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The patterning of clouds in the above image is often conceptualized as a transition following the trade winds as shown by this cartoon. Here three regimes, stratocumulus over the cold water in the coastal margins yielding to cumulus and eventually cumulonimbus, are thought to be organized by and help fuel a large-scale overturning circulation. |
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Stratocumulus help determine the planetary albedo. Here satellite measurements reveal a distinct cellular patterning in the cloud field, with a region of closed cells (dark areas) interrupting open cells (bright areas). What causes such transitions? Recent work by our group suggests that precipitation (and hence factors which influence it) might be key. |
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Exactly why and how shallow clouds precipitate remains mysterious. In particular, to what extent is the precipitation efficiency of shallow cumulus determined by the composition of the ambient aerosol, the cloud macrostructure, or the local turbulence intensity. How in turn are these factors influenced by precipitation? |
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The statistics and structure of deep precipitating convection have long been one of nature's deep mysteries. Full of majesty and mystery, theories governing their behavior tend to be as ephemeral as the clouds themselves. Using a variety of methodologies our work strives to understand how this and other cloud regimes interact so as to help determine the basic character of our world and its susceptibility to change. |
