CAREER: The Marine Cloud-Topped Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and Large-Scale Circulations

行星边界层(PBL)是大气的最低层--与地球表面直接接触的层--通过它，热量、动量、水分、气体物种和气溶胶粒子在自由大气和表面之间传输。不足为奇的是，PBL中的过程不仅对当地的空气污染、风和降水等现象产生影响，而且通过与更大规模的过程的相互作用对气候本身产生影响。这个职业奖的研究部分集中在两个问题上：(1)PBL如何与大范围、热驱动的热带大气环流相互作用？(2)来自PBL中形成的云的降水如何改变这种相互作用的动力学？每个问题的解决方法都是通过数值模拟。首先，对一般环流模式(GCM)进行了修正，以更准确地描述边界层中的物理过程。对于第二种情况，使用大涡模拟(LES)来确定大气边界层的垂直结构如何受降水的影响。这项工作的教育部分包括开发一个关于大尺度大气流动与PBL相互作用的高级本科生课程，并建立一个气候模拟实验室。这一努力的结果将是改进气候模拟，并为学生提供更好的机会接受气候数值模拟方面的培训。

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is the lowest layer of the atmosphere - the layer in immediate contact with the earth's surface - through which heat, momentum, moisture, gaseous species, and aerosol particles are transported between the free atmosphere and the surface. It is no surprise that processes in the PBL have a bearing not only on local phenomena such as air pollution, wind, and precipitation, but also on the climate itself through interactions with larger scale processes. The research component of this CAREER award focuses on two questions: (1) How does the PBL interact with the large-scale, thermally driven, tropical atmospheric circulation? (2) How does precipitation from clouds that form in the PBL modify the dynamics of this interaction? The approach to each question is through numerical modeling. For the first, a General Circulation Model (GCM) is modified to represent more accurately the physical processes in the PBL. For the second, large eddy simulations (LES) are employed to determine how the vertical structure of the PBL is affected by precipitation. The educational component of the work consists of developing an upper-level undergraduate course on the interaction of large scale atmospheric flow with the PBL and establishing a climate simulation laboratory. The results of the effort will be improved climate simulation and better opportunities for students to be trained in the numerical modeling of climate.