RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Toward Understanding Spatial Organization of Convective Clouds

Project Title: Toward Understanding Spatial Organization of Convective Clouds
PI: Da Yang
Award Type: 3-Year IIRP-Based
Department: Geophysical Sciences
Division/School: Physical Sciences
Start Year: 2024
Description:

Convective clouds are critically important to Earth’s weather and climate. Despite their importance and decades of extensive research, clouds remain as the primary source of uncertainty in predicting future climate change, largely due to our limited understanding. This project seeks to increase our fundamental knowledge of cloud organization and distribution by evaluating new hypotheses from PI Yang, utilizing novel satellite and field data collected by PI Bony. If funded, Yang will dedicate a month annually to work at the International Institute of Research in Paris (IIRP) to facilitate direct collaboration. Additionally, an international workshop titled "On the role of atmospheric circulations in cloud organization" will be organized at IIRP to promote enduring collaborations and networking. This workshop will invite 30 prominent scientists from France, Germany, Austria, England, the Netherlands, and the U.S. to discuss various aspects of cloud organization, incorporating a public lecture on climate change to widen the event's reach and impact. The workshop aims to generate a perspective paper highlighting knowledge gaps, proposing  future research directions, and outlining a strategy for ongoing collaborative  efforts. This initiative will influence funding agencies' priorities and foster further joint field campaign activities between the US and European scientists, which are  essential for advancing our understanding of cloud and climate change.