Collaborative Research: Ship-based Measurements of Cloud Microphysics and PBL Properties in Precipitating Trade Cumulus Clouds During Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO)

这一由三个机构(迈阿密大学、科罗拉多大学和国家海洋和大气管理局环境技术实验室)合作的项目是“海洋积云中的雨”(RICO)实验的一部分，该实验是一项关于信风积云中降水发展的协调研究，将涉及20多个机构和4个国家。在这个项目中，调查人员将使用大学-国家海洋学实验室系统(海洋学实验室系统)的Seward Johnson船，该船配备了两个短波长雷达和一个扫描多普勒激光雷达，以及测量海洋表面通量的仪器。这些传感器将被用来测量信风积云的运动学和微物理结构，周围的空气运动，以及边界层的热量、水分和动量通量。一个补充的建模工作将使用大涡模拟，约束以匹配观察到的云的特征，以研究云尺度的过程，包括卷吸和云凝结核在云发展中的作用。雷达将放置在其他陆基雷达附近和研究飞机研究的区域之下，以便与其他观测系统的测量结果相辅相成并进行比较。主要的科学目标包括记录热带积云的生命周期，确定如何形成大水滴和降水，以及了解降水如何改变信风积云附近的海洋边界层。这项研究的预期结果将是更好地理解降水是如何在信风积云中形成的，并提高表现这种云在气候和其他大型模式中的影响的能力。该项目包括大量的教育内容。直接参与研究项目的研究生将获得宝贵的现场经验，也将通过为非该领域的研究生和本科生提供特别计划来提供研究经验。K-12课程的组成部分将包括开发适合在课堂上使用的初中和高中课程内容，为K-12教师提供在职研究体验，职业意识演示，以及科学家访问教室。将使用基于网络的工具将邮轮上的科学家连接到教室，与学生和教师互动，这种联系将在邮轮结束后通过分析阶段继续下去。一个目标是开发教育模块，使学生、教育工作者和研究人员能够对与地球系统有关的数据作出贡献并与之互动。

This collaborative project among three institutions (the University of Miami, the University of Colorado, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Technology Laboratory) is part of the "Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean" (RICO) experiment, a coordinated study of precipitation development in trade-wind Cumulus clouds that will involve more than 20 institutions and four countries. In this project, the investigators will use the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) ship Seward Johnson, equipped with two short wavelength radars and a scanning Doppler lidar as well as instrumentation to measure fluxes from the ocean surface. These sensors will be used to measure the kinematic and microphysical structures of trade-wind Cumuli, the surrounding air motions, and the boundary-layer fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. A complementary modeling effort will use large eddy simulation, constrained to match observed characteristics of the clouds, to study cloud-scale processes including entrainment and the roles of cloud condensation nuclei in cloud development. The radars will be positioned near other land-based radars and under the region studied by research aircraft so that the measurements can complement and be compared to those from the other observing systems. The primary science objectives include documenting the lifecycles of tropical cumulus clouds, determining how large drops and precipitation are formed, and learning how precipitation alters the marine boundary layer in the vicinity of trade-wind Cumuli. The expected result of this research will be better understanding of how precipitation is formed in trade-wind cumulus clouds and improved ability to represent the effects of such clouds in climate and other large-scale models. The project includes a substantial educational component. Graduate students involved directly in the research project will gain valuable field experience, and research experience will also be provided through special programs for graduate and undergraduate students not in the field. A K-12 component will include development of middle and high school curricula components suitable for use in classrooms, an onboard research experience for a K-12 teacher, career awareness presentations, and visits by scientists to classrooms. Web-based tools will be used to connect scientists on the cruise to classrooms for interactions with students and teachers, and this connection will continue after the cruise through the analysis phase. An objective will be the development of educational modules that allow students, educators and researchers to contribute to and interact with data related to the Earth system.