Analysis of Convective Water Transports During Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers (CRYSTAL)

这笔赠款支持Frank博士和他的合作者Johannes Verlinde参与Crystal-Face项目，该项目代表热带针叶和卷云层的卷云区域研究-佛罗里达地区卷云实验。这是一项将于2002年夏天在佛罗里达州南部及其周边地区进行的跨部门实地考察计划，目的是研究热带大对流云造成的卷云钉云的形成、演化和辐射特性。Frank博士将使用一架安装了NSF Eldora雷达的NRL P3飞机来记录深对流云系统从开始到大范围卷云喙发展的生命周期。主要目的是估计总水汽(水汽和冷凝水)进入卷云云层的对流输送。这是通过以下方法实现的：首先从多普勒雷达观测得到的水平散度剖面计算垂直空气速度，然后通过将估计的空气质量通量与包括参数化降水的大涡模拟结果相结合来推断水通量。这些结果将被综合起来，以评估对流水输送对全球卷云数量的影响，包括对它们对地球辐射收支影响的估计。

This grant supports the participation of Dr. Frank and his Co-PI, Johannes Verlinde, in the CRYSTAL-FACE project, which stands for Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment. This is an interagency field program to be conducted in and around southern Florida in the summer of 2002 with the goal of studying the formation, evolution, and radiative properties of the cirrus anvil clouds created by large convective clouds in the tropics. Dr. Frank will use an NRL P3 aircraft fitted with the NSF ELDORA radar to document the life cycles of deep convective cloud systems from the time of their inception until the development of widespread cirrus anvils. The main objective is to estimate the convective transport of total water substance (vapor plus condensate) into the cirrus cloud layer. This is accomplished by first computing the vertical air velocity from the profile of horizontal divergence derived from Doppler radar observations, and then inferring the water flux by combining the estimated mass flux of air with results of large-eddy simulations that include parameterized precipitation. The results will be synthesized to assess the influence of convective water transports on the global population of cirrus clouds, including estimates of their effect on the Earth's radiation budget.