Understanding the Evolution of Stratocumulus Clouds in the Coastal Region

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Stratus and stratocumulus clouds regularly form and dissipate in many coastal regions of the world. These clouds are not only an important element of regional weather, they also influence regional and global climate through their effect on solar radiation. The goal of this project is to improve the ability to forecast low-level clouds in coastal regions. The objectives are to determine the importance of mesoscale circulations and the microphysical properties of the clouds on cloud behavior. The approach is based on observations with the instrumented Twin Otter aircraft operated by the Center for Interdisciplinary Remote Piloted Aircraft Study (CIRPAS) and ground-based equipment including a wind profiler/RASS system, a laser ceilometer, and a millimeter-wavelength radar. Separate projects funded by the Office of Naval Research cover the cost of the airplane time, the radar analysis, and the installation on the airplane of new equipment for cloud physics research. Dr. Wang will collaborate closely with Dr. Bruce Albrecht of the University of Miami and researchers from CIRPAS and Cal Tech to insure that the experiments of the different groups are effectively coordinated. The research should lead to a more complete understanding of the evolution of stratiform clouds in coastal regions and better ways of incorporating these clouds in numerical forecasting models.