An les model study of the influence of the free tropospheric thermodynamic conditions on the stratocumulus response to a climate perturbation

Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems

Volumn 7, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 670-691

  Van Der Dussen, J J ^a   De Roode, S R ^a   Gesso, S Dal ^b   Siebesma, A P ^a,b  

^a DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Netherlands)

^b ROYAL NETHERLANDS METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE KNMI   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

climate response; free tropospheric humidity; large eddy simulation; lower tropospheric stability; steady states; stratocumulus

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY; ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS; BOUNDARY LAYERS; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLOUDS; GLOBAL WARMING; HEAT FLUX; HUMIDITY CONTROL; LARGE EDDY SIMULATION; SURFACE WATERS; TROPOSPHERE; TURBULENCE;

CLIMATE RESPONSE; SHORT-WAVE RADIATION; STEADY STATE; STRATOCUMULUS; STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS; STRATOCUMULUS-TOPPED MARINE BOUNDARY LAYERS; THERMODYNAMIC CONDITIONS; TROPOSPHERIC HUMIDITY;

CLIMATE MODELS;

BOUNDARY LAYER; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLOUD RADIATIVE FORCING; COOLING; ENTRAINMENT; GLOBAL WARMING; INSTABILITY; LARGE EDDY SIMULATION; RELATIVE HUMIDITY; SEA SURFACE; SHORTWAVE RADIATION; STEADY-STATE EQUILIBRIUM; STRATOCUMULUS; TEMPERATURE PROFILE; THERMODYNAMICS; TROPOSPHERE; TURBULENCE;

EID: 84968594613     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19422466     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/2014MS000380     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. Ackerman, A. S., M. P. Kirkpatrick, D. E. Stevens, and, O. B. Toon, (2004), The impact of humidity above stratiform clouds on indirect aerosol climate forcing, Nature, 432 (7020), 1014-1017.
2. Ackerman, A. S., et al., (2009), Large-eddy simulations of a drizzling, stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer, Mon. Weather Rev., 137 (3), 1083-1110.
3. Albrecht, B. A., C. S. Bretherton, D. Johnson, W. H. Scubert, and, A. S. Frisch, (1995), The Atlantic stratocumulus transition experiment-ASTEX, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 76 (6), 889-904.
4. Bellon, G., and, B. Stevens, (2012), Time scales of the trade wind boundary layer adjustment, J. Atmos. Sci., 70 (4), 1071-1083.
5. Blossey, P. N., and, D. R. Durran, (2008), Selective monotonicity preservation in scalar advection, J. Comput. Phys., 227 (10), 5160-5183.
6. Blossey, P. N., C. S. Bretherton, M. Zhang, A. Cheng, S. Endo, T. Heus, Y. Liu, A. P. Lock, S. R. de Roode, and, K.-M. Xu, (2013), Marine low cloud sensitivity to an idealized climate change: The CGILS LES intercomparison, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 5, 234-258, doi: 10.1002/jame.20025.
7. Böing, S. J., H. J. J. Jonker, A. P. Siebesma, and, W. W. Grabowski, (2012), Influence of the subcloud layer on the development of a deep convective ensemble, J. Atmos. Sci., 69 (9), 2682-2698, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-11-0317.1.
8. Bony, S., and, J.-L. Dufresne, (2005), Marine boundary layer clouds at the heart of tropical cloud feedback uncertainties in climate models, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L20806, doi: 10.1029/2005GL023851.
9. Bretherton, C., J. Uchida, and, P. Blossey, (2010), Slow manifolds and multiple equilibria in stratocumulus-capped boundary layers, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 2, 14, doi: 10.3894/JAMES.2010.2.14.
10. Bretherton, C. S., and, P. N. Blossey, (2014), Low cloud reduction in a greenhouse-warmed climate: Results from Lagrangian LES of a subtropical marine cloudiness transition, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, 91-114, doi: 10.3894/JAMES.2010.2.14.
11. Bretherton, C. S., and, R. Pincus, (1995), Cloudiness and marine boundary layer dynamics in the ASTEX Lagrangian experiments. Part I: Synoptic setting and vertical structure, J. Atmos. Sci., 52 (16), 2707-2723.
12. Bretherton, C. S., and, M. C. Wyant, (1997), Moisture transport, lower-tropospheric stability, and decoupling of cloud-topped boundary layers, J. Atmos. Sci., 54 (1), 148-167.
13. Bretherton, C. S., et al., (1999), An intercomparison of radiatively driven entrainment and turbulence in a smoke cloud, as simulated by different numerical models, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 125 (554), 391-423.
14. Bretherton, C. S., P. N. Blossey, and, C. R. Jones, (2013), Mechanisms of marine low cloud sensitivity to idealized climate perturbations: A single-LES exploration extending the CGILS cases, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 5, 316-337, doi: 10.1002/jame.20019.
15. Cess, R. D., et al., (1989), Interpretation of cloud-climate feedback as produced by 14 atmospheric general circulation models, Science, 245 (4917), 513-516.
16. Chlond, A., and, A. Wolkau, (2000), Large-eddy simulation of a nocturnal stratocumulus-topped marine atmospheric boundary layer: An uncertainty analysis, Boundary Layer Meteorol., 95 (1), 31-55.
17. Christensen, M. W., G. G. Carri, G. L. Stephens, and, W. R. Cotton, (2013), Radiative impacts of free-tropospheric clouds on the properties of marine stratocumulus, J. Atmos. Sci., 70 (10), 3102-3118, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-12-0287.1.
18. Chung, D., G. Matheou, and, J. Teixeira, (2012), Steady-state large-eddy simulations to study the stratocumulus to shallow cumulus cloud transition, J. Atmos. Sci., 69 (11), 3264-3276.
19. Dal Gesso, S., A. P. Siebesma, S. R. de Roode, and, J. M. van Wessem, (2014a), A mixed-layer model perspective on stratocumulus steady states in a perturbed climate, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 140, 2119-2131.
20. Dal Gesso, S., A. P. Siebesma, and, S. R. de Roode, (2014b), Evaluation of low-cloud climate feedback through single-column model equilibrium states, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., in press.
21. De Roode, S. R., A. P. Siebesma, S. D. Gesso, H. J. J. Jonker, J. Schalkwijk, and, J. Sival, (2014), A mixed-layer model study of the stratocumulus response to changes in large-scale conditions, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, 1256-1270, doi: 10.1002/2014MS000347.
22. Deardorff, J. W., (1980), Cloud top entrainment instability, J. Atmos. Sci., 37 (1), 131-147.
23. Hazeleger, W., et al., (2010), EC-Earth: A seamless Earth-system prediction approach in action, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 91 (10), 1357-1363.
24. Held, I. M., and, B. J. Soden, (2000), Water vapor feedback and global warming, Annu. Rev. Energy Environ., 25 (1), 441-475.
25. Heus, T., et al., (2010), Formulation of the Dutch atmospheric large-eddy simulation (DALES) and overview of its applications, Geosci. Model Dev., 3 (2), 415-444.
26. Iacono, M. J., J. S. Delamere, E. J. Mlawer, M. W. Shephard, S. A. Clough, and, W. D. Collins, (2008), Radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D13103, doi: 10.1029/2008JD009944.
27. Jiang, G.-S., and, C.-W. Shu, (1996), Efficient implementation of weighted ENO schemes, J. Comput. Phys., 126 (1), 202-228.
28. Jones, C. R., C. S. Bretherton, and, P. N. Blossey, (2014), Fast stratocumulus time scale in mixed layer model and large eddy simulation, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 6, 206-222, doi: 10.1002/2013MS000289.
29. Juang, H.-M. H., and, S.-Y. Hong, (2009), Forward semi-Lagrangian advection with mass conservation and positive definiteness for falling hydrometeors, Mon. Weather Rev., 138 (5), 1778-1791, doi: 10.1175/2009MWR3109.1.
30. Klein, S. A., and, D. L. Hartmann, (1993), The seasonal cycle of low stratiform clouds, J. Clim., 6 (8), 1587-1606.
31. Kogan, Y., (2013), A cumulus cloud microphysics parameterization for cloud-resolving models, J. Atmos. Sci., 70 (5), 1423-1436, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-12-0183.1.
32. Kuo, H.-C., and, W. H. Schubert, (1988), Stability of cloud-topped boundary layers, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 114 (482), 887-916.
33. Lilly, D. K., (1968), Models of cloud-topped mixed layers under a strong inversion, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 94 (401), 292-309.
34. Lock, A. P., (2009), Factors influencing cloud area at the capping inversion for shallow cumulus clouds, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 135 (641), 941-952.
35. Medeiros, B., B. Stevens, and, S. Bony, (2014), Using aquaplanets to understand the robust responses of comprehensive climate models to forcing, Clim. Dyn., 44, 1957-1977.
36. Mellado, J. P., B. Stevens, and, H. Schmidt, (2013), Wind shear and buoyancy reversal at the top of stratocumulus, J. Atmos. Sci., 71 (3), 1040-1057.
37. Moeng, C.-H., (2000), Entrainment rate, cloud fraction, and liquid water path of PBL stratocumulus clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 57 (21), 3627-3643.
38. Moeng, C.-H., and, R. Rotunno, (1990), Vertical-velocity skewness in the buoyancy-driven boundary layer, J. Atmos. Sci., 47 (9), 1149-1162, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(1990)047 <1149:VVSITB>2.0.CO;2.
39. Nam, C., S. Bony, J.-L. Dufresne, and, H. Chepfer, (2012), The 'too few, too bright' tropical low-cloud problem in CMIP5 models, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L21801, doi: 10.1029/2012GL053421.
40. Nicholls, S., and, J. Leighton, (1986), An observational study of the structure of stratiform cloud sheets: Part I. Structure, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 112 (472), 431-460.
41. Nicholls, S., and, J. D. Turton, (1986), An observational study of the structure of stratiform cloud sheets: Part II. Entrainment, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 112 (472), 461-480.
42. Nuijens, L., and, B. Stevens, (2011), The influence of wind speed on shallow marine cumulus convection, J. Atmos. Sci., 69 (1), 168-184, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-11-02.1.
43. Paltridge, G. W., (1980), Cloud-radiation feedback to climate, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 106 (450), 895-899.
44. Park, S., C. B. Leovy, and, M. A. Rozendaal, (2004), A new heuristic Lagrangian marine boundary layer cloud model, J. Atmos. Sci., 61 (24), 3002-3024.
45. Randall, D. A., (1980), Conditional instability of the first kind upside-down, J. Atmos. Sci., 37 (1), 125-130.
46. Randall, D. A., (1984), Stratocumulus cloud deepening through entrainment, Tellus, Ser. A, 36 (5), 446-457.
47. Randall, D. A., J. A. Coakley, D. H. Lenschow, C. W. Fairall, and, R. A. Kropfli, (1984), Outlook for research on subtropical marine stratification clouds, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 65 (12), 1290-1301.
48. Rieck, M., L. Nuijens, and, B. Stevens, (2012), Marine boundary layer cloud feedbacks in a constant relative humidity atmosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 69 (8), 2538-2550, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-11-0203.1.
49. Sandu, I., and, B. Stevens, (2011), On the factors modulating the stratocumulus to cumulus transitions, J. Atmos. Sci., 68 (9), 1865-1881.
50. Schubert, W., J. Wakefield, E. S. Cox, and, K. Stephen, (1979), Marine stratocumulus convection. Part II: Horizontally inhomogeneous solutions, J. Atmos. Sci., 36, 1308-1324.
51. Soden, B. J., and, I. M. Held, (2006), An assessment of climate feedbacks in coupled ocean-atmosphere models, J. Clim., 19 (14), 3354-3360, doi: 10.1175/JCLI3799.1.
52. Stevens, B., C.-H. Moeng, and, P. P. Sullivan, (1999), Large-eddy simulations of radiatively driven convection: Sensitivities to the representation of small scales, J. Atmos. Sci., 56 (23), 3963-3984, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(1999)056 <3963:LESORD>2.0.CO;2.
53. Stevens, B., et al., (2003), On entrainment rates in nocturnal marine stratocumulus, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 129 (595), 3469-3493.
54. Stevens, B., et al., (2005), Evaluation of large-eddy simulations via observations of nocturnal marine stratocumulus, Mon. Weather Rev., 133 (6), 1443-1462.
55. Teixeira, J., et al., (2011), Tropical and subtropical cloud transitions in weather and climate prediction models: The GCSS/WGNE pacific cross-section intercomparison (GPCI), J. Clim., 24 (20), 5223-5256.
56. van der Dussen, J. J., S. R. de Roode, A. S. Ackerman, P. N. Blossey, C. S. Bretherton, M. J. Kurowski, A. P. Lock, R. A. J. Neggers, I. Sandu, and, A. P. Siebesma, (2013), The GASS/EUCLIPSE model intercomparison of the stratocumulus transition as observed during ASTEX: LES results, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 5, 483-499, doi: 10.1002/jame.20033.
57. van der Dussen, J. J., S. R. de Roode, and, A. P. Siebesma, (2014), Factors controlling rapid stratocumulus cloud thinning, J. Atmos. Sci., 71 (2), 655-664, doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-13-0114.1.
58. Vial, J., J.-L. Dufresne, and, S. Bony, (2013), On the interpretation of inter-model spread in CMIP5 climate sensitivity estimates, Clim. Dyn., 41 (11-12), 3339-3362.
59. Webb, M. J., F. H. Lambert, and, J. M. Gregory, (2013), Origins of differences in climate sensitivity, forcing and feedback in climate models, Clim. Dyn., 40 (3-4), 677-707.
60. Wicker, L. J., and, W. C. Skamarock, (2002), Time-splitting methods for elastic models using forward time schemes, Mon. Weather Rev., 130 (8), 2088-2097.
61. Williams, K., and, M. Webb, (2009), A quantitative performance assessment of cloud regimes in climate models, Clim. Dyn., 33 (1), 141-157.
62. Wood, R., (2012), Stratocumulus clouds, Mon. Weather Rev., 140, 2373-2423.
63. Wood, R., and, C. S. Bretherton, (2004), Boundary layer depth, entrainment, and decoupling in the cloud-capped subtropical and tropical marine boundary layer, J. Clim., 17 (18), 3576-3588.
64. Xu, K.-M., A. Cheng, and, M. Zhang, (2010), Cloud-resolving simulation of low-cloud feedback to an increase in sea surface temperature, J. Atmos. Sci., 67 (3), 730-748, doi: 10.1175/2009JAS3239.1.
65. Yamaguchi, T., and, D. A. Randall, (2008), Large-eddy simulation of evaporatively driven entrainment in cloud-topped mixed layers, J. Atmos. Sci., 65 (5), 1481-1504.
66. Yamaguchi, T., and, D. A. Randall, (2012), Cooling of entrained parcels in a large-eddy simulation, J. Atmos. Sci., 69 (3), 1118-1136.
67. Yamaguchi, T., D. A. Randall, and, M. F. Khairoutdinov, (2011), Cloud modeling tests of the ULTIMATE-MACHO scalar advection scheme, Mon. Weather Rev., 139 (10), 3248-3264.
68. Zhang, M., et al., (2013), CGILS: Results from the first phase of an international project to understand the physical mechanisms of low cloud feedbacks in single column models, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 5, 826-842, doi: 10.1002/2013MS000246.
69. Zhang, T., K. Stamnes, and, S. A. Bowling, (2001), Impact of the atmospheric thickness on the atmospheric downwelling longwave radiation and snowmelt under clear-sky conditions in the arctic and subarctic, J. Clim., 14 (5), 920-939, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014 <0920:IOTATO>2.0.CO;2.