[1] This study analyzes 27 cumuliform and stratiform clouds sampled aboard the CIRPAS Twin Otter during the 2004 International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) experiment. The data set was used to assess cloud droplet closure using (1) a detailed adiabatic cloud parcel model and (2) a state-of-the-art cloud droplet activation parameterization. A uniqu...

A systematic characterization of multivariate dependence at multiple spatio-temporal scales is critical to understanding climate system dynamics and improving predictive ability from models and data. However, dependence structures in climate are complex due to nonlinear dynamical generating processes, long-range spatial and long-memory temporal relationships, as well as low-frequency variabilit...

The vertical ßight behavior of insects in the convective boundary layer (CBL) is examined by means of proÞling airborne Doppler radar data collected in the central Great Plains in late spring. On fair-weather days, the CBL grows from the ground up in morning hours and matures at a depth of 1,000Ð1,500 m shortly after midday. It is well mixed by thermals bubbling up from near the surface. Nevert...

The IPCC has stressed the importance of producing unbiased estimates of the uncertainty in indirect aerosol forcing, in order to give policy makers as well as research managers an understanding of the most important aspects of climate change that require refinement. In this study, we use 3-D meteorological fields together with a radiative 5 transfer model to examine the spatially-resolved uncer...

The inability to predict precipitation extremes under nonstationary climate remains a crucial science gap. Precipitation is not a state-variable within climate models, exhibits space-time heterogeneities, and is subject to thresholds and intermittences. Atmospheric variables in the spatiotemporal neighborhood, like temperature, humidity and updraft velocity, are often better predicted than prec...

7 [1] This study quantitatively assesses the sensitivity of 8 cloud droplet number (CDNC) to errors in cloud 9 condensation nuclei (CCN) predictions that arise from 10 application of Köhler theory. The CDNC uncertainty is 11 assessed by forcing a droplet activation parameterization 12 with a comprehensive dataset of CCN activity and aerosol 13 size and chemical composition obtained during the I...

The ongoing destruction of old-growth forests puts tropical forest species under great pressure because of the resulting habitat loss. A pre-requisite for the maintenance of a viable metacommunity in a fragmented landscape is the connectivity between habitable patches. We experimentally studied four vital steps of epiphyte dispersal in different habitat types in western Panama. (i) Seed falling...

A convection scheme for climate model is developed based on Tiedtke’s (Mon Weather Rev 117:1779–1800, 1989) bulk mass flux framework and is evaluated with observational data and cloud resolving model simulation data. The main differences between the present parameterization and Tiedtke’s parameterization are the convection trigger, fractional entrainment and detrainment rate formulations, and c...

The recent deployment of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Mobile Facility at Graciosa Island, Azores, in the context of the Clouds, Aerosol and Precipitation in theMarine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) field campaign added the most extensive (19 months) and comprehensive dataset of marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds to date. Cloud occurrence is high (60%–80%), with a summertime min...