Evaluation of a New Mixed-Phase Cloud Microphysics Parameterization with SCAM, CAPT Forecasts and M-PACE Observations
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Liu, X., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
General Circulation and Single Column Models/Parameterizations
Cloud Modeling
Liu, X, S Xie, and SJ Ghan. 2007. "Evaluation of a new mixed-Phase cloud microphysics parameterization with the NCAR single column climate model (SCAM) and ARM M-PACE observations." Geophysical Research Letters 34, L23712, doi:10.1029/2007GL031446.
Xie, S, J Boyle, SA Klein, X Liu and S Ghan. 2008. "Simulations of arctic mixed-phase clouds in forecasts with CAM3 and AM2 for M-PACE." Journal of Geophysical Research, in press.
In recent decades, the Arctic has been experiencing warming twice as large as the global averages. However, the uncertainty in climate model simulations and future projections is much larger in the Arctic than throughout the rest of the globe. Arctic clouds play a central role in the Arctic climate feedbacks and radiative budget, but are not well represented in current climate models.
Most global climate models generally prescribe the partitioning of condensed water into liquid droplets and ice crystals in mixed-phase clouds according to a temperature-dependent function, which affects modeled cloud phase, cloud lifetime, and radiative properties. This study evaluates a new physically-ba
Both SCAM and CAPT tests show that the new physically-ba In most current climate models, conventional parameterizations for the partitioning of condensed water into liquid droplets and ice crystals in mixed-phase clouds (i.e., assuming larger cloud liquid amount at higher temperatures) are not applicable to the M-PACE observations of Arctic clouds, which showed the opposite trend, i.e., liquid dominated near the tops of the clouds with precipitating ice near the cloud ba