A11M:
Coupling of Clouds and Moisture with the Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation I

Submit an Abstract to this Session



Session ID#: 31021

Session Description:
Diabatic processes such as cloud radiative heating and latent heat release strongly modify the large-scale atmospheric circulation in both the tropics and mid-latitudes. But the state of the circulation also plays an important role in determining the environment for cloud formation and water vapor. Recent research efforts have shown that the two-way coupling between these aspects is essential to understanding future changes in both clouds/moisture and the atmospheric circulation. This session aims to capitalize on the growing body of literature on this topic, synthesizing previous results and spurring additional discussion for future research directions. Both observational and modeling studies are welcome, with preference given to studies emphasizing the interaction between cloud processes or moisture and the large-scale atmospheric circulation (e.g. the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Hadley and Walker circulations, monsoonal flows, mid-latitude storm tracks, annular modes, etc.) in either the present or future climate.
Primary Convener:  Oliver Watt-Meyer, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Conveners:  Kevin M Grise, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States, Ying Li, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States and Aiko Voigt, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Chairs:  Oliver Watt-Meyer, University of Washington, Seattle, United States and Aiko Voigt, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
OSPA Liaison:  Oliver Watt-Meyer, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Index Terms:

0321 Cloud/radiation interaction [ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE]
3305 Climate change and variability [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3319 General circulation [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3373 Tropical dynamics [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

The role of Hadley cell extent in determining the radiative effect of midlatitude clouds, and the resulting effects on CMIP5 models' climate sensitivity (Invited) (213578)
George Tselioudis, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, United States, Bernard Lipat Jr, Columbia University of New York, Palisades, NY, United States, Prof. Lorenzo M Polvani, PhD, Columbia University, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, New York, United States, Kevin M Grise, Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Aiko Voigt, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Observational Evidence of the “Tightening of Hadley Ascent” (230833)
Hui Su, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, Longtao Wu, Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, United States and Jonathan H. Jiang, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
A New Model Hierarchy to Understand the Impact of Radiation and Convection on the Extratropical Circulation Response to Climate Change (Invited) (217245)
Zhihong Tan, Princeton University, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton, United States and Tiffany Shaw, The University of Chicago, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, Chicago, United States
Modeling Water Vapor and Clouds as Passive Tracers in an Idealized GCM (272327)
Yi Ming and Isaac Held, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, United States
Thermodynamic and Dynamic Mechanisms for the Hydrological Cycle over the Full Probability Distribution of Moisture Events (277438)
Gang Chen1, Jesse Norris2, J David Neelin1 and Jian Lu3, (1)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (2)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States, (3)Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States
Assessing the Vertical Latent Heating Structure of the East Pacific ITCZ Using CloudSat CPR and TRMM PR (244786)
Lidia Huaman, Texas A & M University College Station, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College Station, TX, United States and Courtney Schumacher, Texas A&M University, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College Station, TX, United States
Instantaneous linkages between clouds and large-scale meteorology over the Southern Ocean in observations and a climate model (233952)
Casey Wall, University of Washington, Seattle, United States, Dennis L. Hartmann, University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Seattle, WA, United States and Po-Lun Ma, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States

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