Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation Interactions (SOLPIN)

1. Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation Interactions (SOLPIN) Bart Geerts, Jeff Snider, Zhien Wang, Jeff French, Perry Wechsler, Al Rodi, Bob Kelly … Dept. of Atmospheric Science NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

2. SOLPIN - Motivation • Cloudiness and precipitation in the Western USA are strongly modulated by the land surface • … at the same time clouds and precip exert much control on the surface energy balance and vegetation types NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

3. Koster et al. (Science, 2004) shows that summertime land-atmosphere coupling is strong in the interior West Koster et al., Science 305, 1138 -1140 (2004) Shown is the {Omega} difference, a dimensionless diagnostic that describes the impact of soil moisture on precipitation, averaged across the 12 climate models participating in GLACE NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

4. Wintertime precipitation trend over the next 100 years remains highly uncertain NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

5. SOLPIN motivation: biosphere-precip coupling examples • In summer certain ecosystems may release primary organic aerosols that can nucleate ice at unusually warm temperatures, and this can affect the dynamics and the precipitation efficiency of cumulus convection. • Winter orographic precip appears to be strongly coupled with PBL turbulence, and possibly with surface vegetation. Also, the timing of the springtime snow melt-off and soil moisture spike relative to the onset of summertime quiescent conditions aloft may affect monsoon strength . • The mean precip intensity may increase in a changing climate current climate future climate scale dependency of water cycle in climate models NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

6. SOLPIN Motivation • A better understanding of these processes is essential to • their incorporation in climate models • to the prediction of water resources in the West in a warmer global climate • Complexity of land surface – atmosphere interactions exceeds the capacity of a single discipline. • Both focused observations and coupled numerical simulations are needed to move forward. NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

7. SOLPIN focus • cloud and precipitation interactions, over timescales ranging from hours to decades. • dual approach: • new measurement techniques • the improvement of cloud-resolving, coupled land-atmosphere weather and climate models • Geographic focus: Western USA NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

8. SOLPIN building blocks • UW King Air • 95 GHz cloud radar (WCR) • cloud lidar (WCL) • PMS probes, PCASP, CCN/CN … NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

9. SOLPIN building blocks • UWKA: proposed new capabilities • water vapor / temperature Raman lidar (Zhien Wang) ARM Raman lidar, 22 December 2005 • temperature and water vapor @ (Dx~1 km, Dz~100 m) • cloud / aerosol backscatter coefficient, extinction, and depolarization ratio NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

10. SOLPIN building blocks • UWKA: proposed new capabilities • in situ measurements : temperature, water vapor, cloud and precipitation particles (Jeff French) • ice water content • riming intensity • in-cloud temperature and humidity • larger sample sizes for large particles • better probe characterization and siting requires airframe flow modelling (Rodi, Mavriplis) NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

11. SOLPIN building blocks • Aerosol measurements New aerosol probes needed for super-m particles (primary biogenics and dust particles). For an existing technique (PCASP), the sample volume rate is orders of magnitude too small for useful super-m measurement. • New Aerosol Instruments: •  Super-m aerosol lidar (infrared) •  Bio-APS (Aerodynamic Particle Sizer) NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

12. SOLPIN building blocks • Two new decade-long initiatives at NCAR: • NCAR Supercomputing Center • The new Earth System Science (ESS) undergraduate degree program at UW Colorado Headwaters Research Program (Gochis & Rasmussen) BEACHON (Guenther) NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

13. SOLPIN human infrastructure • faculty position in cloud and precipitation modelling • work closely with UW observationalists and with NCAR • assimilate/ compare field campaign data • SOLPIN links with other proposed faculty positions • Boundary-layer meteorologist • Dynamic-vegetation modeler • SOLPIN links with the new WY Excellence Chair in Atmosphere-Biosphere Interaction NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions

14. SOLPIN observational efforts: field campaigns wintertime campaign • focused on orographic precipitation processes • BEACHON campaign • during the growing season ? • Colorado Headwaters campaign • early summer? • continuous monitoring (with FoSTER) NSF EPSCoR - Simulation and Observation of Land-Precipitation INteractions