Factors controlling the vertical extent of fair-weather shallow cumulus clouds over land: Investigation of diurnal-cycle observations collected at the ARM southern great plains site

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

Volumn 70, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 1297-1315

  Zhang, Yunyan ^a   Klein, Stephen A ^a  

^a LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

Clouds; Convective scale processes; Cumulus clouds

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION MEASUREMENTS; CONVECTIVE-SCALE PROCESS; CUMULUS CLOUD; ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS; MOISTURE ADVECTION; SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX; SHALLOW CUMULUS CLOUDS; SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS;

AIR ENTRAINMENT; CLOUDS; LANDFORMS; MOISTURE;

HEAT FLUX;

ATMOSPHERIC CONVECTION; CLOUD RADIATIVE FORCING; CUMULUS; LATENT HEAT FLUX; MOISTURE TRANSFER; RELATIVE HUMIDITY; SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX;

GREAT PLAINS;

EID: 84877640475     PISSN: 00224928     EISSN: 15200469     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-12-0131.1     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Ackerman, T. P., and G. M. Stokes, 2003: The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Phys. Today, 56, 38-44.
2. Ahlgrimm, M., and R. Forbes, 2012: The impact of low clouds on surface shortwave radiation in the ECMWF model. Mon. Wea. Rev., 140, 3783-3794.
3. Berg, L. K., and E. I. Kassianov, 2008: Temporal variability of fair-weather cumulus statistics at the ACRF SGP site. J. Climate, 21, 3344-3358.
4. Berg, L. K., and E. I. Kassianov, C. N. Long, and D. L. Mills Jr., 2011: Surface summertime radiative forcing by shallow cumuli at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site. J. Geophys. Res., 116, D01202, doi:10.1029/2010JD014593.
5. Betts, A. K., M. Kohler, and Y. Zhang, 2009: Comparison of river basin hydrometeorology in ERA-Interim and ERA-40 reanalyses with observations. J. Geophys. Res., 114, D02101, doi:10.1029/2008JD010761.
6. Boers, R., E. W. Eloranta, and R. L. Coulter, 1984: Lidar observations of mixed layer dynamics: Tests of parameterized en-trainment models of mixed layer growth rate. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 23, 247-266.
7. Bretherton, C. S., J. R. McCaa, and H. Grenier, 2004: A new parameterization for shallow cumulus convection and its application to marine shallow subtropical cloud-topped boundary layers. Part I: Description and 1D results. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 864-882.
8. Brock, F. V., K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, G. W. Cuperus, S. J. Stadler, H. L. Johnson, and M. D. Eilts, 1995: The Oklahoma Mesonet: A technical overview. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 12, 5-19.
9. Brown, A. R., and Coauthors, 2002: Large-eddy simulation of the diurnal cycle of shallow cumulus convection over land. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 128, 1075-1093.
10. Cheinet, S., 2004: A multiple mass flux parameterization for the surface-generated convection. Part II: Cloudy cores. J. Atmos. Sci., 61, 1093-1113.
11. Chen, F., and R. Avissar, 1994: Impact of land-surface moisture variability on local shallow convective cumulus and precipitation in large-scale models. J. Appl. Meteor., 33, 13821401.
12. Chiu, J. C., C.-H. Huang, A. Marshak, I. Slutsker, D. M. Giles, B. N. Holben, Y. Knyazikhin, and W. J. Wiscombe, 2010: Cloud optical depth retrievals from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) cloud mode observations. J. Geophys. Res., 115, D14202, doi:10.1029/2009JD013121.
13. Clothiaux, E. E., T. P. Ackerman, G. G. Mace, K. P. Moran, R. T.Marchand, M. Miller, and B. E. Martner, 2000: Objective determination of cloud heights and radar reflectivities using a combination of active remote sensors at the ARM CART sites. J. Appl. Meteor., 39, 645
14. Clothiaux, E. E., T. P. Ackerman, G. G. Mace, K. P. Moran, R. T.Marchand, M. Miller, and B. E. Martner, and Coauthors, 2001: The ARM Millimeter Wave Cloud Radars (MMCRs) and the Active Remote Sensing of Clouds (ARSCL) Value Added Product (VAP). U.S. Department of Energy Tech. Memo. ARM VAP-002.1, 56 pp.
15. Cohn, S. A., and W. M. Angevine, 2000: Boundary layer height and entrainment zone thickness measured by lidars and wind-profiling radars. J. Appl. Meteor., 39, 1233-1247.
16. Coulman, C. E., and J. Warner, 1977: Temperature and humidity structure of the sub-cloud layer over land. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 11, 467-484.
17. Crum, T. D., R. B. Stull, and E. W. Eloranta, 1987: Coincident lidar and aircraft observations of entrainment into thermals and mixed layers. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 26, 774-788.
18. Cuijpers, J. W. M., and P. G. Duynkerke, 1993: Large eddy simulation of trade wind cumulus clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 38943908.
19. Davidson, B., 1968: The Barbados oceanographic and meteorological experiment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 49, 928-934.
20. Dong, X., P. Minnis, and B. Xi, 2005: A climatology of midlatitude continental clouds from the ARM SGP Central Facility. Part I: Low-level cloud macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties. J. Climate, 18, 1391-1410.
21. Ek, M., and L. Mahrt, 1994: Daytime evolution of relative humidity at the boundary layer top. Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 2709-2720.
22. Ek, M., and Mahrt L. and A. Holtslag, 2004: Influence of soil moisture on boundary layer cloud development. J. Hydrometeor., 5, 86-99.
23. Findell, K. L., and E. A. B. Eltahir, 2003: Atmospheric controls on soil moisture-boundary layer interactions. Part I: Framework development. J. Hydrometeor., 4, 552-569.
24. Hageli, P., D. G. Steyn, and K. B. Strawbridge, 2000: Spatial and temporal variability of mixed-layer depth and entrainment zone thickness. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 97, 47-71.
25. Kain, J. S., 2004: The Kain-Fritsch convective parameterization: An update. J. Appl. Meteor., 43, 170-181.
26. Kim, S.-W., S.-U. Park, and C.-H. Moeng, 2003: Entrainment processes in the convective boundary layer with varying wind shear. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 108, 221-245.
27. Kuettner, J., and J. Holland, 1969: The BOMEX Project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 50, 394-402.
28. Lenaerts, J., C. van Heerwaarden, and J. Vila-Guerau de Arellano, 2009: Shallow convection over land: A mesoscale modelling study based on idealized WRF experiments. J. Wea. Climate West. Mediterr., 6, 51-66.
29. Lenderink, G., and Coauthors, 2004: The diurnal cycle of shallow cumulus clouds over land: A single-column model in-tercomparison study. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 130, 33393364, doi:10.1256/qj.03.122.
30. Long, C. N., and T. P. Ackerman, 2000: Identification of clear skies from broadband pyranometer measurements and calculation of downwelling shortwave cloud effects. J. Geophys. Res., 105(D12), 15 609-15 626.
31. Long, C. N., and T. P. Ackerman, and Y. Shi, 2008: An automated quality assessment and control algorithm for surface radiation measurements. Open Atmos. Sci. J., 2, 23-37.
32. Min, Q., E. Joseph, and M. Duan, 2004: Retrievals of thin cloud optical depth from a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D02201, doi:10.1029/ 2003JD003964.
33. Neggers, R. A. J., A. P. Siebesma, and H. J. J. Jonker, 2002: A multiparcel model for shallow cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 1655-1668.
34. Paluch, I. R., 1979: The entrainment of air in Colorado cumuli. J. Atmos. Sci., 36, 2467-2478.
35. Pergaud, J., V. Masson, S. Malardel, and F. Couvreux, 2009: A parameterization of dry thermals and shallow cumuli for me-soscale numerical weather prediction. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 132, 83-106, doi:10.1007/s10546-009-9388-0.
36. Rabin, R. M., and D. W. Martin, 1996: Satellite observations of shallow cumulus coverage over the central United States: An exploration of land use impact on cloud cover. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (D3), 7149-7155.
37. Rauber, R. M., and Coauthors, 2007: Rain in shallow cumulus over the ocean: The RICO campaign. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88, 1912-1928.
38. Schneider, J. M., D. K. Fisher, R. L. Elliott, G. O. Brown, and C. P. Bahrmann, 2003: Spatioteporal variations in soil water: First results from the ARM SGP CART network. J. Hydrometeor., 4, 106-120.
39. Schrieber, K., R. Stull, and Q. Zhang, 1996: Distributions of surface-layer buoyancy versus lifting condensation level over a heterogeneous land surface. J. Atmos. Sci., 53, 1086-1107.
40. Siebesma, A. P., and J. W. M. Cuijpers, 1995: Evaluation of parametric assumptions for shallow cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 650-666.
41. Siebesma, A. P., and Cuijpers J. W. M., and Coauthors, 2003: A large eddy simulation inter-comparison study of shallow cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 1201-1219.
42. Soares, P. M. M., P. M. A. Miranda, A. P. Siebesma, and J. Teixeira, 2004: An eddy-diffusivity/mass-flux parametrization for dry and shallow cumulus convection. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 130, 3365-3383.
43. Stevens, B., 2007: On the growth of layers of non-precipitating cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 2916-2931.
44. Strokes, G. M., and S. E. Schwatz, 1994: The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program: Programmatic background and design of the cloud and radiation test bed. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 75, 1201-1221.
45. Stull, R., 1985: A fair-weather cumulus cloud classification scheme for mixed-layer studies. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 24, 49-56.
46. Suselj, K., J. Teixeira, and G. Matheou, 2012: Eddy diffusivity/mass flux and shallow cumulus boundary layer: An updraft PDF multiple mass flux scheme. J. Atmos. Sci., 69, 1513-1533.
47. Turner, D. D., S. A. Clough, J. Liljegren, E. Clothiaux, K. Cady-Pereira, and K. Gaustad, 2007a: Retrieving liquid water path and precipitable water vapor from Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) microwave radiometers. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 45, 3680-3690, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2007.903703.
48. Turner, D. D., Clough S. A., Liljegren J., Clothiaux E., Cady-Pereira K., and Gaustad K.,, and Coauthors, 2007b: Thin liquid water clouds: Their importance and our challenge. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 88,177190.
49. Vila-Guerau de Arellano, J., 2007: Role of nocturnal turbulence and advection in the formation of shallow cumulus over land. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 133, 1615-1627, doi:10.1002/ qj.138.
50. Wesely, M., D. Cook, and R. Coulter, 1995: Surface heat flux data from energy balance Bowen ratio systems. Preprints, Ninth Symp. on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation, Charlotte, NC, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 486-489.
51. Wetzel, P. J., S. Argentini, and A. Boone, 1996: Role of land surface in controlling daytime cloud amount: Two case studies in the GCIP-SW area. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (D3), 7359-7370.
52. Wilde, N. P., R. B. Stull, and E. W. Eloranta, 1985: The LCL zone and cumulus onset. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 24, 640-657.
53. Wu, C., B. Stevens, and A. Arakawa, 2009: What controls the transition from shallow to deep convection? J. Atmos. Sci., 66, 1793-1806.
54. Xie, S., R. T. Cederwall, and M. Zhang, 2004: Developing long-term single-column model/cloud system-resolving model forcing data using numerical weather prediction products constrained by surface and top of the atmosphere observations. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D01104, doi:10.1029/2003JD004045.
55. Xie, S., R. T. Cederwall, and M. Zhang, and Coauthors, 2010: ARM climate modeling best estimate data. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 13-20.
56. Yi, C., K. J. Davis, and B. W. Berger, 2001: Long-term observations of the dynamics of the continental planetary boundary layer. J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 1288-1299.
57. Zhang, M. H., and J. L. Lin, 1997: Constrained variational analysis of sounding data based on column-integrated budgets of mass, heat, moisture, and momentum: Approach and application to ARM measurements. J. Atmos. Sci., 54, 1503-1524.
58. Zhang, Y., and S. A. Klein, 2010: Mechanisms affecting the transition from shallow to deep convection over land: Inferences from observations of the diurnal cycle collected at the ARM Southern Great Plains site. J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 2943-2959.
59. Zhao, C., and Coauthors, 2012: Toward understanding of differences in current cloud retrievals of arm ground-based measurements. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D10206, doi:10.1029/ 2011JD016792.
60. Zhu, P., and B. Albrecht, 2002: A theoretical and observational analysis on the formation of fair-weather cumuli. J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 1983-2005.
61. Zhu, P., and B. Albrecht, 2003: Large eddy simulations of continental shallow cumulus convection. J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4453, doi:10.1029/ 2002JD003119.
62. Zhu, P., and B. Albrecht, and C. S. Bretherton, 2004: A simulation study of shallow moist convection and its impact on the atmospheric boundary layer. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132, 2391-2409.