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Advances in Clouds and Precipitation
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Advances in Clouds and Precipitation

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Meteorology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2016) | Viewed by 45147

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Katja Friedrich

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, 4001 Discovery Drive, 311 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0311W, USA
Interests: studying kinematic and microphysical processes in thunderstorms, orographic precipitation, and winter storms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research related to clouds and precipitation represents one of the most important and scientifically exciting challenges, ranging from high-resolution, short-term forecasting, and monitoring, to global, long-term climate prediction. Clouds and precipitation are important components in the Earth’s energy and water cycle, the Earth’s climate, and climate variability. Monitoring cloud and precipitation evolution in severe weather systems, such as hurricanes, thunderstorms, and winter storms, has improved public safety. Over the last few years, measuring characteristics of cloud and precipitation, such as size, height, and depth of clouds, amount and type of precipitation, have significantly advanced due to new measuring technologies for in situ and remote sensing instruments. Global coverage and high-resolution observations have improved our understanding of the formation and evolution of clouds and precipitation systems. It now enables us to better study multi-scale motions, microphysical transformations, and the role of aerosols in cloud and precipitation systems and, therefore, has advanced the accuracy in numerical weather and climate prediction models. Thus, clouds and precipitation are not only fascinating atmospheric phenomena, but also the quantitative understanding of the physical processes that lead to their formation, growth, and decay is essential to improve short- and long-term forecasting. Although much has been learned about clouds and precipitation in recent years, many research questions remain unanswered and the ability to predict their location and intensity with the desired accuracy remains elusive.

Manuscripts on all aspects of clouds and precipitation are welcome for this Special Issue.

Dr. Katja Friedrich
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • severe weather
  • climate impact
  • process understanding
  • quantitative precipitation estimation
  • global and regional hydrological cycle
  • remote sensing and in-situ observations
  • role of aerosols
  • numerical weather forecasting
  • regional and global climate modeling

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

18926 KiB  
Article
Seasonality of Precipitation over Himalayan Watersheds in CORDEX South Asia and their Driving CMIP5 Experiments
by Shabeh Hasson
Atmosphere 2016, 7(10), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7100123 - 2 Oct 2016
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7434
Abstract
Since the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) experiments exhibit limited skill in reproducing the statistical properties of prevailing precipitation regimes over the major Himalayan watersheds (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong), this study evaluates the anticipated added skill of their dynamically refined [...] Read more.
Since the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) experiments exhibit limited skill in reproducing the statistical properties of prevailing precipitation regimes over the major Himalayan watersheds (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong), this study evaluates the anticipated added skill of their dynamically refined simulations performed under the framework of Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiments for South Asia (CX-SA). For this, the fidelity of eight CX-SA experiments against their six driving CMIP5 experiments is assessed for the historical period (1971–2005) in terms of time-dependent statistical properties (onset/retreat timings and rapid fractional accumulation—RFA) of the dominant summer monsoonal precipitation regime (MPR). Further, a self-defining seasonality index (SI), which is a product of precipitation and the distance of its actual distribution relative to its uniform distribution (relative entropy—RE), has been computed for MPR, westerly precipitation regime (WPR) and annual precipitation. The time evolution of precipitation, RE and SI has also been analyzed. Results suggest that CX-SA experiments simulate even higher wet biases than their driving CMIP5 experiments over all study basins, mainly due to higher wet biases simulated over the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Most of the CX-SA experiments suggest unrealistic timings of the monsoon onset that are far earlier than their driving CMIP5 experiments for all basins. Generally, CX-SA experiments feature higher underestimation of RFA slope, RE and SI, distancing their driving CMIP5 experiments farther from observations. Interestingly, regardless of the diverse skill of CMIP5 experiments, their fine scale CX-SA experiments exhibit quite a similar skill when downscaled by the same regional climate model (RCM), indicating RCM’s ability to considerably alter the driving datasets. These findings emphasize on improving the fidelity of simulated precipitation regimes over the Himalayan watersheds by exploiting the potential of RCMs in term of microphysics, resolutions and convective closures, and preferably, on resolving the crucial fine scale processes further down to their representative (meso-to-local) scales. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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1966 KiB  
Article
Effects of Mixed Phase Microphysical Process on Precipitation in a Simulated Convective Cloud
by Jing Sun, Zheng Shi, Jian Chai, Guirong Xu and Ben Niu
Atmosphere 2016, 7(8), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7080097 - 29 Jul 2016
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5130
Abstract
The effects of the liquid water content (LWC) and mixing ratio of hydrometeors in the simulation of convective precipitation in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, are investigated using a three-dimensional convective rainstorm model. The microphysical processes of warm and cold clouds are considered into [...] Read more.
The effects of the liquid water content (LWC) and mixing ratio of hydrometeors in the simulation of convective precipitation in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, are investigated using a three-dimensional convective rainstorm model. The microphysical processes of warm and cold clouds are considered into microphysical parameterization. The warm-cloud process is dominated by the combined effects of condensation and drop coalescence. The cold-cloud process is initiated mainly by production of graupel, and the microphysical parameterizations are used to predict the mixing ratio of cloud droplets, rain, ice crystals, snow, and graupel. The simulations results show that 80% rainfall is derived from warm cloud microphysical processes, and the rest is produced by cold cloud microphysical processes. The mixed phase microphysical process can invigorate the production of convective rainfall and enhance the liquid water content (LWC). In addition, the vertical distribution of LWC is mainly concentrated at the height isotherms of −10 to −20 °C in precipitation and the concentration area of LWC matches the distribution range of graupel particles. However, the growth of graupel particles depend on the microphysical processes of nucleation and propagation between rain and graupel particles (NUrg) and collision and coalescence between cloud droplets and graupel (CLcg), in which NUrg is a major source of graupel particles and the contribution of the process accounts for 77% of the amount of graupel particles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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1632 KiB  
Article
Effects of Aerosols on Radiative Forcing and Climate Over East Asia With Different SO2 Emissions
by Xiaoning Xie, Xiaodong Liu, Hongli Wang and Zhaosheng Wang
Atmosphere 2016, 7(8), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7080099 - 28 Jul 2016
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6184
Abstract
It is known that aerosol and precursor gas emissions over East Asia may be underestimated by 50% due to the absence of data on regional rural and township industries. As the most important element of anthropogenic emissions, sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) can [...] Read more.
It is known that aerosol and precursor gas emissions over East Asia may be underestimated by 50% due to the absence of data on regional rural and township industries. As the most important element of anthropogenic emissions, sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) can form sulfate aerosols through several chemical processes, thus affecting the regional and global climate. In this study, we use the Community Atmospheric Model 5.1 (CAM5.1) to investigate the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on radiative forcing and the climate over East Asia, taking into consideration various SO 2 emission levels, including double the amount of SO 2 emissions over East Asia. Numerical experiments are performed using high-resolution CAM5.1 with pre-industrial (PI) and present day (PD) aerosol emission levels, and with PD aerosol emission levels with double SO 2 emissions over East Asia (PD2SO2). The simulated aerosol optical depth and surface sulfate concentrations over East Asia are significantly increased in PD2SO2, which is in better agreement with the observational results. The simulation results show extensive aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing for PD−PI (the difference between PI and PD), which significantly weakens the large-scale intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and reduces the summer precipitation. Compared to PD, the aerosol direct radiative forcing is significantly increased in PD2SO2, whereas the aerosol indirect radiative forcing is markedly decreased due to the inhibition of cloud formation, especially over North China. The increase in aerosol direct radiative forcing and decrease in aerosol indirect radiative forcing result in insignificant changes in the total amount of aerosol radiative forcing. These results also show that the large-scale intensity of the EASM and the associated summer precipitation are insensitive to the doubling of current SO 2 emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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16656 KiB  
Article
A WRF Simulation of an Episode of Contrails Covering the Entire Sky
by Jordi Mazon and David Pino
Atmosphere 2016, 7(7), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7070095 - 20 Jul 2016
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6378
Abstract
On 21 September 2012 the entire sky was covered by contrails over the Gulf of Lyon (NW of the Mediterranean basin). These clouds were well recorded by ground observers as well as by Meteosat imagery. The atmospheric characteristics at the levels where these [...] Read more.
On 21 September 2012 the entire sky was covered by contrails over the Gulf of Lyon (NW of the Mediterranean basin). These clouds were well recorded by ground observers as well as by Meteosat imagery. The atmospheric characteristics at the levels where these anthropic clouds formed are analyzed by performing a WRF simulation in the area where Meteosat recorded contrail clouds. According to the vertical profiles of temperature and the relative humidity respect to the ice (RHI), the environmental condition favors that the water vapor exhaust emitted by the aircraft engines reaches the deposition point and form crystal clouds, which spread out because the temperature remained below 230 K and the RHI was higher than 70% during the whole episode. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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3770 KiB  
Article
Validation of ERA-Interim Precipitation Estimates over the Baltic Sea
by Karl Bumke
Atmosphere 2016, 7(6), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7060082 - 11 Jun 2016
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5721
Abstract
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis total precipitation estimates are validated against ten years of in situ precipitation measurements onboard of ships over the Baltic Sea. A statistical analysis for binary forecasts and mean rain rates derived from all data [...] Read more.
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis total precipitation estimates are validated against ten years of in situ precipitation measurements onboard of ships over the Baltic Sea. A statistical analysis for binary forecasts and mean rain rates derived from all data show a good agreement with observations. However, a closer look reveals an underestimation of ERA-Interim total precipitation in spring and an overestimation in autumn, obviously related to stability. Deriving stability and evaporation by a bulk flux scheme it could be shown, in fact, that ERA-Interim underestimates precipitation for conditions with low evaporation and strongly overestimates it for conditions with high evaporation. Since ERA-Interim surface fields become too dry with increasing evaporation compared to independent synoptic ship observations, uncertainties in the ECMWF convection scheme may possibly cause these biases in seasonal precipitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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39314 KiB  
Article
Accurate Characterization of Winter Precipitation Using Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera, Visual Hull, Advanced Scattering Methods and Polarimetric Radar
by Branislav M. Notaroš, Viswanathan N. Bringi, Cameron Kleinkort, Patrick Kennedy, Gwo-Jong Huang, Merhala Thurai, Andrew J. Newman, Wonbae Bang and GyuWon Lee
Atmosphere 2016, 7(6), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7060081 - 11 Jun 2016
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 7737
Abstract
This article proposes and presents a novel approach to the characterization of winter precipitation and modeling of radar observables through a synergistic use of advanced optical disdrometers for microphysical and geometrical measurements of ice and snow particles (in particular, a multi-angle snowflake camera—MASC), [...] Read more.
This article proposes and presents a novel approach to the characterization of winter precipitation and modeling of radar observables through a synergistic use of advanced optical disdrometers for microphysical and geometrical measurements of ice and snow particles (in particular, a multi-angle snowflake camera—MASC), image processing methodology, advanced method-of-moments scattering computations, and state-of-the-art polarimetric radars. The article also describes the newly built and established MASCRAD (MASC + Radar) in-situ measurement site, under the umbrella of CSU-CHILL Radar, as well as the MASCRAD project and 2014/2015 winter campaign. We apply a visual hull method to reconstruct 3D shapes of ice particles based on high-resolution MASC images, and perform “particle-by-particle” scattering computations to obtain polarimetric radar observables. The article also presents and discusses selected illustrative observation data, results, and analyses for three cases with widely-differing meteorological settings that involve contrasting hydrometeor forms. Illustrative results of scattering calculations based on MASC images captured during these events, in comparison with radar data, as well as selected comparative studies of snow habits from MASC, 2D video-disdrometer, and CHILL radar data, are presented, along with the analysis of microphysical characteristics of particles. In the longer term, this work has potential to significantly improve the radar-based quantitative winter-precipitation estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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5835 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Environmental Characteristics for the Tropical Cyclone Genesis in the Indian Ocean during the CINDY2011/DYNAMO Field Experiment
by Aya Tsuboi, Tetsuya Takemi and Kunio Yoneyama
Atmosphere 2016, 7(5), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7050066 - 12 May 2016
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5877
Abstract
This study investigated the seasonal environmental characteristics for tropical cyclone genesis (TCG) over the Indian Ocean during the Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in the Year 2011 and the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) (CINDY2011/DYNAMO) field experiment and compare them [...] Read more.
This study investigated the seasonal environmental characteristics for tropical cyclone genesis (TCG) over the Indian Ocean during the Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in the Year 2011 and the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) (CINDY2011/DYNAMO) field experiment and compare them with long-term climatological features. It was found that the spatial pattern of an empirical environmental index for TCG over the tropical Indian Ocean in 2011 is very similar to the feature composited over the years with high activity of MJO. The analyses of the contributions from each environmental factor indicated that relative humidity, absolute vorticity, and vertical velocity contribute to generate positive influences on the conditions for TCG in 2011. The influences of La Niña appear only through a shear effect over the Indian Ocean in 2011. Under the influences of active MJO events during the CINDY2011/DYNAMO period, the environmental conditions for TCG over the Indian Ocean are determined more strongly by MJO than by La Niña, through modifications of some environmental properties favorable for TCG. The environmental characteristics during CINDY2011/DYNAMO seem to be quite typical of the MJO active years; in such a case, the influences of El Niño/La Niña would not appear in determining the environmental conditions for TCG over the Indian Ocean. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Clouds and Precipitation)
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