Understanding clouds and precipitation at the sub kilometer scale using HAMP (UCP-HAMP)

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Clouds are highly variable in space, in particular at sub-kilometer scales, which can hardly be resolved by common numerical models or satellite sensors. The research aircraft HALO, equipped with a suite of cloud remote sensing instruments, provides unique insights at this range of scales. As part of this proposal, the HALO Microwave Package (HAMP) consisting of a cloud radar and microwave radiometers will be operated during the NARVAL-II campaign in the trade wind region close to Barbados and during the NAWDEX campaign over the high North Atlantic. A better understanding of clouds in these regions will help to better constrain the sensitivity of clouds and correspondingly the climate sensitivity with respect to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. One task of this project is to improve the retrieval algorithms with a special focus on a better quantification of frozen hydrometeor contents. In this respect, radiative transfer modelling will link the observations with integrations of atmospheric models. The group will finally address the questions, how cloud macrophysics and microphysics differ in the trade wind region between wet and dry season by incorporating the NARVAL-I observations, and how well atmospheric models can represent different regimes of maritime convection.