Cumulus convection is an important component of the atmospheric radiation budget and hydrologic cycle of the Southern Great Plains (SGP), particularly during the summertime growing season. Continental cumulus convection is strongly modulated by land surface conditions, while at the same time influencing the land surface itself through rain-induced changes in soil moisture and through its impact on photosynthesis. Land surface conditions determine whether the partitioning of surface available energy is dominated by the sensible heat flux or by the latent heat flux, which is an important factor in the evolution of the convective boundary layer. Consequently, land surface characteristics influence the timing and evolution of cumulus convection, in particular the cloud base height, cloud depth, and convective available potential energy. The four ARM Working groups endorsed an Intensive Observation Period (IOP at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Climate Research User Facility during the summer of 2007. The purpose of this IOP was to advance our understanding of cumulus convection and its controls, particularly those associated with land surface processes. The Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) IOP covered a period of 1-3 months straddled the winter wheat harvest when large changes in the land surface lead to large changes in the surface albedo, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux. The working groups were particularly interested in the relationship between land surface processes and the observed cloud cover, and vice versa. The new science that was proposed addressed specific aspects of the problem, especially known model deficiencies and gaps in our physical understanding of cloud and land surface feedbacks. In addition to advancing climate science, the working groups believed that this IOP would help realize the potential of ARMs new instrument capabilities, provide significant validation data for NASAs new active satellite remote sensors, and enhance ACRF capabilities by expanding into cross-discipline research.

Campaign Data Sets

Campaign Participant	Data Set	Archived Data
Avissar, Roni	Helicopter Observation Platform	Order Data
Cadeddu, Maria	Microwave Water Radiometer	Order Data
Chuang, Patrick	Phase Doppler Interferometer	Order Data
Collins, Don	Cloud Condensation Nuclei Counter	Order Data
Collins, Don	Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer	Order Data
Dominguez, Rose	MODIS Airborne Simulator	Order Data
Gasiewski, Albin	Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer	Order Data
Gatebe, Charles	Cloud Absorption Radiometer	Order Data
Heymsfield, Gerald	ER-2 Navigation	Order Data
Heymsfield, Gerald	ER-2 Cloud Radar	Order Data
Hostetler, Chris	HSR Lidar	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Soil Type	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Land Cover	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Tower Flux Measurements	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Vegetation Water Content	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Passive and Active L-band System	Order Data
Jackson, Thomas	Soil Moisture and Ground Sampling	Order Data
Jonsson, Haflidi	CIRPAS	Order Data
Lopez, Jimena	CIRPAS Carbon Monoxide	Order Data
Matrosov, Sergey	Cloud and Rainfall Parameter Retrievals	Order Data
McGill, Matt	ER-2 Cloud Lidar	Order Data
Ogren, John	CESSNA Nephelometer	Order Data
Ogren, John	CIRPAS Nephelometer	Order Data
Ogren, John	CESSNA Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP)	Order Data
Ogren, John	CIRPAS Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP)	Order Data
Torn, Margaret	Radon	Order Data
Torn, Margaret	CESSNA CO2	Order Data
Torn, Margaret	CIRPAS CO2	Order Data
Torn, Margaret	CESSNA CARBON FLASKS	Order Data
Torn, Margaret	CIRPAS CARBON FLASKS	Order Data
Xie, Shaocheng	Constrained Variational Objective Analysis Data	Order Data