eff , i/ΔAOD∼−12.15 μm), when the role of meteorology is the least. The positive indirect effect is significant in 43%, 37%, 68% and 54% of area for water clouds in winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for ice clouds are 42%, 35%, 53% and 53% for the four seasons, respectively. On the contrast, R eff , i in some locations shows increment with the increase in AOD (negative indirect effect). The negative indirect effect is significant at 95% confidence level in 7%, 18%, 9% and 6% grids for winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. The restricted spatial distribution of negative indirect effect in IGP shows that the cloud microphysical processes are very complex. Our analyses clearly identify the contrasting indirect effect, which requires further in situ investigations for better understanding of the aerosol–cloud interaction in the region.

Impact of cloud microphysical processes on hurricane intensity, part 2: Sensitivity experiments

Seven different microphysical sensitivity experiments were designed with an objective to evaluate their respective impacts in modulating hurricane intensity forecasts using mesoscale model MM5. Microphysical processes such as melting of graupel, snow and cloud ice hydrometeors, suppression of evaporation of falling rain, the intercept parameter and fall speed of snow and graupel hydrometeors are modified in the existing NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) microphysical parameterization scheme. We studied the impacts of cloud microphysical processes by means of track, intensity, precipitation, propagation speed, kinematic and thermodynamic vertical structural characteristics of hurricane inner core. These results suggest that the set of experiments where (a) melting of snow, graupel and cloud ice were suppressed (b) melting of snow and graupel were suppressed and (c) where the evaporation of rain water was suppressed all produced most intense storms. The major findings of this study are the interconversion processes such as melting and evaporation among hydrometeors and associated feedback mechanism are significantly modulate the intensity of the hurricane. In particular an experiment where the melting of graupel, snow and cloud ice hydrometeors was eliminated from the model parameterization scheme produced the most explosively intensified storm. In the experiment where rain water evaporation was eliminated from the model, it produced a stronger storm as compared to the control run but it was not as strong as the storms produced from absence of melting processes. The impact on intensity due to variations made in intercept parameters of the hydrometeors (i.e., snow and graupel) were not that evident compared to other experiments. The weakest storm was noted in the experiment where the fall speeds of the snow hydrometeors were increased two fold. This study has isolated some of the factors that contributed to a stronger hurricane and concludes with a motivation that the findings from this study will help in further improvement in the design of sophisticated explicit microphysical parameterization for the mesoscale non-hydrostatic model for realistic hurricane intensity forecasts.

Impact of cloud microphysical processes on hurricane intensity, part 1: Control run

The first part of the paper comprises of a control experiment and its forecasts validations with the observed. The PSU-NCAR mesoscale model MM5 was utilized at a horizontal resolution of 4 km using the data sets for hurricane Charley of 2004. The model configures some of the best available versions for physics and microphysical parameterizations schemes to produce forecasts which are close to the observed trend of hurricane Charley. The basic validations of the control run were carried out in terms of track, intensity (sea-level pressure and surface wind speed), storm propagation speed, precipitation and radar reflectivity with that of observed. The validations were necessary because this control experiment will be considered as a benchmark forecast for comparison with other microphysics sensitive experiments forecasts in the second part of this paper. In general, the control run forecasts closely comply with that of observed track and intensity of the hurricane Charley. We also note that control run manage to reproduce much of the important structural characteristics features of the hurricane as observed.

Atmospheric science: an introductory survey

Preface. Units and Numerical Values. A brief Survey of the Atmosphere. Atmospheric Thermodynamics. Extratropical Synoptic-Scale Disturbances. Atmospheric Aerosol and Cloud Microphysical Processes. Clouds and Storms. Radiative Transfer. The Global Energy Balance. Atmospheric Dynamics. The General Circulation. Index.