The Atmospheric Aerosols And Their Effects On Cloud Albedo And Radiative Forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefan, S.; Iorga, G.; Zoran, M.

2007-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide results of the theoretical experiments in order to improve the estimates of indirect effect of aerosol on the cloud albedo and consequently on the radiative forcing. The cloud properties could be changed primarily because of changing of both the aerosol type and concentration in the atmosphere. Only a part of aerosol interacts effectively with water and will, in turn, determine the number concentration of cloud droplets (CDNC). We calculated the CDNC, droplet effective radius (reff), cloud optical thickness (or), cloud albedo and radiative forcing, for various types of aerosol. Our results show into what extent the change of aerosol characteristics (number concentration and chemical composition) on a regional scale can modify the cloud reflectivity. Higher values for cloud albedo in the case of the continental (urban) clouds were obtained

GATECloud.net: a platform for large-scale, open-source text processing on the cloud.

Science.gov (United States)

Tablan, Valentin; Roberts, Ian; Cunningham, Hamish; Bontcheva, Kalina

2013-01-28

Cloud computing is increasingly being regarded as a key enabler of the 'democratization of science', because on-demand, highly scalable cloud computing facilities enable researchers anywhere to carry out data-intensive experiments. In the context of natural language processing (NLP), algorithms tend to be complex, which makes their parallelization and deployment on cloud platforms a non-trivial task. This study presents a new, unique, cloud-based platform for large-scale NLP research--GATECloud. net. It enables researchers to carry out data-intensive NLP experiments by harnessing the vast, on-demand compute power of the Amazon cloud. Important infrastructural issues are dealt with by the platform, completely transparently for the researcher: load balancing, efficient data upload and storage, deployment on the virtual machines, security and fault tolerance. We also include a cost-benefit analysis and usage evaluation.

Absorbing Aerosols Above Cloud: Detection, Quantitative Retrieval, and Radiative Forcing from Satellite-based Passive Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Jethva, H.; Torres, O.; Remer, L. A.; Bhartia, P. K.

2012-12-01

Light absorbing particles such as carbonaceous aerosols generated from biomass burning activities and windblown dust particles can exert a net warming effect on climate; the strength of which depends on the absorption capacity of the particles and brightness of the underlying reflecting background. When advected over low-level bright clouds, these aerosols absorb the cloud reflected radiation from ultra-violet (UV) to shortwave-IR (SWIR) and makes cloud scene darker-a phenomenon commonly known as "cloud darkening". The apparent "darkening" effect can be seen by eyes in satellite images as well as quantitatively in the spectral reflectance measurements made by space borne sensors over regions where light absorbing carbonaceous and dust aerosols overlay low-level cloud decks. Theoretical radiative transfer simulations support the observational evidence, and further reveal that the strength of the cloud darkening and its spectral signature (or color ratio) between measurements at two wavelengths are a bi-function of aerosol and cloud optical thickness (AOT and COT); both are measures of the total amount of light extinction caused by aerosols and cloud, respectively. Here, we developed a retrieval technique, named as the "color ratio method" that uses the satellite measurements at two channels, one at shorter wavelength in the visible and one at longer wavelength in the shortwave-IR for the simultaneous retrieval of AOT and COT. The present technique requires assumptions on the aerosol single-scattering albedo and aerosol-cloud separation which are supplemented by the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and space borne CALIOP lidar measurements. The retrieval technique has been tested making use of the near-UV and visible reflectance observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for distinct above-cloud smoke and dust aerosol events observed seasonally over the southeast and tropical Atlantic Ocean

MPL-Net Measurements of Aerosol and Cloud Vertical Distributions at Co-Located AERONET Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Welton, Ellsworth J.; Campbell, James R.; Berkoff, Timothy A.; Spinhirne, James D.; Tsay, Si-Chee; Holben, Brent; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In the early 1990s, the first small, eye-safe, and autonomous lidar system was developed, the Micropulse Lidar (MPL). The MPL acquires signal profiles of backscattered laser light from aerosols and clouds. The signals are analyzed to yield multiple layer heights, optical depths of each layer, average extinction-to-backscatter ratios for each layer, and profiles of extinction in each layer. In 2000, several MPL sites were organized into a coordinated network, called MPL-Net, by the Cloud and Aerosol Lidar Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) using funding provided by the NASA Earth Observing System. tn addition to the funding provided by NASA EOS, the NASA CERES Ground Validation Group supplied four MPL systems to the project, and the NASA TOMS group contributed their MPL for work at GSFC. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) also agreed to make their data available to the MPL-Net project for processing. In addition to the initial NASA and ARM operated sites, several other independent research groups have also expressed interest in joining the network using their own instruments. Finally, a limited amount of EOS funding was set aside to participate in various field experiments each year. The NASA Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) project also provides funds to deploy their MPL during ocean research cruises. All together, the MPL-Net project has participated in four major field experiments since 2000. Most MPL-Net sites and field experiment locations are also co-located with sunphotometers in the NASA Aerosol Robotic Network. (AERONET). Therefore, at these locations data is collected on both aerosol and cloud vertical structure as well as column optical depth and sky radiance. Real-time data products are now available from most MPL-Net sites. Our real-time products are generated at times of AERONET aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements. The AERONET AOD is used as input to our

CloudSat Preps for Launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

The CloudSat spacecraft sits encapsulated within its Boeing Delta launch vehicle dual payload attach fitting at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. CloudSat will share its ride to orbit late next month with NASA's CALIPSO spacecraft. The two spacecraft are designed to reveal the secrets of clouds and aerosols.

Contributions of Different Cloud Types to Feedbacks and Rapid Adjustments in CMIP5*

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zelinka, Mark D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Klein, Stephen A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Taylor, Karl E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison; Andrews, Timothy [Met Office Hadley Center, Exeter (United Kingdom); Webb, Mark J. [Met Office Hadley Center, Exeter (United Kingdom); Gregory, Jonathan M. [Univ. of Reading, Exeter (United Kingdom). National Center for Atmospheric Science; Forster, Piers M. [Univ. of Leeds (United Kingdom)

2013-07-01

When using five climate model simulations of the response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO₂, the authors perform the first simultaneous model intercomparison of cloud feedbacks and rapid radiative adjustments with cloud masking effects removed, partitioned among changes in cloud types and gross cloud properties. After CO₂ quadrupling, clouds exhibit a rapid reduction in fractional coverage, cloud-top pressure, and optical depth, with each contributing equally to a 1.1 W m^-2 net cloud radiative adjustment, primarily from shortwave radiation. Rapid reductions in midlevel clouds and optically thick clouds are important in reducing planetary albedo in every model. As the planet warms, clouds become fewer, higher, and thicker, and global mean net cloud feedback is positive in all but one model and results primarily from increased trapping of longwave radiation. As was true for earlier models, high cloud changes are the largest contributor to intermodel spread in longwave and shortwave cloud feedbacks, but low cloud changes are the largest contributor to the mean and spread in net cloud feedback. The importance of the negative optical depth feedback relative to the amount feedback at high latitudes is even more marked than in earlier models. Furthermore, the authors show that the negative longwave cloud adjustment inferred in previous studies is primarily caused by a 1.3 W m^-2 cloud masking of CO₂ forcing. Properly accounting for cloud masking increases net cloud feedback by 0.3 W m^-2 K^-1, whereas accounting for rapid adjustments reduces by 0.14 W m^-2 K^-1 the ensemble mean net cloud feedback through a combination of smaller positive cloud amount and altitude feedbacks and larger negative optical depth feedbacks.

Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects

CERN Document Server

Rumolo, Giovanni; Zimmermann, Frank; ECLOUD'12

2013-01-01

This report contains the Proceedings of the Joint INFN-Frascati, INFN-Pisa, CERN-LER and EuCARD-AccNet Mini-Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects, “ECLOUD12”, held at La Biodola, Isola d’Elba, from 5 to 9 June 2012. The ECLOUD12 workshop reviewed many recent electron-cloud (EC) observations at existing storage rings, EC predictions for future accelerators, electron-cloud studies at DAFNE, EC mitigation by clearing electrodes and graphite/carbon coatings, modeling of incoherent EC effects, self-consistent simulations, synergies with other communities like the Valencia Space Consortium and the European Space Agency. ECLOUD12 discussed new EC observations at existing machines including LHC, CesrTA, PETRA-3, J-PARC, and FNAL MI; latest experimental efforts to characterize the EC – including EC diagnostics, experimental techniques, mitigation techniques such as coating and conditioning, advanced chemical and physical analyses of various vacuum-chamber surfaces, beam instabilities and emittance growth –; the...

Challenges in constraining anthropogenic aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing using present-day spatiotemporal variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghan, Steven; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Shipeng; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; Gettelman, Andrew; Griesfeller, Jan; Kipling, Zak; Lohmann, Ulrike; Morrison, Hugh; Neubauer, David; Partridge, Daniel G; Stier, Philip; Takemura, Toshihiko; Wang, Hailong; Zhang, Kai

2016-05-24

A large number of processes are involved in the chain from emissions of aerosol precursor gases and primary particles to impacts on cloud radiative forcing. Those processes are manifest in a number of relationships that can be expressed as factors dlnX/dlnY driving aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing. These factors include the relationships between cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration and emissions, droplet number and CCN concentration, cloud fraction and droplet number, cloud optical depth and droplet number, and cloud radiative forcing and cloud optical depth. The relationship between cloud optical depth and droplet number can be further decomposed into the sum of two terms involving the relationship of droplet effective radius and cloud liquid water path with droplet number. These relationships can be constrained using observations of recent spatial and temporal variability of these quantities. However, we are most interested in the radiative forcing since the preindustrial era. Because few relevant measurements are available from that era, relationships from recent variability have been assumed to be applicable to the preindustrial to present-day change. Our analysis of Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (AeroCom) model simulations suggests that estimates of relationships from recent variability are poor constraints on relationships from anthropogenic change for some terms, with even the sign of some relationships differing in many regions. Proxies connecting recent spatial/temporal variability to anthropogenic change, or sustained measurements in regions where emissions have changed, are needed to constrain estimates of anthropogenic aerosol impacts on cloud radiative forcing.

Cloud forcing: A modeling perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potter, G.L.; Mobely, R.L.; Drach, R.S.; Corsetti, T.G.; Williams, D.N.; Slingo, J.M.

1990-11-01

Radiation fields from a perpetual July integration of a T106 version of the ECMWF operational model are used as surrogate observations of the radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere to illustrate various difficulties that modellers might face when trying to reconcile cloud radiation forcings derived from satellite observations with model-generated ones. Differences between the so-called Methods 1 and 2 of Cess and Potter (1987) and a variant Method 3 are addressed. Method 1 is shown to be the least robust of all methods, due to potential uncertainties related to persistent cloudiness, length of the period over which clear-sky conditions are looked for, biases in retrieved clear-sky quantities due to an insufficient sampling of the diurnal cycle. We advocate the use of Method 2 as the only unambiguous one to produce consistent radiative diagnostics for intercomparing model results. Impact of the three methods on the derived sensitivities and cloud feedbacks following an imposed change in sea surface temperature (used as a surrogate climate change) is discussed. 17 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab

CloudSafetyNet: Detecting Data Leakage between Cloud Tenants

OpenAIRE

Pietzuch, PR; Priebe, C; Muthukumaran, D; O'Keeffe, D; Eyers, D; Shand, B; Kapitza, R

2014-01-01

01.12.14 KB. Ok to add accepted version to spiral. Copyright ? 2014 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. (ACM).When tenants deploy applications under the control of third-party cloud providers, they must trust the providers security mechanisms for inter-tenant isolation, resource sharing and access control. Despite a providers best efforts, accidental data leakage may occur due to misconfigurations or bugs in the cloud platform. Especially in Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) clouds...

Verifying Air Force Weather Passive Satellite Derived Cloud Analysis Products

Science.gov (United States)

Nobis, T. E.

2017-12-01

Air Force Weather (AFW) has developed an hourly World-Wide Merged Cloud Analysis (WWMCA) using imager data from 16 geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. The analysis product contains information on cloud fraction, height, type and various optical properties including optical depth and integrated water path. All of these products are derived using a suite of algorithms which rely exclusively on passively sensed data from short, mid and long wave imager data. The system integrates satellites with a wide-range of capabilities, from the relatively simple two-channel OLS imager to the 16 channel ABI/AHI to create a seamless global analysis in real time. Over the last couple of years, AFW has started utilizing independent verification data from active sensed cloud measurements to better understand the performance limitations of the WWMCA. Sources utilized include space based lidars (CALIPSO, CATS) and radar (CloudSat) as well as ground based lidars from the Department of Energy ARM sites and several European cloud radars. This work will present findings from our efforts to compare active and passive sensed cloud information including comparison techniques/limitations as well as performance of the passive derived cloud information against the active.

A multilinear regression methodology to analyze the effect of atmospheric and surface forcing on Arctic clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Boeke, R.; Taylor, P. C.; Li, Y.

2017-12-01

Arctic cloud amount as simulated in CMIP5 models displays large intermodel spread- models disagree on the processes important for cloud formation as well as the radiative impact of clouds. The radiative response to cloud forcing can be better assessed when the drivers of Arctic cloud formation are known. Arctic cloud amount (CA) is a function of both atmospheric and surface conditions, and it is crucial to separate the influences of unique processes to understand why the models are different. This study uses a multilinear regression methodology to determine cloud changes using 3 variables as predictors: lower tropospheric stability (LTS), 500-hPa vertical velocity (ω500), and sea ice concentration (SIC). These three explanatory variables were chosen because their effects on clouds can be attributed to unique climate processes: LTS is a thermodynamic indicator of the relationship between clouds and atmospheric stability, SIC determines the interaction between clouds and the surface, and ω500 is a metric for dynamical change. Vertical, seasonal profiles of necessary variables are obtained from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) historical simulation, an ocean-atmosphere couple model forced with the best-estimate natural and anthropogenic radiative forcing from 1850-2005, and statistical significance tests are used to confirm the regression equation. A unique heuristic model will be constructed for each climate model and for observations, and models will be tested by their ability to capture the observed cloud amount and behavior. Lastly, the intermodel spread in Arctic cloud amount will be attributed to individual processes, ranking the relative contributions of each factor to shed light on emergent constraints in the Arctic cloud radiative effect.

Dust aerosol impact on North Africa climate: a GCM investigation of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions using A-Train satellite data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Gu

2012-02-01

Full Text Available The climatic effects of dust aerosols in North Africa have been investigated using the atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA. The model includes an efficient and physically based radiation parameterization scheme developed specifically for application to clouds and aerosols. Parameterization of the effective ice particle size in association with the aerosol first indirect effect based on ice cloud and aerosol data retrieved from A-Train satellite observations have been employed in climate model simulations. Offline simulations reveal that the direct solar, IR, and net forcings by dust aerosols at the top of the atmosphere (TOA generally increase with increasing aerosol optical depth. When the dust semi-direct effect is included with the presence of ice clouds, positive IR radiative forcing is enhanced since ice clouds trap substantial IR radiation, while the positive solar forcing with dust aerosols alone has been changed to negative values due to the strong reflection of solar radiation by clouds, indicating that cloud forcing associated with aerosol semi-direct effect could exceed direct aerosol forcing. With the aerosol first indirect effect, the net cloud forcing is generally reduced in the case for an ice water path (IWP larger than 20 g m⁻². The magnitude of the reduction increases with IWP.

AGCM simulations show that the reduced ice crystal mean effective size due to the aerosol first indirect effect results in less OLR and net solar flux at TOA over the cloudy area of the North Africa region because ice clouds with smaller size trap more IR radiation and reflect more solar radiation. The precipitation in the same area, however, increases due to the aerosol indirect effect on ice clouds, corresponding to the enhanced convection as indicated by reduced OLR. Adding the aerosol direct effect into the model simulation reduces the precipitation in the

RACORO continental boundary layer cloud investigations: 1. Case study development and ensemble large-scale forcings

Science.gov (United States)

Vogelmann, Andrew M.; Fridlind, Ann M.; Toto, Tami; Endo, Satoshi; Lin, Wuyin; Wang, Jian; Feng, Sha; Zhang, Yunyan; Turner, David D.; Liu, Yangang; Li, Zhijin; Xie, Shaocheng; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Zhang, Minghua; Khairoutdinov, Marat

2015-06-01

Observation-based modeling case studies of continental boundary layer clouds have been developed to study cloudy boundary layers, aerosol influences upon them, and their representation in cloud- and global-scale models. Three 60 h case study periods span the temporal evolution of cumulus, stratiform, and drizzling boundary layer cloud systems, representing mixed and transitional states rather than idealized or canonical cases. Based on in situ measurements from the Routine AAF (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility) CLOWD (Clouds with Low Optical Water Depth) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign and remote sensing observations, the cases are designed with a modular configuration to simplify use in large-eddy simulations (LES) and single-column models. Aircraft measurements of aerosol number size distribution are fit to lognormal functions for concise representation in models. Values of the aerosol hygroscopicity parameter, κ, are derived from observations to be 0.10, which are lower than the 0.3 typical over continents and suggestive of a large aerosol organic fraction. Ensemble large-scale forcing data sets are derived from the ARM variational analysis, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and a multiscale data assimilation system. The forcings are assessed through comparison of measured bulk atmospheric and cloud properties to those computed in "trial" large-eddy simulations, where more efficient run times are enabled through modest reductions in grid resolution and domain size compared to the full-sized LES grid. Simulations capture many of the general features observed, but the state-of-the-art forcings were limited at representing details of cloud onset, and tight gradients and high-resolution transients of importance. Methods for improving the initial conditions and forcings are discussed. The cases developed are available to the general modeling community for studying continental boundary clouds.

RACORO Continental Boundary Layer Cloud Investigations: 1. Case Study Development and Ensemble Large-Scale Forcings

Science.gov (United States)

Vogelmann, Andrew M.; Fridlind, Ann M.; Toto, Tami; Endo, Satoshi; Lin, Wuyin; Wang, Jian; Feng, Sha; Zhang, Yunyan; Turner, David D.; Liu, Yangang;

A modeling perspective on cloud radiative forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potter, G.L.; Corsetti, L.; Slingo, J.M.

1993-02-01

Radiation fields from a perpetual July integration of a T106 version of the ECM-WF operational model are used to identify the most appropriate way to diagnose cloud radiative forcing in a general circulation model, for the purposes of intercomparison between models. Differences between the Methods I and II of Cess and Potter (1987) and a variant method are addressed. Method I is shown to be the least robust of all methods, due to the potential uncertainties related to persistent cloudiness, length of the sampling period and biases in retrieved clear-sky quantities due to insufficient sampling of the diurnal cycle. Method II is proposed as an unambiguous way to produce consistent radiative diagnostics for intercomparing model results. The impact of the three methods on the derived sensitivities and cloud feedbacks following an imposed change in sea surface temperature is discussed. The sensitivity of the results to horizontal resolution is considered by using the diagnostics from parallel integrations with T21 version of the model

Evaluation of NetApp Cloud ONTAP and AltaVault using Amazon Web Services

CERN Document Server

Weisz, Michael

2015-01-01

As of now, the storage infrastructure at CERN almost exclusively consists of on-premise storage, i.e. storage which physically resides in the institution’s data center. While this offers certain advantages such as full control regarding data security, it also holds many challenges, most importantly in terms of flexibility and scalability. For instance, the provisioning of new on-site storage takes some time, since the required storage needs to be ordered, delivered, and installed first, before it can be used. Furthermore, there is certain maintenance work involved even after the initial setup inflicting ongoing costs of upkeep. At the same time, various cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure have emerged during the last years, offering services to flexibly provision storage resources in the cloud in a scalable way. This project tries to explore and evaluate to what extend the on-site storage infrastructure at CERN could be extended using virtual NetApp storage offerings such as Clou...

On the influence of cloud fraction diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability on all-sky direct aerosol radiative forcing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Min; Zhang, Zhibo

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to understand how cloud fraction diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability influence the all-sky direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF). We focus on the southeast Atlantic region where transported smoke is often observed above low-level water clouds during burning seasons. We use the CALIOP observations to derive the optical properties of aerosols. We developed two diurnal cloud fraction variation models. One is based on sinusoidal fitting of MODIS observations from Terra and Aqua satellites. The other is based on high-temporal frequency diurnal cloud fraction observations from SEVIRI on board of geostationary satellite. Both models indicate a strong cloud fraction diurnal cycle over the southeast Atlantic region. Sensitivity studies indicate that using a constant cloud fraction corresponding to Aqua local equatorial crossing time (1:30 PM) generally leads to an underestimated (less positive) diurnal mean DARF even if solar diurnal variation is considered. Using cloud fraction corresponding to Terra local equatorial crossing time (10:30 AM) generally leads overestimation. The biases are a typically around 10–20%, but up to more than 50%. The influence of sub-grid cloud optical thickness variability on DARF is studied utilizing the cloud optical thickness histogram available in MODIS Level-3 daily data. Similar to previous studies, we found the above-cloud smoke in the southeast Atlantic region has a strong warming effect at the top of the atmosphere. However, because of the plane-parallel albedo bias the warming effect of above-cloud smoke could be significantly overestimated if the grid-mean, instead of the full histogram, of cloud optical thickness is used in the computation. This bias generally increases with increasing above-cloud aerosol optical thickness and sub-grid cloud optical thickness inhomogeneity. Our results suggest that the cloud diurnal cycle and sub-grid cloud variability are important factors

AIRS-CloudSat cloud mask, radar reflectivities, and cloud classification matchups V3.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This is AIRS-CloudSat collocated subset, in NetCDF 4 format. These data contain collocated: AIRS Level 1b radiances spectra, CloudSat radar reflectivities, and MODIS...

Impact of ice particle shape on short-wave radiative forcing: A case study for an arctic ice cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahnert, Michael; Sandvik, Anne Dagrun; Biryulina, Marina; Stamnes, Jakob J.; Stamnes, Knut

2008-01-01

We used four different non-spherical particle models to compute optical properties of an arctic ice cloud and to simulate corresponding cloud radiative forcings and fluxes. One important finding is that differences in cloud forcing, downward flux at the surface, and absorbed flux in the atmosphere resulting from the use of the four different ice cloud particle models are comparable to differences in these quantities resulting from changing the surface albedo from 0.4 to 0.8, or by varying the ice water content (IWC) by a factor of 2. These findings show that the use of a suitable non-spherical ice cloud particle model is very important for a realistic assessment of the radiative impact of arctic ice clouds. The differences in radiative broadband fluxes predicted by the four different particle models were found to be caused mainly by differences in the optical depth and the asymmetry parameter. These two parameters were found to have nearly the same impact on the predicted cloud forcing. Computations were performed first by assuming a given vertical profile of the particle number density, then by assuming a given profile of the IWC. In both cases, the differences between the cloud radiative forcings computed with the four different non-spherical particle models were found to be of comparable magnitude. This finding shows that precise knowledge of ice particle number density or particle mass is not sufficient for accurate prediction of ice cloud radiative forcing. It is equally important to employ a non-spherical shape model that accurately reproduces the ice particle's dimension-to-volume ratio and its asymmetry parameter. The hexagonal column/plate model with air-bubble inclusions seems to offer the highest degree of flexibility

AIRS-AMSU variables-CloudSat cloud mask, radar reflectivities, and cloud classification matchups V3.2

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This is AIRS-CloudSat collocated subset, in NetCDF 4 format. These data contain collocated: AIRS/AMSU retrievals at AMSU footprints, CloudSat radar reflectivities,...

Using ISCCP Weather States to Decompose Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Oreopoulos, L.; Rossow, W. B.

2012-01-01

The presentation will examine the shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) cloud radiative effect CRE (aka "cloud radiative forcing") at the top-of-the-atmosphere and surface of ISCCP weather states (aka "cloud regimes") in three distinct geographical zones, one tropical and two mid-latitude. Our goal is to understand and quantify the contribution of the different cloud regimes to the planetary radiation budget. In the tropics we find that the three most convectively active states are the ones with largest SW, LW and net TOA CRE contributions to the overall daytime tropical CRE budget. They account for 59%, 71% and 55% of the total CRE, respectively. The boundary layer-dominated weather states account for only 34% of the total SW CRE and 41% of the total net CRE, so to focus only on them in cloud feedback studies may be imprudent. We also find that in both the northern and southern midlatitude zones only two weather states, the first and third most convectively active with large amounts of nimbostratus-type clouds, contribute ",40% to both the SW and net TOA CRE budgets, highlighting the fact that cloud regimes associated with frontal systems are not only important for weather (precipitation) but also for climate (radiation budget). While all cloud regimes in all geographical zones have a slightly larger SFC than TOA SW CRE, implying cooling of the surface and slight warming of the atmosphere, their LW radiative effects are more subtle: in the tropics the weather states with plentiful high clouds warm the atmosphere while those with copious amounts of low clouds cool the atmosphere. In both midlatitude zones only the weather states with peak cloud fractions at levels above 440 mbar warm the atmosphere while all the rest cool it. These results make the connection of the contrasting CRE effects to the atmospheric dynamics more explicit - "storms" tend to warm the atmosphere whereas fair weather clouds cool it, suggesting a positive feedback of clouds on weather systems. The

Relationships between radiation, clouds, and convection during DYNAMO

Science.gov (United States)

Ciesielski, Paul E.; Johnson, Richard H.; Jiang, Xianan; Zhang, Yunyan; Xie, Shaocheng

2017-03-01

The relationships between radiation, clouds, and convection on an intraseasonal time scale are examined with data taken during the Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) field campaign. Specifically, column-net, as well as vertical profiles of radiative heating rates, computed over Gan Island in the central Indian Ocean (IO) are used along with an objective analysis of large-scale fields to examine three MJO events that occurred during the 3 month period (October to December 2011) over this region. Longwave (LW) and shortwave radiative heating rates exhibit tilted structures, reflecting radiative effects associated with the prevalence of shallow cumulus during the dry, suppressed MJO phase followed by increasing deep convection leading into the active phase. As the convection builds going into the MJO active phase, there are increasingly top-heavy anomalous radiative heating rates while the column-net radiative cooling rate progressively decreases. Temporal fluctuations in the cloud radiative forcing, being quite sensitive to changes in high cloudiness, are dominated by LW effects with an intraseasonal variation of 0.4-0.6 K/d. While both the water vapor and cloud fields are inextricably linked, it appears that the tilted radiative structures are more related to water vapor effects. The intraseasonal variation of column-net radiative heating enhances the convective signal in the mean by 20% with a minimum in this enhancement 10 days prior to peak MJO rainfall and maximum 7 days after. This suggests that as MJO convective envelope weakens over the central IO, cloud-radiative feedbacks help maintain the mature MJO as it moves eastward.

Irrigation as an Historical Climate Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Benjamin I.; Shukla, Sonali P.; Puma, Michael J.; Nazarenko, Larissa S.

2014-01-01

Irrigation is the single largest anthropogenic water use, a modification of the land surface that significantly affects surface energy budgets, the water cycle, and climate. Irrigation, however, is typically not included in standard historical general circulation model (GCM) simulations along with other anthropogenic and natural forcings. To investigate the importance of irrigation as an anthropogenic climate forcing, we conduct two 5-member ensemble GCM experiments. Both are setup identical to the historical forced (anthropogenic plus natural) scenario used in version 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, but in one experiment we also add water to the land surface using a dataset of historically estimated irrigation rates. Irrigation has a negligible effect on the global average radiative balance at the top of the atmosphere, but causes significant cooling of global average surface air temperatures over land and dampens regional warming trends. This cooling is regionally focused and is especially strong in Western North America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia. Irrigation enhances cloud cover and precipitation in these same regions, except for summer in parts of Monsoon Asia, where irrigation causes a reduction in monsoon season precipitation. Irrigation cools the surface, reducing upward fluxes of longwave radiation (increasing net longwave), and increases cloud cover, enhancing shortwave reflection (reducing net shortwave). The relative magnitude of these two processes causes regional increases (northern India) or decreases (Central Asia, China) in energy availability at the surface and top of the atmosphere. Despite these changes in net radiation, however, climate responses are due primarily to larger magnitude shifts in the Bowen ratio from sensible to latent heating. Irrigation impacts on temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables are regionally significant, even while other anthropogenic forcings (anthropogenic aerosols

Technical note: Fu-Liou-Gu and Corti-Peter model performance evaluation for radiative retrievals from cirrus clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Lolli, Simone; Campbell, James R.; Lewis, Jasper R.; Gu, Yu; Welton, Ellsworth J.

2017-06-01

We compare, for the first time, the performance of a simplified atmospheric radiative transfer algorithm package, the Corti-Peter (CP) model, versus the more complex Fu-Liou-Gu (FLG) model, for resolving top-of-the-atmosphere radiative forcing characteristics from single-layer cirrus clouds obtained from the NASA Micro-Pulse Lidar Network database in 2010 and 2011 at Singapore and in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, in 2012. Specifically, CP simplifies calculation of both clear-sky longwave and shortwave radiation through regression analysis applied to radiative calculations, which contributes significantly to differences between the two. The results of the intercomparison show that differences in annual net top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) cloud radiative forcing can reach 65 %. This is particularly true when land surface temperatures are warmer than 288 K, where the CP regression analysis becomes less accurate. CP proves useful for first-order estimates of TOA cirrus cloud forcing, but may not be suitable for quantitative accuracy, including the absolute sign of cirrus cloud daytime TOA forcing that can readily oscillate around zero globally.

Proceedings of Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cimino, R; Rumolo, Giovanni; Zimmermann, Frank

2013-01-01

This report contains the Proceedings of the Joint INFN-Frascati, INFN-Pisa, CERN-LER and EuCARD-AccNet Mini-Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects, “ECLOUD12”, held at La Biodola, Isola d’Elba, from 5 to 9 June 2012. The ECLOUD12 workshop reviewed many recent electron-cloud (EC) observations at existing storage rings, EC predictions for future accelerators, electron-cloud studies at DAFNE, EC mitigation by clearing electrodes and graphite/carbon coatings, modeling of incoherent EC effects, self-consistent simulations, synergies with other communities like the Valencia Space Consortium and the European Space Agency. ECLOUD12 discussed new EC observations at existing machines including LHC, CesrTA, PETRA-3, J-PARC, and FNAL MI; latest experimental efforts to characterize the EC – including EC diagnostics, experimental techniques, mitigation techniques such as coating and conditioning, advanced chemical and physical analyses of various vacuum-chamber surfaces, beam instabilities and emittance growth –; the status of EC physics models and (new, more versatile and additional) simulation codes and their comparison with recently acquired experimental data; and the mitigation requirements and potential performance limitations imposed by the EC on upgraded and future machines, including HL-LHC, FAIR, ILC, Project-X, SuperB and SuperKEKB. A dedicated session addressed problems related to RF breakdown and multipacting for space applications. A number of open questions and future R&D needs were identified

Cloud vertical structure, precipitation, and cloud radiative effects over Tibetan Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y.; Yan, Y.; Lu, J.

2017-12-01

The vertical structure of clouds and its connection with precipitation and cloud radiative effects (CRE) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are analyzed and compared with its neighboring land and tropical oceans based on CloudSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) products and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data. Unique characteristics of cloud vertical structure and CRE over the TP are found. The cloud amount shows seasonal variation over the TP, which presents a single peak (located in 7-11 km) during January to April and two peaks (located in 5-8 km and 11-17 km separately) after mid-June, and then resumes to one peak (located in 5-10 km) after mid-August. Topography-induced restriction on moisture supply leads to a compression effect on clouds, i.e., the reduction in both cloud thickness and number of cloud layers, over the TP. The topography-induced compression effect is also shown in the range in the variation of cloud thickness and cloud-top height corresponding to different precipitation intensity, which is much smaller over the TP than its neighboring regions. In summer, cloud ice particles over the TP are mostly located at lower altitude (5-10 km) with richer variety of sizes and aggregation in no rain conditions compared to other regions. Ice water content becomes abundant and the number concentration tends to be dense at higher levels when precipitation is enhanced. The longwave CRE in the atmosphere over the TP is a net cooling effect. The vertical structure of CRE over the TP is unique compared to other regions: there exists a strong cooling layer of net CRE at the altitude of 8 km, from June to the beginning of October; the net radiative heating layer above the surface is shallower but stronger underneath 7 km and with a stronger seasonal variation over the TP.

Greening the Cloud

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Hoed, Robert; Hoekstra, Eric; Procaccianti, G.; Lago, P.; Grosso, Paola; Taal, Arie; Grosskop, Kay; van Bergen, Esther

The cloud has become an essential part of our daily lives. We use it to store our documents (Dropbox), to stream our music and lms (Spotify and Net ix) and without giving it any thought, we use it to work on documents in the cloud (Google Docs). The cloud forms a massive storage and processing

Climate impact of anthropogenic aerosols on cirrus clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Penner, J.; Zhou, C.

2017-12-01

Cirrus clouds have a net warming effect on the atmosphere and cover about 30% of the Earth's area. Aerosol particles initiate ice formation in the upper troposphere through modes of action that include homogeneous freezing of solution droplets, heterogeneous nucleation on solid particles immersed in a solution, and deposition nucleation of vapor onto solid particles. However, the efficacy with which particles act to form cirrus particles in a model depends on the representation of updrafts. Here, we use a representation of updrafts based on observations of gravity waves, and follow ice formation/evaporation during both updrafts and downdrafts. We examine the possible change in ice number concentration from anthropogenic soot originating from surface sources of fossil fuel and biomass burning and from aircraft particles that have previously formed ice in contrails. Results show that fossil fuel and biomass burning soot aerosols with this version exert a radiative forcing of -0.15±0.02 Wm-2 while aircraft aerosols that have been pre-activated within contrails exert a forcing of -0.20±0.06 Wm-2, but it is possible to decrease these estimates of forcing if a larger fraction of dust particles act as heterogeneous ice nuclei. In addition aircraft aerosols may warm the climate if a large fraction of these particles act as ice nuclei. The magnitude of the forcing in cirrus clouds can be comparable to the forcing exerted by anthropogenic aerosols on warm clouds. This assessment could therefore support climate models with high sensitivity to greenhouse gas forcing, while still allowing the models to fit the overall historical temperature change.

Investigating the dependence of SCM simulated precipitation and clouds on the spatial scale of large-scale forcing at SGP

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Shuaiqi; Zhang, Minghua; Xie, Shaocheng

2017-08-01

Large-scale forcing data, such as vertical velocity and advective tendencies, are required to drive single-column models (SCMs), cloud-resolving models, and large-eddy simulations. Previous studies suggest that some errors of these model simulations could be attributed to the lack of spatial variability in the specified domain-mean large-scale forcing. This study investigates the spatial variability of the forcing and explores its impact on SCM simulated precipitation and clouds. A gridded large-scale forcing data during the March 2000 Cloud Intensive Operational Period at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Southern Great Plains site is used for analysis and to drive the single-column version of the Community Atmospheric Model Version 5 (SCAM5). When the gridded forcing data show large spatial variability, such as during a frontal passage, SCAM5 with the domain-mean forcing is not able to capture the convective systems that are partly located in the domain or that only occupy part of the domain. This problem has been largely reduced by using the gridded forcing data, which allows running SCAM5 in each subcolumn and then averaging the results within the domain. This is because the subcolumns have a better chance to capture the timing of the frontal propagation and the small-scale systems. Other potential uses of the gridded forcing data, such as understanding and testing scale-aware parameterizations, are also discussed.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, David L; Finnegan, William

2009-01-01

Greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds regulate outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and cirrus cloud coverage is predicted to be sensitive to the ice fall speed which depends on ice crystal size. The higher the cirrus, the greater their impact is on OLR. Thus by changing ice crystal size in the coldest cirrus, OLR and climate might be modified. Fortunately the coldest cirrus have the highest ice supersaturation due to the dominance of homogeneous freezing nucleation. Seeding such cirrus with very efficient heterogeneous ice nuclei should produce larger ice crystals due to vapor competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing are more negative than -2.8 W m -2 and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO 2 doubling (3.7 W m -2 ). A potential delivery mechanism for the seeding material is already in place: the airline industry. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are relatively short, the climate might return to its normal state within months after stopping the geoengineering experiment. The main known drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It does not have many of the drawbacks that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, David L; Finnegan, William, E-mail: david.mitchell@dri.ed [Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512-1095 (United States)

2009-10-15

Greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds regulate outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and cirrus cloud coverage is predicted to be sensitive to the ice fall speed which depends on ice crystal size. The higher the cirrus, the greater their impact is on OLR. Thus by changing ice crystal size in the coldest cirrus, OLR and climate might be modified. Fortunately the coldest cirrus have the highest ice supersaturation due to the dominance of homogeneous freezing nucleation. Seeding such cirrus with very efficient heterogeneous ice nuclei should produce larger ice crystals due to vapor competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing are more negative than -2.8 W m{sup -2} and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO{sub 2} doubling (3.7 W m{sup -2}). A potential delivery mechanism for the seeding material is already in place: the airline industry. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are relatively short, the climate might return to its normal state within months after stopping the geoengineering experiment. The main known drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It does not have many of the drawbacks that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has.

Cloud-to-ground lightning in Portugal: patterns and dynamical forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, J. A.; Reis, M. A.; Sousa, J.; Leite, S. M.; Correia, S.; Janeira, M.; Fragoso, M.

2012-03-01

An analysis of the cloud-to-ground discharges (CGD) over Portugal is carried out using data collected by a network of sensors maintained by the Portuguese Meteorological Institute for 2003-2009 (7 yr). Only cloud-to-ground flashes are considered and negative polarity CGD are largely dominant. The total number of discharges reveals a considerable interannual variability and a large irregularity in their distribution throughout the year. However, it is shown that a large number of discharges occur in the May-September period (71%), with a bimodal distribution that peaks in May and September, with most of the lightning activity recorded in the afternoon (from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC). In spring and autumn the lightning activity tends to be scattered throughout the country, whereas in summer it tends to be more concentrated over northeastern Portugal. Winter generally presents low lightning activity. Furthermore, two significant couplings between the monthly number of days with discharges and the large-scale atmospheric circulation are isolated: a regional forcing, predominantly in summer, and a remote forcing. In fact, the identification of daily lightning regimes revealed three important atmospheric conditions for triggering lightning activity: regional cut-off lows, cold troughs induced by remote low pressure systems and summertime regional low pressures at low-tropospheric levels combined with a mid-tropospheric cold trough.

Strong modification of stratospheric ozone forcing by cloud and sea-ice adjustments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Xia

2016-06-01

Full Text Available We investigate the climatic impact of stratospheric ozone recovery (SOR, with a focus on the surface temperature change in atmosphere–slab ocean coupled climate simulations. We find that although SOR would cause significant surface warming (global mean: 0.2 K in a climate free of clouds and sea ice, it causes surface cooling (−0.06 K in the real climate. The results here are especially interesting in that the stratosphere-adjusted radiative forcing is positive in both cases. Radiation diagnosis shows that the surface cooling is mainly due to a strong radiative effect resulting from significant reduction of global high clouds and, to a lesser extent, from an increase in high-latitude sea ice. Our simulation experiments suggest that clouds and sea ice are sensitive to stratospheric ozone perturbation, which constitutes a significant radiative adjustment that influences the sign and magnitude of the global surface temperature change.

Aerosols, clouds and their climatic impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulmala, M; Laaksonen, A; Korhonen, P [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Physics

1996-12-31

The increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane may drive a significant warming of the earth`s climate. However, a topic of more recent attention is the possibility that increased atmospheric concentrations of aerosol particles might drive a cooling of the planet. There are two distinct cooling mechanisms related to the enhanced concentrations of aerosol particles: the increase in the direct reflection of solar radiation (the direct effect), and the increase in cloud reflectivity caused by greater numbers of cloud condensation nuclei available (the indirect effect). Aerosols and clouds play a major role in the scattering and absorption of radiation in the Earth`s atmosphere. Locally the net effect can vary because of different kinds of surfaces. But according to measurements, the global net effect of clouds (and aerosols) on the atmosphere is net cooling and thus in opposition to the effect of greenhouse gases. The prediction of the future evolution of the climate involves substantial uncertainties. Clouds have a major effect on the radiation balance of the Earth and the prediction of amount and radiative properties of clouds is very difficult. Also the formation mechanisms and residence times of aerosol particles in the atmosphere involve large uncertainties. Thus the most serious difficulties arise in the area of the physics of clouds and aerosols

Aerosols, clouds and their climatic impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulmala, M.; Laaksonen, A.; Korhonen, P. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Physics

1995-12-31

The increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane may drive a significant warming of the earth`s climate. However, a topic of more recent attention is the possibility that increased atmospheric concentrations of aerosol particles might drive a cooling of the planet. There are two distinct cooling mechanisms related to the enhanced concentrations of aerosol particles: the increase in the direct reflection of solar radiation (the direct effect), and the increase in cloud reflectivity caused by greater numbers of cloud condensation nuclei available (the indirect effect). Aerosols and clouds play a major role in the scattering and absorption of radiation in the Earth`s atmosphere. Locally the net effect can vary because of different kinds of surfaces. But according to measurements, the global net effect of clouds (and aerosols) on the atmosphere is net cooling and thus in opposition to the effect of greenhouse gases. The prediction of the future evolution of the climate involves substantial uncertainties. Clouds have a major effect on the radiation balance of the Earth and the prediction of amount and radiative properties of clouds is very difficult. Also the formation mechanisms and residence times of aerosol particles in the atmosphere involve large uncertainties. Thus the most serious difficulties arise in the area of the physics of clouds and aerosols

On the Representation of Cloud Phase in Global Climate Models, and its Importance for Simulations of Climate Forcings and Feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Storelvmo, Trude; Sagoo, Navjit; Tan, Ivy

2016-04-01

Despite the growing effort in improving the cloud microphysical schemes in GCMs, most of this effort has not focused on improving the ability of GCMs to accurately simulate phase partitioning in mixed-phase clouds. Getting the relative proportion of liquid droplets and ice crystals in clouds right in GCMs is critical for the representation of cloud radiative forcings and cloud-climate feedbacks. Here, we first present satellite observations of cloud phase obtained by NASA's CALIOP instrument, and report on robust statistical relationships between cloud phase and several aerosols species that have been demonstrated to act as ice nuclei (IN) in laboratory studies. We then report on results from model intercomparison projects that reveal that GCMs generally underestimate the amount of supercooled liquid in clouds. For a selected GCM (NCAR 's CAM5), we thereafter show that the underestimate can be attributed to two main factors: i) the presence of IN in the mixed-phase temperature range, and ii) the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process, which converts liquid to ice once ice crystals have formed. Finally, we show that adjusting these two processes such that the GCM's cloud phase is in agreement with the observed has a substantial impact on the simulated radiative forcing due to IN perturbations, as well as on the cloud-climate feedbacks and ultimately climate sensitivity simulated by the GCM.

Modeling UV Radiation Feedback from Massive Stars. II. Dispersal of Star-forming Giant Molecular Clouds by Photoionization and Radiation Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeong-Gyu; Kim, Woong-Tae; Ostriker, Eve C.

2018-05-01

UV radiation feedback from young massive stars plays a key role in the evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) by photoevaporating and ejecting the surrounding gas. We conduct a suite of radiation hydrodynamic simulations of star cluster formation in marginally bound, turbulent GMCs, focusing on the effects of photoionization and radiation pressure on regulating the net star formation efficiency (SFE) and cloud lifetime. We find that the net SFE depends primarily on the initial gas surface density, Σ0, such that the SFE increases from 4% to 51% as Σ0 increases from 13 to 1300 {M}ȯ {pc}}-2. Cloud destruction occurs within 2–10 Myr after the onset of radiation feedback, or within 0.6–4.1 freefall times (increasing with Σ0). Photoevaporation dominates the mass loss in massive, low surface density clouds, but because most photons are absorbed in an ionization-bounded Strömgren volume, the photoevaporated gas fraction is proportional to the square root of the SFE. The measured momentum injection due to thermal and radiation pressure forces is proportional to {{{Σ }}}0-0.74, and the ejection of neutrals substantially contributes to the disruption of low mass and/or high surface density clouds. We present semi-analytic models for cloud dispersal mediated by photoevaporation and by dynamical mass ejection, and show that the predicted net SFE and mass loss efficiencies are consistent with the results of our numerical simulations.

Variability of the contrail radiative forcing due to crystal shape

Science.gov (United States)

Markowicz, K. M.; Witek, M. L.

2011-12-01

The aim of this study is to examine the influence of particles' shape and particles' optical properties on the contrail radiative forcing. Contrail optical properties in the shortwave and longwave range are derived using a ray-tracing geometric method and the discrete dipole approximation method, respectively. Both methods present good correspondence of the single scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter in a transition range (3-7μm). We compare optical properties defined following simple 10 crystals habits randomly oriented: hexagonal plates, hexagonal columns with different aspect ratio, and spherical. There are substantial differences in single scattering properties between ten crystal models investigated here (e.g. hexagonal columns and plates with different aspect ratios, spherical particles). The single scattering albedo and the asymmetry parameter both vary up to 0.1 between various crystal shapes. Radiative forcing calculations were performed using a model which includes an interface between the state-of-the-art radiative transfer model Fu-Liou and databases containing optical properties of the atmosphere and surface reflectance and emissivity. This interface allows to determine radiative fluxes in the atmosphere and to estimate the contrail radiative forcing for clear- and all-sky (including natural clouds) conditions for various crystal shapes. The Fu-Liou code is fast and therefore it is suitable for computing radiative forcing on a global scale. At the same time it has sufficiently good accuracy for such global applications. A noticeable weakness of the Fu-Liou code is that it does not take into account the 3D radiative effects, e.g. cloud shading and horizontal. Radiative transfer model calculations were performed at horizontal resolution of 5x5 degree and time resolution of 20 min during day and 3 h during night. In order to calculate a geographic distribution of the global and annual mean contrail radiative forcing, the contrail cover must be

The cloud-radiative forcing of the U.S. landfalling atmospheric rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qianwen

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are narrow channels in the atmosphere that transport an enormous amount of moisture from the tropics to the higher latitudes. Streaks of highly reflective clouds are observed along with the ARs in satellite imagery. These clouds both influence the moisture transport of ARs, as well as modify the Earth-Atmospheric energy budget through pathways such as cloud-radiative forcing (CRF). This dissertation studies the CRF of the U.S. Landfalling ARs in weather and climate scales. Three crucial questions are addressed. First, how do clouds produced by the ARs modulate the moisture and heat balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system? Even though studies of ARs date back to the 90s, past research has been primarily focused on their hydrological impacts. We addressed this research gap by comparing the dominant types of precipitating clouds and convection of two ARs. Through quantifying their effects on the energy balance in the midlatitudes, we found that when deep convection was the dominant cloud types of an AR, impressive CRF cooling was produced. Second, what are the sufficient climate conditions for the extensive CRF in the continental U.S.? We studied 60 ARs that reached the California coast (the Southwest ARs) and 60 ARs that reached Pacific Northwest during Nov-Mar, 2000-2008. It was found that when these West-Coast ARs were followed by the moisture surge from the Gulf of Mexico (the Gulf-Coast AR), it resulted in apparent statewide CRF. Such condition happened more frequently in the Southwest-AR scenario. Third, how does the subgrid-scale-convection-induced CRF influence the moisture transport of ARs?We ran two WRF ARW simulations for a Southwest-AR that was followed by a Gulf-Coast AR. The only difference between the two simulations was one considered the CRF of subgrid-scale clouds while the other did not. By comparing the two simulations, we found that the subgrid-scale-convection-induced CRF helped prolong the lifespan of clouds in an AR

A Ten-Year Global Record of Absorbing Aerosols Above Clouds from OMI's Near-UV Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Jethva, Hiren; Torres, Omar; Ahn, Changwoo

2016-01-01

Aerosol-cloud interaction continues to be one of the leading uncertain components of climate models, primarily due to the lack of an adequate knowledge of the complex microphysical and radiative processes associated with the aerosol-cloud system. The situations when aerosols and clouds are found in the same atmospheric column, for instance, when light-absorbing aerosols such as biomass burning generated carbonaceous particles or wind-blown dust overlay low-level cloud decks, are commonly found over several regional of the world. Contrary to the cloud-free scenario over dark surface, for which aerosols are known to produce a net cooling effect (negative radiative forcing) on climate, the overlapping situation of absorbing aerosols over cloud can potentially exert a significant level of atmospheric absorption and produces a positive radiative forcing at top-of-atmosphere. The magnitude of direct radiative effects of aerosols above cloud depends directly on the aerosol loading, microphysical-optical properties of the aerosol layer and the underlying cloud deck, and geometric cloud fraction. We help in addressing this problem by introducing a novel product of optical depth of absorbing aerosols above clouds retrieved from near-UV observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board NASA's Aura platform. The presence of absorbing aerosols above cloud reduces the upwelling radiation reflected by cloud and produces a strong 'color ratio' effect in the near-UV region, which can be unambiguously detected in the OMI measurements. Physically based on this effect, the OMACA algorithm retrieves the optical depths of aerosols and clouds simultaneously under a prescribed state of atmosphere. The algorithm architecture and results from a ten-year global record including global climatology of frequency of occurrence and above-cloud aerosol optical depth, and a discussion on related future field campaigns are presented.

Modification of cirrus clouds to reduce global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, D. L.

2009-12-01

Since both greenhouse gases and cirrus clouds strongly affect outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) with no affect or less affect on solar radiation, respectively, an attempt to delay global warming to buy time for emission reduction strategies to work might naturally target cirrus clouds. Cirrus having optical depths competition effects, thus increasing OLR and surface cooling. Preliminary estimates of this global net cloud forcing via GCM simulations are more negative than -2.8 W m-2 and could neutralize the radiative forcing due to a CO2 doubling (3.7 W m-2). This cirrus engineered net forcing is due to (1) reduced cirrus coverage and (2) reduced upper tropospheric water vapor, due to enhanced ice sedimentation. The implementation of this climate engineering could use the airline industry to disperse the seeding material. Commercial airliners typically fly at temperatures between -40 and -60 deg. C (where homogeneous freezing nucleation dominates). Weather modification research has developed ice nucleating substances that are extremely effective at these cold temperatures, are non-toxic and are relatively inexpensive. The seeding material could be released in both clear and cloudy conditions to build up a background concentration of efficient ice nuclei so that non-contrail cirrus will experience these nuclei and grow larger ice crystals. Flight corridors are denser in the high- and mid-latitudes where global warming is more severe. A risk with any geoengineering experiment is that it could affect climate in unforeseen ways, causing more harm than good. Since seeding aerosol residence times in the troposphere are 1-2 weeks, the climate might return back to its normal state within a few months after stopping the geoengineering. A drawback to this approach is that it would not stop ocean acidification. It may not have many of the draw-backs that stratospheric injection of sulfur species has, such as ozone destruction, decreased solar radiation possibly altering the

Modeling Message Queueing Services with Reliability Guarantee in Cloud Computing Environment Using Colored Petri Nets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Motivated by the need for loosely coupled and asynchronous dissemination of information, message queues are widely used in large-scale application areas. With the advent of virtualization technology, cloud-based message queueing services (CMQSs with distributed computing and storage are widely adopted to improve availability, scalability, and reliability; however, a critical issue is its performance and the quality of service (QoS. While numerous approaches evaluating system performance are available, there is no modeling approach for estimating and analyzing the performance of CMQSs. In this paper, we employ both the analytical and simulation modeling to address the performance of CMQSs with reliability guarantee. We present a visibility-based modeling approach (VMA for simulation model using colored Petri nets (CPN. Our model incorporates the important features of message queueing services in the cloud such as replication, message consistency, resource virtualization, and especially the mechanism named visibility timeout which is adopted in the services to guarantee system reliability. Finally, we evaluate our model through different experiments under varied scenarios to obtain important performance metrics such as total message delivery time, waiting number, and components utilization. Our results reveal considerable insights into resource scheduling and system configuration for service providers to estimate and gain performance optimization.

The positive net radiative greenhouse gas forcing of increasing methane emissions from a thawing boreal forest-wetland landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Helbig, Manuel; Chasmer, Laura E; Kljun, NatasCha; Quinton, William L; Treat, Claire C; Sonnentag, Oliver

2017-06-01

At the southern margin of permafrost in North America, climate change causes widespread permafrost thaw. In boreal lowlands, thawing forested permafrost peat plateaus ('forest') lead to expansion of permafrost-free wetlands ('wetland'). Expanding wetland area with saturated and warmer organic soils is expected to increase landscape methane (CH 4 ) emissions. Here, we quantify the thaw-induced increase in CH 4 emissions for a boreal forest-wetland landscape in the southern Taiga Plains, Canada, and evaluate its impact on net radiative forcing relative to potential long-term net carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) exchange. Using nested wetland and landscape eddy covariance net CH 4 flux measurements in combination with flux footprint modeling, we find that landscape CH 4 emissions increase with increasing wetland-to-forest ratio. Landscape CH 4 emissions are most sensitive to this ratio during peak emission periods, when wetland soils are up to 10 °C warmer than forest soils. The cumulative growing season (May-October) wetland CH 4 emission of ~13 g CH 4  m -2 is the dominating contribution to the landscape CH 4 emission of ~7 g CH 4  m -2 . In contrast, forest contributions to landscape CH 4 emissions appear to be negligible. The rapid wetland expansion of 0.26 ± 0.05% yr -1 in this region causes an estimated growing season increase of 0.034 ± 0.007 g CH 4  m -2  yr -1 in landscape CH 4 emissions. A long-term net CO 2 uptake of >200 g CO 2  m -2  yr -1 is required to offset the positive radiative forcing of increasing CH 4 emissions until the end of the 21st century as indicated by an atmospheric CH 4 and CO 2 concentration model. However, long-term apparent carbon accumulation rates in similar boreal forest-wetland landscapes and eddy covariance landscape net CO 2 flux measurements suggest a long-term net CO 2 uptake between 49 and 157 g CO 2  m -2  yr -1 . Thus, thaw-induced CH 4 emission increases likely exert a positive net radiative greenhouse gas

The Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Investigating the Influence of Clouds on the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water

Science.gov (United States)

Kahre, Melinda A.; Haberle, Robert M.; Hollingsworth, Jeffery L.; Brecht, Amanda S.; Urata, Richard A.

2015-11-01

The dust and water cycles are critical to the current Martian climate, and they interact with each other through cloud formation. Dust modulates the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly influences atmospheric circulation. Clouds provide radiative forcing and control the net hemispheric transport of water through the alteration of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent advancements in the quality and sophistication of both climate models and observations enable an increased understanding of how the coupling between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) impacts the dust and water cycles. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distributions of dust and water and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. We utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) to show that the magnitude and nature of the hemispheric exchange of water during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. Further, we investigate how clouds influence atmospheric temperatures and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to isolate and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

The Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Investigating the Influence of Clouds on the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahre, M. A.; Haberle, R. M.; Hollingsworth, J. L.; Brecht, A. S.; Urata, R.

2015-01-01

The dust and water cycles are critical to the current Martian climate, and they interact with each other through cloud formation. Dust modulates the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly influences atmospheric circulation. Clouds provide radiative forcing and control the net hemispheric transport of water through the alteration of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent advancements in the quality and sophistication of both climate models and observations enable an increased understanding of how the coupling between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) impacts the dust and water cycles. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distributions of dust and water and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. We utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) to show that the magnitude and nature of the hemispheric exchange of water during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. Further, we investigate how clouds influence atmospheric temperatures and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to isolate and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

How small is a small cloud?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Koren

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The interplay between clouds and aerosols and their contribution to the radiation budget is one of the largest uncertainties of climate change. Most work to date has separated cloudy and cloud-free areas in order to evaluate the individual radiative forcing of aerosols, clouds, and aerosol effects on clouds.

Here we examine the size distribution and the optical properties of small, sparse cumulus clouds and the associated optical properties of what is considered a cloud-free atmosphere within the cloud field. We show that any separation between clouds and cloud free atmosphere will incur errors in the calculated radiative forcing.

The nature of small cumulus cloud size distributions suggests that at any resolution, a significant fraction of the clouds are missed, and their optical properties are relegated to the apparent cloud-free optical properties. At the same time, the cloudy portion incorporates significant contribution from non-cloudy pixels.

We show that the largest contribution to the total cloud reflectance comes from the smallest clouds and that the spatial resolution changes the apparent energy flux of a broken cloudy scene. When changing the resolution from 30 m to 1 km (Landsat to MODIS the average "cloud-free" reflectance at 1.65 μm increases from 0.0095 to 0.0115 (>20%, the cloud reflectance decreases from 0.13 to 0.066 (~50%, and the cloud coverage doubles, resulting in an important impact on climate forcing estimations. The apparent aerosol forcing is on the order of 0.5 to 1 Wm⁻² per cloud field.

The influence of cirrus cloud-radiative forcing on climate and climate sensitivity in a general circulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lohmann, U.; Roeckner, E.

1994-01-01

Six numerical experiments have been performed with a general circulation model (GCM) to study the influence of high-level cirrus clouds and global sea surface temperature (SST) perturbations on climate and climate sensitivity. The GCM used in this investigation is the third-generation ECHAM3 model developed jointly by the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology and the University of Hamburg. It is shown that the model is able to reproduce many features of the observed cloud-radiative forcing with considerable skill, such as the annual mean distribution, the response to seasonal forcing and the response to observed SST variations in the equatorial Pacific. In addition to a reference experiment where the cirrus emissivity is computed as a function of the cloud water content, two sensitivity experiments have been performed in which the cirrus emissivity is either set to zero everywhere above 400 hPa ('transparent cirrus') or set to one ('black cirrus'). These three experiments are repeated identically, except for prescribing a globally uniform SST warming of 4 K. (orig.)

High performance cloud auditing and applications

CERN Document Server

Choi, Baek-Young; Song, Sejun

2014-01-01

This book mainly focuses on cloud security and high performance computing for cloud auditing. The book discusses emerging challenges and techniques developed for high performance semantic cloud auditing, and presents the state of the art in cloud auditing, computing and security techniques with focus on technical aspects and feasibility of auditing issues in federated cloud computing environments.   In summer 2011, the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) CyberBAT Cloud Security and Auditing Team initiated the exploration of the cloud security challenges and future cloud auditing research directions that are covered in this book. This work was supported by the United States government funds from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the AFOSR Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Visiting Faculty Research Program (VFRP), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH). All chapters were partially suppor...

Tropical High Cloud Fraction Controlled by Cloud Lifetime Rather Than Clear-sky Convergence

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, J.; Jeevanjee, N.; Romps, D. M.

2016-12-01

Observations and simulations show a peak in cloud fraction below the tropopause. This peak is usually attributed to a roughly co-located peak in radiatively-driven clear-sky convergence, which is presumed to force convective detrainment and thus promote large cloud fraction. Using simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium forced by various radiative cooling profiles, we refute this mechanism by showing that an upper-tropospheric peak in cloud fraction persists even in simulations with no peak in clear-sky convergence. Instead, cloud fraction profiles seem to be controlled by cloud lifetimes — i.e., how long it takes for clouds to dissipate after they have detrained. A simple model of cloud evaporation shows that the small saturation deficit in the upper troposphere greatly extends cloud lifetimes there, while the large saturation deficit in the lower troposphere causes condensate to evaporate quickly. Since cloud mass flux must go to zero at the tropopause, a peak in cloud fraction emerges at a "sweet spot" below the tropopause where cloud lifetimes are long and there is still sufficient mass flux to be detrained.

Reassessing the effect of cloud type on Earth's energy balance

Science.gov (United States)

Hang, A.; L'Ecuyer, T.

2017-12-01

Cloud feedbacks depend critically on the characteristics of the clouds that change, their location and their environment. As a result, accurately predicting the impact of clouds on future climate requires a better understanding of individual cloud types and their spatial and temporal variability. This work revisits the problem of documenting the effects of distinct cloud regimes on Earth's radiation budget distinguishing cloud types according to their signatures in spaceborne active observations. Using CloudSat's multi-sensor radiative fluxes product that leverages high-resolution vertical cloud information from CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS observations to provide the most accurate estimates of vertically-resolved radiative fluxes available to date, we estimate the global annual mean net cloud radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere to be -17.1 W m-2 (-44.2 W m-2 in the shortwave and 27.1 W m-2 in the longwave), slightly weaker than previous estimates from passive sensor observations. Multi-layered cloud systems, that are often misclassified using passive techniques but are ubiquitous in both hemispheres, contribute about -6.2 W m-2 of the net cooling effect, particularly at ITCZ and higher latitudes. Another unique aspect of this work is the ability of CloudSat and CALIPSO to detect cloud boundary information providing an improved capability to accurately discern the impact of cloud-type variations on surface radiation balance, a critical factor in modulating the disposition of excess energy in the climate system. The global annual net cloud radiative effect at the surface is estimated to be -24.8 W m-2 (-51.1 W m-2 in the shortwave and 26.3 W m-2 in the longwave), dominated by shortwave heating in multi-layered and stratocumulus clouds. Corresponding estimates of the effects of clouds on atmospheric heating suggest that clouds redistribute heat from poles to equator enhancing the general circulation.

Sensitivity of aerosol indirect forcing and autoconversion to cloud droplet parameterization: an assessment with the NASA Global Modeling Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Sotiropoulou, R. P.; Meshkhidze, N.; Nenes, A.

2006-12-01

The aerosol indirect forcing is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in assessments of anthropogenic climate change [IPCC, 2001]. Much of this uncertainty arises from the approach used for linking cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) to precursor aerosol. Global Climate Models (GCM) use a wide range of cloud droplet activation mechanisms ranging from empirical [Boucher and Lohmann, 1995] to detailed physically- based formulations [e.g., Abdul-Razzak and Ghan, 2000; Fountoukis and Nenes, 2005]. The objective of this study is to assess the uncertainties in indirect forcing and autoconversion of cloud water to rain caused by the application of different cloud droplet parameterization mechanisms; this is an important step towards constraining the aerosol indirect effects (AIE). Here we estimate the uncertainty in indirect forcing and autoconversion rate using the NASA Global Model Initiative (GMI). The GMI allows easy interchange of meteorological fields, chemical mechanisms and the aerosol microphysical packages. Therefore, it is an ideal tool for assessing the effect of different parameters on aerosol indirect forcing. The aerosol module includes primary emissions, chemical production of sulfate in clear air and in-cloud aqueous phase, gravitational sedimentation, dry deposition, wet scavenging in and below clouds, and hygroscopic growth. Model inputs include SO2 (fossil fuel and natural), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), mineral dust and sea salt. The meteorological data used in this work were taken from the NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO) and two different GCMs: the NASA GEOS4 finite volume GCM (FVGCM) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies version II' (GISS II') GCM. Simulations were carried out for "present day" and "preindustrial" emissions using different meteorological fields (i.e. DAO, FVGCM, GISS II'); cloud droplet number concentration is computed from the correlations of Boucher and Lohmann [1995], Abdul-Razzak and Ghan [2000

The Coupled Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Understanding How Clouds Affect the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahre, M. A.

2015-01-01

The dust and water cycles are crucial to the current Martian climate, and they are coupled through cloud formation. Dust strongly impacts the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly affects atmospheric circulation, while clouds provide radiative forcing and control the hemispheric exchange of water through the modification of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent improvements in the quality and sophistication of both observations and climate models allow for a more comprehensive understanding of how the interaction between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) affects the dust and water cycles individually. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distribution of dust and water, and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. For this study, we utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) combined with the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM). We demonstrate that the magnitude and nature of the net meridional transport of water between the northern and southern hemispheres during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. We further examine how clouds influence the atmospheric thermal structure and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to identify and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.

Uncertainties of Large-Scale Forcing Caused by Surface Turbulence Flux Measurements and the Impacts on Cloud Simulations at the ARM SGP Site

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, S.; Xie, S.; Tang, Q.; Zhang, Y.

2017-12-01

Two types of instruments, the eddy correlation flux measurement system (ECOR) and the energy balance Bowen ratio system (EBBR), are used at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program Southern Great Plains (SGP) site to measure surface latent and sensible fluxes. ECOR and EBBR typically sample different land surface types, and the domain-mean surface fluxes derived from ECOR and EBBR are not always consistent. The uncertainties of the surface fluxes will have impacts on the derived large-scale forcing data and further affect the simulations of single-column models (SCM), cloud-resolving models (CRM) and large-eddy simulation models (LES), especially for the shallow-cumulus clouds which are mainly driven by surface forcing. This study aims to quantify the uncertainties of the large-scale forcing caused by surface turbulence flux measurements and investigate the impacts on cloud simulations using long-term observations from the ARM SGP site.

Cloud radiative effects and changes simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sun-Hee; Kim, Ok-Yeon; Kim, Dongmin; Lee, Myong-In

2017-07-01

Using 32 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models, this study examines the veracity in the simulation of cloud amount and their radiative effects (CREs) in the historical run driven by observed external radiative forcing for 1850-2005, and their future changes in the RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 4.5 scenario runs for 2006-2100. Validation metrics for the historical run are designed to examine the accuracy in the representation of spatial patterns for climatological mean, and annual and interannual variations of clouds and CREs. The models show large spread in the simulation of cloud amounts, specifically in the low cloud amount. The observed relationship between cloud amount and the controlling large-scale environment are also reproduced diversely by various models. Based on the validation metrics, four models—ACCESS1.0, ACCESS1.3, HadGEM2-CC, and HadGEM2-ES—are selected as best models, and the average of the four models performs more skillfully than the multimodel ensemble average. All models project global-mean SST warming at the increase of the greenhouse gases, but the magnitude varies across the simulations between 1 and 2 K, which is largely attributable to the difference in the change of cloud amount and distribution. The models that simulate more SST warming show a greater increase in the net CRE due to reduced low cloud and increased incoming shortwave radiation, particularly over the regions of marine boundary layer in the subtropics. Selected best-performing models project a significant reduction in global-mean cloud amount of about -0.99% K-1 and net radiative warming of 0.46 W m-2 K-1, suggesting a role of positive feedback to global warming.

Flare-generated clouds as compact force-free toroidal configurations: magnetic measurements by the Vega-1 and Vega-2 space probes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, K.G.; Kharshiladze, A.F.; Eroshenko, E.G.; Styazhkin, V.A.

1988-01-01

Magnetic field experimental profiles, obtained during Vega-I and Vega-2 space vehicles passing through interplanetary cloud on the 16.02.1986, are compared with approximate theoretical profiles, taken from different hypotheses about such clouds structure. Maximum correlation of the theory and experiment is obtained with cloud presentation as flattened compact force-free toroid, which equatorial plane is approximately parallel to great circle plane, passing through flare on the 14.02.86 parallel to magnetic axis nearest to bipolar group flare

What is the impact of natural variability and aerosol-cloud interaction on the effective radiative forcing of anthropogenic aerosol?

Science.gov (United States)

Fiedler, S.; Stevens, B.; Mauritsen, T.

2017-12-01

State-of-the-art climate models have persistently shown a spread in estimates of the effective radiative forcing (ERF) associated with anthropogenic aerosol. Different reasons for the spread are known, but their relative importance is poorly understood. In this presentation we investigate the role of natural atmospheric variability, global patterns of aerosol radiative effects, and magnitudes of aerosol-cloud interaction in controlling the ERF of anthropogenic aerosol (Fiedler et al., 2017). We use the Earth system model MPI-ESM1.2 for conducting ensembles of atmosphere-only simulations and calculate the shortwave ERF of anthropogenic aerosol at the top of the atmosphere. The radiative effects are induced with the new parameterisation MACv2-SP (Stevens et al., 2017) that prescribes observationally constrained anthropogenic aerosol optical properties and an associated Twomey effect. Firstly, we compare the ERF of global patterns of anthropogenic aerosol from the mid-1970s and today. Our results suggest that such a substantial pattern difference has a negligible impact on the global mean ERF, when the natural variability of the atmosphere is considered. The clouds herein efficiently mask the clear-sky contributions to the forcing and reduce the detectability of significant anthropogenic aerosol radiative effects in all-sky conditions. Secondly, we strengthen the forcing magnitude through increasing the effect of aerosol-cloud interaction by prescribing an enhanced Twomey effect. In that case, the different spatial pattern of aerosol radiative effects from the mid-1970s and today causes a moderate change (15%) in the ERF of anthropogenic aerosol in our model. This finding lets us speculate that models with strong aerosol-cloud interactions would show a stronger ERF change with anthropogenic aerosol patterns. Testing whether the anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing is model-dependent under prescribed aerosol conditions is currently ongoing work using MACv2-SP in

Cloud4Psi: cloud computing for 3D protein structure similarity searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Mrozek, Dariusz; Małysiak-Mrozek, Bożena; Kłapciński, Artur

2014-10-01

Popular methods for 3D protein structure similarity searching, especially those that generate high-quality alignments such as Combinatorial Extension (CE) and Flexible structure Alignment by Chaining Aligned fragment pairs allowing Twists (FATCAT) are still time consuming. As a consequence, performing similarity searching against large repositories of structural data requires increased computational resources that are not always available. Cloud computing provides huge amounts of computational power that can be provisioned on a pay-as-you-go basis. We have developed the cloud-based system that allows scaling of the similarity searching process vertically and horizontally. Cloud4Psi (Cloud for Protein Similarity) was tested in the Microsoft Azure cloud environment and provided good, almost linearly proportional acceleration when scaled out onto many computational units. Cloud4Psi is available as Software as a Service for testing purposes at: http://cloud4psi.cloudapp.net/. For source code and software availability, please visit the Cloud4Psi project home page at http://zti.polsl.pl/dmrozek/science/cloud4psi.htm. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

MPL-net at ARM Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Spinhirne, J. D.; Welton, E. J.; Campbell, J. R.; Berkoff, T. A.; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The NASA MPL-net project goal is consistent data products of the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosol from globally distributed lidar observation sites. The four ARM micro pulse lidars are a basis of the network to consist of over twelve sites. The science objective is ground truth for global satellite retrievals and accurate vertical distribution information in combination with surface radiation measurements for aerosol and cloud models. The project involves improvement in instruments and data processing and cooperation with ARM and other partners.

Sea Ice, Clouds, Sunlight, and Albedo: The Umbrella Versus the Blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Perovich, D. K.

2017-12-01

The Arctic sea ice cover has undergone a major decline in recent years, with reductions in ice extent, ice thickness, and ice age. Understanding the feedbacks and forcing driving these changes is critical in improving predictions. The surface radiation budget plays a central role in summer ice melt and is governed by clouds and surface albedo. Clouds act as an umbrella reducing the downwelling shortwave, but also serve as a blanket increasing the downwelling longwave, with the surface albedo also determining the net balance. Using field observations from the SHEBA program, pairs of clear and cloudy days were selected for each month from May through September and the net radiation flux was calculated for different surface conditions and albedos. To explore the impact of albedo we calculated a break even albedo, where the net radiation for cloudy skies is the same as clear skies. For albedos larger than the break-even value the net radiation flux is smaller under clear skies compared to cloudy skies. Break-even albedos ranged from 0.30 in September to 0.58 in July. For snow covered or bare ice, clear skies always resulted in less radiative heat input. In contrast, leads always had, and ponds usually had, more radiative heat input under clear skies than cloudy skies. Snow covered ice had a net radiation flux that was negative or near zero under clear skies resulting in radiative cooling. We combined the albedo of individual ice types with the area of those ice types to calculate albedos averaged over a 50 km x 50 km area. The July case had the smallest areally averaged albedo of 0.50. This was less than the breakeven albedo, so cloudy skies had a smaller net radiation flux than clear skies. For the cases from the other four months, the areally averaged albedo was greater than the break-even albedo. The areally averaged net radiation flux was negative under clear skies for the May and September cases.

Zonal Aerosol Direct and Indirect Radiative Forcing using Combined CALIOP, CERES, CloudSat, and CERES Data

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, W. F.; Kato, S.; Rose, F. G.; Sun-Mack, S.

2009-12-01

Under the NASA Energy and Water Cycle System (NEWS) program, cloud and aerosol properties derived from CALIPSO, CloudSat, and MODIS data then matched to the CERES footprint are used for irradiance profile computations. Irradiance profiles are included in the publicly available product, CCCM. In addition to the MODIS and CALIPSO generated aerosol, aerosol optical thickness is calculated over ocean by processing MODIS radiance through the Stowe-Ignatov algorithm. The CERES cloud mask and properties algorithm are use with MODIS radiance to provide additional cloud information to accompany the actively sensed data. The passively sensed data is the only input to the standard CERES radiative flux products. The combined information is used as input to the NASA Langley Fu-Liou radiative transfer model to determine vertical profiles and Top of Atmosphere shortwave and longwave flux for pristine, all-sky, and aerosol conditions for the special data product. In this study, the three sources of aerosol optical thickness will be compared directly and their influence on the calculated and measured TOA fluxes. Earlier studies indicate that the largest uncertainty in estimating direct aerosol forcing using aerosol optical thickness derived from passive sensors is caused by cloud contamination. With collocated CALIPSO data, we are able to estimate frequency of occurrence of cloud contamination, effect on the aerosol optical thickness and direct radiative effect estimates.

Measuring cloud service health using NetFlow/IPFIX: the WikiLeaks case

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drago, Idilio; Hofstede, R.J.; Sadre, R.; Sperotto, Anna; Pras, Aiko

The increasing trend of outsourcing services to cloud providers is changing the way computing power is delivered to enterprises and end users. Although cloud services offer several advantages, they also make cloud consumers strongly dependent on providers. Hence, consumers have a vital interest to

The effect of Arctic sea-ice extent on the absorbed (net solar flux at the surface, based on ISCCP-D2 cloud data for 1983–2007

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Matsoukas

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We estimate the effect of the Arctic sea ice on the absorbed (net solar flux using a radiative transfer model. Ice and cloud input data to the model come from satellite observations, processed by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP and span the period July 1983–June 2007. The sea-ice effect on the solar radiation fluctuates seasonally with the solar flux and decreases interannually in synchronisation with the decreasing sea-ice extent. A disappearance of the Arctic ice cap during the sunlit period of the year would radically reduce the local albedo and cause an annually averaged 19.7 W m⁻² increase in absorbed solar flux at the Arctic Ocean surface, or equivalently an annually averaged 0.55 W m⁻² increase on the planetary scale. In the clear-sky scenario these numbers increase to 34.9 and 0.97 W m⁻², respectively. A meltdown only in September, with all other months unaffected, increases the Arctic annually averaged solar absorption by 0.32 W m⁻². We examined the net solar flux trends for the Arctic Ocean and found that the areas absorbing the solar flux more rapidly are the North Chukchi and Kara Seas, Baffin and Hudson Bays, and Davis Strait. The sensitivity of the Arctic absorbed solar flux on sea-ice extent and cloud amount was assessed. Although sea ice and cloud affect jointly the solar flux, we found little evidence of strong non-linearities.

Two-moment bulk stratiform cloud microphysics in the GFDL AM3 GCM: description, evaluation, and sensitivity tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Salzmann

2010-08-01

Full Text Available A new stratiform cloud scheme including a two-moment bulk microphysics module, a cloud cover parameterization allowing ice supersaturation, and an ice nucleation parameterization has been implemented into the recently developed GFDL AM3 general circulation model (GCM as part of an effort to treat aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions more realistically. Unlike the original scheme, the new scheme facilitates the study of cloud-ice-aerosol interactions via influences of dust and sulfate on ice nucleation. While liquid and cloud ice water path associated with stratiform clouds are similar for the new and the original scheme, column integrated droplet numbers and global frequency distributions (PDFs of droplet effective radii differ significantly. This difference is in part due to a difference in the implementation of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF mechanism, which leads to a larger contribution from super-cooled droplets in the original scheme. Clouds are more likely to be either completely glaciated or liquid due to the WBF mechanism in the new scheme. Super-saturations over ice simulated with the new scheme are in qualitative agreement with observations, and PDFs of ice numbers and effective radii appear reasonable in the light of observations. Especially, the temperature dependence of ice numbers qualitatively agrees with in-situ observations. The global average long-wave cloud forcing decreases in comparison to the original scheme as expected when super-saturation over ice is allowed. Anthropogenic aerosols lead to a larger decrease in short-wave absorption (SWABS in the new model setup, but outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR decreases as well, so that the net effect of including anthropogenic aerosols on the net radiation at the top of the atmosphere (netradTOA = SWABS-OLR is of similar magnitude for the new and the original scheme.

Two-moment bulk stratiform cloud microphysics in the GFDL AM3 GCM: description, evaluation, and sensitivity tests

Science.gov (United States)

Salzmann, M.; Ming, Y.; Golaz, J.-C.; Ginoux, P. A.; Morrison, H.; Gettelman, A.; Krämer, M.; Donner, L. J.

2010-08-01

A new stratiform cloud scheme including a two-moment bulk microphysics module, a cloud cover parameterization allowing ice supersaturation, and an ice nucleation parameterization has been implemented into the recently developed GFDL AM3 general circulation model (GCM) as part of an effort to treat aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions more realistically. Unlike the original scheme, the new scheme facilitates the study of cloud-ice-aerosol interactions via influences of dust and sulfate on ice nucleation. While liquid and cloud ice water path associated with stratiform clouds are similar for the new and the original scheme, column integrated droplet numbers and global frequency distributions (PDFs) of droplet effective radii differ significantly. This difference is in part due to a difference in the implementation of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) mechanism, which leads to a larger contribution from super-cooled droplets in the original scheme. Clouds are more likely to be either completely glaciated or liquid due to the WBF mechanism in the new scheme. Super-saturations over ice simulated with the new scheme are in qualitative agreement with observations, and PDFs of ice numbers and effective radii appear reasonable in the light of observations. Especially, the temperature dependence of ice numbers qualitatively agrees with in-situ observations. The global average long-wave cloud forcing decreases in comparison to the original scheme as expected when super-saturation over ice is allowed. Anthropogenic aerosols lead to a larger decrease in short-wave absorption (SWABS) in the new model setup, but outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) decreases as well, so that the net effect of including anthropogenic aerosols on the net radiation at the top of the atmosphere (netradTOA = SWABS-OLR) is of similar magnitude for the new and the original scheme.

Net radiative forcing and air quality responses to regional CO emission reductions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. Fry

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Carbon monoxide (CO emissions influence global and regional air quality and global climate change by affecting atmospheric oxidants and secondary species. We simulate the influence of halving anthropogenic CO emissions globally and individually from 10 regions on surface and tropospheric ozone, methane, and aerosol concentrations using a global chemical transport model (MOZART-4 for the year 2005. Net radiative forcing (RF is then estimated using the GFDL (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory standalone radiative transfer model. We estimate that halving global CO emissions decreases global annual average concentrations of surface ozone by 0.45 ppbv, tropospheric methane by 73 ppbv, and global annual net RF by 36.1 mW m−2, nearly equal to the sum of changes from the 10 regional reductions. Global annual net RF per unit change in emissions and the 100 yr global warming potential (GWP100 are estimated as −0.124 mW m−2 (Tg CO−1 and 1.34, respectively, for the global CO reduction, and ranging from −0.115 to −0.131 mW m−2 (Tg CO−1 and 1.26 to 1.44 across 10 regions, with the greatest sensitivities for regions in the tropics. The net RF distributions show widespread cooling corresponding to the O3 and CH4 decreases, and localized positive and negative net RFs due to changes in aerosols. The strongest annual net RF impacts occur within the tropics (28° S–28° N followed by the northern midlatitudes (28° N–60° N, independent of reduction region, while the greatest changes in surface CO and ozone concentrations occur within the reduction region. Some regional reductions strongly influence the air quality in other regions, such as East Asia, which has an impact on US surface ozone that is 93% of that from North America. Changes in the transport of CO and downwind ozone production clearly exceed the direct export of ozone from each reduction region. The small variation in CO GWPs among world regions suggests that future international

Cloud Computing Bible

CERN Document Server

Sosinsky, Barrie

2010-01-01

The complete reference guide to the hot technology of cloud computingIts potential for lowering IT costs makes cloud computing a major force for both IT vendors and users; it is expected to gain momentum rapidly with the launch of Office Web Apps later this year. Because cloud computing involves various technologies, protocols, platforms, and infrastructure elements, this comprehensive reference is just what you need if you'll be using or implementing cloud computing.Cloud computing offers significant cost savings by eliminating upfront expenses for hardware and software; its growing popularit

Sensitivity of tropical convection in cloud-resolving WRF simulations to model physics and forcing procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, S.; Lin, W.; Jackson, R. C.; Collis, S. M.; Vogelmann, A. M.; Wang, D.; Oue, M.; Kollias, P.

2017-12-01

Tropical convection is one of the main drivers of the climate system and recognized as a major source of uncertainty in climate models. High-resolution modeling is performed with a focus on the deep convection cases during the active monsoon period of the TWP-ICE field campaign to explore ways to improve the fidelity of convection permitting tropical simulations. Cloud resolving model (CRM) simulations are performed with WRF modified to apply flexible configurations for LES/CRM simulations. We have enhanced the capability of the forcing module to test different implementations of large-scale vertical advective forcing, including a function for optional use of large-scale thermodynamic profiles and a function for the condensate advection. The baseline 3D CRM configurations are, following Fridlind et al. (2012), driven by observationally-constrained ARM forcing and tested with diagnosed surface fluxes and fixed sea-surface temperature and prescribed aerosol size distributions. After the spin-up period, the simulations follow the observed precipitation peaks associated with the passages of precipitation systems. Preliminary analysis shows that the simulation is generally not sensitive to the treatment of the large-scale vertical advection of heat and moisture, while more noticeable changes in the peak precipitation rate are produced when thermodynamic profiles above the boundary layer were nudged to the reference profiles from the forcing dataset. The presentation will explore comparisons with observationally-based metrics associated with convective characteristics and examine the model performance with a focus on model physics, doubly-periodic vs. nested configurations, and different forcing procedures/sources. A radar simulator will be used to understand possible uncertainties in radar-based retrievals of convection properties. Fridlind, A. M., et al. (2012), A comparison of TWP-ICE observational data with cloud-resolving model results, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D05204

Cloud Scavenging Effects on Aerosol Radiative and Cloud-nucleating Properties - Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ogren, John A.; Sheridan, Patrick S.; Andrews, Elisabeth

2009-03-05

The optical properties of aerosol particles are the controlling factors in determining direct aerosol radiative forcing. These optical properties depend on the chemical composition and size distribution of the aerosol particles, which can change due to various processes during the particles’ lifetime in the atmosphere. Over the course of this project we have studied how cloud processing of atmospheric aerosol changes the aerosol optical properties. A counterflow virtual impactor was used to separate cloud drops from interstitial aerosol and parallel aerosol systems were used to measure the optical properties of the interstitial and cloud-scavenged aerosol. Specifically, aerosol light scattering, back-scattering and absorption were measured and used to derive radiatively significant parameters such as aerosol single scattering albedo and backscatter fraction for cloud-scavenged and interstitial aerosol. This data allows us to demonstrate that the radiative properties of cloud-processed aerosol can be quite different than pre-cloud aerosol. These differences can be used to improve the parameterization of aerosol forcing in climate models.

Dynamics of magnetic clouds in interplanetary space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeh, T.

1987-01-01

Magnetic clouds observed in interplanetary space may be regarded as extraneous bodies immersed in the magnetized medium of the solar wind. The interface between a magnetic cloud and its surrounding medium separates the internal and external magnetic fields. Polarization currents are induced in the peripheral layer to make the ambient magnetic field tangential. The motion of a magnetic cloud through the interplanetary medium may be partitioned into a translational motion of the magnetic cloud as a whole and an expansive motion of the volume relative to the axis of the magnetic cloud. The translational motion is determined by two kinds of forces, i.e., the gravitational force exerted by the Sun, and the hydromagnetic buoyancy force exerted by the surrounding medium. On the other hand, the expansive motion is determined by the pressure gradient sustaining the gross difference between the internal and external pressures and by the self-induced magnetic force that results from the interaction among the internal currents. The force resulting from the internal and external currents is a part of the hydromagnetic buoyancy force, manifested by a thermal stress caused by the inhomogeneity of the ambient magnetic pressure

Dynamics of magnetic clouds in interplanetary space

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Tyan

1987-09-01

Magnetic clouds observed in interplanetary space may be regarded as extraneous bodies immersed in the magnetized medium of the solar wind. The interface between a magnetic cloud and its surrounding medium separates the internal and external magnetic fields. Polarization currents are induced in the peripheral layer to make the ambient magnetic field tangential. The motion of a magnetic cloud through the interplanetary medium may be partitioned into a translational motion of the magnetic cloud as a whole and an expansive motion of the volume relative to the axis of the magnetic cloud. The translational motion is determined by two kinds of forces, i.e., the gravitational force exerted by the Sun, and the hydromagnetic buoyancy force exerted by the surrounding medium. On the other hand, the expansive motion is determined by the pressure gradient sustaining the gross difference between the internal and external pressures and by the self-induced magnetic force that results from the interaction among the internal currents. The force resulting from the internal and external currents is a part of the hydromagnetic buoyancy force, manifested by a thermal stress caused by the inhomogeneity of the ambient magnetic pressure.

Can nudging be used to quantify model sensitivities in precipitation and cloud forcing?: NUDGING AND MODEL SENSITIVITIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Guangxing [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Richland Washington USA; Wan, Hui [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Richland Washington USA; Zhang, Kai [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Richland Washington USA; Qian, Yun [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Richland Washington USA; Ghan, Steven J. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Richland Washington USA

2016-07-10

Efficient simulation strategies are crucial for the development and evaluation of high resolution climate models. This paper evaluates simulations with constrained meteorology for the quantification of parametric sensitivities in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Two parameters are perturbed as illustrating examples: the convection relaxation time scale (TAU), and the threshold relative humidity for the formation of low-level stratiform clouds (rhminl). Results suggest that the fidelity and computational efficiency of the constrained simulations depend strongly on 3 factors: the detailed implementation of nudging, the mechanism through which the perturbed parameter affects precipitation and cloud, and the magnitude of the parameter perturbation. In the case of a strong perturbation in convection, temperature and/or wind nudging with a 6-hour relaxation time scale leads to non-negligible side effects due to the distorted interactions between resolved dynamics and parameterized convection, while a 1-year free running simulation can satisfactorily capture the annual mean precipitation sensitivity in terms of both global average and geographical distribution. In the case of a relatively weak perturbation the large-scale condensation scheme, results from 1-year free-running simulations are strongly affected by noise associated with internal variability, while nudging winds effectively reduces the noise, and reasonably reproduces the response of precipitation and cloud forcing to parameter perturbation. These results indicate that caution is needed when using nudged simulations to assess precipitation and cloud forcing sensitivities to parameter changes in general circulation models. We also demonstrate that ensembles of short simulations are useful for understanding the evolution of model sensitivities.

Electromagnetic forces distribution and mechanical analysis in the first wall structure for INTOR/NET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coccorese, E.; Martone, R.; Rubinacci, G.; Biggio, M.; Inzaghi, A.; Turri, M.

1984-01-01

In the context of the studies performed at JRC-Ispra for NET/INTOR, a modular stainless steel first wall, and separated from the blanket which it envelops has been proposed. During plasma disruption the metallic structure of the first wall is inevitably subject to appreciable electromagnetic forces caused by induced eddy current-magnetic field interactions. The deformation and stress distributions in the first wall were quantified at various instants of time by three-dimensional calculations using the ICES-STRUDL code. (author)

Why must a solar forcing be larger than a CO2 forcing to cause the same global mean surface temperature change?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modak, Angshuman; Bala, Govindasamy; Cao, Long; Caldeira, Ken

2016-01-01

Many previous studies have shown that a solar forcing must be greater than a CO 2 forcing to cause the same global mean surface temperature change but a process-based mechanistic explanation is lacking in the literature. In this study, we investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for the lower efficacy of solar forcing compared to an equivalent CO 2 forcing. Radiative forcing is estimated using the Gregory method that regresses top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative flux against the change in global mean surface temperature. For a 2.25% increase in solar irradiance that produces the same long term global mean warming as a doubling of CO 2 concentration, we estimate that the efficacy of solar forcing is ∼80% relative to CO 2 forcing in the NCAR CAM5 climate model. We find that the fast tropospheric cloud adjustments especially over land and stratospheric warming in the first four months cause the slope of the regression between the TOA net radiative fluxes and surface temperature to be steeper in the solar forcing case. This steeper slope indicates a stronger net negative feedback and hence correspondingly a larger solar forcing than CO 2 forcing for the same equilibrium surface warming. Evidence is provided that rapid land surface warming in the first four months sets up a land-sea contrast that markedly affects radiative forcing and the climate feedback parameter over this period. We also confirm the robustness of our results using simulations from the Hadley Centre climate model. Our study has important implications for estimating the magnitude of climate change caused by volcanic eruptions, solar geoengineering and past climate changes caused by change in solar irradiance such as Maunder minimum. (letter)

Black carbon semi-direct effects on cloud cover: review and synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Koch

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Absorbing aerosols (AAs such as black carbon (BC or dust absorb incoming solar radiation, perturb the temperature structure of the atmosphere, and influence cloud cover. Previous studies have described conditions under which AAs either increase or decrease cloud cover. The effect depends on several factors, including the altitude of the AA relative to the cloud and the cloud type. We attempt to categorize the effects into several likely regimes. Cloud cover is decreased if the AAs are embedded in the cloud layer. AAs below cloud may enhance convection and cloud cover. AAs above cloud top stabilize the underlying layer and tend to enhance stratocumulus clouds but may reduce cumulus clouds. AAs can also promote cloud cover in convergent regions as they enhance deep convection and low level convergence as it draws in moisture from ocean to land regions. Most global model studies indicate a regional variation in the cloud response but generally increased cloud cover over oceans and some land regions, with net increased low-level and/or reduced upper level cloud cover. The result is a net negative semi-direct effect feedback from the cloud response to AAs. In some of these climate model studies, the cooling effect of BC due to cloud changes is strong enough to essentially cancel the warming direct effects.

Radiative budget and cloud radiative effect over the Atlantic from ship-based observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Kalisch

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to determine cloud-type resolved cloud radiative budgets and cloud radiative effects from surface measurements of broadband radiative fluxes over the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, based on simultaneous observations of the state of the cloudy atmosphere, a radiative closure study has been performed by means of the ECHAM5 single column model in order to identify the model's ability to realistically reproduce the effects of clouds on the climate system.

An extensive database of radiative and atmospheric measurements has been established along five meridional cruises of the German research icebreaker Polarstern. Besides pyranometer and pyrgeometer for downward broadband solar and thermal radiative fluxes, a sky imager and a microwave radiometer have been utilized to determine cloud fraction and cloud type on the one hand and temperature and humidity profiles as well as liquid water path for warm non-precipitating clouds on the other hand.

Averaged over all cruise tracks, we obtain a total net (solar + thermal radiative flux of 144 W m⁻² that is dominated by the solar component. In general, the solar contribution is large for cirrus clouds and small for stratus clouds. No significant meridional dependencies were found for the surface radiation budgets and cloud effects. The strongest surface longwave cloud effects were shown in the presence of low level clouds. Clouds with a high optical density induce strong negative solar radiative effects under high solar altitudes. The mean surface net cloud radiative effect is −33 W m⁻².

For the purpose of quickly estimating the mean surface longwave, shortwave and net cloud effects in moderate, subtropical and tropical climate regimes, a new parameterisation was created, considering the total cloud amount and the solar zenith angle.

The ECHAM5 single column model provides a surface net cloud effect that is more

Aerosol-Induced Changes of Convective Cloud Anvils Produce Strong Climate Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Koren, I.; Remer, L. A.; Altaratz, O.; Martins, J. V.; Davidi, A.

2010-01-01

The effect of aerosol on clouds poses one of the largest uncertainties in estimating the anthropogenic contribution to climate change. Small human-induced perturbations to cloud characteristics via aerosol pathways can create a change in the top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing of hundreds of Wm(exp-2) . Here we focus on links between aerosol and deep convective clouds of the Atlantic and Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zones, noting that the aerosol environment in each region is entirely different. The tops of these vertically developed clouds consisting of mostly ice can reach high levels of the atmosphere, overshooting the lower stratosphere and reaching altitudes greater than 16 km. We show a link between aerosol, clouds and the free atmosphere wind profile that can change the magnitude and sign of the overall climate radiative forcing. We find that increased aerosol loading is associated with taller cloud towers and anvils. The taller clouds reach levels of enhanced wind speeds that act to spread and thin the anvi1 clouds, increasing areal coverage and decreasing cloud optical depth. The radiative effect of this transition is to create a positive radiative forcing (warming) at top-of-atmosphere. Furthermore we introduce the cloud optical depth (r), cloud height (Z) forcing space and show that underestimation of radiative forcing is likely to occur in cases of non homogenous clouds. Specifically, the mean radiative forcing of towers and anvils in the same scene can be several times greater than simply calculating the forcing from the mean cloud optical depth in the scene. Limitations of the method are discussed, alternative sources of aerosol loading are tested and meteorological variance is restricted, but the trend of taller clouds; increased and thinner anvils associated with increased aerosol loading remains robust through all the different tests and perturbations.

Aerosol-induced changes of convective cloud anvils produce strong climate warming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Koren

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The effect of aerosol on clouds poses one of the largest uncertainties in estimating the anthropogenic contribution to climate change. Small human-induced perturbations to cloud characteristics via aerosol pathways can create a change in the top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing of hundreds of Wm⁻². Here we focus on links between aerosol and deep convective clouds of the Atlantic and Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zones, noting that the aerosol environment in each region is entirely different. The tops of these vertically developed clouds consisting of mostly ice can reach high levels of the atmosphere, overshooting the lower stratosphere and reaching altitudes greater than 16 km. We show a link between aerosol, clouds and the free atmosphere wind profile that can change the magnitude and sign of the overall climate radiative forcing.

We find that increased aerosol loading is associated with taller cloud towers and anvils. The taller clouds reach levels of enhanced wind speeds that act to spread and thin the anvil clouds, increasing areal coverage and decreasing cloud optical depth. The radiative effect of this transition is to create a positive radiative forcing (warming at top-of-atmosphere.

Furthermore we introduce the cloud optical depth (τ, cloud height (Z forcing space and show that underestimation of radiative forcing is likely to occur in cases of non homogenous clouds. Specifically, the mean radiative forcing of towers and anvils in the same scene can be several times greater than simply calculating the forcing from the mean cloud optical depth in the scene.

Limitations of the method are discussed, alternative sources of aerosol loading are tested and meteorological variance is restricted, but the trend of taller clouds, increased and thinner anvils associated with increased aerosol loading remains robust through all the different tests and perturbations.

Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing and Forcing Efficiencies at Surface from the shortwave Irradiance Measurements in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Science.gov (United States)

Beegum S, N.; Ben Romdhane, H.; Ghedira, H.

2013-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols are known to affect the radiation balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system directly by scattering and absorbing the solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly by affecting the lifetime and albedo of the clouds. Continuous and simultaneous measurements of short wave global irradiance in combination with synchronous spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements (from 340 nm to 1640 nm in 8 channels), for a period of 1 year from June 2012 to May 2013, were used for the determination of the surface direct aerosol radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies under cloud free conditions in Abu Dhabi (24.42°N, 54.61o E, 7m MSL), a coastal location in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Arabian Peninsula. The Rotating Shadow band Pyranometer (RSP, LI-COR) was used for the irradiance measurements (in the spectral region 400-1100 nm), whereas the AOD measurements were carried out using CIMEL Sunphotometer (CE 318-2, under AERONET program). The differential method, which is neither sensitive to calibration uncertainties nor model assumptions, has been employed for estimating forcing efficiencies from the changes in the measured fluxes. The forcing efficiency, which quantifies the net change in irradiance per unit change in AOD, is an appropriate parameter for the characterization of the aerosol radiative effects even if the microphysical and optical properties of the aerosols are not completely understood. The corresponding forcing values were estimated from the forcing efficiencies. The estimated radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies exhibited strong monthly variations. The forcing efficiencies (absolute magnitudes) were highest during March, and showed continuous decrease thereafter to reach the lowest value during September. In contrast, the forcing followed a slightly different pattern of variability, with the highest solar dimming during April ( -60 W m-2) and the minimum during February ( -20 W m-2). The results indicate that the aerosol

Time-dependent, non-monotonic response of warm convective cloud fields to changes in aerosol loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Dagan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Large eddy simulations (LESs with bin microphysics are used here to study cloud fields' sensitivity to changes in aerosol loading and the time evolution of this response. Similarly to the known response of a single cloud, we show that the mean field properties change in a non-monotonic trend, with an optimum aerosol concentration for which the field reaches its maximal water mass or rain yield. This trend is a result of competition between processes that encourage cloud development versus those that suppress it. However, another layer of complexity is added when considering clouds' impact on the field's thermodynamic properties and how this is dependent on aerosol loading. Under polluted conditions, rain is suppressed and the non-precipitating clouds act to increase atmospheric instability. This results in warming of the lower part of the cloudy layer (in which there is net condensation and cooling of the upper part (net evaporation. Evaporation at the upper part of the cloudy layer in the polluted simulations raises humidity at these levels and thus amplifies the development of the next generation of clouds (preconditioning effect. On the other hand, under clean conditions, the precipitating clouds drive net warming of the cloudy layer and net cooling of the sub-cloud layer due to rain evaporation. These two effects act to stabilize the atmospheric boundary layer with time (consumption of the instability. The evolution of the field's thermodynamic properties affects the cloud properties in return, as shown by the migration of the optimal aerosol concentration toward higher values.

Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, R Paul; Gettelman, Andrew

2014-12-23

Precious little is known about the composition of low-level clouds over the Antarctic Plateau and their effect on climate. In situ measurements at the South Pole using a unique tethered balloon system and ground-based lidar reveal a much higher than anticipated incidence of low-level, mixed-phase clouds (i.e., consisting of supercooled liquid water drops and ice crystals). The high incidence of mixed-phase clouds is currently poorly represented in global climate models (GCMs). As a result, the effects that mixed-phase clouds have on climate predictions are highly uncertain. We modify the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM) GCM to align with the new observations and evaluate the radiative effects on a continental scale. The net cloud radiative effects (CREs) over Antarctica are increased by +7.4 Wm(-2), and although this is a significant change, a much larger effect occurs when the modified model physics are extended beyond the Antarctic continent. The simulations show significant net CRE over the Southern Ocean storm tracks, where recent measurements also indicate substantial regions of supercooled liquid. These sensitivity tests confirm that Southern Ocean CREs are strongly sensitive to mixed-phase clouds colder than -20 °C.

Clustering, randomness, and regularity in cloud fields: 2. Cumulus cloud fields

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, T.; Lee, J.; Weger, R. C.; Welch, R. M.

1992-12-01

During the last decade a major controversy has been brewing concerning the proper characterization of cumulus convection. The prevailing view has been that cumulus clouds form in clusters, in which cloud spacing is closer than that found for the overall cloud field and which maintains its identity over many cloud lifetimes. This "mutual protection hypothesis" of Randall and Huffman (1980) has been challenged by the "inhibition hypothesis" of Ramirez et al. (1990) which strongly suggests that the spatial distribution of cumuli must tend toward a regular distribution. A dilemma has resulted because observations have been reported to support both hypotheses. The present work reports a detailed analysis of cumulus cloud field spatial distributions based upon Landsat, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, and Skylab data. Both nearest-neighbor and point-to-cloud cumulative distribution function statistics are investigated. The results show unequivocally that when both large and small clouds are included in the cloud field distribution, the cloud field always has a strong clustering signal. The strength of clustering is largest at cloud diameters of about 200-300 m, diminishing with increasing cloud diameter. In many cases, clusters of small clouds are found which are not closely associated with large clouds. As the small clouds are eliminated from consideration, the cloud field typically tends towards regularity. Thus it would appear that the "inhibition hypothesis" of Ramirez and Bras (1990) has been verified for the large clouds. However, these results are based upon the analysis of point processes. A more exact analysis also is made which takes into account the cloud size distributions. Since distinct clouds are by definition nonoverlapping, cloud size effects place a restriction upon the possible locations of clouds in the cloud field. The net effect of this analysis is that the large clouds appear to be randomly distributed, with only weak tendencies towards

Modeling, Design, and Implementation of a Cloud Workflow Engine Based on Aneka

OpenAIRE

Zhou, Jiantao; Sun, Chaoxin; Fu, Weina; Liu, Jing; Jia, Lei; Tan, Hongyan

2014-01-01

This paper presents a Petri net-based model for cloud workflow which plays a key role in industry. Three kinds of parallelisms in cloud workflow are characterized and modeled. Based on the analysis of the modeling, a cloud workflow engine is designed and implemented in Aneka cloud environment. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of our approach of modeling, design, and implementation of cloud workflow.

Linking atmospheric synoptic transport, cloud phase, surface energy fluxes, and sea-ice growth: observations of midwinter SHEBA conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, P. Ola G.; Shupe, Matthew D.; Perovich, Don; Solomon, Amy

2017-08-01

Observations from the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project are used to describe a sequence of events linking midwinter long-range advection of atmospheric heat and moisture into the Arctic Basin, formation of supercooled liquid water clouds, enhancement of net surface energy fluxes through increased downwelling longwave radiation, and reduction in near-surface conductive heat flux loss due to a warming of the surface, thereby leading to a reduction in sea-ice bottom growth. The analyses provide details of two events during Jan. 1-12, 1998, one entering the Arctic through Fram Strait and the other from northeast Siberia; winter statistics extend the results. Both deep, precipitating frontal clouds and post-frontal stratocumulus clouds impact the surface radiation and energy budget. Cloud liquid water, occurring preferentially in stratocumulus clouds extending into the base of the inversion, provides the strongest impact on surface radiation and hence modulates the surface forcing, as found previously. The observations suggest a minimum water vapor threshold, likely case dependent, for producing liquid water clouds. Through responses to the radiative forcing and surface warming, this cloud liquid water also modulates the turbulent and conductive heat fluxes, and produces a thermal wave penetrating into the sea ice. About 20-33 % of the observed variations of bottom ice growth can be directly linked to variations in surface conductive heat flux, with retarded ice growth occurring several days after these moisture plumes reduce the surface conductive heat flux. This sequence of events modulate pack-ice wintertime environmental conditions and total ice growth, and has implications for the annual sea-ice evolution, especially for the current conditions of extensive thinner ice.

Verifying Operational and Developmental Air Force Weather Cloud Analysis and Forecast Products Using Lidar Data from Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Hildebrand, E. P.

2017-12-01

Air Force Weather has developed various cloud analysis and forecast products designed to support global Department of Defense (DoD) missions. A World-Wide Merged Cloud Analysis (WWMCA) and short term Advected Cloud (ADVCLD) forecast is generated hourly using data from 16 geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. Additionally, WWMCA and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data are used in a statistical long-term (out to five days) cloud forecast model known as the Diagnostic Cloud Forecast (DCF). The WWMCA and ADVCLD are generated on the same polar stereographic 24 km grid for each hemisphere, whereas the DCF is generated on the same grid as its parent NWP model. When verifying the cloud forecast models, the goal is to understand not only the ability to detect cloud, but also the ability to assign it to the correct vertical layer. ADVCLD and DCF forecasts traditionally have been verified using WWMCA data as truth, but this might over-inflate the performance of those models because WWMCA also is a primary input dataset for those models. Because of this, in recent years, a WWMCA Reanalysis product has been developed, but this too is not a fully independent dataset. This year, work has been done to incorporate data from external, independent sources to verify not only the cloud forecast products, but the WWMCA data itself. One such dataset that has been useful for examining the 3-D performance of the cloud analysis and forecast models is Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) data from various sites around the globe. This presentation will focus on the use of the Department of Energy (DoE) ARM data to verify Air Force Weather cloud analysis and forecast products. Results will be presented to show relative strengths and weaknesses of the analyses and forecasts.

Data error effects on net radiation and evapotranspiration estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Llasat, M.C.; Snyder, R.L.

1998-01-01

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the potential error in estimating the net radiation and reference evapotranspiration resulting from errors in the measurement or estimation of weather parameters. A methodology for estimating the net radiation using hourly weather variables measured at a typical agrometeorological station (e.g., solar radiation, temperature and relative humidity) is presented. Then the error propagation analysis is made for net radiation and for reference evapotranspiration. Data from the Raimat weather station, which is located in the Catalonia region of Spain, are used to illustrate the error relationships. The results show that temperature, relative humidity and cloud cover errors have little effect on the net radiation or reference evapotranspiration. A 5°C error in estimating surface temperature leads to errors as big as 30 W m −2 at high temperature. A 4% solar radiation (R s ) error can cause a net radiation error as big as 26 W m −2 when R s ≈ 1000 W m −2 . However, the error is less when cloud cover is calculated as a function of the solar radiation. The absolute error in reference evapotranspiration (ET o ) equals the product of the net radiation error and the radiation term weighting factor [W = Δ(Δ1+γ)] in the ET o equation. Therefore, the ET o error varies between 65 and 85% of the R n error as air temperature increases from about 20° to 40°C. (author)

Importance of representing optical depth variability for estimates of global line-shaped contrail radiative forcing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kärcher, Bernd; Burkhardt, Ulrike; Ponater, Michael; Frömming, Christine

2010-11-09

Estimates of the global radiative forcing by line-shaped contrails differ mainly due to the large uncertainty in contrail optical depth. Most contrails are optically thin so that their radiative forcing is roughly proportional to their optical depth and increases with contrail coverage. In recent assessments, the best estimate of mean contrail radiative forcing was significantly reduced, because global climate model simulations pointed at lower optical depth values than earlier studies. We revise these estimates by comparing the probability distribution of contrail optical depth diagnosed with a climate model with the distribution derived from a microphysical, cloud-scale model constrained by satellite observations over the United States. By assuming that the optical depth distribution from the cloud model is more realistic than that from the climate model, and by taking the difference between the observed and simulated optical depth over the United States as globally representative, we quantify uncertainties in the climate model's diagnostic contrail parameterization. Revising the climate model results accordingly increases the global mean radiative forcing estimate for line-shaped contrails by a factor of 3.3, from 3.5 mW/m(2) to 11.6 mW/m(2) for the year 1992. Furthermore, the satellite observations and the cloud model point at higher global mean optical depth of detectable contrails than often assumed in radiative transfer (off-line) studies. Therefore, we correct estimates of contrail radiative forcing from off-line studies as well. We suggest that the global net radiative forcing of line-shaped persistent contrails is in the range 8-20 mW/m(2) for the air traffic in the year 2000.

Insights on the Feasibility, Modeling and Field Testing of Cirrus Cloud Thinning from Satellite Remote Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, D. L.; Garnier, A.; Mejia, J.; Avery, M. A.; Erfani, E.

2016-12-01

To date, it is not clear whether the climate intervention method known as cirrus cloud thinning (CCT) can be viable since it requires cirrus clouds to form through homogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth hom) and some recent GCM studies predict cirrus are formed primarily through heterogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth het). A new CALIPSO infrared retrieval method has been developed for single-layer cirrus cloud that measures the temperature dependence of their layer-averaged number concentration N, effective diameter De and ice water content for optical depths (OD) between 0.3 and 3.0. Based on N, the prevailing ice nucleation mechanism (hom or het) can be estimated as a function of temperature, season, latitude and surface type. These satellite results indicate that seeding cirrus clouds at high latitudes during winter may produce significant global surface cooling. This is because hom often appears to dominate over land during winter north of 30°N latitude while the same appears true for most of the Southern Hemisphere (south of 30°S) during all seasons. Moreover, the sampled cirrus cloud frequency of occurrence in the Arctic is at least twice as large during winter relative to other seasons, while frequency of occurrence in the Antarctic peaks in the spring and is second-highest during winter. During Arctic winter, a combination of frequent hom cirrus, maximum cirrus coverage and an extreme or absent sun angle produces the maximum seasonal cirrus net radiative forcing (warming). Thus a reduction in OD and coverage (via CCT) for these cirrus clouds could yield a significant net cooling effect. From these CALIPSO retrievals, De-T relationships are generated as a function of season, latitude and surface type (land vs. ocean). These will be used in CAM5 to estimate De and the ice fall speed, from which the cirrus radiative forcing will be estimated during winter north of 30°latitude, where hom cirrus are common. Another CAM5 simulation will replace the hom

Trusted computing strengthens cloud authentication.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazizadeh, Eghbal; Zamani, Mazdak; Ab Manan, Jamalul-lail; Alizadeh, Mojtaba

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is a new generation of technology which is designed to provide the commercial necessities, solve the IT management issues, and run the appropriate applications. Another entry on the list of cloud functions which has been handled internally is Identity Access Management (IAM). Companies encounter IAM as security challenges while adopting more technologies became apparent. Trust Multi-tenancy and trusted computing based on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) are great technologies for solving the trust and security concerns in the cloud identity environment. Single sign-on (SSO) and OpenID have been released to solve security and privacy problems for cloud identity. This paper proposes the use of trusted computing, Federated Identity Management, and OpenID Web SSO to solve identity theft in the cloud. Besides, this proposed model has been simulated in .Net environment. Security analyzing, simulation, and BLP confidential model are three ways to evaluate and analyze our proposed model.

Trusted Computing Strengthens Cloud Authentication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eghbal Ghazizadeh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing is a new generation of technology which is designed to provide the commercial necessities, solve the IT management issues, and run the appropriate applications. Another entry on the list of cloud functions which has been handled internally is Identity Access Management (IAM. Companies encounter IAM as security challenges while adopting more technologies became apparent. Trust Multi-tenancy and trusted computing based on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM are great technologies for solving the trust and security concerns in the cloud identity environment. Single sign-on (SSO and OpenID have been released to solve security and privacy problems for cloud identity. This paper proposes the use of trusted computing, Federated Identity Management, and OpenID Web SSO to solve identity theft in the cloud. Besides, this proposed model has been simulated in .Net environment. Security analyzing, simulation, and BLP confidential model are three ways to evaluate and analyze our proposed model.

Trusted Computing Strengthens Cloud Authentication

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is a new generation of technology which is designed to provide the commercial necessities, solve the IT management issues, and run the appropriate applications. Another entry on the list of cloud functions which has been handled internally is Identity Access Management (IAM). Companies encounter IAM as security challenges while adopting more technologies became apparent. Trust Multi-tenancy and trusted computing based on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) are great technologies for solving the trust and security concerns in the cloud identity environment. Single sign-on (SSO) and OpenID have been released to solve security and privacy problems for cloud identity. This paper proposes the use of trusted computing, Federated Identity Management, and OpenID Web SSO to solve identity theft in the cloud. Besides, this proposed model has been simulated in .Net environment. Security analyzing, simulation, and BLP confidential model are three ways to evaluate and analyze our proposed model. PMID:24701149

Cloud Detection by Fusing Multi-Scale Convolutional Features

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhiwei; Shen, Huanfeng; Wei, Yancong; Cheng, Qing; Yuan, Qiangqiang

2018-04-01

Clouds detection is an important pre-processing step for accurate application of optical satellite imagery. Recent studies indicate that deep learning achieves best performance in image segmentation tasks. Aiming at boosting the accuracy of cloud detection for multispectral imagery, especially for those that contain only visible and near infrared bands, in this paper, we proposed a deep learning based cloud detection method termed MSCN (multi-scale cloud net), which segments cloud by fusing multi-scale convolutional features. MSCN was trained on a global cloud cover validation collection, and was tested in more than ten types of optical images with different resolution. Experiment results show that MSCN has obvious advantages over the traditional multi-feature combined cloud detection method in accuracy, especially when in snow and other areas covered by bright non-cloud objects. Besides, MSCN produced more detailed cloud masks than the compared deep cloud detection convolution network. The effectiveness of MSCN make it promising for practical application in multiple kinds of optical imagery.

Trade Study: Storing NASA HDF5/netCDF-4 Data in the Amazon Cloud and Retrieving Data Via Hyrax Server Data Server

Science.gov (United States)

Habermann, Ted; Gallagher, James; Jelenak, Aleksandar; Potter, Nathan; Lee, Joe; Yang, Kent

2017-01-01

This study explored three candidate architectures with different types of objects and access paths for serving NASA Earth Science HDF5 data via Hyrax running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). We studied the cost and performance for each architecture using several representative Use-Cases. The objectives of the study were: Conduct a trade study to identify one or more high performance integrated solutions for storing and retrieving NASA HDF5 and netCDF4 data in a cloud (web object store) environment. The target environment is Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3). Conduct needed level of software development to properly evaluate solutions in the trade study and to obtain required benchmarking metrics for input into government decision of potential follow-on prototyping. Develop a cloud cost model for the preferred data storage solution (or solutions) that accounts for different granulation and aggregation schemes as well as cost and performance trades.We will describe the three architectures and the use cases along with performance results and recommendations for further work.

Drag of Clean and Fouled Net Panels--Measurements and Parameterization of Fouling.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Christian Gansel

Full Text Available Biofouling is a serious problem in marine aquaculture and it has a number of negative impacts including increased forces on aquaculture structures and reduced water exchange across nets. This in turn affects the behavior of fish cages in waves and currents and has an impact on the water volume and quality inside net pens. Even though these negative effects are acknowledged by the research community and governmental institutions, there is limited knowledge about fouling related effects on the flow past nets, and more detailed investigations distinguishing between different fouling types have been called for. This study evaluates the effect of hydroids, an important fouling organism in Norwegian aquaculture, on the forces acting on net panels. Drag forces on clean and fouled nets were measured in a flume tank, and net solidity including effect of fouling were determined using image analysis. The relationship between net solidity and drag was assessed, and it was found that a solidity increase due to hydroids caused less additional drag than a similar increase caused by change in clean net parameters. For solidities tested in this study, the difference in drag force increase could be as high as 43% between fouled and clean nets with same solidity. The relationship between solidity and drag force is well described by exponential functions for clean as well as for fouled nets. A method is proposed to parameterize the effect of fouling in terms of an increase in net solidity. This allows existing numerical methods developed for clean nets to be used to model the effects of biofouling on nets. Measurements with other types of fouling can be added to build a database on effects of the accumulation of different fouling organisms on aquaculture nets.

On the existence of tropical anvil clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, J.; Jeevanjee, N.; Langhans, W.; Romps, D.

2017-12-01

In the deep tropics, extensive anvil clouds produce a peak in cloud cover below the tropopause. The dominant paradigm for cloud cover attributes this anvil peak to a layer of enhanced mass convergence in the clear-sky upper-troposphere, which is presumed to force frequent detrainment of convective anvils. However, cloud cover also depends on the lifetime of cloudy air after it detrains, which raises the possibility that anvil clouds may be the signature of slow cloud decay rather than enhanced detrainment. Here we measure the cloud decay timescale in cloud-resolving simulations, and find that cloudy updrafts that detrain in the upper troposphere take much longer to dissipate than their shallower counterparts. We show that cloud lifetimes are long in the upper troposphere because the saturation specific humidity becomes orders of magnitude smaller than the typical condensed water loading of cloudy updrafts. This causes evaporative cloud decay to act extremely slowly, thereby prolonging cloud lifetimes in the upper troposphere. As a consequence, extensive anvil clouds still occur in a convecting atmosphere that is forced to have no preferential clear-sky convergence layer. On the other hand, when cloud lifetimes are fixed at a characteristic lower-tropospheric value, extensive anvil clouds do not form. Our results support a revised understanding of tropical anvil clouds, which attributes their existence to the microphysics of slow cloud decay rather than a peak in clear-sky convergence.

Observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice cloud properties regulated by cloud/aerosol types

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, B.; Gu, Y.; Liou, K. N.; Jiang, J. H.; Li, Q.; Liu, X.; Huang, L.; Wang, Y.; Su, H.

2017-12-01

The interactions between aerosols and ice clouds (consisting only of ice) represent one of the largest uncertainties in global radiative forcing from pre-industrial time to the present. The observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice cloud properties has been quite limited and showed conflicting results, partly because previous observational studies did not consider the distinct features of different ice cloud and aerosol types. Using 9-year satellite observations, we find that, for ice clouds generated from deep convection, cloud thickness, cloud optical thickness (COT), and ice cloud fraction increase and decrease with small-to-moderate and high aerosol loadings, respectively. For in-situ formed ice clouds, however, the preceding cloud properties increase monotonically and more sharply with aerosol loadings. The case is more complicated for ice crystal effective radius (Rei). For both convection-generated and in-situ ice clouds, the responses of Rei to aerosol loadings are modulated by water vapor amount in conjunction with several other meteorological parameters, but the sensitivities of Rei to aerosols under the same water vapor amount differ remarkably between the two ice cloud types. As a result, overall Rei slightly increases with aerosol loading for convection-generated ice clouds, but decreases for in-situ ice clouds. When aerosols are decomposed into different types, an increase in the loading of smoke aerosols generally leads to a decrease in COT of convection-generated ice clouds, while the reverse is true for dust and anthropogenic pollution. In contrast, an increase in the loading of any aerosol type can significantly enhance COT of in-situ ice clouds. The modulation of the aerosol impacts by cloud/aerosol types is demonstrated and reproduced by simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Adequate and accurate representations of the impact of different cloud/aerosol types in climate models are crucial for reducing the

Smoke Invigoration Versus Inhibition of Clouds over the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

Koren, Ilan; Martins, J. Vanderlei; Lorraine, A. Remer; Afargan, Hila

2008-01-01

The effect of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds is one of the most important and least understood aspects of human-induced climate change. Small changes in the amount of cloud coverage can produce a climate forcing equivalent in magnitude and opposite in sign to that caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and changes in cloud height can shift the effect of clouds from cooling to warming. Focusing on the Amazon, we show a smooth transition between two opposing effects of aerosols on clouds: the microphysical and the radiative. We show how a feedback between the optical properties of aerosols and the cloud fraction can modify the aerosol forcing, changing the total radiative energy and redistributing it over the atmospheric column.

Type-Dependent Responses of Ice Cloud Properties to Aerosols From Satellite Retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Bin; Gu, Yu; Liou, Kuo-Nan; Wang, Yuan; Liu, Xiaohong; Huang, Lei; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Su, Hui

2018-04-01

Aerosol-cloud interactions represent one of the largest uncertainties in external forcings on our climate system. Compared with liquid clouds, the observational evidence for the aerosol impact on ice clouds is much more limited and shows conflicting results, partly because the distinct features of different ice cloud and aerosol types were seldom considered. Using 9-year satellite retrievals, we find that, for convection-generated (anvil) ice clouds, cloud optical thickness, cloud thickness, and cloud fraction increase with small-to-moderate aerosol loadings (types provide valuable constraints on the modeling assessment of aerosol-ice cloud radiative forcing.

An Integrated Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Product Using CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO and CloudSat Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, S.; Gibson, S.; Chen, Y.; Wielicki, B.; Minnis, P.

2006-12-01

The goal of this paper is to provide the first integrated data set of global vertical profiles of aerosols, clouds, and radiation using the combined NASA A-Train data from Aqua CERES and MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat. All of these instruments are flying in formation as part of the Aqua Train, or A-Train. This paper will present the preliminary results of merging aerosol and cloud data from the CALIPSO active lidar, cloud data from CloudSat, integrated column aerosol and cloud data from the MODIS CERES analyses, and surface and top-of-atmosphere broadband radiation fluxes from CERES. These new data will provide unprecedented ability to test and improve global cloud and aerosol models, to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing, and to validate the accuracy of global aerosol, cloud, and radiation data sets especially in polar regions and for multi-layered cloud conditions.

Concurrent Validity of a Portable Force Plate Using Vertical Jump Force-Time Characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lake, Jason; Mundy, Peter; Comfort, Paul; McMahon, John J; Suchomel, Timothy J; Carden, Patrick

2018-05-29

This study examined concurrent validity of countermovement vertical jump (CMJ) reactive strength index modified and force-time characteristics recorded using a one dimensional portable and laboratory force plate system. Twenty-eight men performed bilateral CMJs on two portable force plates placed on top of two in-ground force plates, both recording vertical ground reaction force at 1000 Hz. Time to take-off, jump height, reactive strength index modified, braking and propulsion impulse, mean net force, and duration were calculated from the vertical force from both force plate systems. Results from both systems were highly correlated (r≥.99). There were small (dbraking impulse, braking mean net force, propulsion impulse, and propulsion mean net force (psystem (95% CL: .9% to 2.5%), indicating very good agreement across all of the dependent variables. The largest limits of agreement belonged to jump height (2.1%), time to take-off (3.4%), and reactive strength index modified (3.8%). The portable force plate system provides a valid method of obtaining reactive strength measures, and several underpinning force-time variables, from unloaded CMJ and practitioners can use both force plates interchangeably.

Turbulent Convection Insights from Small-Scale Thermal Forcing with Zero Net Heat Flux at a Horizontal Boundary.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Ross W; Gayen, Bishakhdatta

2015-11-13

A large-scale circulation, a turbulent boundary layer, and a turbulent plume are noted features of convection at large Rayleigh numbers under differential heating on a single horizontal boundary. These might be attributed to the forcing, which in all studies has been limited to a unidirectional gradient over the domain scale. We instead apply forcing on a length scale smaller than the domain, and with variation in both horizontal directions. Direct numerical simulations show turbulence throughout the domain, a regime transition to a dominant domain-scale circulation, and a region of logarithmic velocity in the boundary layer, despite zero net heat flux. The results show significant similarities to Rayleigh-Bénard convection, demonstrate the significance of plume merging, support the hypothesis that the key driver of convection is the production of available potential energy without necessarily supplying total potential energy, and imply that contributions to domain-scale circulation in the oceans need not be solely from the large-scale gradients of forcing.

Radiative Importance of Aerosol-Cloud Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee

1999-01-01

Aerosol particles are input into the troposphere by biomass burning, among other sources. These aerosol palls cover large expanses of the earth's surface. Aerosols may directly scatter solar radiation back to space, thus increasing the earth's albedo and act to cool the earth's surface and atmosphere. Aerosols also contribute to the earth's energy balance indirectly. Hygroscopic aerosol act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and thus affects cloud properties. In 1977, Twomey theorized that additional available CCN would create smaller but more numerous cloud droplets in a cloud with a given amount of liquid water. This in turn would increase the cloud albedo which would scatter additional radiation back to space and create a similar cooling pattern as the direct aerosol effect. Estimates of the magnitude of the aerosol indirect effect on a global scale range from 0.0 to -4.8 W/sq m. Thus the indirect effect can be of comparable magnitude and opposite in sign to the estimates of global greenhouse gas forcing Aerosol-cloud interaction is not a one-way process. Just as aerosols have an influence on clouds through the cloud microphysics, clouds have an influence on aerosols. Cloud droplets are solutions of liquid water and CCN, now dissolved. When the cloud droplet evaporates it leaves behind an aerosol particle. This new particle does not have to have the same properties as the original CCN. In fact, studies show that aerosol particles that result from cloud processing are larger in size than the original CCN. Optical properties of aerosol particles are dependent on the size of the particles. Larger particles have a smaller backscattering fraction, and thus less incoming solar radiation will be backscattered to space if the aerosol particles are larger. Therefore, we see that aerosols and clouds modify each other to influence the radiative balance of the earth. Understanding and quantifying the spatial and seasonal patterns of the aerosol indirect forcing may have

Synoptic Traveling Weather Systems on Mars: Effects of Radiatively-Active Water Ice Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hollingsworth, Jeffery; Kahre, Melinda; Haberle, Robert; Urata, Richard

2017-01-01

Atmospheric aerosols on Mars are critical in determining the nature of its thermal structure, its large-scale circulation, and hence the overall climate of the planet. We conduct multi-annual simulations with the latest version of the NASA Ames Mars global climate model (GCM), gcm2.3+, that includes a modernized radiative-transfer package and complex water-ice cloud microphysics package which permit radiative effects and interactions of suspended atmospheric aerosols (e.g., water ice clouds, water vapor, dust, and mutual interactions) to influence the net diabatic heating. Results indicate that radiatively active water ice clouds profoundly affect the seasonal and annual mean climate. The mean thermal structure and balanced circulation patterns are strongly modified near the surface and aloft. Warming of the subtropical atmosphere at altitude and cooling of the high latitude atmosphere at low levels takes place, which increases the mean pole-to-equator temperature contrast (i.e., "baroclinicity"). With radiatively active water ice clouds (RAC) compared to radiatively inert water ice clouds (nonRAC), significant changes in the intensity of the mean state and forced stationary Rossby modes occur, both of which affect the vigor and intensity of traveling, synoptic period weather systems.Such weather systems not only act as key agents in the transport of heat and momentum beyond the extent of the Hadley circulation, but also the transport of trace species such as water vapor, water ice-clouds, dust and others. The northern hemisphere (NH) forced Rossby waves and resultant wave train are augmented in the RAC case: the modes are more intense and the wave train is shifted equatorward. Significant changes also occur within the subtropics and tropics. The Rossby wave train sets up, combined with the traveling synoptic period weather systems (i.e., cyclones and anticyclones), the geographic extent of storm zones (or storm tracks) within the NH. A variety of circulation

Estimation of radiative forcing and chore length of shallow convective clouds (SCC) based on broadband pyranometer measurement network

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, H.

2017-12-01

We presented a method to identify and calculate cloud radiative forcing (CRF) and horizontal chore length (L) of shallow convective clouds (SCC) using a network of 9 broadband pyranometers. The analyzing data was collected from the SCC campaign during two years summers (2015 2016) at Baiqi site over Inner Mongolia grassland. The network of pyranometers was operated across a spatial domain covering 42.16-42.30° N and 114.83-114.98° E. The SCC detection method was verified by observer reports and cameras, which showed that the detection method and human observations were in agreement about 75 %. The differences between the SCC detection method and human observations can be responsible for following factors: 1) small or dissipating clouds can be neglected for the value of 1 min of temporal resolution of pyranometer; 2) human observation recorded weather conditions four times every day; 3) SCC was indistinguishable from coexistence of SCC and Cirrus (Ci); 4) the SCC detection method is weighted toward clouds crossing the sun's path, while the human observer can view clouds over the entire sky. The deviation of L can be attributed to two factors: 1) the accuracy of wind speed at height of SCC and the ratio of horizontal and vertical length play a key role in determine values of L; 2) the effect of variance of solar zenith angle can be negligible. The downwelling shortwave CRF of SCC was -134.1 Wm-2. The average value of L of SCC was 1129 m. Besides, the distribution of normalized cloud chore length agreed well with power-law fit.

A finite element method for netting application to fish cages and fishing gear

CERN Document Server

Priour, Daniel

2014-01-01

This book describes a finite element method for netting that describes the relation between forces and deformation of the netting and takes into account forces due to the twine elasticity, the hydrodynamic forces, the catch effect, the mesh opening stiffness.

Integrated cloud-aerosol-radiation product using CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat data

Science.gov (United States)

Sun-Mack, Sunny; Minnis, Patrick; Chen, Yan; Gibson, Sharon; Yi, Yuhong; Trepte, Qing; Wielicki, Bruce; Kato, Seiji; Winker, Dave; Stephens, Graeme; Partain, Philip

2007-10-01

This paper documents the development of the first integrated data set of global vertical profiles of clouds, aerosols, and radiation using the combined NASA A-Train data from the Aqua Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and CloudSat. As part of this effort, cloud data from the CALIPSO lidar and the CloudSat radar are merged with the integrated column cloud properties from the CERES-MODIS analyses. The active and passive datasets are compared to determine commonalities and differences in order to facilitate the development of a 3-dimensional cloud and aerosol dataset that will then be integrated into the CERES broadband radiance footprint. Preliminary results from the comparisons for April 2007 reveal that the CERES-MODIS global cloud amounts are, on average, 0.14 less and 0.15 greater than those from CALIPSO and CloudSat, respectively. These new data will provide unprecedented ability to test and improve global cloud and aerosol models, to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing, and to validate the accuracy of global aerosol, cloud, and radiation data sets especially in polar regions and for multi-layered cloud conditions.

Military clouds: utilization of cloud computing systems at the battlefield

Science.gov (United States)

Süleyman, Sarıkürk; Volkan, Karaca; İbrahim, Kocaman; Ahmet, Şirzai

2012-05-01

Cloud computing is known as a novel information technology (IT) concept, which involves facilitated and rapid access to networks, servers, data saving media, applications and services via Internet with minimum hardware requirements. Use of information systems and technologies at the battlefield is not new. Information superiority is a force multiplier and is crucial to mission success. Recent advances in information systems and technologies provide new means to decision makers and users in order to gain information superiority. These developments in information technologies lead to a new term, which is known as network centric capability. Similar to network centric capable systems, cloud computing systems are operational today. In the near future extensive use of military clouds at the battlefield is predicted. Integrating cloud computing logic to network centric applications will increase the flexibility, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and accessibility of network-centric capabilities. In this paper, cloud computing and network centric capability concepts are defined. Some commercial cloud computing products and applications are mentioned. Network centric capable applications are covered. Cloud computing supported battlefield applications are analyzed. The effects of cloud computing systems on network centric capability and on the information domain in future warfare are discussed. Battlefield opportunities and novelties which might be introduced to network centric capability by cloud computing systems are researched. The role of military clouds in future warfare is proposed in this paper. It was concluded that military clouds will be indispensible components of the future battlefield. Military clouds have the potential of improving network centric capabilities, increasing situational awareness at the battlefield and facilitating the settlement of information superiority.

Integration of prognostic aerosol-cloud interactions in a chemistry transport model coupled offline to a regional climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, M. A.; Kahnert, M.; Andersson, C.; Kokkola, H.; Hansson, U.; Jones, C.; Langner, J.; Devasthale, A.

2015-06-01

-alone version the values reached only 5 μm. A substantial improvement in the distribution of the cloud liquid-water paths (CLWP) was observed when compared to the satellite retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the boreal summer months. The median and standard deviation values from the "MOD" simulation are closer to observations than those obtained using the stand-alone RCA4 version. These changes resulted in a significant decrease in the total annual mean net fluxes at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) by -5 W m-2 over the domain selected in the study. The TOA net fluxes from the "MOD" simulation show a better agreement with the retrievals from the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument. The aerosol indirect effects are estimated in the "MOD" simulation in comparison to the pre-industrial aerosol emissions (1900). Our simulations estimated the domain averaged annual mean total radiative forcing of -0.64 W m-2 with a larger contribution from the first indirect aerosol effect (-0.57 W m-2) than from the second indirect aerosol effect (-0.14 W m-2).

A Scalable Cloud Library Empowering Big Data Management, Diagnosis, and Visualization of Cloud-Resolving Models

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, S.; Tao, W. K.; Li, X.; Matsui, T.; Sun, X. H.; Yang, X.

2015-12-01

A cloud-resolving model (CRM) is an atmospheric numerical model that can numerically resolve clouds and cloud systems at 0.25~5km horizontal grid spacings. The main advantage of the CRM is that it can allow explicit interactive processes between microphysics, radiation, turbulence, surface, and aerosols without subgrid cloud fraction, overlapping and convective parameterization. Because of their fine resolution and complex physical processes, it is challenging for the CRM community to i) visualize/inter-compare CRM simulations, ii) diagnose key processes for cloud-precipitation formation and intensity, and iii) evaluate against NASA's field campaign data and L1/L2 satellite data products due to large data volume (~10TB) and complexity of CRM's physical processes. We have been building the Super Cloud Library (SCL) upon a Hadoop framework, capable of CRM database management, distribution, visualization, subsetting, and evaluation in a scalable way. The current SCL capability includes (1) A SCL data model enables various CRM simulation outputs in NetCDF, including the NASA-Unified Weather Research and Forecasting (NU-WRF) and Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model, to be accessed and processed by Hadoop, (2) A parallel NetCDF-to-CSV converter supports NU-WRF and GCE model outputs, (3) A technique visualizes Hadoop-resident data with IDL, (4) A technique subsets Hadoop-resident data, compliant to the SCL data model, with HIVE or Impala via HUE's Web interface, (5) A prototype enables a Hadoop MapReduce application to dynamically access and process data residing in a parallel file system, PVFS2 or CephFS, where high performance computing (HPC) simulation outputs such as NU-WRF's and GCE's are located. We are testing Apache Spark to speed up SCL data processing and analysis.With the SCL capabilities, SCL users can conduct large-domain on-demand tasks without downloading voluminous CRM datasets and various observations from NASA Field Campaigns and Satellite data to a

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; Gettelman, Andrew; Ghan, Steven; Lohmann, Ulrike; Morrison, Hugh; Neubauer, David; Partridge, Daniel G.; Stier, Philip; Takemura, Toshihiko; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Kai

2017-04-26

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration (Nd), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the Nd to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the Nd to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between Nd and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. The accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo.

Science.gov (United States)

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Ferrachat, Sylvaine; Gettelman, Andrew; Ghan, Steven; Lohmann, Ulrike; Morrison, Hugh; Neubauer, David; Partridge, Daniel G; Stier, Philip; Takemura, Toshihiko; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Minghuai; Zhang, Kai

2017-05-09

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol-cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration ( N d ), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the N d to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the N d to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol-climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between N d and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. The accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol-cloud interactions in satellite data.

Satellite retrieval of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations by using clouds as CCN chambers

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenfeld, Daniel; Zheng, Youtong; Hashimshoni, Eyal; Pöhlker, Mira L.; Jefferson, Anne; Pöhlker, Christopher; Yu, Xing; Zhu, Yannian; Liu, Guihua; Yue, Zhiguo; Fischman, Baruch; Li, Zhanqing; Giguzin, David; Goren, Tom; Artaxo, Paulo; Pöschl, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Quantifying the aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative effect at a global scale requires simultaneous satellite retrievals of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and cloud base updraft velocities (Wb). Hitherto, the inability to do so has been a major cause of high uncertainty regarding anthropogenic aerosol/cloud-mediated radiative forcing. This can be addressed by the emerging capability of estimating CCN and Wb of boundary layer convective clouds from an operational polar orbiting weather satellite. Our methodology uses such clouds as an effective analog for CCN chambers. The cloud base supersaturation (S) is determined by Wb and the satellite-retrieved cloud base drop concentrations (Ndb), which is the same as CCN(S). Validation against ground-based CCN instruments at Oklahoma, at Manaus, and onboard a ship in the northeast Pacific showed a retrieval accuracy of ±25% to ±30% for individual satellite overpasses. The methodology is presently limited to boundary layer not raining convective clouds of at least 1 km depth that are not obscured by upper layer clouds, including semitransparent cirrus. The limitation for small solar backscattering angles of <25° restricts the satellite coverage to ∼25% of the world area in a single day. PMID:26944081

Mobile Cloud Computing for C2 - Operating in DIL Network Conditions

OpenAIRE

Ling, Yu Xian; Wee, Toon Joo; Shing, Man-Tak; Singh, Gurminder; Gibson, John H.

2015-01-01

Cloud computing is emerging as the mainstream platform for a range of on-demand applications, services, and infrastructure. It is already playing an important role in the communication, and the processing, mining, and fusing of information in distributed command and control. A major benefit of cloud computing is improved net-centric capability. Before the full benefits of cloud computing are realized, several technology challenges must be addressed. Operating in intermittent and austere netwo...

Forcings and feedbacks in the GeoMIP ensemble for a reduction in solar irradiance and increase in CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Huneeus, Nicolas; Boucher, Olivier; Alterskjær, Kari; Cole, Jason N. S.; Curry, Charles L.; Ji, Duoying; Jones, Andy; Kravitz, Ben; Kristjánsson, Jón Egill; Moore, John C.; Muri, Helene; Niemeier, Ulrike; Rasch, Phil; Robock, Alan; Singh, Balwinder; Schmidt, Hauke; Schulz, Michael; Tilmes, Simone; Watanabe, Shingo; Yoon, Jin-Ho

2014-05-01

The effective radiative forcings (including rapid adjustments) and feedbacks associated with an instantaneous quadrupling of the preindustrial CO2 concentration and a counterbalancing reduction of the solar constant are investigated in the context of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). The forcing and feedback parameters of the net energy flux, as well as its different components at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface, were examined in 10 Earth System Models to better understand the impact of solar radiation management on the energy budget. In spite of their very different nature, the feedback parameter and its components at the TOA and surface are almost identical for the two forcing mechanisms, not only in the global mean but also in their geographical distributions. This conclusion holds for each of the individual models despite intermodel differences in how feedbacks affect the energy budget. This indicates that the climate sensitivity parameter is independent of the forcing (when measured as an effective radiative forcing). We also show the existence of a large contribution of the cloudy-sky component to the shortwave effective radiative forcing at the TOA suggesting rapid cloud adjustments to a change in solar irradiance. In addition, the models present significant diversity in the spatial distribution of the shortwave feedback parameter in cloudy regions, indicating persistent uncertainties in cloud feedback mechanisms.

Introducing NET 40 With Visual Studio 2010

CERN Document Server

Mackey, A

2010-01-01

Microsoft is introducing a large number of changes to the way that the .NET Framework operates. Familiar technologies are being altered, best practices replaced, and developer methodologies adjusted. Many developers find it hard to keep up with the pace of change across .NET's ever-widening array of technologies. You may know what's happening in C#, but how about the Azure cloud? How is that going to affect your work? What are the limitations of the new pLINQ syntax? What you need is a roadmap. A guide to help you see the innovations that matter and to give you a head start on the opportunitie

Numerical study on the hydrodynamic characteristics of biofouled full-scale net cage

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, Chun-wei; Zhao, Yun-peng; Dong, Guo-hai

2015-06-01

The effect of biofouling on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the net cage is of particular interest as biofouled nettings can significantly reduce flow of well-oxygenated water reaching the stocked fish. For computational efficiency, the porous-media fluid model is proposed to simulate flow through the biofouled plane net and full-scale net cage. The porous coefficients of the porous-media fluid model can be determined from the quadratic-function relationship between the hydrodynamic forces on a plane net and the flow velocity using the least squares method. In this study, drag forces on and flow fields around five plane nets with different levels of biofouling are calculated by use of the proposed model. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data of Swift et al. (2006) and the effectiveness of the numerical model is presented. On that basis, flow through full-scale net cages with the same level of biofouling as the tested plane nets are modeled. The flow fields inside and around biofouled net cages are analyzed and the drag force acting on a net cage is estimated by a control volume analysis method. According to the numerical results, empirical formulas of reduction in flow velocity and load on a net cage are derived as function of drag coefficient of the corresponding biofouled netting.

From On-Premise Software to Cloud Services: The Impact of Cloud Computing on Enterprise Software Vendors' Business Models

OpenAIRE

Boillat, Thomas; Legner, Christine

2013-01-01

Cloud computing is an emerging paradigm that allows users to conveniently access computing resources as pay-per-use services. Whereas cloud offerings such as Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud and Google Apps are rapidly gaining a large user base, enterprise software's migration towards the cloud is still in its infancy. For software vendors the move towardscloud solutions implies profound changes in their value-creation logic. Not only are they forced to deliver fully web-enabled solutions and t...

Parameterization of clouds and radiation in climate models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roeckner, E. [Max Planck Institute for Meterology, Hamburg (Germany)

1995-09-01

Clouds are a very important, yet poorly modeled element in the climate system. There are many potential cloud feedbacks, including those related to cloud cover, height, water content, phase change, and droplet concentration and size distribution. As a prerequisite to studying the cloud feedback issue, this research reports on the simulation and validation of cloud radiative forcing under present climate conditions using the ECHAM general circulation model and ERBE top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes.

Cluster analysis of midlatitude oceanic cloud regimes: mean properties and temperature sensitivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Gordon

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Clouds play an important role in the climate system by reducing the amount of shortwave radiation reaching the surface and the amount of longwave radiation escaping to space. Accurate simulation of clouds in computer models remains elusive, however, pointing to a lack of understanding of the connection between large-scale dynamics and cloud properties. This study uses a k-means clustering algorithm to group 21 years of satellite cloud data over midlatitude oceans into seven clusters, and demonstrates that the cloud clusters are associated with distinct large-scale dynamical conditions. Three clusters correspond to low-level cloud regimes with different cloud fraction and cumuliform or stratiform characteristics, but all occur under large-scale descent and a relatively dry free troposphere. Three clusters correspond to vertically extensive cloud regimes with tops in the middle or upper troposphere, and they differ according to the strength of large-scale ascent and enhancement of tropospheric temperature and humidity. The final cluster is associated with a lower troposphere that is dry and an upper troposphere that is moist and experiencing weak ascent and horizontal moist advection.

Since the present balance of reflection of shortwave and absorption of longwave radiation by clouds could change as the atmosphere warms from increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gases, we must also better understand how increasing temperature modifies cloud and radiative properties. We therefore undertake an observational analysis of how midlatitude oceanic clouds change with temperature when dynamical processes are held constant (i.e., partial derivative with respect to temperature. For each of the seven cloud regimes, we examine the difference in cloud and radiative properties between warm and cold subsets. To avoid misinterpreting a cloud response to large-scale dynamical forcing as a cloud response to temperature, we require horizontal and vertical

A novel approach for introducing cloud spatial structure into cloud radiative transfer parameterizations

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Dong; Liu, Yangang

2014-12-01

Subgrid-scale variability is one of the main reasons why parameterizations are needed in large-scale models. Although some parameterizations started to address the issue of subgrid variability by introducing a subgrid probability distribution function for relevant quantities, the spatial structure has been typically ignored and thus the subgrid-scale interactions cannot be accounted for physically. Here we present a new statistical-physics-like approach whereby the spatial autocorrelation function can be used to physically capture the net effects of subgrid cloud interaction with radiation. The new approach is able to faithfully reproduce the Monte Carlo 3D simulation results with several orders less computational cost, allowing for more realistic representation of cloud radiation interactions in large-scale models.

CloudNeo: a cloud pipeline for identifying patient-specific tumor neoantigens.

Science.gov (United States)

Bais, Preeti; Namburi, Sandeep; Gatti, Daniel M; Zhang, Xinyu; Chuang, Jeffrey H

2017-10-01

We present CloudNeo, a cloud-based computational workflow for identifying patient-specific tumor neoantigens from next generation sequencing data. Tumor-specific mutant peptides can be detected by the immune system through their interactions with the human leukocyte antigen complex, and neoantigen presence has recently been shown to correlate with anti T-cell immunity and efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor therapy. However computing capabilities to identify neoantigens from genomic sequencing data are a limiting factor for understanding their role. This challenge has grown as cancer datasets become increasingly abundant, making them cumbersome to store and analyze on local servers. Our cloud-based pipeline provides scalable computation capabilities for neoantigen identification while eliminating the need to invest in local infrastructure for data transfer, storage or compute. The pipeline is a Common Workflow Language (CWL) implementation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing using Polysolver or HLAminer combined with custom scripts for mutant peptide identification and NetMHCpan for neoantigen prediction. We have demonstrated the efficacy of these pipelines on Amazon cloud instances through the Seven Bridges Genomics implementation of the NCI Cancer Genomics Cloud, which provides graphical interfaces for running and editing, infrastructure for workflow sharing and version tracking, and access to TCGA data. The CWL implementation is at: https://github.com/TheJacksonLaboratory/CloudNeo. For users who have obtained licenses for all internal software, integrated versions in CWL and on the Seven Bridges Cancer Genomics Cloud platform (https://cgc.sbgenomics.com/, recommended version) can be obtained by contacting the authors. jeff.chuang@jax.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Effects of aerosol/cloud interactions on the global radiation budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuang, C.C.; Penner, J.E.

1994-01-01

Aerosols may modify the microphysics of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), thereby enhancing the cloud reflectivity. Aerosols may also alter precipitation development by affecting the mean droplet size, thereby influencing cloud lifetimes and modifying the hydrological cycle. Clouds have a major effect on climate, but aerosol/cloud interactions have not been accounted for in past climate model simulations. However, the worldwide steady rise of global pollutants and emissions makes it imperative to investigate how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds and the global radiation budget. In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between aerosol and cloud drop size distributions by using a detailed micro-physical model. They parameterize the cloud nucleation process in terms of local aerosol characteristics and updraft velocity for use in a coupled climate/chemistry model to predict the magnitude of aerosol cloud forcing. Their simulations indicate that aerosol/cloud interactions may result in important increases in reflected solar radiation, which would mask locally the radiative forcing from increased greenhouse gases. This work is aimed at improving the assessment of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud optical properties and the global radiation budget

The simplest model of a dust cloud in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ignatov, A.M.

1998-01-01

A cloud consisting of a finite number of dust grains in a plasma is considered. It is shown that the absorption of the plasma by the dust grains gives rise to the formation of a plasma flow toward to the cloud. The drag force produced by this flow acts upon the dust grains and counterbalances the electrostatic repulsing force. The distribution of the grain density inside the cloud is determined. The characteristic size of the cloud is estimated as r D 3/2 /a 1/2 , where r D is the plasma Debye radius, and a is the size of the dust grains

Cloud a particle beam facility to investigate the influence of cosmic rays on clouds

CERN Document Server

Kirkby, Jasper

2001-01-01

Palaeoclimatic data provide extensive evidence for solar forcing of the climate during the Holocene and the last ice age, but the underlying mechanism remains a mystery. However recent observations suggest that cosmic rays may play a key role. Satellite data have revealed a surprising correlation between cosmic ray intensity and the fraction of the Earth covered by low clouds \\cite{svensmark97,marsh}. Since the cosmic ray intensity is modulated by the solar wind, this may be an important clue to the long-sought mechanism for solar-climate variability. In order to test whether cosmic rays and clouds are causally linked and, if so, to understand the microphysical mechanisms, a novel experiment known as CLOUD\\footnotemark\\ has been proposed \\cite{cloud_proposal}--\\cite{cloud_addendum_2}. CLOUD proposes to investigate ion-aerosol-cloud microphysics under controlled laboratory conditions using a beam from a particle accelerator, which provides a precisely adjustable and measurable artificial source of cosmic rays....

The Diurnal Cycle of the Boundary Layer, Convection, Clouds, and Surface Radiation in a Coastal Monsoon Environment (Darwin Australia)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May, Peter T.; Long, Charles N.; Protat, Alain

2012-08-01

The diurnal variation of convection and associated cloud and radiative properties remains a significant issue in global NWP and climate models. This study analyzes observed diurnal variability of convection in a coastal monsoonal environment examining the interaction of convective rain clouds, their associated cloud properties, and the impact on the surface radiation and corresponding boundary layer structure during periods where convection is suppressed or active on the large scale. The analysis uses data from the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) as well as routine measurements from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program. Both active monsoonal and large-scale suppressed (buildup and break) conditions are examined and demonstrate that the diurnal variation of rainfall is much larger during the break periods and the spatial distribution of rainfall is very different between the monsoon and break regimes. During the active monsoon the total net radiative input to the surface is decreased by more than 3 times the amount than during the break regime - this total radiative cloud forcing is found to be dominated by the shortwave (SW) cloud effects because of the much larger optical thicknesses and persistence of long-lasting anvils and cirrus cloud decks associated with the monsoon regime. These differences in monsoon versus break surface radiative energy contribute to low-level air temperature differences in the boundary layer over the land surfaces.

Initial Results From The Micro-pulse Lidar Network (MPL-Net)

Science.gov (United States)

Welton, E. J.; Campbell, J. R.; Berkoff, T. A.; Spinhirne, J. D.; Ginoux, P.

2001-12-01

The micro-pulse lidar system (MPL) was developed in the early 1990s and was the first small, eye-safe, and autonomous lidar built for fulltime monitoring of cloud and aerosol vertical distributions. In 2000, a new project using MPL systems was started at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This new project, the Micro-pulse Lidar Network or MPL-Net, was created to provide long-term observations of aerosol and cloud vertical profiles at key sites around the world. This is accomplished using both NASA operated sites and partnerships with other organizations owning MPL systems. The MPL-Net sites are co-located with NASA AERONET sunphotometers to provide aerosol optical depth data needed for calibration of the MPL. In addition to the long-term sites, MPL-Net provides lidar support for a limited number of field experiments and ocean cruises each year. We will present an overview of the MPL-Net project and show initial results from the first two MPL-Net sites at the South Pole and at Goddard Space Flight Center. Observations of dust layers transported from the desert regions of China, across the Pacific Ocean, to the east coast of the United States will also be shown. MPL-Net affiliated instruments were in place at the desert source region in China, on a research vessel in the Sea of Japan, at ARM sites in Alaska and Oklahoma, and finally at our home site in Maryland (GSFC) during the massive dust storms that occurred in April 2001. The MPL observations of dust layers at each location are shown in comparison to dust layers predicted using the Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model (GOCART). Finally, the MPL-Net project is the primary ground-validation program for the Geo-Science Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) satellite lidar project (launch date 2002). We will present an overview demonstrating how MPL-Net results are used to help prepare the GLAS data processing algorithms and assist in the calibration/validation of the GLAS data

Initial Results from the Micro-pulse Lidar Network (MPL-Net)

Science.gov (United States)

Welton, Ellsworth J.; Campbell, James R.; Berkoff, Timothy A.; Spinhirne, James D.; Ginoux, Paul; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The micro-pulse lidar system (MPL) was developed in the early 1990s and was the first small, eye-safe, and autonomous lidar built for full time monitoring of cloud and aerosol vertical distributions. In 2000, a new project using MPL systems was started at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This new project, the Micro-pulse Lidar Network or MPL-Net, was created to provide long-term observations of aerosol and cloud vertical profiles at key sites around the world. This is accomplished using both NASA operated sites and partnerships with other organizations owning MPL systems. The MPL-Net sites are co-located with NASA AERONET sunphotometers to provide aerosol optical depth data needed for calibration of the MPL. In addition to the long-term sites, MPL-Net provides lidar support for a limited number of field experiments and ocean cruises each year. We will present an overview of the MPL-Net project and show initial results from the first two MPL-Net sites at the South Pole and at Goddard Space Flight Center. Observations of dust layers transported from the Gobi desert, across the Pacific Ocean, to the east coast of the United States will also be shown. MPL-Net affiliated instruments were in place at the desert source region in China, on a research vessel in the Sea of Japan, at ARM sites in Alaska and Oklahoma, and finally at our home site in Maryland (GSFC) during the massive dust storms that occurred in April 2001. The MPL observations of dust layers at each location are shown in comparison to dust layers predicted using the Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model (GOCART). Finally, the MPL-Net project is the primary ground-validation program for the Geo-Science Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) satellite lidar project (launch date 2002). We will present an overview demonstrating how MPL-Net results are used to help prepare the GLAS data processing algorithms and assist in the calibration/validation of the GLAS data products.

Cloud-radiation interactions - Effects of cirrus optical thickness feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, Richard C. J.; Iacobellis, Sam

1987-01-01

The paper is concerned with a cloud-radiation feedback mechanism which may be an important component of the climate changes expected from increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other trace greenhouse gases. A major result of the study is that cirrus cloud optical thickness feedbacks may indeed tend to increase the surface warming due to trace gas increases. However, the positive feedback from cirrus appears to be generally weaker than the negative effects due to lower clouds. The results just confirm those of earlier research indicating that the net effect of cloud optical thickness feedbacks may be a negative feedback which may substantially (by a factor of about 2) reduce the surface warming due to the doubling of CO2, even in the presence of cirrus clouds.

CloudSat observations of cloud-type distribution over the Indian summer monsoon region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. V. Subrahmanyam

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The three-dimensional distribution of various cloud types over the Indian summer monsoon (ISM region using five years (2006–2010 of CloudSat observations during June-July-August-September months is discussed for the first time. As the radiative properties, latent heat released and microphysical properties of clouds differ largely depending on the cloud type, it becomes important to know what types of clouds occur over which region. In this regard, the present analysis establishes the three-dimensional distribution of frequency of occurrence of stratus (St, stratocumulus (Sc, nimbostratus (Ns, cumulus (Cu, altocumulus (Ac, altostratus (As, cirrus (Ci and deep convective (DC clouds over the ISM region. The results show that the various cloud types preferentially occur over some regions of the ISM, which are consistent during all the years of observations. It is found that the DC clouds frequently occur over northeast of Bay of Bengal (BoB, Ci clouds over a wide region of south BoB–Indian peninsula–equatorial Indian Ocean, and Sc clouds over the north Arabian Sea. Ac clouds preferentially occur over land, and a large amount of As clouds are found over BoB. The occurrence of both St and Ns clouds over the study region is much lower than all other cloud types.The interannual variability of all these clouds including their vertical distribution is discussed. It is envisaged that the present study opens up possibilities to quantify the feedback of individual cloud type in the maintenance of the ISM through radiative forcing and latent heat release.

Radiative effect differences between multi-layered and single-layer clouds derived from CERES, CALIPSO, and CloudSat data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Jiming; Yi Yuhong; Minnis, Patrick; Huang Jianping; Yan Hongru; Ma Yuejie; Wang Wencai; Kirk Ayers, J.

2011-01-01

Clouds alter general circulation through modification of the radiative heating profile within the atmosphere. Their effects are complex and depend on height, vertical structure, and phase. The instantaneous cloud radiative effect (CRE) induced by multi-layered (ML) and single-layer (SL) clouds is estimated by analyzing data collected by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), CloudSat, and Clouds and Earth's Radiation Energy Budget System (CERES) missions from March 2007 through February 2008. The CRE differences between ML and SL clouds at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and at the surface were also examined. The zonal mean shortwave (SW) CRE differences between the ML and SL clouds at the TOA and surface were positive at most latitudes, peaking at 120 W m -2 in the tropics and dropping to -30 W m -2 at higher latitudes. This indicated that the ML clouds usually reflected less sunlight at the TOA and transmitted more to the surface than the SL clouds, due to their higher cloud top heights. The zonal mean longwave (LW) CRE differences between ML and SL clouds at the TOA and surface were relatively small, ranging from -30 to 30 W m -2 . This showed that the ML clouds only increased the amount of thermal radiation at the TOA relative to the SL clouds in the tropics, decreasing it elsewhere. In other words, ML clouds tended to cool the atmosphere in the tropics and warm it elsewhere when compared to SL clouds. The zonal mean net CRE differences were positive at most latitudes and dominated by the SW CRE differences.

Uncertainty Estimate of Surface Irradiances Computed with MODIS-, CALIPSO-, and CloudSat-Derived Cloud and Aerosol Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Seiji; Loeb, Norman G.; Rutan, David A.; Rose, Fred G.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Miller, Walter F.; Chen, Yan

2012-07-01

Differences of modeled surface upward and downward longwave and shortwave irradiances are calculated using modeled irradiance computed with active sensor-derived and passive sensor-derived cloud and aerosol properties. The irradiance differences are calculated for various temporal and spatial scales, monthly gridded, monthly zonal, monthly global, and annual global. Using the irradiance differences, the uncertainty of surface irradiances is estimated. The uncertainty (1σ) of the annual global surface downward longwave and shortwave is, respectively, 7 W m-2 (out of 345 W m-2) and 4 W m-2 (out of 192 W m-2), after known bias errors are removed. Similarly, the uncertainty of the annual global surface upward longwave and shortwave is, respectively, 3 W m-2 (out of 398 W m-2) and 3 W m-2 (out of 23 W m-2). The uncertainty is for modeled irradiances computed using cloud properties derived from imagers on a sun-synchronous orbit that covers the globe every day (e.g., moderate-resolution imaging spectrometer) or modeled irradiances computed for nadir view only active sensors on a sun-synchronous orbit such as Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation and CloudSat. If we assume that longwave and shortwave uncertainties are independent of each other, but up- and downward components are correlated with each other, the uncertainty in global annual mean net surface irradiance is 12 W m-2. One-sigma uncertainty bounds of the satellite-based net surface irradiance are 106 W m-2 and 130 W m-2.

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, Xiaowen; Khain, Alexander; Matsui, Toshihisa; Lang, Stephen; Simpson, Joanne

2008-01-01

Aerosols and especially their effect on clouds are one of the key components of the climate system and the hydrological cycle [Ramanathan et al., 2001]. Yet, the aerosol effect on clouds remains largely unknown and the processes involved not well understood. A recent report published by the National Academy of Science states "The greatest uncertainty about the aerosol climate forcing - indeed, the largest of all the uncertainties about global climate forcing - is probably the indirect effect of aerosols on clouds [NRC, 2001]." The aerosol effect on clouds is often categorized into the traditional "first indirect (i.e., Twomey)" effect on the cloud droplet sizes for a constant liquid water path [Twomey, 1977] and the "semi-direct" effect on cloud coverage [e.g., Ackerman et al ., 2001]." Enhanced aerosol concentrations can also suppress warm rain processes by producing a narrow droplet spectrum that inhibits collision and coalescence processes [e.g., Squires and Twomey, 1961; Warner and Twomey, 1967; Warner, 1968; Rosenfeld, 19991. The aerosol effect on precipitation processes, also known as the second type of aerosol indirect effect [Albrecht, 1989], is even more complex, especially for mixed-phase convective clouds. Table 1 summarizes the key observational studies identifying the microphysical properties, cloud characteristics, thermodynamics and dynamics associated with cloud systems from high-aerosol continental environments. For example, atmospheric aerosol concentrations can influence cloud droplet size distributions, warm-rain process, cold-rain process, cloud-top height, the depth of the mixed phase region, and occurrence of lightning. In addition, high aerosol concentrations in urban environments could affect precipitation variability by providing an enhanced source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Hypotheses have been developed to explain the effect of urban regions on convection and precipitation [van den Heever and Cotton, 2007 and Shepherd, 2005

A Stabilizing Feedback Between Cloud Radiative Effects and Greenland Surface Melt: Verification From Multi-year Automatic Weather Station Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Zender, C. S.; Wang, W.; van As, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds have strong impacts on Greenland's surface melt through the interaction with the dry atmosphere and reflective surfaces. However, their effects are uncertain due to the lack of in situ observations. To better quantify cloud radiative effects (CRE) in Greenland, we analyze and interpret multi-year radiation measurements from 30 automatic weather stations encompassing a broad range of climatological and topographical conditions. During melt season, clouds warm surface over most of Greenland, meaning the longwave greenhouse effect outweighs the shortwave shading effect; on the other hand, the spatial variability of net (longwave and shortwave) CRE is dominated by shortwave CRE and in turn by surface albedo, which controls the potential absorption of solar radiation when clouds are absent. The net warming effect decreases with shortwave CRE from high to low altitudes and from north to south (Fig. 1). The spatial correlation between albedo and net CRE is strong (r=0.93, palbedo determines the net CRE seasonal trend, which decreases from May to July and increases afterwards. On an hourly timescale, we find two distinct radiative states in Greenland (Fig. 2). The clear state is characterized by clear-sky conditions or thin clouds, when albedo and solar zenith angle (SZA) weakly correlates with CRE. The cloudy state is characterized by opaque clouds, when the combination of albedo and SZA strongly correlates with CRE (r=0.85, palbedo and solar zenith angle, explains the majority of the CRE variation in spatial distribution, seasonal trend in the ablation zone, and in hourly variability in the cloudy radiative state. Clouds warm the brighter and colder surfaces of Greenland, enhance snow melt, and tend to lower the albedo. Clouds cool the darker and warmer surfaces, inhibiting snow melt, which increases albedo, and thus stabilizes surface melt. This stabilizing mechanism may also occur over sea ice, helping to forestall surface melt as the Arctic becomes dimmer.

Cloud CPFP: a shotgun proteomics data analysis pipeline using cloud and high performance computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Trudgian, David C; Mirzaei, Hamid

2012-12-07

We have extended the functionality of the Central Proteomics Facilities Pipeline (CPFP) to allow use of remote cloud and high performance computing (HPC) resources for shotgun proteomics data processing. CPFP has been modified to include modular local and remote scheduling for data processing jobs. The pipeline can now be run on a single PC or server, a local cluster, a remote HPC cluster, and/or the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. We provide public images that allow easy deployment of CPFP in its entirety in the AWS cloud. This significantly reduces the effort necessary to use the software, and allows proteomics laboratories to pay for compute time ad hoc, rather than obtaining and maintaining expensive local server clusters. Alternatively the Amazon cloud can be used to increase the throughput of a local installation of CPFP as necessary. We demonstrate that cloud CPFP allows users to process data at higher speed than local installations but with similar cost and lower staff requirements. In addition to the computational improvements, the web interface to CPFP is simplified, and other functionalities are enhanced. The software is under active development at two leading institutions and continues to be released under an open-source license at http://cpfp.sourceforge.net.

A novel approach for introducing cloud spatial structure into cloud radiative transfer parameterizations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Dong; Liu, Yangang

2014-01-01

Subgrid-scale variability is one of the main reasons why parameterizations are needed in large-scale models. Although some parameterizations started to address the issue of subgrid variability by introducing a subgrid probability distribution function for relevant quantities, the spatial structure has been typically ignored and thus the subgrid-scale interactions cannot be accounted for physically. Here we present a new statistical-physics-like approach whereby the spatial autocorrelation function can be used to physically capture the net effects of subgrid cloud interaction with radiation. The new approach is able to faithfully reproduce the Monte Carlo 3D simulation results with several orders less computational cost, allowing for more realistic representation of cloud radiation interactions in large-scale models. (letter)

Quantifying the climatological cloud-free direct radiative forcing of aerosol over the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Brindley, Helen

2015-04-01

A combination of ground-based and satellite observations are used, in conjunction with column radiative transfer modelling, to assess the climatological aerosol loading and quantify its corresponding cloud-free direct radiative forcing (DRF) over the Red Sea. While there have been campaigns designed to probe aerosol-climate interactions over much of the world, relatively little attention has been paid to this region. Because of the remoteness of the area, satellite retrievals provide a crucial tool for assessing aerosol loading over the Sea. However, agreement between aerosol properties inferred from measurements from different instruments, and even in some cases from the same measurements using different retrieval algorithms can be poor, particularly in the case of mineral dust. Ground based measurements which can be used to evaluate retrievals are thus highly desirable. Here we take advantage of ship-based sun-photometer micro-tops observations gathered from a series of cruises which took place across the Red Sea during 2011 and 2013. To our knowledge these data represent the first set of detailed aerosol measurements from the Sea. They thus provide a unique opportunity to assess the performance of satellite retrieval algorithms in this region. Initially two aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieval algorithms developed for the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) instruments are evaluated via comparison with the co-located cruise observations. These show excellent agreement, with correlations typically better than 0.9 and very small root-mean-square and bias differences. Calculations of radiative fluxes and DRF along one of the cruises using the observed aerosol and meteorological conditions also show good agreement with co-located estimates from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument if the aerosol asymmetry parameter is adjusted to account for the presence of large

A review of our understanding of the aerosol-cloud interaction from the perspective of a bin resolved cloud scale modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Flossmann, Andrea I.; Wobrock, Wolfram

2010-09-01

cloud drops which is reduced in number and almost devoid of large particles. Consequently, impaction scavenging can probably be neglected inside clouds. Below clouds, impaction scavenging contributes around 30% to the particle mass reaching the ground by a rainfall event. The exact amount depends on the precise case studied. Nucleation and impaction scavenging directly by the ice phase in mixed phase clouds seems to play a minor role with respect to the particle mass that enters the ice particles via freezing of the liquid phase.The aerosol scavenging efficiency generally follows rather closely the precipitation scavenging value. The nucleation scavenging efficiency is around 90% for the liquid phase clouds and impaction scavenging generally contributed to about 30% of the particle mass in the rain. Clouds are very efficient in pumping up the boundary layer aerosol which essentially determines the cloud properties. For a marine case studied the net pumping depleted about 70% of the aerosol from the section of the boundary layer considered. The larger particles (and thus 70% of the mass vented up) got activated inside the cloud. A weak net import through cloud top and the upwind side was found, as well as a larger net export at the downwind side. The outside cloud subsidence can add to the replenishment of the boundary layer and eventually cause a recycling of the particles into the cloud. The results of the parcel model studies seem to indicate that increasing particulate pollution and decreasing solubility suppresses rain formation. In individual and short time cloud simulations this behaviour was even confirmed in our 3D model studies. However, taking into account entire cloud fields over longer periods of time yields the strong spatial and temporal variability of the results with isolated regions of inverse correlation of the effects. Even though in general initially the expected behaviour was found, after several hours of simulation, the overall precipitation

Cloud-radiation-precipitation associations over the Asian monsoon region: an observational analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jiandong; Wang, Wei-Chyung; Dong, Xiquan; Mao, Jiangyu

2017-11-01

This study uses 2001-2014 satellite observations and reanalyses to investigate the seasonal characteristics of Cloud Radiative Effects (CREs) and their associations with cloud fraction (CF) and precipitation over the Asian monsoon region (AMR) covering Eastern China (EC) and South Asia (SA). The CREs exhibit strong seasonal variations but show distinctly different relationships with CFs and precipitation over the two regions. For EC, the CREs is dominated by shortwave (SW) cooling, with an annual mean value of - 40 W m- 2 for net CRE, and peak in summer while the presence of extensive and opaque low-level clouds contributes to large Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) albedo (>0.5) in winter. For SA, a weak net CRE exists throughout the year due to in-phase compensation of SWCRE by longwave (LW) CRE associated with the frequent occurrence of high clouds. For the entire AMR, SWCRE strongly correlates with the dominant types of CFs, although the cloud vertical structure plays important role particularly in summer. The relationships between CREs and precipitation are stronger in SA than in EC, indicating the dominant effect of monsoon circulation in the former region. SWCRE over EC is only partly related to precipitation and shows distinctive regional variations. Further studies need to pay more attention to vertical distributions of cloud micro- and macro-physical properties, and associated precipitation systems over the AMR.

On the aerosol-cloud relationship at a high-alpine site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baltensperger, U.; Schwikowski, M.; Jost, D.T.; Nyeki, S.; Gaeggeler, H.W. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

1997-09-01

Field experiments at the Jungfraujoch showed that during the presence of a cloud, most of the aerosol mass is transferred into the cloud phase. This results in smaller cloud droplets for increasing aerosol concentration, which increases the albedo of clouds (known as the indirect effect of climate forcing by aerosol particles). (author) 1 fig., 4 refs.

Assessment of cirrus cloud and aerosol radiative effect in South-East Asia by ground-based NASA MPLNET lidar network data and CALIPSO satellite measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Lolli, Simone; Campbell, James R.; Lewis, Jasper R.; Welton, Ellsworth J.; Di Girolamo, Paolo; Fatkhuroyan, Fatkhuroyan; Gu, Yu; Marquis, Jared W.

2017-10-01

Aerosol, together with cirrus clouds, play a fundamental role in the earth-atmosphere system radiation budget, especially at tropical latitudes, where the Earth surface coverage by cirrus cloud can easily reach 70%. In this study we evaluate the combined aerosol and cirrus cloud net radiative effects in a wild and barren region like South East Asia. This part of the world is extremely vulnerable to climate change and it is source of important anthropogenic and natural aerosol emissions. The analysis has been carried out by computing cirrus cloud and aerosol net radiative effects through the Fu-Liou-Gu atmospheric radiative transfer model, adequately adapted to input lidar measurements, at surface and top-of-the atmosphere. The aerosol radiative effects were computed respectively using the retrieved lidar extinction from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization in 2011 and 2012 and the lidar on-board of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations for the South East Asia Region (27N-12S, 77E-132E) with 5° x 5° spatial resolution. To assess the cirrus cloud radiative effect, we used the ground-based Micro Pulse Lidar Network measurements at Singapore permanent observational site. Results put in evidence that strong aerosol emission areas are related on average to a net surface cooling. On the contrary, cirrus cloud radiative effect shows a net daytime positive warming of the system earth-atmosphere. This effect is weak over the ocean where the albedo is lower and never counter-balances the net cooling produced by aerosols. The net cooling is stronger in 2011, with an associated reduction in precipitations by the four of the five rain-gauges stations deployed in three regions as Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java with respect to 2012. We can speculate that aerosol emissions may be associated with lower rainfall, however some very important phenomena as El Nino Southern Oscillation , Madden-Julian Oscillation, Monsoon and Indian Dipole are not

Evaluating aerosol indirect effect through marine stratocumulus clouds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kogan, Z.N.; Kogan, Y.L.; Lilly, D.K. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)

1996-04-01

During the last decade much attention has been focused on anthropogenic aerosols and their radiative influence on the global climate. Charlson et al. and Penner et al. have demonstrated that tropospheric aerosols and particularly anthropogenic sulfate aerosols may significantly contribute to the radiative forcing exerting a cooling influence on climate (-1 to -2 W/m{sup 2}) which is comparable in magnitude to greenhouse forcing, but opposite in sign. Aerosol particles affect the earth`s radiative budget either directly by scattering and absorption of solar radiation by themselves or indirectly by altering the cloud radiative properties through changes in cloud microstructure. Marine stratocumulus cloud layers and their possible cooling influence on the atmosphere as a result of pollution are of special interest because of their high reflectivity, durability, and large global cover. We present an estimate of thet aerosol indirect effect, or, forcing due to anthropogenic sulfate aerosols.

Modelling of current loads on aquaculture net cages

Science.gov (United States)

Kristiansen, Trygve; Faltinsen, Odd M.

2012-10-01

In this paper we propose and discuss a screen type of force model for the viscous hydrodynamic load on nets. The screen model assumes that the net is divided into a number of flat net panels, or screens. It may thus be applied to any kind of net geometry. In this paper we focus on circular net cages for fish farms. The net structure itself is modelled by an existing truss model. The net shape is solved for in a time-stepping procedure that involves solving a linear system of equations for the unknown tensions at each time step. We present comparisons to experiments with circular net cages in steady current, and discuss the sensitivity of the numerical results to a set of chosen parameters. Satisfactory agreement between experimental and numerical prediction of drag and lift as function of the solidity ratio of the net and the current velocity is documented.

Using Cloud-based Storage Technologies for Earth Science Data

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelis, A.; Readey, J.; Votava, P.

2016-12-01

Cloud based infrastructure may offer several key benefits of scalability, built in redundancy and reduced total cost of ownership as compared with a traditional data center approach. However, most of the tools and software systems developed for NASA data repositories were not developed with a cloud based infrastructure in mind and do not fully take advantage of commonly available cloud-based technologies. Object storage services are provided through all the leading public (Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, etc.) and private (Open Stack) clouds, and may provide a more cost-effective means of storing large data collections online. We describe a system that utilizes object storage rather than traditional file system based storage to vend earth science data. The system described is not only cost effective, but shows superior performance for running many different analytics tasks in the cloud. To enable compatibility with existing tools and applications, we outline client libraries that are API compatible with existing libraries for HDF5 and NetCDF4. Performance of the system is demonstrated using clouds services running on Amazon Web Services.

Cloud-Driven Changes in Aerosol Optical Properties - Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ogren, John A.; Sheridan, Patrick S.; Andrews, Elisabeth

2007-09-30

The optical properties of aerosol particles are the controlling factors in determining direct aerosol radiative forcing. These optical properties depend on the chemical composition and size distribution of the aerosol particles, which can change due to various processes during the particles’ lifetime in the atmosphere. Over the course of this project we have studied how cloud processing of atmospheric aerosol changes the aerosol optical properties. A counterflow virtual impactor was used to separate cloud drops from interstitial aerosol and parallel aerosol systems were used to measure the optical properties of the interstitial and cloud-scavenged aerosol. Specifically, aerosol light scattering, back-scattering and absorption were measured and used to derive radiatively significant parameters such as aerosol single scattering albedo and backscatter fraction for cloud-scavenged and interstitial aerosol. This data allows us to demonstrate that the radiative properties of cloud-processed aerosol can be quite different than pre-cloud aerosol. These differences can be used to improve the parameterization of aerosol forcing in climate models.

ISR-1 Seminar: Nuclear Cloud Lofting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, Andrew Charles

2016-01-01

This report goes into detail about motivation, background, lofting methodologies (empirical, parcel methods, Navier-Stokes), DELFIC Model, validation, DIORAMA integration, and has the following conclusions: A parcel methodology was applied to develop the DIORAMA cloud lofting module. It is based on the DELFIC model and treats the cloud as a homogenous unit. It solves the set of 8 ODEs for cloud properties. It outputs the time history of the cloud height, radius, and other parameters. The cloud lofting module was tuned with 54 test cases. An iterative brute force search was carried out to find the best fit tuning parameters. The best fit parameters yielded average cloud height errors of 12.9% and 10.3% for the bottom and top, respectively. This all allows for more accurate modeling of the propagation of delayed gamma rays in DIORAMA.

Economic model of a cloud provider operating in a federated cloud

OpenAIRE

Goiri Presa, Íñigo; Guitart Fernández, Jordi; Torres Viñals, Jordi

2012-01-01

Resource provisioning in Cloud providers is a challenge because of the high variability of load over time. On the one hand, the providers can serve most of the requests owning only a restricted amount of resources, but this forces to reject customers during peak hours. On the other hand, valley hours incur in under-utilization of the resources, which forces the providers to increase their prices to be profitable. Federation overcomes these limitations and allows pro...

Atmospheric transport, clouds and the Arctic longwave radiation paradox

Science.gov (United States)

Sedlar, Joseph

2016-04-01

Clouds interact with radiation, causing variations in the amount of electromagnetic energy reaching the Earth's surface, or escaping the climate system to space. While globally clouds lead to an overall cooling radiative effect at the surface, over the Arctic, where annual cloud fractions are high, the surface cloud radiative effect generally results in a warming. The additional energy input from absorption and re-emission of longwave radiation by the clouds to the surface can have a profound effect on the sea ice state. Anomalous atmospheric transport of heat and moisture into the Arctic, promoting cloud formation and enhancing surface longwave radiation anomalies, has been identified as an important mechanism in preconditioning Arctic sea ice for melt. Longwave radiation is emitted equally in all directions, and changes in the atmospheric infrared emission temperature and emissivity associated with advection of heat and moisture over the Arctic should correspondingly lead to an anomalous signal in longwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). To examine the role of atmospheric heat and moisture transport into the Arctic on TOA longwave radiation, infrared satellite sounder observations from AIRS during 2003-2014 are analyzed for summer (JJAS). Thermodynamic metrics are developed to identify months characterized by a high frequency of warm and moist advection into the Arctic, and segregate the 2003-14 time period into climatological and anomalously warm, moist summer months. We find that anomalously warm, moist months result in a significant TOA longwave radiative cooling, which is opposite the forcing signal that the surface experiences during these months. At the timescale of the advective events, 3-10 days, the TOA cooling can be as large as the net surface energy budget during summer. When averaged on the monthly time scale, and over the full Arctic basin (poleward of 75°N), summer months experiencing frequent warm, moist advection events are

analysis of spatial-temporal variations and driving force of low cloud in northern China

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Xiaorui; Wang, Shuyu

2015-04-01

Cloud plays a crucial role in the climate system, and better understanding of its characteristics and formation mechanism are essential to study the climate system, improve the performance of climate models, and to provide scientific basis on conducting weather modification activities and better using water resources for the purpose of improving the local climate and ecological environment. During 1961 to 2005, decrease trend is detected for the total cloud amount over most parts of northern China, while increase trend is found for the low cloud amount with significant regionality. Both station and ISCCP D2 datasets present similar spatial distributions and interdecadal variation of high cloud. However two datasets show different characters for those of low cloud. Three typical sub-regions are chosen considering their underlying surface features and the temporal trend of low cloud amount, over which the interdecadal variations of low cloud amount in three regions are systematically investigated. The analyses show the strong regionality and seasonality in low cloud amount's temporal variations and trend, and quasi-biannual oscillations are observed in low cloud amount in three regions in the past 45 years. The relationships between 500 hPa circulation indexes and low cloud over the three regions are examined by means of singular value decomposition (SVD). The results show that the summer low cloud amount in Xinjiang is closely related with the Subtropical High, the Tibetan Plateau and Polar Vortex, and the autumn low cloud amount in North China is affected by the area of Subtropical High and intensity of Polar Vortex. For northeast China the controlling factor that affects the spring low cloud amount is the area of Polar Vortex in quadrant ⅳ（30°W-60°E）.

Intercomparison of model simulations of mixed-phase clouds observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. Part II: Multi-layered cloud

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison, H; McCoy, R B; Klein, S A; Xie, S; Luo, Y; Avramov, A; Chen, M; Cole, J; Falk, M; Foster, M; Genio, A D; Harrington, J; Hoose, C; Khairoutdinov, M; Larson, V; Liu, X; McFarquhar, G; Poellot, M; Shipway, B; Shupe, M; Sud, Y; Turner, D; Veron, D; Walker, G; Wang, Z; Wolf, A; Xu, K; Yang, F; Zhang, G

2008-02-27

Results are presented from an intercomparison of single-column and cloud-resolving model simulations of a deep, multi-layered, mixed-phase cloud system observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. This cloud system was associated with strong surface turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes as cold air flowed over the open Arctic Ocean, combined with a low pressure system that supplied moisture at mid-level. The simulations, performed by 13 single-column and 4 cloud-resolving models, generally overestimate the liquid water path and strongly underestimate the ice water path, although there is a large spread among the models. This finding is in contrast with results for the single-layer, low-level mixed-phase stratocumulus case in Part I of this study, as well as previous studies of shallow mixed-phase Arctic clouds, that showed an underprediction of liquid water path. The overestimate of liquid water path and underestimate of ice water path occur primarily when deeper mixed-phase clouds extending into the mid-troposphere were observed. These results suggest important differences in the ability of models to simulate Arctic mixed-phase clouds that are deep and multi-layered versus shallow and single-layered. In general, models with a more sophisticated, two-moment treatment of the cloud microphysics produce a somewhat smaller liquid water path that is closer to observations. The cloud-resolving models tend to produce a larger cloud fraction than the single-column models. The liquid water path and especially the cloud fraction have a large impact on the cloud radiative forcing at the surface, which is dominated by the longwave flux for this case.

The Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) contribution to CMIP6.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Mark J.; Andrews, Timothy; Bodas-Salcedo, Alejandro; Bony, Sandrine; Bretherton, Christopher S.; Chadwick, Robin; Chepfer, Helene; Douville, Herve; Good, Peter; Kay, Jennifer E.;

An Uncertainty Data Set for Passive Microwave Satellite Observations of Warm Cloud Liquid Water Path

Science.gov (United States)

Greenwald, Thomas J.; Bennartz, Ralf; Lebsock, Matthew; Teixeira, João.

2018-04-01

The first extended comprehensive data set of the retrieval uncertainties in passive microwave observations of cloud liquid water path (CLWP) for warm oceanic clouds has been created for practical use in climate applications. Four major sources of systematic errors were considered over the 9-year record of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E): clear-sky bias, cloud-rain partition (CRP) bias, cloud-fraction-dependent bias, and cloud temperature bias. Errors were estimated using a unique merged AMSR-E/Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Level 2 data set as well as observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization and the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar. To quantify the CRP bias more accurately, a new parameterization was developed to improve the inference of CLWP in warm rain. The cloud-fraction-dependent bias was found to be a combination of the CRP bias, an in-cloud bias, and an adjacent precipitation bias. Globally, the mean net bias was 0.012 kg/m2, dominated by the CRP and in-cloud biases, but with considerable regional and seasonal variation. Good qualitative agreement between a bias-corrected AMSR-E CLWP climatology and ship observations in the Northeast Pacific suggests that the bias estimates are reasonable. However, a possible underestimation of the net bias in certain conditions may be due in part to the crude method used in classifying precipitation, underscoring the need for an independent method of detecting rain in warm clouds. This study demonstrates the importance of combining visible-infrared imager data and passive microwave CLWP observations for estimating uncertainties and improving the accuracy of these observations.

Communicating with the Net Generation

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-11

resource investment is necessary to sustain a high quality all-volunteer force. 9 Leadership Technique for the Net Generation Army Regulation 600...Generations at Work, Millenials at Work, http://www.generationsatwork. com /articles_millennials_at_work.php (accessed November 21, 2010). 31 Thomas

Galactic cosmic ray and El Nino Southern Oscillation trends in International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project D2 low-cloud properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marsh, N.; Svensmark, Henrik

2003-01-01

[1] The recently reported correlation between clouds and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) implies the existence of a previously unknown process linking solar variability and climate. An analysis of the interannual variability of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project D2 (ISCCP-D2) low-cloud...... a strong correlation with GCR, which suggests that low-cloud properties observed in these regions are less likely to be contaminated from overlying cloud. The GCR-low cloud correlation cannot easily be explained by internal climate processes, changes in direct solar forcing, or UV-ozone interactions...... properties over the period July 1983 to August 1994 suggests that low clouds are statistically related to two processes, (1) GCR and (2) El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with GCR explaining a greater percentage of the total variance. Areas where satellites have an unobstructed view of low cloud possess...

Estimating cloud field coverage using morphological analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bar-Or, Rotem Z; Koren, Ilan; Altaratz, Orit

2010-01-01

The apparent cloud-free atmosphere in the vicinity of clouds ('the twilight zone') is often affected by undetectable weak signature clouds and humidified aerosols. It is suggested here to classify the atmosphere into two classes: cloud fields, and cloud-free (away from a cloud field), while detectable clouds are included in the cloud field class as a subset. Since the definition of cloud fields is ambiguous, a robust cloud field masking algorithm is presented here, based on the cloud spatial distribution. The cloud field boundaries are calculated then on the basis of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud mask products and the total cloud field area is estimated for the Atlantic Ocean (50 deg. S-50 deg. N). The findings show that while the monthly averaged cloud fraction over the Atlantic Ocean during July is 53%, the cloud field fraction may reach 97%, suggesting that cloud field properties should be considered in climate studies. A comparison between aerosol optical depth values inside and outside cloud fields reveals differences in the retrieved radiative properties of aerosols depending on their location. The observed mean aerosol optical depth inside the cloud fields is more than 10% higher than outside it, indicating that such convenient cloud field masking may contribute to better estimations of aerosol direct and indirect forcing.

Constraining the models' response of tropical low clouds to SST forcings using CALIPSO observations

Science.gov (United States)

Cesana, G.; Del Genio, A. D.; Ackerman, A. S.; Brient, F.; Fridlind, A. M.; Kelley, M.; Elsaesser, G.

2017-12-01

Low-cloud response to a warmer climate is still pointed out as being the largest source of uncertainty in the last generation of climate models. To date there is no consensus among the models on whether the tropical low cloudiness would increase or decrease in a warmer climate. In addition, it has been shown that - depending on their climate sensitivity - the models either predict deeper or shallower low clouds. Recently, several relationships between inter-model characteristics of the present-day climate and future climate changes have been highlighted. These so-called emergent constraints aim to target relevant model improvements and to constrain models' projections based on current climate observations. Here we propose to use - for the first time - 10 years of CALIPSO cloud statistics to assess the ability of the models to represent the vertical structure of tropical low clouds for abnormally warm SST. We use a simulator approach to compare observations and simulations and focus on the low-layered clouds (i.e. z fraction. Vertically, the clouds deepen namely by decreasing the cloud fraction in the lowest levels and increasing it around the top of the boundary-layer. This feature is coincident with an increase of the high-level cloud fraction (z > 6.5km). Although the models' spread is large, the multi-model mean captures the observed variations but with a smaller amplitude. We then employ the GISS model to investigate how changes in cloud parameterizations affect the response of low clouds to warmer SSTs on the one hand; and how they affect the variations of the model's cloud profiles with respect to environmental parameters on the other hand. Finally, we use CALIPSO observations to constrain the model by determining i) what set of parameters allows reproducing the observed relationships and ii) what are the consequences on the cloud feedbacks. These results point toward process-oriented constraints of low-cloud responses to surface warming and environmental

Dispersion bias, dispersion effect, and the aerosol-cloud conundrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yangang; Daum, Peter H; Guo Huan; Peng Yiran

2008-01-01

This work examines the influences of relative dispersion (the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean radius of the cloud droplet size distribution) on cloud albedo and cloud radiative forcing, derives an analytical formulation that accounts explicitly for the contribution from droplet concentration and relative dispersion, and presents a new approach to parameterize relative dispersion in climate models. It is shown that inadequate representation of relative dispersion in climate models leads to an overestimation of cloud albedo, resulting in a negative bias of global mean shortwave cloud radiative forcing that can be comparable to the warming caused by doubling CO 2 in magnitude, and that this dispersion bias is likely near its maximum for ambient clouds. Relative dispersion is empirically expressed as a function of the quotient between cloud liquid water content and droplet concentration (i.e., water per droplet), yielding an analytical formulation for the first aerosol indirect effect. Further analysis of the new expression reveals that the dispersion effect not only offsets the cooling from the Twomey effect, but is also proportional to the Twomey effect in magnitude. These results suggest that unrealistic representation of relative dispersion in cloud parameterization in general, and evaluation of aerosol indirect effects in particular, is at least in part responsible for several outstanding puzzles of the aerosol-cloud conundrum: for example, overestimation of cloud radiative cooling by climate models compared to satellite observations; large uncertainty and discrepancy in estimates of the aerosol indirect effect; and the lack of interhemispheric difference in cloud albedo.

A Hybrid Verifiable and Delegated Cryptographic Model in Cloud Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaber Ibrahim Naser

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Access control is very important in cloud data sharing. Especially in the domains like healthcare, it is essential to have access control mechanisms in place for confidentiality and secure data access. Attribute based encryption has been around for many years to secure data and provide controlled access. In this paper, we proposed a framework that supports circuit and attributes based encryption mechanism that involves multiple parties. They are data owner, data user, cloud server and attribute authority. An important feature of the proposed system is the verifiable delegation of the decryption process to cloud server. Data owner encrypts data and delegates decryption process to cloud. Cloud server performs partial decryption and then the final decrypted data are shared for users as per the privileges. Data owner  thus reduces computational complexity by delegating decryption process cloud server. We built a prototype application using the Microsoft.NET platform for proof of the concept. The empirical results revealed that there is controlled access with multiple user roles and access control rights for secure and confidential data access in cloud computing.

Tropospheric radiative forcing of CH4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossman, A.S.; Grant, K.E.

1994-04-01

We have evaluated the tropospheric radiative forcing of CH 4 in the 0-3000 cm -1 wavenumber range and compared this with prior published calculations. The atmospheric test cases involved perturbed methane scenarios in both a McClatchey mid latitude, summer, clear sky approximation, model atmosphere, as well as a globally and seasonally averaged model atmosphere containing a representative cloud distribution. The scenarios involved pure CH 4 radiative forcing and CH 4 plus a mixture of H 2 O, CO 2 , O 3 , and N 2 O. The IR radiative forcing was calculated using a correlated k-distribution transmission model. The major purposes of this paper are to first, use the correlated k-distribution model to calculate the tropospheric radiative forcing for CH 4 , as the only radiatively active gas, and in a mixture with H 2 O, CO 2 , O 3 , and N 2 O, for a McClatchey mid-latitude summer, clear-sky model atmosphere, and to compare the results to those obtained in the studies mentioned above. Second, we will calculate the tropospheric methane forcing in a globally and annually averaged atmosphere with and without a representative cloud distribution in order to validate the conjecture given in IPCC (1990) that the inclusion of clouds in the forcing calculations results in forcing values which are approximately 20 percent less than those obtained using clear sky approximations

Research on cloud-based remote measurement and analysis system

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Zhiqiang; He, Lingsong; Su, Wei; Wang, Can; Zhang, Changfan

2015-02-01

The promising potential of cloud computing and its convergence with technologies such as cloud storage, cloud push, mobile computing allows for creation and delivery of newer type of cloud service. Combined with the thought of cloud computing, this paper presents a cloud-based remote measurement and analysis system. This system mainly consists of three parts: signal acquisition client, web server deployed on the cloud service, and remote client. This system is a special website developed using asp.net and Flex RIA technology, which solves the selective contradiction between two monitoring modes, B/S and C/S. This platform supplies customer condition monitoring and data analysis service by Internet, which was deployed on the cloud server. Signal acquisition device is responsible for data (sensor data, audio, video, etc.) collection and pushes the monitoring data to the cloud storage database regularly. Data acquisition equipment in this system is only conditioned with the function of data collection and network function such as smartphone and smart sensor. This system's scale can adjust dynamically according to the amount of applications and users, so it won't cause waste of resources. As a representative case study, we developed a prototype system based on Ali cloud service using the rotor test rig as the research object. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system architecture is feasible.

Neuronal nets in robotics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez Sanchez, Raul

1999-01-01

The paper gives a generic idea of the solutions that the neuronal nets contribute to the robotics. The advantages and the inconveniences are exposed that have regarding the conventional techniques. It also describe the more excellent applications as the pursuit of trajectories, the positioning based on images, the force control or of the mobile robots management, among others

A European Federated Cloud: Innovative distributed computing solutions by EGI

Science.gov (United States)

Sipos, Gergely; Turilli, Matteo; Newhouse, Steven; Kacsuk, Peter

2013-04-01

The European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) is the result of pioneering work that has, over the last decade, built a collaborative production infrastructure of uniform services through the federation of national resource providers that supports multi-disciplinary science across Europe and around the world. This presentation will provide an overview of the recently established 'federated cloud computing services' that the National Grid Initiatives (NGIs), operators of EGI, offer to scientific communities. The presentation will explain the technical capabilities of the 'EGI Federated Cloud' and the processes whereby earth and space science researchers can engage with it. EGI's resource centres have been providing services for collaborative, compute- and data-intensive applications for over a decade. Besides the well-established 'grid services', several NGIs already offer privately run cloud services to their national researchers. Many of these researchers recently expressed the need to share these cloud capabilities within their international research collaborations - a model similar to the way the grid emerged through the federation of institutional batch computing and file storage servers. To facilitate the setup of a pan-European cloud service from the NGIs' resources, the EGI-InSPIRE project established a Federated Cloud Task Force in September 2011. The Task Force has a mandate to identify and test technologies for a multinational federated cloud that could be provisioned within EGI by the NGIs. A guiding principle for the EGI Federated Cloud is to remain technology neutral and flexible for both resource providers and users: • Resource providers are allowed to use any cloud hypervisor and management technology to join virtualised resources into the EGI Federated Cloud as long as the site is subscribed to the user-facing interfaces selected by the EGI community. • Users can integrate high level services - such as brokers, portals and customised Virtual Research

Impacts of solar-absorbing aerosol layers on the transition of stratocumulus to trade cumulus clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Zhou

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The effects of an initially overlying layer of solar-absorbing aerosol on the transition of stratocumulus to trade cumulus clouds are examined using large-eddy simulations. For lightly drizzling cloud the transition is generally hastened, resulting mainly from increased cloud droplet number concentration (Nc induced by entrained aerosol. The increased Nc slows sedimentation of cloud droplets and shortens their relaxation time for diffusional growth, both of which accelerate entrainment of overlying air and thereby stratocumulus breakup. However, the decrease in albedo from cloud breakup is more than offset by redistributing cloud water over a greater number of droplets, such that the diurnal-average shortwave forcing at the top of the atmosphere is negative. The negative radiative forcing is enhanced by sizable longwave contributions, which result from the greater cloud breakup and a reduced boundary layer height associated with aerosol heating. A perturbation of moisture instead of aerosol aloft leads to a greater liquid water path and a more gradual transition. Adding absorbing aerosol to that atmosphere results in substantial reductions in liquid water path (LWP and cloud cover that lead to positive shortwave and negative longwave forcings on average canceling each other. Only for heavily drizzling clouds is the breakup delayed, as inhibition of precipitation overcomes cloud water loss from enhanced entrainment. Considering these simulations as an imperfect proxy for biomass burning plumes influencing Namibian stratocumulus, we expect regional indirect plus semi-direct forcings to be substantially negative to negligible at the top of the atmosphere, with its magnitude sensitive to background and perturbation properties.

CO2 forcing induces semi-direct effects with consequences for climate feedback interpretations

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, Timothy; Forster, Piers M.

2008-02-01

Climate forcing and feedbacks are diagnosed from seven slab-ocean GCMs for 2 × CO2 using a regression method. Results are compared to those using conventional methodologies to derive a semi-direct forcing due to tropospheric adjustment, analogous to the semi-direct effect of absorbing aerosols. All models show a cloud semi-direct effect, indicating a rapid cloud response to CO2; cloud typically decreases, enhancing the warming. Similarly there is evidence of semi-direct effects from water-vapour, lapse-rate, ice and snow. Previous estimates of climate feedbacks are unlikely to have taken these semi-direct effects into account and so misinterpret processes as feedbacks that depend only on the forcing, but not the global surface temperature. We show that the actual cloud feedback is smaller than what previous methods suggest and that a significant part of the cloud response and the large spread between previous model estimates of cloud feedback is due to the semi-direct forcing.

Effect of biomass burning on marine stratocumulus clouds off the California coast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.-Y. Hsie

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Aerosol-cloud interactions are considered to be one of the most important and least known forcings in the climate system. Biomass burning aerosols are of special interest due to their radiative impact (direct and indirect effect and their potential to increase in the future due to climate change. Combining data from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES and MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS with passive tracers from the FLEXPART Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model, the impact of biomass burning aerosols on marine stratocumulus clouds has been examined in June and July of 2006–2008 off the California coast. Using a continental tracer, the indirect effect of biomass burning aerosols has been isolated by comparing the average cloud fraction and cloud albedo for different meteorological situations, and for clean versus polluted (in terms of biomass burning continental air masses at 14:00 local time. Within a 500 km-wide band along the coast of California, biomass burning aerosols, which tend to reside above the marine boundary layer, increased the cloud fraction by 0.143, and the cloud albedo by 0.038. Absorbing aerosols located above the marine boundary layer lead to an increase of the lower tropospheric stability and a reduction in the vertical entrainment of dry air from above, leading to increased cloud formation. The combined effect was an indirect radiative forcing of −7.5% ±1.7% (cooling effect of the outgoing radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere on average, with a bias due to meteorology of +0.9%. Further away from the coast, the biomass burning aerosols, which were located within the boundary layer, reduced the cloud fraction by 0.023 and the cloud albedo by 0.006, resulting in an indirect radiative forcing of +1.3% ±0.3% (warming effect with a bias of +0.5%. These results underscore the dual role that absorbing aerosols play in cloud radiative forcing.

Magnetic diffusion and ionization fractions in dense molecular clouds: The role of charged grains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elmegreen, B.G.

1979-01-01

The ionization fraction is determined for dense molecular clouds by considering charge exchange, dissociative recombination, radiative recombination, and collisions between grains and charged species. The inclusion of grains tends to lower the ionization fraction for a given cosmic-ray ionization rate zeta and metal depletion delta. The observed values of the ionization fractions in dense cloud cores (i.e., -8 ) are obtained for reasonable values of zeta=10 -17 s -1 and delta=0.1.For temperatures less than 30 K, each grain alternates in charge between -e and 0. The resulting motion of the grains in a self-graviting cloud that contains a magnetic field will be periodic; their response to electromagnetic forces will depend on their instantaneous charge. This complex motion is calculated in order to determine the average viscous force between the grains and the neutral molecules in the cloud. The grain-neutral viscous force combines with the ion-neutral viscous force to regulate the motion of the neutral molecules relative to the magnetic field. The resultant The result neutral drift leads to a diffusion of the magnetic field out of the cloud. The time scale for this diffusion is calculated. Grain-related viscous forces dominate ion-related forces for ionization fractions less than 5 x 10 -8 . The magnetic diffusion time in a self-gravitating cloud that is supported by an internal magnetic field is shown to be at least 10 times larger thanthe free-fall time even when the ionization fraction is much less than 10 -8

TownshipNet: A localized hybrid TVWS-WiFi and cloud services network

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Hadzic, S

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a network architecture to provide low cost last mile access and cloud services for local content sharing in a poorly resourced township environment. We describe how ICT solutions are developed in close partnership with the local...

AP-Cloud: Adaptive Particle-in-Cloud method for optimal solutions to Vlasov–Poisson equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xingyu; Samulyak, Roman; Jiao, Xiangmin; Yu, Kwangmin

2016-01-01

We propose a new adaptive Particle-in-Cloud (AP-Cloud) method for obtaining optimal numerical solutions to the Vlasov–Poisson equation. Unlike the traditional particle-in-cell (PIC) method, which is commonly used for solving this problem, the AP-Cloud adaptively selects computational nodes or particles to deliver higher accuracy and efficiency when the particle distribution is highly non-uniform. Unlike other adaptive techniques for PIC, our method balances the errors in PDE discretization and Monte Carlo integration, and discretizes the differential operators using a generalized finite difference (GFD) method based on a weighted least square formulation. As a result, AP-Cloud is independent of the geometric shapes of computational domains and is free of artificial parameters. Efficient and robust implementation is achieved through an octree data structure with 2:1 balance. We analyze the accuracy and convergence order of AP-Cloud theoretically, and verify the method using an electrostatic problem of a particle beam with halo. Simulation results show that the AP-Cloud method is substantially more accurate and faster than the traditional PIC, and it is free of artificial forces that are typical for some adaptive PIC techniques.

Measuring the greenhouse effect and radiative forcing through the atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Philipona, Rolf; Kräuchi, Andreas; Brocard, Emmanuel

2013-04-01

In spite of a large body of existing measurements of incoming shortwave solar radiation and outgoing longwave terrestrial radiation at the Earth's surface and at the top of the atmosphere, there are few observations documenting how radiation profiles change through the atmosphere - information that is necessary to fully quantify the greenhouse effect of the Earth's atmosphere. Using weather balloons and specific radiometer equipped radiosondes, we continuously measured shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes from the surface of the Earth up to altitudes of 35 kilometers in the upper stratosphere. Comparing radiation profiles from night measurements with different amounts of water vapor, we show evidence of large greenhouse forcing. We show, that under cloud free conditions, water vapor increases with Clausius-Clapeyron ( 7% / K), and longwave downward radiation at the surface increases by 8 Watts per square meter per Kelvin. The longwave net radiation however, shows a positive increase (downward) of 2.4 Watts per square meter and Kelvin at the surface, which decreases with height and shows a similar but negative increase (upward) at the tropopause. Hence, increased tropospheric water vapor increases longwave net radiation towards the ground and towards space, and produces a heating of 0.42 Kelvin per Watt per square meter at the surface. References: Philipona et al., 2012: Solar and thermal radiation profiles and radiative forcing measured through the atmosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L13806, doi: 10.1029/2012GL052087.

Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Ice and Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

In this view of Antarctic ice and clouds, (56.5S, 152.0W), the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica is almost totally clear, showing stress cracks in the ice surface caused by wind and tidal drift. Clouds on the eastern edge of the picture are associated with an Antarctic cyclone. Winds stirred up these storms have been known to reach hurricane force.

Cloud-Based Perception and Control of Sensor Nets and Robot Swarms

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

distributed stream processing framework provides the necessary API and infrastructure to develop and execute such applications in a cluster of computation...streaming DDDAS applications based on challenges they present to the backend Cloud control system. Figure 2 Parallel SLAM Application 3 1) Set of...the art deep learning- based object detectors can recognize among hundreds of object classes and this capability would be very useful for mobile

A net decrease in the Earth's cloud, aerosol, and surface 340 nm reflectivity during the past 33 yr (1979–2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Herman

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Measured upwelling radiances from Nimbus-7 SBUV (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet and seven NOAA SBUV/2 instruments have been used to calculate the 340 nm Lambertian equivalent reflectivity (LER of the Earth from 1979 to 2011 after applying a common calibration. The 340 nm LER is highly correlated with cloud and aerosol cover because of the low surface reflectivity of the land and oceans (typically 2 to 6 RU, reflectivity units, where 1 RU = 0.01 = 1.0% relative to the much higher reflectivity of clouds plus nonabsorbing aerosols (typically 10 to 90 RU. Because of the nearly constant seasonal and long-term 340 nm surface reflectivity in areas without snow and ice, the 340 nm LER can be used to estimate changes in cloud plus aerosol amount associated with seasonal and interannual variability and decadal climate change. The annual motion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ, episodic El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO, and latitude-dependent seasonal cycles are apparent in the LER time series. LER trend estimates from 5° zonal average and from 2° × 5° , latitude × longitude, time series show that there has been a global net decrease in 340 nm cloud plus aerosol reflectivity. The decrease in cos2(latitude weighted average LER from 60° S to 60° N is 0.79 ± 0.03 RU over 33 yr, corresponding to a 3.6 ± 0.2% decrease in LER. Applying a 3.6% cloud reflectivity perturbation to the shortwave energy balance partitioning given by Trenberth et al. (2009 corresponds to an increase of 2.7 W m−2 of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface and an increase of 1.4% or 2.3 W m−2 absorbed by the surface, which is partially offset by increased longwave cooling to space. Most of the decreases in LER occur over land, with the largest decreases occurring over the US (−0.97 RU decade−1, Brazil (−0.9 RU decade−1, and central Europe (−1.35 RU decade−1. There are reflectivity increases near the west coast of Peru and Chile (0.8 ± 0.1 RU

A cosmic ray-climate link and cloud observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunne Eimear M.

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Despite over 35 years of constant satellite-based measurements of cloud, reliable evidence of a long-hypothesized link between changes in solar activity and Earth’s cloud cover remains elusive. This work examines evidence of a cosmic ray cloud link from a range of sources, including satellite-based cloud measurements and long-term ground-based climatological measurements. The satellite-based studies can be divided into two categories: (1 monthly to decadal timescale analysis and (2 daily timescale epoch-superpositional (composite analysis. The latter analyses frequently focus on sudden high-magnitude reductions in the cosmic ray flux known as Forbush decrease events. At present, two long-term independent global satellite cloud datasets are available (ISCCP and MODIS. Although the differences between them are considerable, neither shows evidence of a solar-cloud link at either long or short timescales. Furthermore, reports of observed correlations between solar activity and cloud over the 1983–1995 period are attributed to the chance agreement between solar changes and artificially induced cloud trends. It is possible that the satellite cloud datasets and analysis methods may simply be too insensitive to detect a small solar signal. Evidence from ground-based studies suggests that some weak but statistically significant cosmic ray-cloud relationships may exist at regional scales, involving mechanisms related to the global electric circuit. However, a poor understanding of these mechanisms and their effects on cloud makes the net impacts of such links uncertain. Regardless of this, it is clear that there is no robust evidence of a widespread link between the cosmic ray flux and clouds.

Application of cellular automata approach for cloud simulation and rendering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christopher Immanuel, W. [Department of Physics, Vel Tech High Tech Dr. Rangarajan Dr. Sakunthala Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, Chennai 600 062 (India); Paul Mary Deborrah, S. [Research Department of Physics, The American College, Tamil Nadu, Madurai 625 002 (India); Samuel Selvaraj, R. [Research Department of Physics, Presidency College, Tamil Nadu, Chennai 600 005 (India)

2014-03-15

Current techniques for creating clouds in games and other real time applications produce static, homogenous clouds. These clouds, while viable for real time applications, do not exhibit an organic feel that clouds in nature exhibit. These clouds, when viewed over a time period, were able to deform their initial shape and move in a more organic and dynamic way. With cloud shape technology we should be able in the future to extend to create even more cloud shapes in real time with more forces. Clouds are an essential part of any computer model of a landscape or an animation of an outdoor scene. A realistic animation of clouds is also important for creating scenes for flight simulators, movies, games, and other. Our goal was to create a realistic animation of clouds.

Application of cellular automata approach for cloud simulation and rendering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christopher Immanuel, W.; Paul Mary Deborrah, S.; Samuel Selvaraj, R.

2014-01-01

Current techniques for creating clouds in games and other real time applications produce static, homogenous clouds. These clouds, while viable for real time applications, do not exhibit an organic feel that clouds in nature exhibit. These clouds, when viewed over a time period, were able to deform their initial shape and move in a more organic and dynamic way. With cloud shape technology we should be able in the future to extend to create even more cloud shapes in real time with more forces. Clouds are an essential part of any computer model of a landscape or an animation of an outdoor scene. A realistic animation of clouds is also important for creating scenes for flight simulators, movies, games, and other. Our goal was to create a realistic animation of clouds

Brightening of the global cloud field by nitric acid and the associated radiative forcing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Makkonen

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Clouds cool Earth's climate by reflecting 20% of the incoming solar energy, while also trapping part of the outgoing radiation. The effect of human activities on clouds is poorly understood, but the present-day anthropogenic cooling via changes of cloud albedo and lifetime could be of the same order as warming from anthropogenic addition in CO₂. Soluble trace gases can increase water condensation to particles, possibly leading to activation of smaller aerosols and more numerous cloud droplets. We have studied the effect of nitric acid on the aerosol indirect effect with the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5.5-HAM2. Including the nitric acid effect in the model increases cloud droplet number concentrations globally by 7%. The nitric acid contribution to the present-day cloud albedo effect was found to be −0.32 W m⁻² and to the total indirect effect −0.46 W m⁻². The contribution to the cloud albedo effect is shown to increase to −0.37 W m⁻² by the year 2100, if considering only the reductions in available cloud condensation nuclei. Overall, the effect of nitric acid can play a large part in aerosol cooling during the following decades with decreasing SO₂ emissions and increasing NO_x and greenhouse gases.

Longwave indirect effect of mineral dusts on ice clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Min

2010-08-01

Full Text Available In addition to microphysical changes in clouds, changes in nucleation processes of ice cloud due to aerosols would result in substantial changes in cloud top temperature as mildly supercooled clouds are glaciated through heterogenous nucleation processes. Measurements from multiple sensors on multiple observing platforms over the Atlantic Ocean show that the cloud effective temperature increases with mineral dust loading with a slope of +3.06 °C per unit aerosol optical depth. The macrophysical changes in ice cloud top distributions as a consequence of mineral dust-cloud interaction exert a strong cooling effect (up to 16 Wm⁻² of thermal infrared radiation on cloud systems. Induced changes of ice particle size by mineral dusts influence cloud emissivity and play a minor role in modulating the outgoing longwave radiation for optically thin ice clouds. Such a strong cooling forcing of thermal infrared radiation would have significant impacts on cloud systems and subsequently on climate.

Quantifying the Contributions of Environmental Parameters to Ceres Surface Net Radiation Error in China

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, X.; Yang, Y.; Liu, Y.; Fan, X.; Shan, L.; Zhang, X.

2018-04-01

Error source analyses are critical for the satellite-retrieved surface net radiation (Rn) products. In this study, we evaluate the Rn error sources in the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project at 43 sites from July in 2007 to December in 2007 in China. The results show that cloud fraction (CF), land surface temperature (LST), atmospheric temperature (AT) and algorithm error dominate the Rn error, with error contributions of -20, 15, 10 and 10 W/m2 (net shortwave (NSW)/longwave (NLW) radiation), respectively. For NSW, the dominant error source is algorithm error (more than 10 W/m2), particularly in spring and summer with abundant cloud. For NLW, due to the high sensitivity of algorithm and large LST/CF error, LST and CF are the largest error sources, especially in northern China. The AT influences the NLW error large in southern China because of the large AT error in there. The total precipitable water has weak influence on Rn error even with the high sensitivity of algorithm. In order to improve Rn quality, CF and LST (AT) error in northern (southern) China should be decreased.

Force-free field inside a toroidal magnetic cloud

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Romashets, E. P.; Vandas, Marek

2003-01-01

Roč. 30, č. 20 (2003), s. 2065, /SSC 8-1 - SSC 8-4/ ISSN 0094-8276 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IBS1003006; GA ČR GA205/03/0953 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1003909 Keywords : magnetic clouds * toroid al flux rope * analytical solution Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 2.422, year: 2003

Security Issues Threats and Challenges in Data Management of Wireless Communication & Sensor Network over Cloud: A Review

OpenAIRE

Padmaja R Ayachit,; N. G. Narole

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is a colloquial expression used to describe a variety of different computing concepts that involve a large number of computers that are connected through a real-time communication network. The five key characteristics of cloud computing are: location-independent resource pooling, on demand self-service, rapid elasticity, broad network access, and measured service. These five characteristics represent the first layer in the cloud environment. Wireless sensor net...

Aerosol-cloud interactions from urban, regional to global scales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yuan

2015-01-01

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.

Aerosol-cloud interactions from urban, regional to global scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yuan [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States). Seismological Lab.

2015-10-01

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.

Narrowing the Gap in Quantification of Aerosol-Cloud Radiative Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, G.; McComiskey, A. C.; Yamaguchi, T.; Kazil, J.; Johnson, J. S.; Carslaw, K. S.

2016-12-01

Despite large advances in our understanding of aerosol and cloud processes over the past years, uncertainty in the aerosol-cloud radiative effect/forcing is still of major concern. In this talk we will advocate a methodology for quantifying the aerosol-cloud radiative effect that considers the primacy of fundamental cloud properties such as cloud amount and albedo alongside the need for process level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions. We will present a framework for quantifying the aerosol-cloud radiative effect, regime-by-regime, through process-based modelling and observations at the large eddy scale. We will argue that understanding the co-variability between meteorological and aerosol drivers of the radiative properties of the cloud system may be as important an endeavour as attempting to untangle these drivers.

Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. V. Spracklen

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Black carbon in carbonaceous combustion aerosol warms the climate by absorbing solar radiation, meaning reductions in black carbon emissions are often perceived as an attractive global warming mitigation option. However, carbonaceous combustion aerosol can also act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN so they also cool the climate by increasing cloud albedo. The net radiative effect of carbonaceous combustion aerosol is uncertain because their contribution to CCN has not been evaluated on the global scale. By combining extensive observations of CCN concentrations with the GLOMAP global aerosol model, we find that the model is biased low (normalised mean bias = −77 % unless carbonaceous combustion aerosol act as CCN. We show that carbonaceous combustion aerosol accounts for more than half (52–64 % of global CCN with the range due to uncertainty in the emitted size distribution of carbonaceous combustion particles. The model predicts that wildfire and pollution (fossil fuel and biofuel carbonaceous combustion aerosol causes a global mean cloud albedo aerosol indirect effect of −0.34 W m⁻², with stronger cooling if we assume smaller particle emission size. We calculate that carbonaceous combustion aerosol from pollution sources cause a global mean aerosol indirect effect of −0.23 W m⁻². The small size of carbonaceous combustion particles from fossil fuel sources means that whilst pollution sources account for only one-third of the emitted mass they cause two-thirds of the cloud albedo aerosol indirect effect that is due to carbonaceous combustion aerosol. This cooling effect must be accounted for, along with other cloud effects not studied here, to ensure that black carbon emissions controls that reduce the high number concentrations of fossil fuel particles have the desired net effect on climate.

Uncover the Cloud for Geospatial Sciences and Applications to Adopt Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, C.; Huang, Q.; Xia, J.; Liu, K.; Li, J.; Xu, C.; Sun, M.; Bambacus, M.; Xu, Y.; Fay, D.

2012-12-01

Cloud computing is emerging as the future infrastructure for providing computing resources to support and enable scientific research, engineering development, and application construction, as well as work force education. On the other hand, there is a lot of doubt about the readiness of cloud computing to support a variety of scientific research, development and educations. This research is a project funded by NASA SMD to investigate through holistic studies how ready is the cloud computing to support geosciences. Four applications with different computing characteristics including data, computing, concurrent, and spatiotemporal intensities are taken to test the readiness of cloud computing to support geosciences. Three popular and representative cloud platforms including Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, and NASA Nebula as well as a traditional cluster are utilized in the study. Results illustrates that cloud is ready to some degree but more research needs to be done to fully implemented the cloud benefit as advertised by many vendors and defined by NIST. Specifically, 1) most cloud platform could help stand up new computing instances, a new computer, in a few minutes as envisioned, therefore, is ready to support most computing needs in an on demand fashion; 2) the load balance and elasticity, a defining characteristic, is ready in some cloud platforms, such as Amazon EC2, to support bigger jobs, e.g., needs response in minutes, while some are not ready to support the elasticity and load balance well. All cloud platform needs further research and development to support real time application at subminute level; 3) the user interface and functionality of cloud platforms vary a lot and some of them are very professional and well supported/documented, such as Amazon EC2, some of them needs significant improvement for the general public to adopt cloud computing without professional training or knowledge about computing infrastructure; 4) the security is a big concern in

Clouds and snowmelt on the north slope of Alaska

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, T.; Stamnes, K.; Bowling, S.A. [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)

1996-04-01

Clouds have a large effect on the radiation field. Consequently, possible changes in cloud properties may have a very substantial impact on climate. Of all natural surfaces, seasonal snow cover has the highest surface albedo, which is one of the most important components of the climatic system. Interactions between clouds and seasonal snow cover are expected to have a significant effect on climate and its change at high latitudes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sensitivity of the surface cloud-radiative forcing during the period of snowmelt at high latitudes. The primary variables investigated are cloud liquid path (LWP) and droplet equivalent radius (r{sub e}). We will also examine the sensitivity of the surface radiative fluxes to cloud base height and cloud base temperature.

On polluted by admixtures plasma cloud state diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Temko, S.W.; Temko, K.W.; Kuz'min, S.K.

1993-01-01

The state of bounded plasma is dependent on perturbations which are caused from changing of inner and outer thermodynamical parameters. The authors describe interactions in a plasma cloud by potential functions. Potential functions are mathematical models of real interactions of particles with each others and with ionized cloud surface. Potential functions define potential energy of corresponding interactions at ionized cloud. Potential functions are sums of far-action and near-action potentials. An ionized cloud is formed under action of inner, outer and surface forces nearly connected with each others. The result of the indicated forces joint action is geometrical form and dimensions of the weakly ionized plasma cloud. Geometrical form of the cloud and its dimensions are able to be changed. They consider only the small changing of small perturbations type. Surface geometrical form and dimensions of the cloud are not given a priori. They are to be obtained by self-consistent problem solving. The self-consistent problem is solved by space non-linear statistical thermodynamics proposed before by the authors. They use abstract potential theory, distribution theory, results by N.M. Krylov and N.N. Bogoljubov and known N.N. Bogoljubov methods of statistical physics. To choose potential functions, their numerical parameters, surface form and dimensions of the cloud, they use optimal experiment planning, likelihood method, Monte-Carlo, directed random search and computer experiment methods. To be likelihood function they used free energy of ionized cloud with admixtures. They refuse describing single particle behavior at small volume. They consider particles to be washed spots and describe particles by distributions. According to R. Feinman it is lawful. Bounded plasma state is described by vector-density of particles distribution. Term distribution is used in Sobolev-Schwartc sence. To precipitate admixtures is effective ultrasound coagulation

A multi-year data set on aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology interactions for marine stratocumulus clouds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorooshian, Armin; MacDonald, Alexander B; Dadashazar, Hossein; Bates, Kelvin H; Coggon, Matthew M; Craven, Jill S; Crosbie, Ewan; Hersey, Scott P; Hodas, Natasha; Lin, Jack J; Negrón Marty, Arnaldo; Maudlin, Lindsay C; Metcalf, Andrew R; Murphy, Shane M; Padró, Luz T; Prabhakar, Gouri; Rissman, Tracey A; Shingler, Taylor; Varutbangkul, Varuntida; Wang, Zhen; Woods, Roy K; Chuang, Patrick Y; Nenes, Athanasios; Jonsson, Haflidi H; Flagan, Richard C; Seinfeld, John H

2018-02-27

Airborne measurements of meteorological, aerosol, and stratocumulus cloud properties have been harmonized from six field campaigns during July-August months between 2005 and 2016 off the California coast. A consistent set of core instruments was deployed on the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies Twin Otter for 113 flight days, amounting to 514 flight hours. A unique aspect of the compiled data set is detailed measurements of aerosol microphysical properties (size distribution, composition, bioaerosol detection, hygroscopicity, optical), cloud water composition, and different sampling inlets to distinguish between clear air aerosol, interstitial in-cloud aerosol, and droplet residual particles in cloud. Measurements and data analysis follow documented methods for quality assurance. The data set is suitable for studies associated with aerosol-cloud-precipitation-meteorology-radiation interactions, especially owing to sharp aerosol perturbations from ship traffic and biomass burning. The data set can be used for model initialization and synergistic application with meteorological models and remote sensing data to improve understanding of the very interactions that comprise the largest uncertainty in the effect of anthropogenic emissions on radiative forcing.

Comparing Biofouling Control Treatments for Use on Aquaculture Nets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoffrey Swain

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Test panels comprised of uncoated, copper coated and silicone coated 7/8'' (22 mm mesh knitted nylon net were evaluated to compare their properties and the effectiveness to prevent biofouling. This paper describes test procedures that were developed to quantify the performance in terms of antifouling, cleanability, drag and cost. The copper treatment was the most effective at controlling fouling, however, the silicone treated nets were the easiest to clean. The drag forces on the net were a function of twine diameter, twine roughness and fouling. After immersion, the uncoated nets had the most drag followed by the silicone and copper treatments. The cost of applying silicone to nets is high; however, improved formulations may provide a non-toxic alternative to control fouling.

A Diagnostic PDF Cloud Scheme to Improve Subtropical Low Clouds in NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5)

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Yi; Lin, Yanluan; Xu, Shiming; Ma, Hsi-Yen; Xie, Shaocheng

2018-02-01

Low clouds strongly impact the radiation budget of the climate system, but their simulation in most GCMs has remained a challenge, especially over the subtropical stratocumulus region. Assuming a Gaussian distribution for the subgrid-scale total water and liquid water potential temperature, a new statistical cloud scheme is proposed and tested in NCAR Community Atmospheric Model version 5 (CAM5). The subgrid-scale variance is diagnosed from the turbulent and shallow convective processes in CAM5. The approach is able to maintain the consistency between cloud fraction and cloud condensate and thus alleviates the adjustment needed in the default relative humidity-based cloud fraction scheme. Short-term forecast simulations indicate that low cloud fraction and liquid water content, including their diurnal cycle, are improved due to a proper consideration of subgrid-scale variance over the southeastern Pacific Ocean region. Compared with the default cloud scheme, the new approach produced the mean climate reasonably well with improved shortwave cloud forcing (SWCF) due to more reasonable low cloud fraction and liquid water path over regions with predominant low clouds. Meanwhile, the SWCF bias over the tropical land regions is also alleviated. Furthermore, the simulated marine boundary layer clouds with the new approach extend further offshore and agree better with observations. The new approach is able to obtain the top of atmosphere (TOA) radiation balance with a slightly alleviated double ITCZ problem in preliminary coupled simulations. This study implies that a close coupling of cloud processes with other subgrid-scale physical processes is a promising approach to improve cloud simulations.

Study of tropical clouds feedback to a climate warming as simulated by climate models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brient, Florent

2012-01-01

The last IPCC report affirms the predominant role of low cloud-radiative feedbacks in the inter-model spread of climate sensitivity. Understanding the mechanisms that control the behavior of low-level clouds is thus crucial. However, the complexity of coupled ocean-atmosphere models and the large number of processes potentially involved make the analysis of this response difficult. To simplify the analysis and to identify the most critical controls of cloud feedbacks, we analyze the cloud response to climate change simulated by the IPSL-CM5A model in a hierarchy of configurations. A comparison between three model configurations (coupled, atmospheric and aqua-planet) using the same physical parametrizations shows that the cloud response to global warming is dominated by a decrease of low clouds in regimes of moderate subsidence. Using a Single Column Model, forced by weak subsidence large-scale forcing, allows us to reproduce the vertical cloud profile predicted in the 3D model, as well as its response to climate change (if a stochastic forcing is added on vertical velocity). We analyze the sensitivity of this low-cloud response to external forcing and also to uncertain parameters of physical parameterizations involved on the atmospheric model. Through a moist static energy (MSE) budget, we highlight several mechanisms: (1) Robust: Over weak subsidence regimes, the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship predicts that a warmer atmosphere leads to a increase of the vertical MSE gradient, resulting on a strengthening of the import of low-MSE from the free atmosphere into the cloudy boundary layer. The MSE budget links changes of vertical advection and cloud radiative effects. (2) Physics Model Dependent: The coupling between shallow convection, turbulence and cloud schemes allows the intensification of low-MSE transport so that cloud radiative cooling becomes 'less necessary' to balance the energy budget (Robust positive low cloud-radiative feedback for the model). The

A Stochastic Framework for Modeling the Population Dynamics of Convective Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hagos, Samson; Feng, Zhe; Plant, Robert S.; Houze, Robert A.; Xiao, Heng

2018-02-01

A stochastic prognostic framework for modeling the population dynamics of convective clouds and representing them in climate models is proposed. The framework follows the nonequilibrium statistical mechanical approach to constructing a master equation for representing the evolution of the number of convective cells of a specific size and their associated cloud-base mass flux, given a large-scale forcing. In this framework, referred to as STOchastic framework for Modeling Population dynamics of convective clouds (STOMP), the evolution of convective cell size is predicted from three key characteristics of convective cells: (i) the probability of growth, (ii) the probability of decay, and (iii) the cloud-base mass flux. STOMP models are constructed and evaluated against CPOL radar observations at Darwin and convection permitting model (CPM) simulations. Multiple models are constructed under various assumptions regarding these three key parameters and the realisms of these models are evaluated. It is shown that in a model where convective plumes prefer to aggregate spatially and the cloud-base mass flux is a nonlinear function of convective cell area, the mass flux manifests a recharge-discharge behavior under steady forcing. Such a model also produces observed behavior of convective cell populations and CPM simulated cloud-base mass flux variability under diurnally varying forcing. In addition to its use in developing understanding of convection processes and the controls on convective cell size distributions, this modeling framework is also designed to serve as a nonequilibrium closure formulations for spectral mass flux parameterizations.

Aqueous greenhouse species in clouds, fogs, and aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marley, N.A.; Gaffney, J.S.; Cunningham, M.M.

1993-01-01

Greenhouse effects from fossil fuel combustion leading to increased concentrations of primary and secondary greenhouse gases (e.g., CO-2, ozone, etc.) have received considerable attention. More recently, it has been suggested that clouds, aerosols, and fogs can play opposing roles in climate forcing by scattering or absorbing incoming solar radiation as well as by absorbing long-wave radiation as it escapes into space. The total effect on the radiation balance depends on the relative magnitude of these opposing forces, which in turn will depend on the composition of the aqueous phase. This work describes the measurement of water-soluble infrared absorbers which can contribute to the long-wave radiative forcing of clouds, fogs, and aerosols. Aqueous species which have been characterized include sulfate, nitrate, formate, acetate, oxalate, phenol, p-nitrophenol, ammonium, bicarbonate, formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol. Infrared absorption band positions and band strengths have been determined, and their relative effects on radiative forcing are discussed

CellNetVis: a web tool for visualization of biological networks using force-directed layout constrained by cellular components.

Science.gov (United States)

Heberle, Henry; Carazzolle, Marcelo Falsarella; Telles, Guilherme P; Meirelles, Gabriela Vaz; Minghim, Rosane

2017-09-13

The advent of "omics" science has brought new perspectives in contemporary biology through the high-throughput analyses of molecular interactions, providing new clues in protein/gene function and in the organization of biological pathways. Biomolecular interaction networks, or graphs, are simple abstract representations where the components of a cell (e.g. proteins, metabolites etc.) are represented by nodes and their interactions are represented by edges. An appropriate visualization of data is crucial for understanding such networks, since pathways are related to functions that occur in specific regions of the cell. The force-directed layout is an important and widely used technique to draw networks according to their topologies. Placing the networks into cellular compartments helps to quickly identify where network elements are located and, more specifically, concentrated. Currently, only a few tools provide the capability of visually organizing networks by cellular compartments. Most of them cannot handle large and dense networks. Even for small networks with hundreds of nodes the available tools are not able to reposition the network while the user is interacting, limiting the visual exploration capability. Here we propose CellNetVis, a web tool to easily display biological networks in a cell diagram employing a constrained force-directed layout algorithm. The tool is freely available and open-source. It was originally designed for networks generated by the Integrated Interactome System and can be used with networks from others databases, like InnateDB. CellNetVis has demonstrated to be applicable for dynamic investigation of complex networks over a consistent representation of a cell on the Web, with capabilities not matched elsewhere.

Comparison of Cloud Detection Using the CERES-MODIS Ed4 and LaRC AVHRR Cloud Masks and CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask

Science.gov (United States)

Trepte, Q. Z.; Minnis, P.; Palikonda, R.; Bedka, K. M.; Sun-Mack, S.

2011-12-01

Accurate detection of cloud amount and distribution using satellite observations is crucial in determining cloud radiative forcing and earth energy budget. The CERES-MODIS (CM) Edition 4 cloud mask is a global cloud detection algorithm for application to Terra and Aqua MODIS data with the aid of other ancillary data sets. It is used operationally for the NASA's Cloud and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project. The LaRC AVHRR cloud mask, which uses only five spectral channels, is based on a subset of the CM cloud mask which employs twelve MODIS channels. The LaRC mask is applied to AVHRR data for the NOAA Climate Data Record Program. Comparisons among the CM Ed4, and LaRC AVHRR cloud masks and the CALIPSO Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) constitute a powerful means for validating and improving cloud detection globally. They also help us understand the strengths and limitations of the various cloud retrievals which use either active and passive satellite sensors. In this paper, individual comparisons will be presented for different types of clouds over various surfaces, including daytime and nighttime, and polar and non-polar regions. Additionally, the statistics of the global, regional, and zonal cloud occurrence and amount from the CERES Ed4, AVHRR cloud masks and CALIPSO VFM will be discussed.

Usage of Cloud Computing Simulators and Future Systems For Computational Research

OpenAIRE

Lakshminarayanan, Ramkumar; Ramalingam, Rajasekar

2016-01-01

Cloud Computing is an Internet based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information, are provided to computers and devices on demand, like the electricity grid. Currently, IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) are used as a business model for Cloud Computing. Nowadays, the adoption and deployment of Cloud Computing is increasing in various domains, forcing researchers to conduct research in the area of Cloud Computing ...

Large-Scale Ocean Circulation-Cloud Interactions Reduce the Pace of Transient Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Trossman, D. S.; Palter, J. B.; Merlis, T. M.; Huang, Y.; Xia, Y.

2016-01-01

Changes to the large scale oceanic circulation are thought to slow the pace of transient climate change due, in part, to their influence on radiative feedbacks. Here we evaluate the interactions between CO2-forced perturbations to the large-scale ocean circulation and the radiative cloud feedback in a climate model. Both the change of the ocean circulation and the radiative cloud feedback strongly influence the magnitude and spatial pattern of surface and ocean warming. Changes in the ocean circulation reduce the amount of transient global warming caused by the radiative cloud feedback by helping to maintain low cloud coverage in the face of global warming. The radiative cloud feedback is key in affecting atmospheric meridional heat transport changes and is the dominant radiative feedback mechanism that responds to ocean circulation change. Uncertainty in the simulated ocean circulation changes due to CO2 forcing may contribute a large share of the spread in the radiative cloud feedback among climate models.

Surface Net Solar Radiation Estimated from Satellite Measurements: Comparisons with Tower Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhanqing; Leighton, H. G.; Cess, Robert D.

1993-01-01

A parameterization that relates the reflected solar flux at the top of the atmosphere to the net solar flux at the surface in terms of only the column water vapor amount and the solar zenith angle was tested against surface observations. Net surface fluxes deduced from coincidental collocated satellite-measured radiances and from measurements from towers in Boulder during summer and near Saskatoon in winter have mean differences of about 2 W/sq m, regardless of whether the sky is clear or cloudy. Furthermore, comparisons between the net fluxes deduced from the parameterization and from surface measurements showed equally good agreement when the data were partitioned into morning and afternoon observations. This is in contrast to results from an empirical clear-sky algorithm that is unable to account adequately for the effects of clouds and that shows, at Boulder, a distinct morning to afternoon variation, which is presumably due to the predominance of different cloud types throughout the day. It is also demonstrated that the parameterization may be applied to irradiances at the top of the atmosphere that have been temporally averaged by using the temporally averaged column water vapor amount and the temporally averaged cosine of the solar zenith angle. The good agreement between the results of the parameterization and surface measurements suggests that the algorithm is a useful tool for a variety of climate studies.

Potential profiles obtained from applied dust cloud perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, Edward Jr.

2002-01-01

This paper details an experimental investigation of the local potential structure within a cloud of suspended microparticles - a 'dusty' or 'complex' plasma - using particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques. Applied perturbations, synchronized to the PIV measurements, are used to force a cloud of suspended microparticles to become unconfined. From the free-streaming motion of the particles during the loss of confinement and subsequent reformation of the dust cloud, an analysis of the potential is performed. Furthermore, a new method of analyzing the potential structure from the motion of free-streaming microparticles in the plasma is presented

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinsley, B A

2008-01-01

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J z , on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J z . Variations in J z affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J z changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the inferred global

The global atmospheric electric circuit and its effects on cloud microphysics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tinsley, B A [Physics Department and Center for Space Sciences, WT15, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080-3021 (United States)], E-mail: Tinsley@UTDallas.edu

2008-06-15

This review is an overview of progress in understanding the theory and observation of the global atmospheric electric circuit, with the focus on its dc aspects, and its short and long term variability. The effects of the downward ionosphere-earth current density, J{sub z}, on cloud microphysics, with its variability as an explanation for small observed changes in weather and climate, will also be reviewed. The global circuit shows responses to external as well as internal forcing. External forcing arises from changes in the distribution of conductivity due to changes in the cosmic ray flux and other energetic space particle fluxes, and at high magnetic latitudes from solar wind electric fields. Internal forcing arises from changes in the generators and changes in volcanic and anthropogenic aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. All these result in spatial and temporal variation in J{sub z}. Variations in J{sub z} affect the production of space charge in layer clouds, with the charges being transferred to droplets and aerosol particles. New observations and new analyses are consistent with non-negligible effects of the charges on the microphysics of such clouds. Observed effects are small, but of high statistical significance for cloud cover and precipitation changes, with resulting atmospheric temperature, pressure and dynamics changes. These effects are detectable on the day-to-day timescale for repeated J{sub z} changes of order 10%, and are thus second order electrical effects. The implicit first order effects have not, as yet, been incorporated into basic cloud and aerosol physics. Long term (multidecadal through millennial) global circuit changes, due to solar activity modulating the galactic cosmic ray flux, are an order of magnitude greater at high latitudes and in the stratosphere, as can be inferred from geological cosmogenic isotope records. Proxies for climate change in the same stratified depositories show strong correlations of climate with the

Cloud fluid compression and softening in spiral arms and the formation of giant molecular cloud complexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowie, L.L.

1981-01-01

In this, the second paper of a series on the galactodynamics of the cloudy interstellar medium, we consider the response of such a gas to a forcing potential in the tight-winding density wave theory. The cloud fluid is treated in the hydrodynamic limit with an equation of state which softens at high densities. It is shown that in the inner regions of the galaxy, cooling of the cloud fluid in the arms can result in gravitational instability and the formation of large bound complexes of clouds which we identify with the giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Masses dimensions, distributions, and scale heights of the GMCs are predicted by the theory. It is suggested that the interstellar gas density in the disk is regulated by the gravitational instability mechanism in the arms which siphons material into star formation. Implications for the evolution of individual GMCs and for galactic morphology are discussed

Net Surface Shortwave Radiation from GOES Imagery—Product Evaluation Using Ground-Based Measurements from SURFRAD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anand K. Inamdar

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Earth’s surface net radiation controls the energy and water exchanges between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, and can be derived from satellite observations. The ability to monitor the net surface radiation over large areas at high spatial and temporal resolution is essential for many applications, such as weather forecasting, short-term climate prediction or water resources management. The objective of this paper is to derive the net surface radiation in the shortwave domain at high temporal (half-hourly and spatial resolution (~1 km using visible imagery from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES. The retrieval algorithm represents an adaptation to GOES data of a standard algorithm initially developed for the NASA-operated Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES scanner. The methodology relies on: (1 the estimation of top of atmosphere shortwave radiation from GOES spectral measurements; and (2 the calculation of net surface shortwave (SW radiation accounting for atmospheric effects. Comparison of GOES-retrieved net surface shortwave radiation with ground-measurements at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA Surface Radiation (SURFRAD stations yields very good agreement with average bias lower than 5 W·m−2 and root mean square difference around 70 W·m−2. The algorithm performance is usually higher over areas characterized by low spatial variability in term of land cover type and surface biophysical properties. The technique does not involve retrieval and assessment of cloud properties and can be easily adapted to other meteorological satellites around the globe.

Strong Constraints on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions from Volcanic Eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Malavelle, Florent F.; Haywood, Jim M.; Jones, Andy; Gettelman, Andrew; Clarisse, Lieven; Bauduin, Sophie; Allan, Richard P.; Karset, Inger Helene H.; Kristjansson, Jon Egill; Oreopoulos, Lazaros;

Aerosol-cloud interactions in a multi-scale modeling framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, G.; Ghan, S. J.

2017-12-01

two simulations due to the difference in the cloud droplet lifetime. Next, we will explore how the ECEP treatment affects the anthropogenic aerosol forcing, particularly the aerosol indirect forcing, by comparing present-day and pre-industrial simulations.

Web-based CERES Clouds QC Property Viewing Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. A.; Chu, C.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chen, Y.; Heckert, E.; Minnis, P.

2014-12-01

This presentation will display the capabilities of a web-based CERES cloud property viewer. Terra data will be chosen for examples. It will demonstrate viewing of cloud properties in gridded global maps, histograms, time series displays, latitudinal zonal images, binned data charts, data frequency graphs, and ISCCP plots. Images can be manipulated by the user to narrow boundaries of the map as well as color bars and value ranges, compare datasets, view data values, and more. Other atmospheric studies groups will be encouraged to put their data into the underlying NetCDF data format and view their data with the tool. A laptop will hopefully be available to allow conference attendees to try navigating the tool.

Direct weakening of tropical circulations from masked CO2 radiative forcing.

Science.gov (United States)

Merlis, Timothy M

2015-10-27

Climate models robustly simulate weakened mean circulations of the tropical atmosphere in direct response to increased carbon dioxide (CO2). The direct response to CO2, defined by the response to radiative forcing in the absence of changes in sea surface temperature, affects tropical precipitation and tropical cyclone genesis, and these changes have been tied to the weakening of the mean tropical circulation. The mechanism underlying this direct CO2-forced circulation change has not been elucidated. Here, I demonstrate that this circulation weakening results from spatial structure in CO2's radiative forcing. In regions of ascending circulation, such as the intertropical convergence zone, the CO2 radiative forcing is reduced, or "masked," by deep-convective clouds and high humidity; in subsiding regions, such as the subtropics, the CO2 radiative forcing is larger because the atmosphere is drier and deep-convective clouds are infrequent. The spatial structure of the radiative forcing reduces the need for the atmosphere to transport energy. This, in turn, weakens the mass overturning of the tropical circulation. The previously unidentified mechanism is demonstrated in a hierarchy of atmospheric general circulation model simulations with altered radiative transfer to suppress the cloud masking of the radiative forcing. The mechanism depends on the climatological distribution of clouds and humidity, rather than uncertain changes in these quantities. Masked radiative forcing thereby offers an explanation for the robustness of the direct circulation weakening under increased CO2.

The effect of clouds on the earth's solar and infrared radiation budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, G. F.; Wu, M.-L. C.; Johnson, W. T.

1980-01-01

The effect of global cloudiness on the solar and infrared components of the earth's radiation balance is studied in general circulation model experiments. A wintertime simulation is conducted in which the cloud radiative transfer calculations use realistic cloud optical properties and are fully interactive with model-generated cloudiness. This simulation is compared to others in which the clouds are alternatively non-interactive with respect to the solar or thermal radiation calculations. Other cloud processes (formation, latent heat release, precipitation, vertical mixing) were accurately simulated in these experiments. It is concluded that on a global basis clouds increase the global radiation balance by 40 W/sq m by absorbing longwave radiation, but decrease it by 56 W/sq m by reflecting solar radiation to space. The net cloud effect is therefore a reduction of the radiation balance by 16 W/sq m, and is dominated by the cloud albedo effect. Changes in cloud frequency and distribution and in atmospheric and land temperatures are also reported for the control and for the non-interactive simulations. In general, removal of the clouds' infrared absorption cools the atmosphere and causes additional cloudiness to occur, while removal of the clouds' solar radiative properties warms the atmosphere and causes fewer clouds to form. It is suggested that layered clouds and convective clouds over water enter the climate system as positive feedback components, while convective clouds over land enter as negative components.

A Semantic Based Policy Management Framework for Cloud Computing Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Takabi, Hassan

2013-01-01

Cloud computing paradigm has gained tremendous momentum and generated intensive interest. Although security issues are delaying its fast adoption, cloud computing is an unstoppable force and we need to provide security mechanisms to ensure its secure adoption. In this dissertation, we mainly focus on issues related to policy management and access…

Sensitivity of tropical climate to low-level clouds in the NCEP climate forecast system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Zeng-Zhen [Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, Calverton, MD (United States); NCEP/NWS/NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States); Huang, Bohua; Schneider, Edwin K. [Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, Calverton, MD (United States); George Mason University, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, College of Science, Fairfax, VA (United States); Hou, Yu-Tai; Yang, Fanglin [NCEP/NWS/NOAA, Environmental Modeling Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States); Wang, Wanqiu [NCEP/NWS/NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States); Stan, Cristiana [Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, Calverton, MD (United States)

2011-05-15

In this work, we examine the sensitivity of tropical mean climate and seasonal cycle to low clouds and cloud liquid water path (CLWP) by prescribing them in the NCEP climate forecast system (CFS). It is found that the change of low cloud cover alone has a minor influence on the amount of net shortwave radiation reaching the surface and on the warm biases in the southeastern Atlantic. In experiments where CLWP is prescribed using observations, the mean climate in the tropics is improved significantly, implying that shortwave radiation absorption by CLWP is mainly responsible for reducing the excessive surface net shortwave radiation over the southern oceans in the CFS. Corresponding to large CLWP values in the southeastern oceans, the model generates large low cloud amounts. That results in a reduction of net shortwave radiation at the ocean surface and the warm biases in the sea surface temperature in the southeastern oceans. Meanwhile, the cold tongue and associated surface wind stress in the eastern oceans become stronger and more realistic. As a consequence of the overall improvement of the tropical mean climate, the seasonal cycle in the tropical Atlantic is also improved. Based on the results from these sensitivity experiments, we propose a model bias correction approach, in which CLWP is prescribed only in the southeastern Atlantic by using observed annual mean climatology of CLWP. It is shown that the warm biases in the southeastern Atlantic are largely eliminated, and the seasonal cycle in the tropical Atlantic Ocean is significantly improved. Prescribing CLWP in the CFS is then an effective interim technique to reduce model biases and to improve the simulation of seasonal cycle in the tropics. (orig.)

Cloud albedo changes in response to anthropogenic sulfate and non-sulfate aerosol forcings in CMIP5 models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Frey

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The effects of different aerosol types on cloud albedo are analysed using the linear relation between total albedo and cloud fraction found on a monthly mean scale in regions of subtropical marine stratocumulus clouds and the influence of simulated aerosol variations on this relation. Model experiments from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5 are used to separately study the responses to increases in sulfate, non-sulfate and all anthropogenic aerosols. A cloud brightening on the month-to-month scale due to variability in the background aerosol is found to dominate even in the cases where anthropogenic aerosols are added. The aerosol composition is of importance for this cloud brightening, that is thereby region dependent. There is indication that absorbing aerosols to some extent counteract the cloud brightening but scene darkening with increasing aerosol burden is generally not supported, even in regions where absorbing aerosols dominate. Month-to-month cloud albedo variability also confirms the importance of liquid water content for cloud albedo. Regional, monthly mean cloud albedo is found to increase with the addition of anthropogenic aerosols and more so with sulfate than non-sulfate. Changes in cloud albedo between experiments are related to changes in cloud water content as well as droplet size distribution changes, so that models with large increases in liquid water path and/or cloud droplet number show large cloud albedo increases with increasing aerosol. However, no clear relation between model sensitivities to aerosol variations on the month-to-month scale and changes in cloud albedo due to changed aerosol burden is found.

The cloud-phase feedback in the Super-parameterized Community Earth System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Burt, M. A.; Randall, D. A.

2016-12-01

Recent comparisons of observations and climate model simulations by I. Tan and colleagues have suggested that the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) process tends to be too active in climate models, making too much cloud ice, and resulting in an exaggerated negative cloud-phase feedback on climate change. We explore the WBF process and its effect on shortwave cloud forcing in present-day and future climate simulations with the Community Earth System Model, and its super-parameterized counterpart. Results show that SP-CESM has much less cloud ice and a weaker cloud-phase feedback than CESM.

Cloud Provider Capacity Augmentation Through Automated Resource Bartering

OpenAIRE

Gohera, Syeda ZarAfshan; Bloodsworth, Peter; Rasool, Raihan Ur; McClatchey, Richard

2018-01-01

Growing interest in Cloud Computing places a heavy workload on cloud providers which is becoming increasingly difficult for them to manage with their primary datacenter infrastructures. Resource limitations can make providers vulnerable to significant reputational damage and it often forces customers to select services from the larger, more established companies, sometimes at a higher price. Funding limitations, however, commonly prevent emerging and even established providers from making con...

Force generation by titin folding.

Science.gov (United States)

Mártonfalvi, Zsolt; Bianco, Pasquale; Naftz, Katalin; Ferenczy, György G; Kellermayer, Miklós

2017-07-01

Titin is a giant protein that provides elasticity to muscle. As the sarcomere is stretched, titin extends hierarchically according to the mechanics of its segments. Whether titin's globular domains unfold during this process and how such unfolded domains might contribute to muscle contractility are strongly debated. To explore the force-dependent folding mechanisms, here we manipulated skeletal-muscle titin molecules with high-resolution optical tweezers. In force-clamp mode, after quenching the force (force trace contained rapid fluctuations and a gradual increase of average force, indicating that titin can develop force via dynamic transitions between its structural states en route to the native conformation. In 4 M urea, which destabilizes H-bonds hence the consolidated native domain structure, the net force increase disappeared but the fluctuations persisted. Thus, whereas net force generation is caused by the ensemble folding of the elastically-coupled domains, force fluctuations arise due to a dynamic equilibrium between unfolded and molten-globule states. Monte-Carlo simulations incorporating a compact molten-globule intermediate in the folding landscape recovered all features of our nanomechanics results. The ensemble molten-globule dynamics delivers significant added contractility that may assist sarcomere mechanics, and it may reduce the dissipative energy loss associated with titin unfolding/refolding during muscle contraction/relaxation cycles. © 2017 The Protein Society.

Polar winter cloud depolarization measurements with the CANDAC Rayleigh-Mie-Raman Lidar

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, E. M.; Nott, G. J.; Duck, T. J.; Sica, R. J.; Doyle, J. G.; Pike-thackray, C.; Drummond, J. R.

2011-12-01

Clouds introduce a significant positive forcing to the Arctic radiation budget and this is strongest during the polar winter when shortwave radiation is absent (Intrieri et al., 2002). The amount of forcing depends on the occurrence probability and optical depth of the clouds as well as the cloud particle phase (Ebert and Curry 1992). Mixed-phase clouds are particularly complex as they involve interactions between three phases of water (vapour, liquid and ice) coexisting in the same cloud. Although significant progress has been made in characterizing wintertime Arctic clouds (de Boer et al., 2009 and 2011), there is considerable variability in the relative abundance of particles of each phase, in the morphology of solid particles, and in precipitation rates depending on the meteorology at the time. The Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC) Rayleigh-Mie-Raman Lidar (CRL) was installed in the Canadian High Arctic at Eureka, Nunavut (80°N, 86°W) in 2008-2009. The remotely-operated system began with measurement capabilities for multi-wavelength aerosol extinction, water vapour mixing ratio, and tropospheric temperature profiles, as well as backscatter cross section coefficient and colour ratio. In 2010, a new depolarization channel was added. The capability to measure the polarization state of the return signal allows the characterization of the cloud in terms of liquid and ice water content, enabling the lidar to probe all three phases of water in these clouds. Lidar depolarization results from 2010 and 2011 winter clouds at Eureka will be presented, with a focus on differences in downwelling radiation between mixed phase clouds and ice clouds. de Boer, G., E.W. Eloranta, and M.D. Shupe (2009), Arctic mixed-phase stratiform cloud properties from multiple years of surface-based measurements at two high-latitude locations, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 66 (9), 2874-2887. de Boer, G., H. Morrison, M. D. Shupe, and R. Hildner (2011

Radiative forcing estimates of sulfate aerosol in coupled climate-chemistry models with emphasis on the role of the temporal variability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Déandreis

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the impact on the sulfate aerosol radiative effects of coupling the radiative code of a global circulation model with a chemistry-aerosol module. With this coupling, temporal variations of sulfate aerosol concentrations influence the estimate of aerosol radiative impacts. Effects of this coupling have been assessed on net fluxes, radiative forcing and temperature for the direct and first indirect effects of sulfate.

The direct effect respond almost linearly to rapid changes in concentrations whereas the first indirect effect shows a strong non-linearity. In particular, sulfate temporal variability causes a modification of the short wave net fluxes at the top of the atmosphere of +0.24 and +0.22 W m⁻² for the present and preindustrial periods, respectively. This change is small compared to the value of the net flux at the top of the atmosphere (about 240 W m⁻². The effect is more important in regions with low-level clouds and intermediate sulfate aerosol concentrations (from 0.1 to 0.8 μg (SO₄ m⁻³ in our model.

The computation of the aerosol direct radiative forcing is quite straightforward and the temporal variability has little effect on its mean value. In contrast, quantifying the first indirect radiative forcing requires tackling technical issues first. We show that the preindustrial sulfate concentrations have to be calculated with the same meteorological trajectory used for computing the present ones. If this condition is not satisfied, it introduces an error on the estimation of the first indirect radiative forcing. Solutions are proposed to assess radiative forcing properly. In the reference method, the coupling between chemistry and climate results in a global average increase of 8% in the first indirect radiative forcing. This change reaches 50% in the most sensitive regions. However, the reference method is not suited to run long climate

Global Surface Net-Radiation at 5 km from MODIS Terra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manish Verma

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Reliable and fine resolution estimates of surface net-radiation are required for estimating latent and sensible heat fluxes between the land surface and the atmosphere. However, currently, fine resolution estimates of net-radiation are not available and consequently it is challenging to develop multi-year estimates of evapotranspiration at scales that can capture land surface heterogeneity and are relevant for policy and decision-making. We developed and evaluated a global net-radiation product at 5 km and 8-day resolution by combining mutually consistent atmosphere and land data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS on board Terra. Comparison with net-radiation measurements from 154 globally distributed sites (414 site-years from the FLUXNET and Surface Radiation budget network (SURFRAD showed that the net-radiation product agreed well with measurements across seasons and climate types in the extratropics (Wilmott’s index ranged from 0.74 for boreal to 0.63 for Mediterranean sites. Mean absolute deviation between the MODIS and measured net-radiation ranged from 38.0 ± 1.8 W∙m−2 in boreal to 72.0 ± 4.1 W∙m−2 in the tropical climates. The mean bias was small and constituted only 11%, 0.7%, 8.4%, 4.2%, 13.3%, and 5.4% of the mean absolute error in daytime net-radiation in boreal, Mediterranean, temperate-continental, temperate, semi-arid, and tropical climate, respectively. To assess the accuracy of the broader spatiotemporal patterns, we upscaled error-quantified MODIS net-radiation and compared it with the net-radiation estimates from the coarse spatial (1° × 1° but high temporal resolution gridded net-radiation product from the Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES. Our estimates agreed closely with the net-radiation estimates from the CERES. Difference between the two was less than 10 W·m−2 in 94% of the total land area. MODIS net-radiation product will be a valuable resource for the

How do A-train Sensors Inter-Compare in the Retrieval of Above-Cloud Aerosol Optical Depth? A Case Study based Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Jethva, H. T.; Torres, O.; Waquet, F.; Chand, D.

2013-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols are known to produce a net cooling effect in the cloud-free conditions. However, when present over the reflective cloud decks, absorbing aerosols such as biomass burning generated smoke and wind-blown dust can potentially exert a large positive forcing through enhanced atmospheric heating resulting from cloud-aerosol radiative interactions. The interest on this aspect of aerosol science has grown significantly in the recent years. Particularly, development of the satellite-based retrieval techniques and unprecedented knowledge on the above-cloud aerosol optical depth (ACAOD) is of great relevance. A direct validation of satellite ACAOD is a difficult task primarily due to lack of ample in situ and/or remote sensing measurements of aerosols above cloud. In these circumstances, a comparative analysis on the inter-satellite ACAOD retrievals can be performed for the sack of consistency check. Here, we inter-compare the ACAOD of biomass burning plumes observed from different A-train sensors, i.e., MODIS [Jethva et al., 2013], CALIOP [Chand et al., 2008], POLDER [Waquet et al., 2009], and OMI [Torres et al., 2012]. These sensors have been shown to acquire sensitivity and independent capabilities to detect and retrieve aerosol loading above marine stratocumulus clouds--a kind of situation often found over the southeastern Atlantic Ocean during dry burning season. A systematic one-to-one comparison reveals that, in general, all passive sensors and CALIOP-based research methods retrieve comparable ACAOD over homogeneous cloud fields. The high-resolution sensors (MODIS and CALIOP) are able to retrieve aerosols over thin clouds but with larger discrepancies. Given the different types of sensor measurements processed with different algorithms, a reasonable agreement between them is encouraging. A direct validation of satellite-based ACAOD remains an open challenge for which dedicated field measurements over the region of frequent aerosol/cloud overlap are

"Analysis of the multi-layered cloud radiative effects at the surface using A-train data"

Science.gov (United States)

Viudez-Mora, A.; Smith, W. L., Jr.; Kato, S.

2017-12-01

Clouds cover about 74% of the planet and they are an important part of the climate system and strongly influence the surface energy budget. The cloud vertical distribution has important implications in the atmospheric heating and cooling rates. Based on observations by active sensors in the A-train satellite constellation, CALIPSO [Winker et. al, 2010] and CloudSat [Stephens et. al, 2002], more than 1/3 of all clouds are multi-layered. Detection and retrieval of multi-layer cloud physical properties are needed in understanding their effects on the surface radiation budget. This study examines the sensitivity of surface irradiances to cloud properties derived from satellite sensors. Surface irradiances were computed in two different ways, one using cloud properties solely from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the other using MODIS data supplemented with CALIPSO and CloudSat (hereafter CLCS) cloud vertical structure information [Kato et. al, 2010]. Results reveal that incorporating more precise and realistic cloud properties from CLCS into radiative transfer calculations yields improved estimates of cloud radiative effects (CRE) at the surface (CREsfc). The calculations using only MODIS cloud properties, comparisons of the computed CREsfc for 2-layer (2L) overcast CERES footprints, CLCS reduces the SW CRE by 1.5±26.7 Wm-2, increases the LW CRE by 4.1±12.7 Wm-2, and increases the net CREsfc by 0.9±46.7 Wm-2. In a subsequent analysis, we classified up to 6 different combinations of multi-layered clouds depending on the cloud top height as: High-high (HH), high-middle (HM), high-low (HL), middle-middle (MM), middle-low (ML) and low-low (LL). The 3 most frequent 2L cloud systems were: HL (56.1%), HM (22.3%) and HH (12.1%). For these cases, the computed CREsfc estimated using CLCS data presented the most significant differences when compared using only MODIS data. For example, the differences for the SW and Net CRE in the case HH was 12.3±47

How small bugs tie down big rocks: Measuring and modeling the forces acting between nets spun by Caddisfly larvae (Hydropsychidae) and gravel particles at the onset of motion

Science.gov (United States)

Mclaughlin, M. K.; Tumolo, B.; Sklar, L. S.; Albertson, L.; Daniels, M.

2017-12-01

The influence of life on geomorphic processes is commonly inferred from correlations between the size and abundance of individual organisms and the change in process thresholds and rates from abiotic conditions. However, to understand and model the underlying mechanisms, it is helpful to make direct measurements of the forces acting between organisms and the earth materials they inhabit. For example, flume studies have found that the presence of net-spinning caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) can increase the shear stress required to initiate particle motion by more than a factor of two, with potentially significant implications for the timing and magnitude of bedload sediment transport in gravel-bedded rivers. To explore the underlying mechanics we conducted flume experiments at the Stroud Water Research center in Avonadale, Pennsylvania, using strain gages to measure the forces acting between caddisfly nets and sediment particles of various sizes, during the process of initial particle motion. We combine these measurements with high-speed video images to document for the first time, the three dimensional dynamics of net stretching, tearing, and detachment that govern the magnitude of the increase in critical shear stress. We are using these data and insights to substantially improve a previously published theoretical model for the mechanics of sediment stabilization by caddisfly larvae. In particular, we seek to constrain the range of particle sizes potentially stabilized by caddisfly larvae and explain mechanistically why the effect of caddisfly nets varies with particle size. These predictions have implications for understanding feedbacks between bed stabilization by caddisflies, insect density, inter-specific niche partitioning, and the movement of sediment that shapes gravel-bed channels.

Collaborative Research: Cloudiness transitions within shallow marine clouds near the Azores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mechem, David B. [Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States). Atmospheric Science Program. Dept. of Geography and Atmospheric Science; de Szoeke, Simon P. [Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; Yuter, Sandra E. [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

2017-01-15

Marine stratocumulus clouds are low, persistent, liquid phase clouds that cover large areas and play a significant role in moderating the climate by reflecting large quantities of incoming solar radiation. The deficiencies in simulating these clouds in global climate models are widely recognized. Much of the uncertainty arises from sub-grid scale variability in the cloud albedo that is not accurately parameterized in climate models. The Clouds, Aerosol and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP–MBL) observational campaign and the ongoing ARM site measurements on Graciosa Island in the Azores aim to sample the Northeast Atlantic low cloud regime. These data represent, the longest continuous research quality cloud radar/lidar/radiometer/aerosol data set of open-ocean shallow marine clouds in existence. Data coverage from CAP–MBL and the series of cruises to the southeast Pacific culminating in VOCALS will both be of sufficient length to contrast the two low cloud regimes and explore the joint variability of clouds in response to several environmental factors implicated in cloudiness transitions. Our research seeks to better understand cloud system processes in an underexplored but climatologically important maritime region. Our primary goal is an improved physical understanding of low marine clouds on temporal scales of hours to days. It is well understood that aerosols, synoptic-scale forcing, surface fluxes, mesoscale dynamics, and cloud microphysics all play a role in cloudiness transitions. However, the relative importance of each mechanism as a function of different environmental conditions is unknown. To better understand cloud forcing and response, we are documenting the joint variability of observed environmental factors and associated cloud characteristics. In order to narrow the realm of likely parameter ranges, we assess the relative importance of parameter conditions based primarily on two criteria: how often the condition occurs (frequency

Making Spatial Statistics Service Accessible On Cloud Platform

OpenAIRE

Mu, X.; Wu, J.; Li, T; Zhong, Y.; Gao, X.

2014-01-01

Web service can bring together applications running on diverse platforms, users can access and share various data, information and models more effectively and conveniently from certain web service platform. Cloud computing emerges as a paradigm of Internet computing in which dynamical, scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as services. With the rampant growth of massive data and restriction of net, traditional web services platforms have some prominent problems existi...

Indirect radiative forcing by ion-mediated nucleation of aerosol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Yu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available A clear understanding of particle formation mechanisms is critical for assessing aerosol indirect radiative forcing and associated climate feedback processes. Recent studies reveal the importance of ion-mediated nucleation (IMN in generating new particles and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN in the atmosphere. Here we implement the IMN scheme into the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5. Our simulations show that, compared to globally averaged results based on H₂SO₄-H₂O binary homogeneous nucleation (BHN, the presence of ionization (i.e., IMN halves H₂SO₄ column burden, but increases the column integrated nucleation rate by around one order of magnitude, total particle number burden by a factor of ~3, CCN burden by ~10% (at 0.2% supersaturation to 65% (at 1.0% supersaturation, and cloud droplet number burden by ~18%. Compared to BHN, IMN increases cloud liquid water path by 7.5%, decreases precipitation by 1.1%, and increases total cloud cover by 1.9%. This leads to an increase of total shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCF by 3.67 W m⁻² (more negative and longwave cloud forcing by 1.78 W m⁻² (more positive, with large spatial variations. The effect of ionization on SWCF derived from this study (3.67 W m⁻² is a factor of ~3 higher that of a previous study (1.15 W m⁻² based on a different ion nucleation scheme and climate model. Based on the present CAM5 simulation, the 5-yr mean impacts of solar cycle induced changes in ionization rates on CCN and cloud forcing are small (~−0.02 W m⁻² but have larger inter-annual (from −0.18 to 0.17 W m⁻² and spatial variations.

Evaluating the Performance of the Goddard Multi-Scale Modeling Framework against GPM, TRMM and CloudSat/CALIPSO Products

Science.gov (United States)

Chern, J. D.; Tao, W. K.; Lang, S. E.; Matsui, T.; Mohr, K. I.

2014-12-01

Four six-month (March-August 2014) experiments with the Goddard Multi-scale Modeling Framework (MMF) were performed to study the impacts of different Goddard one-moment bulk microphysical schemes and large-scale forcings on the performance of the MMF. Recently a new Goddard one-moment bulk microphysics with four-ice classes (cloud ice, snow, graupel, and frozen drops/hail) has been developed based on cloud-resolving model simulations with large-scale forcings from field campaign observations. The new scheme has been successfully implemented to the MMF and two MMF experiments were carried out with this new scheme and the old three-ice classes (cloud ice, snow graupel) scheme. The MMF has global coverage and can rigorously evaluate microphysics performance for different cloud regimes. The results show MMF with the new scheme outperformed the old one. The MMF simulations are also strongly affected by the interaction between large-scale and cloud-scale processes. Two MMF sensitivity experiments with and without nudging large-scale forcings to those of ERA-Interim reanalysis were carried out to study the impacts of large-scale forcings. The model simulated mean and variability of surface precipitation, cloud types, cloud properties such as cloud amount, hydrometeors vertical profiles, and cloud water contents, etc. in different geographic locations and climate regimes are evaluated against GPM, TRMM, CloudSat/CALIPSO satellite observations. The Goddard MMF has also been coupled with the Goddard Satellite Data Simulation Unit (G-SDSU), a system with multi-satellite, multi-sensor, and multi-spectrum satellite simulators. The statistics of MMF simulated radiances and backscattering can be directly compared with satellite observations to assess the strengths and/or deficiencies of MMF simulations and provide guidance on how to improve the MMF and microphysics.

Comment on "Clouds and the Faint Young Sun Paradox" by Goldblatt and Zahnle (2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Rondanelli

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Goldblatt and Zahnle (2011 raise a number of issues related to the possibility that cirrus clouds can provide a solution to the faint young sun paradox. Here, we argue that: (1 climates having a lower than present mean surface temperature cannot be discarded as solutions to the faint young sun paradox, (2 the detrainment from deep convective clouds in the tropics is a well-established physical mechanism for the formation of high clouds that have a positive radiative forcing (even if the possible role of these clouds as a negative climate feedback remains controversial and (3 even if some cloud properties are not mutually consistent with observations in radiative transfer parameterizations, the most relevant consistency (for the purpose of hypothesis testing is with observations of the cloud radiative forcing. Therefore, we maintain that cirrus clouds, as observed in the current climate and covering a large region of the tropics, can provide a solution to the faint young sun paradox, or at least ease the amount of CO₂ or other greenhouse substances needed to provide temperatures above freezing during the Archean.

Global synthesis of long-term cloud condensation nuclei observations

Science.gov (United States)

Schmale, Julia; Henning, Silvia; Stratmann, Frank; Henzing, Bas; Schlag, Patrick; Aalto, Pasi; Keskinen, Helmi; Sellegri, Karine; Ovadnevaite, Jurgita; Krüger, Mira; Jefferson, Anne; Whitehead, James; Carslaw, Ken; Yum, Seong Soo; Kristensson, Adam; Baltensperger, Urs; Gysel, Martin

2016-04-01

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are aerosol particles with the ability to activate into droplets at a given super saturation and therefore influence the microphysical and optical properties of clouds. To predict cloud radiative properties understanding the spatial and temporal variability of CCN concentrations in different environments is important. However, currently, the effects of atmospheric particles on changes in cloud radiative forcing are still the largest contribution of uncertainty in climate forcing prediction (IPCC, 2013). Numerous intensive field campaigns have already explored detailed characteristics of CCN in many locations around the world. However, these rather short-term observations can generally not address seasonal or inter-annual variations and a comparison between campaign sites is difficult due to the higher influence of specific environmental circumstances on short-term measurements results. Here, we present results of more long-term CCN and aerosol number concentrations as well as size distribution data covering at least one full year between 2006 and 2014. The 12 locations include ACTRIS stations (http://www.actris.net/) in Europe, and further sites in North America, Brazil and Korea. The sites are located in different environments allowing for temporal and spatial characterization of CCN variability in different atmospheric regimes. Those include marine, remote-continental, boreal forest, rain forest, Arctic and monsoon-influenced environments, as well as boundary layer and free tropospheric conditions. The aerosol populations and their activation behavior show significant differences across the stations. While peak concentrations of CCN are observed in summer at the high altitude sites, in the Arctic the highest concentrations occur during the Haze period in spring. The rural-marine and rural-continental sites exhibit similar CCN concentration characteristics with a relatively flat annual cycle. At some stations, e.g. in the boreal

Response to marine cloud brightening in a multi-model ensemble

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. W. Stjern

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Here we show results from Earth system model simulations from the marine cloud brightening experiment G4cdnc of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP. The nine contributing models prescribe a 50 % increase in the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC of low clouds over the global oceans in an experiment dubbed G4cdnc, with the purpose of counteracting the radiative forcing due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases under the RCP4.5 scenario. The model ensemble median effective radiative forcing (ERF amounts to −1.9 W m−2, with a substantial inter-model spread of −0.6 to −2.5 W m−2. The large spread is partly related to the considerable differences in clouds and their representation between the models, with an underestimation of low clouds in several of the models. All models predict a statistically significant temperature decrease with a median of (for years 2020–2069 −0.96 [−0.17 to −1.21] K relative to the RCP4.5 scenario, with particularly strong cooling over low-latitude continents. Globally averaged there is a weak but significant precipitation decrease of −2.35 [−0.57 to −2.96] % due to a colder climate, but at low latitudes there is a 1.19 % increase over land. This increase is part of a circulation change where a strong negative top-of-atmosphere (TOA shortwave forcing over subtropical oceans, caused by increased albedo associated with the increasing CDNC, is compensated for by rising motion and positive TOA longwave signals over adjacent land regions.

Cloud-Induced Uncertainty for Visual Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-26

can occur due to interference, jamming, or signal blockage in urban canyons. In GPS-denied environments, a GP- S/INS navigation system is forced to rely...physics-based approaches use equations that model fluid flow, thermodynamics, water condensation , and evapora- tion to generate clouds [4]. The drawback

Radiative effects of clouds and cryosphere in the Antarctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Yamanouchi

1997-03-01

Full Text Available Examination of the effects of clouds, ice sheet and sea ice on the radiation budget in the Antarctic using Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE data were reported. The continental ice sheet affects not only the albedo, but also the surface temperature because of elevation, and hence the OLR. Sea ice, which is a critical climate feedback factor, appears to have less impact on radiation than do clouds. However, these surfaces lie underneath clouds, and it was found that the independent effect of sea ice is as large as that of clouds, and clouds are masking the radiative effect of sea ice by more than half. The radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere from satellite observation and that at the surface from the surface radiation measurements at Syowa and South Pole Stations were compared. Cloud radiative forcing at both stations for the surface, atmosphere and top of the atmosphere was derived.

Coupling aerosol-cloud-radiative processes in the WRF-Chem model: Investigating the radiative impact of elevated point sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. G. Chapman

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The local and regional influence of elevated point sources on summertime aerosol forcing and cloud-aerosol interactions in northeastern North America was investigated using the WRF-Chem community model. The direct effects of aerosols on incoming solar radiation were simulated using existing modules to relate aerosol sizes and chemical composition to aerosol optical properties. Indirect effects were simulated by adding a prognostic treatment of cloud droplet number and adding modules that activate aerosol particles to form cloud droplets, simulate aqueous-phase chemistry, and tie a two-moment treatment of cloud water (cloud water mass and cloud droplet number to precipitation and an existing radiation scheme. Fully interactive feedbacks thus were created within the modified model, with aerosols affecting cloud droplet number and cloud radiative properties, and clouds altering aerosol size and composition via aqueous processes, wet scavenging, and gas-phase-related photolytic processes. Comparisons of a baseline simulation with observations show that the model captured the general temporal cycle of aerosol optical depths (AODs and produced clouds of comparable thickness to observations at approximately the proper times and places. The model overpredicted SO₂ mixing ratios and PM_2.5 mass, but reproduced the range of observed SO₂ to sulfate aerosol ratios, suggesting that atmospheric oxidation processes leading to aerosol sulfate formation are captured in the model. The baseline simulation was compared to a sensitivity simulation in which all emissions at model levels above the surface layer were set to zero, thus removing stack emissions. Instantaneous, site-specific differences for aerosol and cloud related properties between the two simulations could be quite large, as removing above-surface emission sources influenced when and where clouds formed within the modeling domain. When summed spatially over the finest

Secure cloud computing implementation study for Singapore military operations

OpenAIRE

Guoquan, Lai

2016-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Cloud computing benefits organizations in many ways. With characteristics such as resource pooling, broad network access, on-demand self-service, and rapid elasticity, an organization's overall IT management can be significantly reduced (in terms of labor, software, and hardware) and its work processes made more efficient. However, is cloud computing suitable for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)? How can the SAF migrate its traditional...

Characteristics of Borneo and Sumatra fire plume heights and smoke clouds and their impact on regional El Niño-induced drought

Science.gov (United States)

Tosca, Michael; Randerson, James; Zender, Cs; Flanner, Mg; Nelson, Dl; Diner, Dj; Rasch, Pj; Logan, Ja

2010-05-01

During the dry season, anthropogenic fires in tropical forests and peatlands in equatorial Asia produce regionally expansive smoke clouds. We estimated the altitude of smoke clouds from these fires, characterized the sensitivity of these clouds to regional drought and El Niño variability, and investigated their effect on climate. We used the MISR satellite product and MISR INteractive eXplorer (MINX) software to estimate the heights of 382 smoke plumes (smoke with a visible surface source and transport direction) on Borneo and 143 plumes on Sumatra for 2001—2009. In addition, we estimated the altitudes of 10 smoke clouds (opaque regions of smoke with no detectable surface source or transport direction) on Borneo during 2006. Most smoke plumes (84%) were observed during El Niño events (2002, 2004, 2006, and 2009); this is consistent with higher numbers of active fire detections and larger aerosol optical depths observed during El Niño years. Annually averaged plume heights on Borneo were positively correlated to the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), an indicator of El Niño (r2 = 0.53), and the mean plume height for all El Niño years was 772.5 ± 15.9m, compared to 711.4 ± 28.7m for non-El Niño years. The median altitude of the 10 smoke clouds observed on Borneo during 2006 was 1313m, considerably higher than the median of nearby smoke plumes (787m). The difference in height between individual plumes and regional smoke clouds may be related to deeper planetary boundary layers and injection heights later in the afternoon (after the 10:30am MISR overpass) or other atmospheric mixing processes that occur on synoptic timescales. We investigated the climate response to these expansive smoke clouds using the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). Climate responses to smoke from two 30 year simulations were compared: one simulation was forced with fire emissions typical of a dry (El Niño) burning year, while the other was forced with emissions typical of a low (La Ni

Cloud Infrastructure & Applications - CloudIA

Science.gov (United States)

Sulistio, Anthony; Reich, Christoph; Doelitzscher, Frank

The idea behind Cloud Computing is to deliver Infrastructure-as-a-Services and Software-as-a-Service over the Internet on an easy pay-per-use business model. To harness the potentials of Cloud Computing for e-Learning and research purposes, and to small- and medium-sized enterprises, the Hochschule Furtwangen University establishes a new project, called Cloud Infrastructure & Applications (CloudIA). The CloudIA project is a market-oriented cloud infrastructure that leverages different virtualization technologies, by supporting Service-Level Agreements for various service offerings. This paper describes the CloudIA project in details and mentions our early experiences in building a private cloud using an existing infrastructure.

Spectral shifting strongly constrains molecular cloud disruption by radiation pressure on dust

Science.gov (United States)

Reissl, Stefan; Klessen, Ralf S.; Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark; Pellegrini, Eric W.

2018-03-01

Aim. We aim to test the hypothesis that radiation pressure from young star clusters acting on dust is the dominant feedback agent disrupting the largest star-forming molecular clouds and thus regulating the star-formation process. Methods: We performed multi-frequency, 3D, radiative transfer calculations including both scattering and absorption and re-emission to longer wavelengths for model clouds with masses of 104-107 M⊙, containing embedded clusters with star formation efficiencies of 0.009-91%, and varying maximum grain sizes up to 200 μm. We calculated the ratio between radiative and gravitational forces to determine whether radiation pressure can disrupt clouds. Results: We find that radiation pressure acting on dust almost never disrupts star-forming clouds. Ultraviolet and optical photons from young stars to which the cloud is optically thick do not scatter much. Instead, they quickly get absorbed and re-emitted by the dust at thermal wavelengths. As the cloud is typically optically thin to far-infrared radiation, it promptly escapes, depositing little momentum in the cloud. The resulting spectrum is more narrowly peaked than the corresponding Planck function, and exhibits an extended tail at longer wavelengths. As the opacity drops significantly across the sub-mm and mm wavelength regime, the resulting radiative force is even smaller than for the corresponding single-temperature blackbody. We find that the force from radiation pressure falls below the strength of gravitational attraction by an order of magnitude or more for either Milky Way or moderate starbust conditions. Only for unrealistically large maximum grain sizes, and star formation efficiencies far exceeding 50% do we find that the strength of radiation pressure can exceed gravity. Conclusions: We conclude that radiation pressure acting on dust does not disrupt star-forming molecular clouds in any Local Group galaxies. Radiation pressure thus appears unlikely to regulate the star

Improvements of top-of-atmosphere and surface irradiance computations with CALIPSO-, CloudSat-, and MODIS-derived cloud and aerosol properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Seiji; Rose, Fred G.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Miller, Walter F.; Chen, Yan; Rutan, David A.; Stephens, Graeme L.; Loeb, Norman G.; Minnis, Patrick; Wielicki, Bruce A.; Winker, David M.; Charlock, Thomas P.; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.; Xu, Kuan-Man; Collins, William D.

2011-10-01

One year of instantaneous top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface shortwave and longwave irradiances are computed using cloud and aerosol properties derived from instruments on the A-Train Constellation: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite, the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), and the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). When modeled irradiances are compared with those computed with cloud properties derived from MODIS radiances by a Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) cloud algorithm, the global and annual mean of modeled instantaneous TOA irradiances decreases by 12.5 W m-2 (5.0%) for reflected shortwave and 2.5 W m-2 (1.1%) for longwave irradiances. As a result, the global annual mean of instantaneous TOA irradiances agrees better with CERES-derived irradiances to within 0.5W m-2 (out of 237.8 W m-2) for reflected shortwave and 2.6W m-2 (out of 240.1 W m-2) for longwave irradiances. In addition, the global annual mean of instantaneous surface downward longwave irradiances increases by 3.6 W m-2 (1.0%) when CALIOP- and CPR-derived cloud properties are used. The global annual mean of instantaneous surface downward shortwave irradiances also increases by 8.6 W m-2 (1.6%), indicating that the net surface irradiance increases when CALIOP- and CPR-derived cloud properties are used. Increasing the surface downward longwave irradiance is caused by larger cloud fractions (the global annual mean by 0.11, 0.04 excluding clouds with optical thickness less than 0.3) and lower cloud base heights (the global annual mean by 1.6 km). The increase of the surface downward longwave irradiance in the Arctic exceeds 10 W m-2 (˜4%) in winter because CALIOP and CPR detect more clouds in comparison with the cloud detection by the CERES cloud algorithm during polar night. The global annual mean surface downward longwave irradiance of

Climate hypersensitivity to solar forcing?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Soon

2000-05-01

Full Text Available We compare the equilibrium climate responses of a quasi-dynamical energy balance model to radiative forcing by equivalent changes in CO2, solar total irradiance (Stot and solar UV (SUV. The response is largest in the SUV case, in which the imposed UV radiative forcing is preferentially absorbed in the layer above 250 mb, in contrast to the weak response from global-columnar radiative loading by increases in CO2 or Stot. The hypersensitive response of the climate system to solar UV forcing is caused by strongly coupled feedback involving vertical static stability, tropical thick cirrus ice clouds and stratospheric ozone. This mechanism offers a plausible explanation of the apparent hypersensitivity of climate to solar forcing, as suggested by analyses of recent climatic records. The model hypersensitivity strongly depends on climate parameters, especially cloud radiative properties, but is effective for arguably realistic values of these parameters. The proposed solar forcing mechanism should be further confirmed using other models (e.g., general circulation models that may better capture radiative and dynamical couplings of the troposphere and stratosphere.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology · general or miscellaneous · Solar physics · astrophysics · and astronomy (ultraviolet emissions

The Energy Efficiency Potential of Cloud-Based Software: A U.S. Case Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Masanet, Eric [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Shehabi, Arman [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Liang, Jiaqi [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Ramakrishnan, Lavanya [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Ma, XiaoHui [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Hendrix, Valerie [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Walker, Benjamin [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Mantha, Pradeep [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-06-03

The energy use of data centers is a topic that has received much attention, given that data centers currently account for 1-2% of global electricity use. However, cloud computing holds great potential to reduce data center energy demand moving forward, due to both large reductions in total servers through consolidation and large increases in facility efficiencies compared to traditional local data centers. However, analyzing the net energy implications of shifts to the cloud can be very difficult, because data center services can affect many different components of society’s economic and energy systems.

New approaches to quantifying aerosol influence on the cloud radiative effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Feingold, Graham; McComiskey, Allison; Yamaguchi, Takanobu; Johnson, Jill S; Carslaw, Kenneth S; Schmidt, K Sebastian

2016-05-24

The topic of cloud radiative forcing associated with the atmospheric aerosol has been the focus of intense scrutiny for decades. The enormity of the problem is reflected in the need to understand aspects such as aerosol composition, optical properties, cloud condensation, and ice nucleation potential, along with the global distribution of these properties, controlled by emissions, transport, transformation, and sinks. Equally daunting is that clouds themselves are complex, turbulent, microphysical entities and, by their very nature, ephemeral and hard to predict. Atmospheric general circulation models represent aerosol-cloud interactions at ever-increasing levels of detail, but these models lack the resolution to represent clouds and aerosol-cloud interactions adequately. There is a dearth of observational constraints on aerosol-cloud interactions. We develop a conceptual approach to systematically constrain the aerosol-cloud radiative effect in shallow clouds through a combination of routine process modeling and satellite and surface-based shortwave radiation measurements. We heed the call to merge Darwinian and Newtonian strategies by balancing microphysical detail with scaling and emergent properties of the aerosol-cloud radiation system.

SEEDING THE FORMATION OF COLD GASEOUS CLOUDS IN MILKY WAY-SIZE HALOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keres, Dusan; Hernquist, Lars

2009-01-01

We use one of the highest resolution cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations to date to demonstrate that cold gaseous clouds form around Milky Way-size galaxies. We further explore mechanisms responsible for their formation and show that a large fraction of clouds originate as a consequence of late-time filamentary 'cold mode' accretion. Here, filaments that are still colder and denser than the surrounding halo gas are not able to connect directly to galaxies, as they do at high redshift, but are instead susceptible to the combined action of cooling and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities at intermediate radii within the halo leading to the production of cold, dense pressure-confined clouds, without an associated dark matter component. This process is aided through the compression of the incoming filaments by the hot halo gas and expanding shocks during the halo buildup. Our mechanism directly seeds clouds from gas with substantial local overdensity, unlike in previous models, and provides a channel for the origin of cloud complexes. These clouds can later 'rain' onto galaxies, delivering fuel for star formation. Owing to the relatively large cross-section of filaments and the net angular momentum carried by the gas, the clouds will be distributed in a modestly flattened region around a galaxy.

Impact of preindustrial to present-day changes in short-lived pollutant emissions on atmospheric composition and climate forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Naik, Vaishali; Horowitz, Larry W.; Fiore, Arlene M.; Ginoux, Paul; Mao, Jingqiu; Aghedo, Adetutu M.; Levy, Hiram

2013-07-01

We describe and evaluate atmospheric chemistry in the newly developed Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory chemistry-climate model (GFDL AM3) and apply it to investigate the net impact of preindustrial (PI) to present (PD) changes in short-lived pollutant emissions (ozone precursors, sulfur dioxide, and carbonaceous aerosols) and methane concentration on atmospheric composition and climate forcing. The inclusion of online troposphere-stratosphere interactions, gas-aerosol chemistry, and aerosol-cloud interactions (including direct and indirect aerosol radiative effects) in AM3 enables a more complete representation of interactions among short-lived species, and thus their net climate impact, than was considered in previous climate assessments. The base AM3 simulation, driven with observed sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice cover (SIC) over the period 1981-2007, generally reproduces the observed mean magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal cycle of tropospheric ozone and carbon monoxide. The global mean aerosol optical depth in our base simulation is within 5% of satellite measurements over the 1982-2006 time period. We conduct a pair of simulations in which only the short-lived pollutant emissions and methane concentrations are changed from PI (1860) to PD (2000) levels (i.e., SST, SIC, greenhouse gases, and ozone-depleting substances are held at PD levels). From the PI to PD, we find that changes in short-lived pollutant emissions and methane have caused the tropospheric ozone burden to increase by 39% and the global burdens of sulfate, black carbon, and organic carbon to increase by factors of 3, 2.4, and 1.4, respectively. Tropospheric hydroxyl concentration decreases by 7%, showing that increases in OH sinks (methane, carbon monoxide, nonmethane volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide) dominate over sources (ozone and nitrogen oxides) in the model. Combined changes in tropospheric ozone and aerosols cause a net negative top

Characterization of the cloud conditions at Ny-Ålesund using sensor synergy and representativeness of the observed clouds across Arctic sites

Science.gov (United States)

Nomokonova, Tatiana; Ebell, Kerstin; Löhnert, Ulrich; Maturilli, Marion

2017-04-01

Clouds are one of the crucial components of the hydrological and energy cycles and thus affecting the global climate. Their special importance in Arctic regions is defined by cloud's influence on the radiation budget. Arctic clouds usually occur at low altitudes and often contain highly concentrated tiny liquid drops. During winter, spring, and autumn periods such clouds tend to conserve the long-wave radiation in the atmosphere and, thus, produce warming of the Arctic climate. In summer though clouds efficiently scatter the solar radiation back to space and, therefore, induce a cooling effect. An accurate characterization of the net effect of clouds on the Arctic climate requires long-term and precise observations. However, only a few measurement sites exist which perform continuous, vertically resolved observations of clouds in the Arctic, e.g. in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. These sites typically make use of a combination of different ground-based remote sensing instruments, e.g. cloud radar, ceilometer and microwave radiometer in order to characterize clouds. Within the Transregional Collaborative Research Center (TR 172) "Arctic Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and Surface Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)3" comprehensive observations of the atmospheric column are performed at the German-French Research Station AWIPEV at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Ny-Ålesund is located in the warmest part of the Arctic where climate is significantly influenced by adiabatic heating from the warm ocean. Thus, measurements at Ny-Ålesund will complement our understanding of cloud formation and development in the Arctic. This particular study is devoted to the characterization of the cloud macro- and microphysical properties at Ny-Ålesund and of the atmospheric conditions, under which these clouds form and develop. To this end, the information of the various instrumentation at the AWIPEV observatory is synergistically analysed: information about the thermodynamic

Identification of Dust and Ice Cloud Formation from A-Train Datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, D. S.; Liou, K. N.

2014-12-01

Dust aerosols are effective ice nuclei for clouds and instances of nucleation have been well studied in laboratory experiments. We used CALIOP/CALIPSO, MODIS/Aqua, and CloudSat on the A-Train to find collocated instances of clouds characterized as water by MODIS, but contain ice water as indicated by CloudSat. The vertical profiles of CALIPSO detect the presence of dust and polluted dust near clouds. This study concentrates on high dust aerosol areas including the regions surrounding the Sahara Desert as well as South Asia including the Tibetan Plateau. These cases display the effects of dust acting as ice nuclei in the time frame between MODIS overpass and CloudSat overpass (~45 seconds). Utilizing available datasets, we then carried out radiative transfer calculations to understand spectral radiative forcing differences between water and ice clouds, particularly over snow surfaces at the Tibetan Plateau.

Formation of Massive Molecular Cloud Cores by Cloud-cloud Collision

OpenAIRE

Inoue, Tsuyoshi; Fukui, Yasuo

2013-01-01

Recent observations of molecular clouds around rich massive star clusters including NGC3603, Westerlund 2, and M20 revealed that the formation of massive stars could be triggered by a cloud-cloud collision. By using three-dimensional, isothermal, magnetohydrodynamics simulations with the effect of self-gravity, we demonstrate that massive, gravitationally unstable, molecular cloud cores are formed behind the strong shock waves induced by the cloud-cloud collision. We find that the massive mol...

Near-Surface Meteorology During the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS): Evaluation of Reanalyses and Global Climate Models.

Science.gov (United States)

De Boer, G.; Shupe, M.D.; Caldwell, P.M.; Bauer, Susanne E.; Persson, O.; Boyle, J.S.; Kelley, M.; Klein, S.A.; Tjernstrom, M.

2014-01-01

Atmospheric measurements from the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS) are used to evaluate the performance of three atmospheric reanalyses (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF)- Interim reanalysis, National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis, and NCEP-DOE (Department of Energy) reanalysis) and two global climate models (CAM5 (Community Atmosphere Model 5) and NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) ModelE2) in simulation of the high Arctic environment. Quantities analyzed include near surface meteorological variables such as temperature, pressure, humidity and winds, surface-based estimates of cloud and precipitation properties, the surface energy budget, and lower atmospheric temperature structure. In general, the models perform well in simulating large-scale dynamical quantities such as pressure and winds. Near-surface temperature and lower atmospheric stability, along with surface energy budget terms, are not as well represented due largely to errors in simulation of cloud occurrence, phase and altitude. Additionally, a development version of CAM5, which features improved handling of cloud macro physics, has demonstrated to improve simulation of cloud properties and liquid water amount. The ASCOS period additionally provides an excellent example of the benefits gained by evaluating individual budget terms, rather than simply evaluating the net end product, with large compensating errors between individual surface energy budget terms that result in the best net energy budget.

Surface radiative forcing of forest disturbances over northeastern China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yuzhen; Liang, Shunlin

2014-01-01

Forests provide important climate forcing through biogeochemical and biogeophysical processes. In this study, we investigated the climatic effects of forest disturbances due to changes in forest biomass and surface albedo in terms of radiative forcing over northeastern China. Four types of forest disturbances were considered: fires, insect damage, logging, and afforestation and reforestation. The mechanisms of the influence of forest disturbances on climate were different. ‘Instantaneous’ net radiative forcings caused by fires, insect damage, logging, and afforestation and reforestation were estimated at 0.53 ± 0.08 W m −2 , 1.09 ± 0.14 W m −2 , 2.23 ± 0.27 W m −2 , and 0.14 ± 0.04 W m −2 , respectively. Trajectories of CO 2 -driven radiative forcing, albedo-driven radiative forcing, and net forcing were different with time for each type of disturbance. Over a decade, the estimated net forcings were 2.24 ± 0.11 W m −2 , 0.20 ± 0.31 W m −2 , 1.06 ± 0.41 W m −2 , and −0.47 ± 0.07 W m −2 , respectively. These estimated radiative forcings from satellite observations provided evidence for the mechanisms of the influences of forest disturbances on climate. (paper)

Properties of CIRRUS Overlapping Clouds as Deduced from the GOES-12 Imagery Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Fu-Lung; Minnis, Patrick; Lin, Bing; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Khaiyer, Mandana

2006-01-01

Understanding the impact of cirrus clouds on modifying both the solar reflected and terrestrial emitted radiations is crucial for climate studies. Unlike most boundary layer stratus and stratocumulus clouds that have a net cooling effect on the climate, high-level thin cirrus clouds can have a warming effect on our climate. Many research efforts have been devoted to retrieving cirrus cloud properties due to their ubiquitous presence. However, using satellite observations to detect and/or retrieve cirrus cloud properties faces two major challenges. First, they are often semitransparent at visible to infrared wavelengths; and secondly, they often occur over a lower cloud system. The overlapping of high-level cirrus and low-level stratus cloud poses a difficulty in determining the individual cloud top altitudes and optical properties, especially when the signals from cirrus clouds are overwhelmed by the signals of stratus clouds. Moreover, the operational satellite retrieval algorithms, which often assume only single layer cloud in the development of cloud retrieval techniques, cannot resolve the cloud overlapping situation properly. The new geostationary satellites, starting with the Twelfth Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12), are providing a new suite of imager bands that have replaced the conventional 12-micron channel with a 13.3-micron CO2 absorption channel. The replacement of the 13.3-micron channel allows for the application of a CO2-slicing retrieval technique (Chahine et al. 1974; Smith and Platt 1978), which is one of the important passive satellite methods for remote sensing the altitudes of mid to high-level clouds. Using the CO2- slicing technique is more effective in detecting semitransparent cirrus clouds than using the conventional infrared-window method.

Next generation aerosol-cloud microphysics for advanced high-resolution climate predictions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennartz, Ralf; Hamilton, Kevin P; Phillips, Vaughan T.J.; Wang, Yuqing; Brenguier, Jean-Louis

2013-01-14

The three top-level project goals are: -We proposed to develop, test, and run a new, physically based, scale-independent microphysical scheme for those cloud processes that most strongly affect greenhouse gas scenarios, i.e. warm cloud microphysics. In particular, we propsed to address cloud droplet activation, autoconversion, and accretion. -The new, unified scheme was proposed to be derived and tested using the University of Hawaii's IPRC Regional Atmospheric Model (iRAM). -The impact of the new parameterizations on climate change scenarios will be studied. In particular, the sensitivity of cloud response to climate forcing from increased greenhouse gas concentrations will be assessed.

Assessing the Relationships among Cloud Adoption, Strategic Alignment and Information Technology Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Chebrolu, Shankar Babu

2010-01-01

Against the backdrop of new economic realities, one of the larger forces that is affecting businesses worldwide is cloud computing, whose benefits include agility, time to market, time to capability, reduced cost, renewed focus on the core and strategic partnership with the business. Cloud computing can potentially transform a majority of the…

Clouds enhance Greenland ice sheet mass loss

Science.gov (United States)

Van Tricht, Kristof; Gorodetskaya, Irina V.; L'Ecuyer, Tristan; Lenaerts, Jan T. M.; Lhermitte, Stef; Noel, Brice; Turner, David D.; van den Broeke, Michiel R.; van Lipzig, Nicole P. M.

2015-04-01

Clouds have a profound influence on both the Arctic and global climate, while they still represent one of the key uncertainties in climate models, limiting the fidelity of future climate projections. The potentially important role of thin liquid-containing clouds over Greenland in enhancing ice sheet melt has recently gained interest, yet current research is spatially and temporally limited, focusing on particular events, and their large scale impact on the surface mass balance remains unknown. We used a combination of satellite remote sensing (CloudSat - CALIPSO), ground-based observations and climate model (RACMO) data to show that liquid-containing clouds warm the Greenland ice sheet 94% of the time. High surface reflectivity (albedo) for shortwave radiation reduces the cloud shortwave cooling effect on the absorbed fluxes, while not influencing the absorption of longwave radiation. Cloud warming over the ice sheet therefore dominates year-round. Only when albedo values drop below ~0.6 in the coastal areas during summer, the cooling effect starts to overcome the warming effect. The year-round excess of energy due to the presence of liquid-containing clouds has an extensive influence on the mass balance of the ice sheet. Simulations using the SNOWPACK snow model showed not only a strong influence of these liquid-containing clouds on melt increase, but also on the increased sublimation mass loss. Simulations with the Community Earth System Climate Model for the end of the 21st century (2080-2099) show that Greenland clouds contain more liquid water path and less ice water path. This implies that cloud radiative forcing will be further enhanced in the future. Our results therefore urge the need for improving cloud microphysics in climate models, to improve future projections of ice sheet mass balance and global sea level rise.

Estimating the Reliability of the Elements of Cloud Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iuliia V. Ignatova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cloud technologies are a very considerable area that influence IT infrastructure, network services and applications. Research has highlighted difficulties in the functioning of cloud infrastructure. For instance, if a server is subjected to malicious attacks or a force majeure causes a failure in the cloud's service, it is required to determine the time that it takes the system to return to being fully functional after the crash. This will determine the technological and financial risks faced by the owner and end users of cloud services. Therefore, to solve the problem of determining the expected time before service is resumed after a failure, we propose to apply Markovian queuing systems, specifically a model of a multi-channel queuing system with Poisson input flow and denial-of-service (breakdown. (original abstract

Ash cloud aviation advisories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, T.J.; Ellis, J.S. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Schalk, W.W.; Nasstrom, J.S. [EG and G, Inc., Pleasanton, CA (United States)

1992-06-25

During the recent (12--22 June 1991) Mount Pinatubo volcano eruptions, the US Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC) requested assistance of the US Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) in creating volcanic ash cloud aviation advisories for the region of the Philippine Islands. Through application of its three-dimensional material transport and diffusion models using AFGWC meteorological analysis and forecast wind fields ARAC developed extensive analysis and 12-hourly forecast ash cloud position advisories extending to 48 hours for a period of five days. The advisories consisted of ``relative`` ash cloud concentrations in ten layers (surface-5,000 feet, 5,000--10,000 feet and every 10,000 feet to 90,000 feet). The ash was represented as a log-normal size distribution of 10--200 {mu}m diameter solid particles. Size-dependent ``ashfall`` was simulated over time as the eruption clouds dispersed. Except for an internal experimental attempt to model one of the Mount Redoubt, Alaska, eruptions (12/89), ARAC had no prior experience in modeling volcanic eruption ash hazards. For the cataclysmic eruption of 15--16 June, the complex three-dimensional atmospheric structure of the region produced dramatically divergent ash cloud patterns. The large eruptions (> 7--10 km) produced ash plume clouds with strong westward transport over the South China Sea, Southeast Asia, India and beyond. The low-level eruptions (< 7 km) and quasi-steady-state venting produced a plume which generally dispersed to the north and east throughout the support period. Modeling the sequence of eruptions presented a unique challenge. Although the initial approach proved viable, further refinement is necessary and possible. A distinct need exists to quantify eruptions consistently such that ``relative`` ash concentrations relate to specific aviation hazard categories.

Sensitivity to deliberate sea salt seeding of marine clouds – observations and model simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Alterskjær

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Sea salt seeding of marine clouds to increase their albedo is a proposed technique to counteract or slow global warming. In this study, we first investigate the susceptibility of marine clouds to sea salt injections, using observational data of cloud droplet number concentration, cloud optical depth, and liquid cloud fraction from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instruments on board the Aqua and Terra satellites. We then compare the derived susceptibility function to a corresponding estimate from the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM. Results compare well between simulations and observations, showing that stratocumulus regions off the west coast of the major continents along with large regions over the Pacific and the Indian Oceans are susceptible. At low and mid latitudes the signal is dominated by the cloud fraction.

We then carry out geo-engineering experiments with a uniform increase over ocean of 10⁻⁹ kg m⁻² s⁻¹ in emissions of sea salt particles with a dry modal radius of 0.13 μm, an emission strength and areal coverage much greater than proposed in earlier studies. The increased sea salt concentrations and the resulting change in marine cloud properties lead to a globally averaged forcing of −4.8 W m⁻² at the top of the atmosphere, more than cancelling the forcing associated with a doubling of CO₂ concentrations. The forcing is large in areas found to be sensitive by using the susceptibility function, confirming its usefulness as an indicator of where to inject sea salt for maximum effect.

Results also show that the effectiveness of sea salt seeding is reduced because the injected sea salt provides a large surface area for water vapor and gaseous sulphuric acid to condense on, thereby lowering the maximum supersaturation and suppressing the formation and lifetime of sulphate particles. In some areas, our simulations show an

Vertical profiles of droplet effective radius in shallow convective clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Zhang

2011-05-01

>f_ad becomes smaller, representing a higher degree of mixing, and r_e becomes smaller (~10 % and more variable. However, for the clean case, smaller f_ad corresponds to larger r_e (and larger r_e variability, reflecting the additional influence of droplet collision-coalescence and sedimentation on r_e. Finally, profiles of the vertically inhomogeneous clouds as simulated by the LES and those of the vertically homogeneous clouds are used as input to a radiative transfer model to study the effect of cloud vertical inhomogeneity on shortwave radiative forcing. For clouds that have the same liquid water path, r_e of a vertically homogeneous cloud must be about 76–90 % of the cloud-top r_e of the vertically inhomogeneous cloud in order for the two clouds to have the same shortwave radiative forcing.

SUNYA Regional Climate Model Simulations of East Asia Summer Monsoon: Effects of Cloud Vertical Structure on the Surface Energy Balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Gong and Wei-Chyung Wang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We used the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA regional climate model to study the effect of cloud vertical distribution in affecting the surface energy balance of the East Asia summer monsoon (EASM. Simulations were conducted for the summers of 1988 and 1989, during which large contrast in the intra-seasonal cloud radiative forcing (CRF was observed at the top of the atmosphere. The model results indicate that both the high and low clouds are persistent throughout the summer months in both years. Because of large cloud water, low clouds significantly reduce the solar radiation flux reaching the surface, which nevertheless still dominate the surface energy balance, accounting for more than 50% of the surface heating. The low clouds also contribute significantly the downward longwave radiation to the surface with values strongly dependent on the cloud base temperature. The presence of low clouds effectively decreases the temperature and moisture gradients near surface, resulting in a substantial decrease in the sensible and latent heat fluxes from surface, which partially compensate the decrease of the net radiative cooling of the surface. For example, in the two days, May 8 and July 11 of 1988, the total cloud cover of 80% is simulated, but the respective low cloud cover (water was 63% (114 gm-2 and 22% (21 gm-2. As a result, the downward solar radiation is smaller by 161 Wm-2 in May 8. On the other hand, the cloud temperature was _ lower, yielding 56 Wm-2 smaller downward longwave radiation. The near surface temperature and gradient is more than _ smaller (and moisture gradient, leading to 21 and 81 Wm-2 smaller sensible heat and latent heat fluxes. It is also demonstrated that the model is capable to reproduce the intraseasonal variation of shortwave CRF, and catches the relationship between total cloud cover and SW CRF. The model results show the dominance of high cloud on the regional mean longwave CRF and low cloud on the intra

Numerical simulations of altocumulus with a cloud resolving model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, S.; Krueger, S.K. [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

1996-04-01

Altocumulus and altostratus clouds together cover approximately 22% of the earth`s surface. They play an important role in the earth`s energy budget through their effect on solar and infrared radiation. However, there has been little altocumulus cloud investigation by either modelers or observational programs. Starr and Cox (SC) (1985a,b) simulated an altostratus case as part of the same study in which they modeled a thin layer of cirrus. Although this calculation was originally described as representing altostratus, it probably better represents altocumulus stratiformis. In this paper, we simulate altocumulus cloud with a cloud resolving model (CRM). We simply describe the CRM first. We calculate the same middle-level cloud case as SC to compare our results with theirs. We will look at the role of cloud-scale processes in response to large-scale forcing. We will also discuss radiative effects by simulating diurnal and nocturnal cases. Finally, we discuss the utility of a 1D model by comparing 1D simulations and 2D simulations.

Reduced anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing caused by biogenic new particle formation

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Hamish; Sengupta, Kamalika; Rap, Alexandru; Duplissy, Jonathan; Frege, Carla; Williamson, Christina; Heinritzi, Martin; Simon, Mario; Yan, Chao; Almeida, João; Tröstl, Jasmin; Nieminen, Tuomo; Ortega, Ismael K.; Wagner, Robert; Dunne, Eimear M.; Adamov, Alexey; Amorim, Antonio; Bernhammer, Anne-Kathrin; Bianchi, Federico; Breitenlechner, Martin; Brilke, Sophia; Chen, Xuemeng; Craven, Jill S.; Dias, Antonio; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Fischer, Lukas; Flagan, Richard C.; Franchin, Alessandro; Fuchs, Claudia; Guida, Roberto; Hakala, Jani; Hoyle, Christopher R.; Jokinen, Tuija; Junninen, Heikki; Kangasluoma, Juha; Kim, Jaeseok; Kirkby, Jasper; Krapf, Manuel; Kürten, Andreas; Laaksonen, Ari; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Makhmutov, Vladimir; Mathot, Serge; Molteni, Ugo; Monks, Sarah A.; Onnela, Antti; Peräkylä, Otso; Piel, Felix; Petäjä, Tuukka; Praplan, Arnaud P.; Pringle, Kirsty J.; Richards, Nigel A. D.; Rissanen, Matti P.; Rondo, Linda; Sarnela, Nina; Schobesberger, Siegfried; Scott, Catherine E.; Seinfeld, John H.; Sharma, Sangeeta; Sipilä, Mikko; Steiner, Gerhard; Stozhkov, Yuri; Stratmann, Frank; Tomé, Antonio; Virtanen, Annele; Vogel, Alexander Lucas; Wagner, Andrea C.; Wagner, Paul E.; Weingartner, Ernest; Wimmer, Daniela; Winkler, Paul M.; Ye, Penglin; Zhang, Xuan; Hansel, Armin; Dommen, Josef; Donahue, Neil M.; Worsnop, Douglas R.; Baltensperger, Urs; Kulmala, Markku; Curtius, Joachim; Carslaw, Kenneth S.

2016-10-01

The magnitude of aerosol radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic emissions depends on the baseline state of the atmosphere under pristine preindustrial conditions. Measurements show that particle formation in atmospheric conditions can occur solely from biogenic vapors. Here, we evaluate the potential effect of this source of particles on preindustrial cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and aerosol-cloud radiative forcing over the industrial period. Model simulations show that the pure biogenic particle formation mechanism has a much larger relative effect on CCN concentrations in the preindustrial atmosphere than in the present atmosphere because of the lower aerosol concentrations. Consequently, preindustrial cloud albedo is increased more than under present day conditions, and therefore the cooling forcing of anthropogenic aerosols is reduced. The mechanism increases CCN concentrations by 20-100% over a large fraction of the preindustrial lower atmosphere, and the magnitude of annual global mean radiative forcing caused by changes of cloud albedo since 1750 is reduced by 0.22 W m-2 (27%) to -0.60 W m-2. Model uncertainties, relatively slow formation rates, and limited available ambient measurements make it difficult to establish the significance of a mechanism that has its dominant effect under preindustrial conditions. Our simulations predict more particle formation in the Amazon than is observed. However, the first observation of pure organic nucleation has now been reported for the free troposphere. Given the potentially significant effect on anthropogenic forcing, effort should be made to better understand such naturally driven aerosol processes.

Reduced anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing caused by biogenic new particle formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Hamish; Sengupta, Kamalika; Rap, Alexandru; Duplissy, Jonathan; Frege, Carla; Williamson, Christina; Heinritzi, Martin; Simon, Mario; Yan, Chao; Almeida, João; Tröstl, Jasmin; Nieminen, Tuomo; Ortega, Ismael K; Wagner, Robert; Dunne, Eimear M; Adamov, Alexey; Amorim, Antonio; Bernhammer, Anne-Kathrin; Bianchi, Federico; Breitenlechner, Martin; Brilke, Sophia; Chen, Xuemeng; Craven, Jill S; Dias, Antonio; Ehrhart, Sebastian; Fischer, Lukas; Flagan, Richard C; Franchin, Alessandro; Fuchs, Claudia; Guida, Roberto; Hakala, Jani; Hoyle, Christopher R; Jokinen, Tuija; Junninen, Heikki; Kangasluoma, Juha; Kim, Jaeseok; Kirkby, Jasper; Krapf, Manuel; Kürten, Andreas; Laaksonen, Ari; Lehtipalo, Katrianne; Makhmutov, Vladimir; Mathot, Serge; Molteni, Ugo; Monks, Sarah A; Onnela, Antti; Peräkylä, Otso; Piel, Felix; Petäjä, Tuukka; Praplan, Arnaud P; Pringle, Kirsty J; Richards, Nigel A D; Rissanen, Matti P; Rondo, Linda; Sarnela, Nina; Schobesberger, Siegfried; Scott, Catherine E; Seinfeld, John H; Sharma, Sangeeta; Sipilä, Mikko; Steiner, Gerhard; Stozhkov, Yuri; Stratmann, Frank; Tomé, Antonio; Virtanen, Annele; Vogel, Alexander Lucas; Wagner, Andrea C; Wagner, Paul E; Weingartner, Ernest; Wimmer, Daniela; Winkler, Paul M; Ye, Penglin; Zhang, Xuan; Hansel, Armin; Dommen, Josef; Donahue, Neil M; Worsnop, Douglas R; Baltensperger, Urs; Kulmala, Markku; Curtius, Joachim; Carslaw, Kenneth S

2016-10-25

The magnitude of aerosol radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic emissions depends on the baseline state of the atmosphere under pristine preindustrial conditions. Measurements show that particle formation in atmospheric conditions can occur solely from biogenic vapors. Here, we evaluate the potential effect of this source of particles on preindustrial cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and aerosol-cloud radiative forcing over the industrial period. Model simulations show that the pure biogenic particle formation mechanism has a much larger relative effect on CCN concentrations in the preindustrial atmosphere than in the present atmosphere because of the lower aerosol concentrations. Consequently, preindustrial cloud albedo is increased more than under present day conditions, and therefore the cooling forcing of anthropogenic aerosols is reduced. The mechanism increases CCN concentrations by 20-100% over a large fraction of the preindustrial lower atmosphere, and the magnitude of annual global mean radiative forcing caused by changes of cloud albedo since 1750 is reduced by [Formula: see text] (27%) to [Formula: see text] Model uncertainties, relatively slow formation rates, and limited available ambient measurements make it difficult to establish the significance of a mechanism that has its dominant effect under preindustrial conditions. Our simulations predict more particle formation in the Amazon than is observed. However, the first observation of pure organic nucleation has now been reported for the free troposphere. Given the potentially significant effect on anthropogenic forcing, effort should be made to better understand such naturally driven aerosol processes.

Simulation of cloud/radiation interaction using a second-order turbulence radiative-convective model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kao, C.Y.; Smith, W.S.

1994-01-01

Extended sheets of low-level stratus and stratocumulus clouds are a persistent feature over the eastern parts of the major ocean basins associated with the quasi-permanent subtropical high-pressure systems. These clouds exert a strong influence on climate through their high albedo, compared with the underlying surface, and their low altitude. The former leads to a reduction of the net shortwave flux entering the atmosphere, and the latter leads to an infrared loss in a way essentially the same as the cloud-free conditions. This paper is a modeling study with the current understanding of the important physical processes associated with a cloud-capped boundary layer. The numerical model is a high-resolution one-dimensional version of the second-order turbulence convective/radiative model developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Future work includes sensitivity tests to ascertain the model validity as well as to systematically include all the possible ambient atmospheric and surface conditions. Detailed budget analyses are also useful in categorizing the cloud-capped boundary layers into a few classes

SenseMyHeart: A cloud service and API for wearable heart monitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto Silva, P M; Silva Cunha, J P

2015-01-01

In the era of ubiquitous computing, the growing adoption of wearable systems and body sensor networks is trailing the path for new research and software for cardiovascular intensity, energy expenditure and stress and fatigue detection through cardiovascular monitoring. Several systems have received clinical-certification and provide huge amounts of reliable heart-related data in a continuous basis. PhysioNet provides equally reliable open-source software tools for ECG processing and analysis that can be combined with these devices. However, this software remains difficult to use in a mobile environment and for researchers unfamiliar with Linux-based systems. In the present paper we present an approach that aims at tackling these limitations by developing a cloud service that provides an API for a PhysioNet-based pipeline for ECG processing and Heart Rate Variability measurement. We describe the proposed solution, along with its advantages and tradeoffs. We also present some client tools (windows and Android) and several projects where the developed cloud service has been used successfully as a standard for Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability studies in different scenarios.

Net joint kinetics in the limbs of pigs walking on concrete floor in dry and contaminated conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorup, Vivi M.; Laursen, Bjarne; Jensen, Bente Rona

2008-01-01

In pigs (Sus scrofa), joint disorders are frequent leg problems, and inappropriate pigpen floors and slippery floor conditions may contribute to these problems. Therefore, this study first aimed to quantify the net joint kinetics (net joint moments and net joint reaction forces) in the forelimbs...... and hindlimbs of healthy pigs walking on solid concrete floors. Second, this study aimed to examine the effect of floor condition on the net joint kinetics. Kinematic (50-Hz video recordings) and kinetic (1-kHz force plate measurements) data were collected from 30 pigs and combined with body segment parameters...... from a cadaver study. Net joint kinetics was calculated by using a 2-dimensional inverse dynamic solution. Inverse dynamics have, to our knowledge, not been applied in pigs before. Dry, greasy, and wet floor conditions were tested with 10 pigs each. In the forelimbs, peak joint moment was less (P

Analysis of the neutral drag force in a dc glow discharge dusty plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, Edward Jr.; Williams, Jeremiah

2005-01-01

In this paper, the authors report on a series of experiments that use carefully applied perturbations to a dust cloud to reproducibly investigate the formation of the microparticle cloud and the formation of dust cloud-plasma interface. Here, one micron diameter alumina microparticles are suspended in an argon dc glow discharge plasma. A perturbing voltage pulse is applied to the cathode, causing a momentary disruption in the confinement of the dust cloud. After the perturbation, the cloud reforms, typically with a central 'mass' and two 'streams' of particles that are flowing into the cloud from both sides. Through the use of stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (stereo-PIV), the complete three-dimensional velocity of the microparticles can be measured. The particles in the streams are used as test particles to characterize the forces acting upon the microparticles. Analysis of the experimental measurements suggests that the effective neutral drag force may be lower than expected

Long-term Behaviour Of Venus Winds At Cloud Level From Virtis/vex Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Hueso, Ricardo; Peralta, J.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Pérez-Hoyos, S.; Piccioni, G.; Drossart, P.

2009-09-01

The Venus Express (VEX) mission has been in orbit to Venus for more than three years now. The VIRTIS instrument onboard VEX observes Venus in two channels (visible and infrared) obtaining spectra and multi-wavelength images of the planet. Images in the ultraviolet range are used to study the upper cloud at 66 km while images in the infrared (1.74 μm) map the opacity of the lower cloud deck at 48 km. Here we present an analysis of the overall dynamics of Venus’ atmosphere at both levels using observations that cover a large fraction of the VIRTIS dataset. We will present our latest results concerning the zonal winds, the overall stability in the lower cloud deck motions and the variability in the upper cloud. Meridional winds are also observed in the upper and lower cloud in the UV and IR images obtained with VIRTIS. While the upper clouds present a net meridional motion consistent with the upper branch of a Hadley cell the lower cloud present more irregular, variable and less intense motions in the meridional direction. Acknowledgements This work has been funded by Spanish MEC AYA2006-07735 with FEDER support and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT-464-07. RH acknowledges a "Ramón y Cajal” contract from MEC.

A cloud-ozone data product from Aura OMI and MLS satellite measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. R. Ziemke

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ozone within deep convective clouds is controlled by several factors involving photochemical reactions and transport. Gas-phase photochemical reactions and heterogeneous surface chemical reactions involving ice, water particles, and aerosols inside the clouds all contribute to the distribution and net production and loss of ozone. Ozone in clouds is also dependent on convective transport that carries low-troposphere/boundary-layer ozone and ozone precursors upward into the clouds. Characterizing ozone in thick clouds is an important step for quantifying relationships of ozone with tropospheric H2O, OH production, and cloud microphysics/transport properties. Although measuring ozone in deep convective clouds from either aircraft or balloon ozonesondes is largely impossible due to extreme meteorological conditions associated with these clouds, it is possible to estimate ozone in thick clouds using backscattered solar UV radiation measured by satellite instruments. Our study combines Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS satellite measurements to generate a new research product of monthly-mean ozone concentrations in deep convective clouds between 30° S and 30° N for October 2004–April 2016. These measurements represent mean ozone concentration primarily in the upper levels of thick clouds and reveal key features of cloud ozone including: persistent low ozone concentrations in the tropical Pacific of  ∼ 10 ppbv or less; concentrations of up to 60 pphv or greater over landmass regions of South America, southern Africa, Australia, and India/east Asia; connections with tropical ENSO events; and intraseasonal/Madden–Julian oscillation variability. Analysis of OMI aerosol measurements suggests a cause and effect relation between boundary-layer pollution and elevated ozone inside thick clouds over landmass regions including southern Africa and India/east Asia.

Expanded Large-Scale Forcing Properties Derived from the Multiscale Data Assimilation System and Its Application to Single-Column Models

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, S.; Li, Z.; Liu, Y.; Lin, W.; Toto, T.; Vogelmann, A. M.; Fridlind, A. M.

2013-12-01

We present an approach to derive large-scale forcing that is used to drive single-column models (SCMs) and cloud resolving models (CRMs)/large eddy simulation (LES) for evaluating fast physics parameterizations in climate models. The forcing fields are derived by use of a newly developed multi-scale data assimilation (MS-DA) system. This DA system is developed on top of the NCEP Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) System and is implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model at a cloud resolving resolution of 2 km. This approach has been applied to the generation of large scale forcing for a set of Intensive Operation Periods (IOPs) over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility's Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. The dense ARM in-situ observations and high-resolution satellite data effectively constrain the WRF model. The evaluation shows that the derived forcing displays accuracies comparable to the existing continuous forcing product and, overall, a better dynamic consistency with observed cloud and precipitation. One important application of this approach is to derive large-scale hydrometeor forcing and multiscale forcing, which is not provided in the existing continuous forcing product. It is shown that the hydrometeor forcing poses an appreciable impact on cloud and precipitation fields in the single-column model simulations. The large-scale forcing exhibits a significant dependency on domain-size that represents SCM grid-sizes. Subgrid processes often contribute a significant component to the large-scale forcing, and this contribution is sensitive to the grid-size and cloud-regime.

Ship track observations of a reduced shortwave aerosol indirect effect in mixed-phase clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, M. W.; Suzuki, K.; Zambri, B.; Stephens, G. L.

2014-10-01

Aerosol influences on clouds are a major source of uncertainty to our understanding of forced climate change. Increased aerosol can enhance solar reflection from clouds countering greenhouse gas warming. Recently, this indirect effect has been extended from water droplet clouds to other types including mixed-phase clouds. Aerosol effects on mixed-phase clouds are important because of their fundamental role on sea ice loss and polar climate change, but very little is known about aerosol effects on these clouds. Here we provide the first analysis of the effects of aerosol emitted from ship stacks into mixed-phase clouds. Satellite observations of solar reflection in numerous ship tracks reveal that cloud albedo increases 5 times more in liquid clouds when polluted and persist 2 h longer than in mixed-phase clouds. These results suggest that seeding mixed-phase clouds via shipping aerosol is unlikely to provide any significant counterbalancing solar radiative cooling effects in warming polar regions.

Aerosol indirect effects on the nighttime Arctic Ocean surface from thin, predominantly liquid clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. M. Zamora

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Aerosol indirect effects have potentially large impacts on the Arctic Ocean surface energy budget, but model estimates of regional-scale aerosol indirect effects are highly uncertain and poorly validated by observations. Here we demonstrate a new way to quantitatively estimate aerosol indirect effects on a regional scale from remote sensing observations. In this study, we focus on nighttime, optically thin, predominantly liquid clouds. The method is based on differences in cloud physical and microphysical characteristics in carefully selected clean, average, and aerosol-impacted conditions. The cloud subset of focus covers just ∼ 5 % of cloudy Arctic Ocean regions, warming the Arctic Ocean surface by ∼ 1–1.4 W m−2 regionally during polar night. However, within this cloud subset, aerosol and cloud conditions can be determined with high confidence using CALIPSO and CloudSat data and model output. This cloud subset is generally susceptible to aerosols, with a polar nighttime estimated maximum regionally integrated indirect cooling effect of ∼ −0.11 W m−2 at the Arctic sea ice surface (∼ 8 % of the clean background cloud effect, excluding cloud fraction changes. Aerosol presence is related to reduced precipitation, cloud thickness, and radar reflectivity, and in some cases, an increased likelihood of cloud presence in the liquid phase. These observations are inconsistent with a glaciation indirect effect and are consistent with either a deactivation effect or less-efficient secondary ice formation related to smaller liquid cloud droplets. However, this cloud subset shows large differences in surface and meteorological forcing in shallow and higher-altitude clouds and between sea ice and open-ocean regions. For example, optically thin, predominantly liquid clouds are much more likely to overlay another cloud over the open ocean, which may reduce aerosol indirect effects on the surface. Also, shallow clouds over

Venus winds at cloud level from VIRTIS during the Venus Express mission

Science.gov (United States)

Hueso, Ricardo; Peralta, Javier; Sánchez-Lavega, Agustín.; Pérez-Hoyos, Santiago; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Drossart, Pierre

2010-05-01

The Venus Express (VEX) mission has been in orbit to Venus for almost four years now. The VIRTIS instrument onboard VEX observes Venus in two channels (visible and infrared) obtaining spectra and multi-wavelength images of the planet. Images in the ultraviolet range are used to study the upper cloud at 66 km while images in the infrared (1.74 μm) map the opacity of the lower cloud deck at 48 km. Here we present our latest results on the analysis of the global atmospheric dynamics at these cloud levels using a large selection over the full VIRTIS dataset. We will show the atmospheric zonal superrotation at these levels and the mean meridional motions. The zonal winds are very stable in the lower cloud at mid-latitudes to the tropics while it shows different signatures of variability in the upper cloud where solar tide effects are manifest in the data. While the upper clouds present a net meridional motion consistent with the upper branch of a Hadley cell the lower cloud present almost null global meridional motions at all latitudes but with particular features traveling both northwards and southwards in a turbulent manner depending on the cloud morphology on the observations. A particular important atmospheric feature is the South Polar vortex which might be influencing the structure of the zonal winds in the lower cloud at latitudes from the vortex location up to 55°S. Acknowledgements This work has been funded by the Spanish MICIIN AYA2009-10701 with FEDER support and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT-464-07.

Novel parallel plate condenser for single particle electrostatic force measurements in atomic force microscope

KAUST Repository

Kwek, Jin Wang

2011-07-01

A combination of small parallel plate condenser with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass slides as electrodes and an atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to characterize the electrostatic behavior of single glass bead microparticles (105-150 μm) glued to the AFM cantilever. This novel setup allows measurements of the electrostatic forces acting on a particle in an applied electrical field to be performed in ambient air conditions. By varying the position of the microparticle between the electrodes and the strength of the applied electric field, the relative contributions of the particle net charge, induced and image charges were investigated. When the microparticle is positioned in the middle of the electrodes, the force acting on the microparticle was linear with the applied electric field and proportional to the microparticle net charge. At distances close to the bottom electrode, the force follows a parabolic relationship with the applied electric field reflecting the contributions of induced and image charges. The method can be used for the rapid evaluation of the charging and polarizability properties of the microparticle as well as an alternative to the conventional Faraday\\'s pail technique. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

The Diversity of Cloud Responses to Twentieth-Century Sea Surface Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Silvers, L. G.; Paynter, D.; Zhao, M.

2017-12-01

Clouds play a crucial role in determining the magnitude of the global temperature response to forcing. Previous work has shown strong connections between cloud feedbacks and climate change, and between these feedbacks and changing patterns of surface temperature. We show that strong variability of the climate feedback parameter is present in three GFDL atmospheric general circulation models (AM2.1, AM3, AM4) over the twentieth century. This variability is highly correlated with the global mean cloud radiative effect (CRE) and low-cloud cover (LCC) anomalies. The decadal variability is characterized by a period of high climate sensitivity (1925-1955) and a period of low climate sensitivity (1975-2005). Observed trends of surface temperature also show distinct differences over these two periods. Although it is the SST that drives the atmospheric response, the estimated inversion strength (EIS) is necessary to reproduce the changing LCC field. During both periods, trends of EIS are shown to closely mirror trends of LCC over much of the globe, not only in the typical stratocumulus regions. Trends of the shortwave CRE (SWCRE), LCC, and the EIS are analyzed in particular geographic regions. All of these regions show a consistent relationship between LCC, SWCRE, and EIS, as well as significant differences between the two time periods. This study uses a 15 member ensemble of amip-piForcing simulations from 1870 -2005. These experiments are driven by observed SST patterns and hold greenhouse gases and other atmospheric forcing agents fixed at constant pre-industrial levels. This allows for a clean analysis of how clouds respond to changing patterns of SST and the resulting influence on the climate feedback parameter. The cloudy response of the atmosphere to changing SST patterns is critical in driving the variability of the climate feedback parameter during periods of both high and low climate sensitivity.

Understanding gastric forces calculated from high-resolution pill tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Laulicht, Bryan; Tripathi, Anubhav; Schlageter, Vincent; Kucera, Pavel; Mathiowitz, Edith

2010-05-04

Although other methods exist for monitoring gastrointestinal motility and contractility, this study exclusively provides direct and quantitative measurements of the forces experienced by an orally ingested pill. We report motive forces and torques calculated from real-time, in vivo measurements of the movement of a magnetic pill in the stomachs of fasted and fed humans. Three-dimensional net force and two-dimensional net torque vectors as a function of time data during gastric residence are evaluated using instantaneous translational and rotational position data. Additionally, the net force calculations described can be applied to high-resolution pill tracking acquired by any modality. The fraction of time pills experience ranges of forces and torques are analyzed and correlate with the physiological phases of gastric digestion. We also report the maximum forces and torques experienced in vivo by pills as a quantitative measure of the amount of force pills experience during the muscular contractions leading to gastric emptying. Results calculated from human data are compared with small and large animal models with a translational research focus. The reported magnitude and direction of gastric forces experienced by pills in healthy stomachs serves as a baseline for comparison with pathophysiological states. Of clinical significance, the directionality associated with force vector data may be useful in determining the muscle groups associated with gastrointestinal dysmotility. Additionally, the quantitative comparison between human and animal models improves insight into comparative gastric contractility that will aid rational pill design and provide a quantitative framework for interpreting gastroretentive oral formulation test results.

Cloud-Top Entrainment in Stratocumulus Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Mellado, Juan Pedro

2017-01-01

Cloud entrainment, the mixing between cloudy and clear air at the boundary of clouds, constitutes one paradigm for the relevance of small scales in the Earth system: By regulating cloud lifetimes, meter- and submeter-scale processes at cloud boundaries can influence planetary-scale properties. Understanding cloud entrainment is difficult given the complexity and diversity of the associated phenomena, which include turbulence entrainment within a stratified medium, convective instabilities driven by radiative and evaporative cooling, shear instabilities, and cloud microphysics. Obtaining accurate data at the required small scales is also challenging, for both simulations and measurements. During the past few decades, however, high-resolution simulations and measurements have greatly advanced our understanding of the main mechanisms controlling cloud entrainment. This article reviews some of these advances, focusing on stratocumulus clouds, and indicates remaining challenges.

Combining observations and models to reduce uncertainty in the cloud response to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, J. R.; Myers, T.; Chellappan, S.

2017-12-01

Currently there is large uncertainty on how subtropical low-level clouds will respond to global warming and whether they will act as a positive feedback or negative feedback. Global climate models substantially agree on what changes in atmospheric structure and circulation will occur with global warming but greatly disagree over how clouds will respond to these changes in structure and circulation. An examination of models with the most realistic simulations of low-level cloudiness indicates that the model cloud response to atmospheric changes associated with global warming is quantitatively similar to the model cloud response to atmospheric changes at interannual time scales. For these models, the cloud response to global warming predicted by multilinear regression using coefficients derived from interannual time scales is quantitatively similar to the cloud response to global warming directly simulated by the model. Since there is a large spread among cloud response coefficients even among models with the most realistic cloud simulations, substitution of coefficients derived from satellite observations reduces the uncertainty range of the low-level cloud feedback. Increased sea surface temperature associated with global warming acts to reduce low-level cloudiness, which is partially offset by increased lower tropospheric stratification that acts to enhance low-level cloudiness. Changes in free-tropospheric relative humidity, subsidence, and horizontal advection have only a small impact on low-level cloud. The net reduction in subtropical low-level cloudiness increases absorption of solar radiation by the climate system, thus resulting in a weak positive feedback.

Cloud type comparisons of AIRS, CloudSat, and CALIPSO cloud height and amount

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. H. Kahn

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The precision of the two-layer cloud height fields derived from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS is explored and quantified for a five-day set of observations. Coincident profiles of vertical cloud structure by CloudSat, a 94 GHz profiling radar, and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO, are compared to AIRS for a wide range of cloud types. Bias and variability in cloud height differences are shown to have dependence on cloud type, height, and amount, as well as whether CloudSat or CALIPSO is used as the comparison standard. The CloudSat-AIRS biases and variability range from −4.3 to 0.5±1.2–3.6 km for all cloud types. Likewise, the CALIPSO-AIRS biases range from 0.6–3.0±1.2–3.6 km (−5.8 to −0.2±0.5–2.7 km for clouds ≥7 km (<7 km. The upper layer of AIRS has the greatest sensitivity to Altocumulus, Altostratus, Cirrus, Cumulonimbus, and Nimbostratus, whereas the lower layer has the greatest sensitivity to Cumulus and Stratocumulus. Although the bias and variability generally decrease with increasing cloud amount, the ability of AIRS to constrain cloud occurrence, height, and amount is demonstrated across all cloud types for many geophysical conditions. In particular, skill is demonstrated for thin Cirrus, as well as some Cumulus and Stratocumulus, cloud types infrared sounders typically struggle to quantify. Furthermore, some improvements in the AIRS Version 5 operational retrieval algorithm are demonstrated. However, limitations in AIRS cloud retrievals are also revealed, including the existence of spurious Cirrus near the tropopause and low cloud layers within Cumulonimbus and Nimbostratus clouds. Likely causes of spurious clouds are identified and the potential for further improvement is discussed.

Preliminary Results from the First Deployment of a Tethered-Balloon Cloud Particle Imager Instrument Package in Arctic Stratus Clouds at Ny-Alesund

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, P.; Stamnes, K.; Stamnes, J.; Zmarzly, P.; O'Connor, D.; Koskulics, J.; Hamre, B.

2008-12-01

A tethered balloon system specifically designed to collect microphysical data in mixed-phase clouds was deployed in Arctic stratus clouds during May 2008 near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, at 79 degrees North Latitude. This is the first time a tethered balloon system with a cloud particle imager (CPI) that records high-resolution digital images of cloud drops and ice particles has been operated in cloud. The custom tether supplies electrical power to the instrument package, which in addition to the CPI houses a 4-pi short-wavelength radiometer and a met package that measures temperature, humidity, pressure, GPS position, wind speed and direction. The instrument package was profiled vertically through cloud up to altitudes of 1.6 km. Since power was supplied to the instrument package from the ground, it was possible to keep the balloon package aloft for extended periods of time, up to 9 hours at Ny- Ålesund, which was limited only by crew fatigue. CPI images of cloud drops and the sizes, shapes and degree of riming of ice particles are shown throughout vertical profiles of Arctic stratus clouds. The images show large regions of mixed-phase cloud from -8 to -2 C. The predominant ice crystal habits in these regions are needles and aggregates of needles. The amount of ice in the mixed-phase clouds varied considerably and did not appear to be a function of temperature. On some occasions, ice was observed near cloud base at -2 C with supercooled cloud above to - 8 C that was devoid of ice. Measurements of shortwave radiation are also presented. Correlations between particle distributions and radiative measurements will be analyzed to determine the effect of these Arctic stratus clouds on radiative forcing.

A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: effect of increased cloud density contrast on cloud evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, K. J. A.; Pittard, J. M.

2018-05-01

The similarities, or otherwise, of a shock or wind interacting with a cloud of density contrast χ = 10 were explored in a previous paper. Here, we investigate such interactions with clouds of higher density contrast. We compare the adiabatic hydrodynamic interaction of a Mach 10 shock with a spherical cloud of χ = 103 with that of a cloud embedded in a wind with identical parameters to the post-shock flow. We find that initially there are only minor morphological differences between the shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions, compared to when χ = 10. However, once the transmitted shock exits the cloud, the development of a turbulent wake and fragmentation of the cloud differs between the two simulations. On increasing the wind Mach number, we note the development of a thin, smooth tail of cloud material, which is then disrupted by the fragmentation of the cloud core and subsequent `mass-loading' of the flow. We find that the normalized cloud mixing time (tmix) is shorter at higher χ. However, a strong Mach number dependence on tmix and the normalized cloud drag time, t_{drag}^' }, is not observed. Mach-number-dependent values of tmix and t_{drag}^' } from comparable shock-cloud interactions converge towards the Mach-number-independent time-scales of the wind-cloud simulations. We find that high χ clouds can be accelerated up to 80-90 per cent of the wind velocity and travel large distances before being significantly mixed. However, complete mixing is not achieved in our simulations and at late times the flow remains perturbed.

Cloud Computing, Tieto Cloud Server Model

OpenAIRE

Suikkanen, Saara

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to find out what is cloud computing. To be able to make wise decisions when moving to cloud or considering it, companies need to understand what cloud is consists of. Which model suits best to they company, what should be taken into account before moving to cloud, what is the cloud broker role and also SWOT analysis of cloud? To be able to answer customer requirements and business demands, IT companies should develop and produce new service models. IT house T...

Evaluating and Improving Cloud Processes in the Multi-Scale Modeling Framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ackerman, Thomas P. [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

2015-03-01

The research performed under this grant was intended to improve the embedded cloud model in the Multi-scale Modeling Framework (MMF) for convective clouds by using a 2-moment microphysics scheme rather than the single moment scheme used in all the MMF runs to date. The technical report and associated documents describe the results of testing the cloud resolving model with fixed boundary conditions and evaluation of model results with data. The overarching conclusion is that such model evaluations are problematic because errors in the forcing fields control the results so strongly that variations in parameterization values cannot be usefully constrained

Claims and Identity: On-Premise and Cloud Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Bertocci, Vittorio

Today's identity-management practices are often a patchwork of partial solutions, which somehow accommodate but never really integrate applications and entities separated by technology and organizational boundaries. The rise of Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing, however, will force organizations to cross such boundaries so often that ad hoc solutions will simply be untenable. A new approach that tears down identity silos and supports a de-perimiterized IT by design is in order.This article will walk you through the principles of claims-based identity management, a model which addresses both traditional and cloud scenarios with the same efficacy. We will explore the most common token exchange patterns, highlighting the advantages and opportunities they offer when applied on cloud computing solutions and generic distributed systems.

Sensitivity studies of different aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Lohmann, U.; Hoose, C.

2009-11-01

Aerosols affect the climate system by changing cloud characteristics. Using the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM, we investigate different aerosol effects on mixed-phase clouds: The glaciation effect, which refers to a more frequent glaciation due to anthropogenic aerosols, versus the de-activation effect, which suggests that ice nuclei become less effective because of an anthropogenic sulfate coating. The glaciation effect can partly offset the indirect aerosol effect on warm clouds and thus causes the total anthropogenic aerosol effect to be smaller. It is investigated by varying the parameterization for the Bergeron-Findeisen process and the threshold coating thickness of sulfate (SO4-crit), which is required to convert an externally mixed aerosol particle into an internally mixed particle. Differences in the net radiation at the top-of-the-atmosphere due to anthropogenic aerosols between the different sensitivity studies amount up to 0.5 W m-2. This suggests that the investigated mixed-phase processes have a major effect on the total anthropogenic aerosol effect.

Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm to Dynamic Energy Management in Cloud Data Center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanchen Pang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the wide deployment of cloud computing data centers, the problems of power consumption have become increasingly prominent. The dynamic energy management problem in pursuit of energy-efficiency in cloud data centers is investigated. Specifically, a dynamic energy management system model for cloud data centers is built, and this system is composed of DVS Management Module, Load Balancing Module, and Task Scheduling Module. According to Task Scheduling Module, the scheduling process is analyzed by Stochastic Petri Net, and a task-oriented resource allocation method (LET-ACO is proposed, which optimizes the running time of the system and the energy consumption by scheduling tasks. Simulation studies confirm the effectiveness of the proposed system model. And the simulation results also show that, compared to ACO, Min-Min, and RR scheduling strategy, the proposed LET-ACO method can save up to 28%, 31%, and 40% energy consumption while meeting performance constraints.

Aerosol-cloud interactions in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, A.

2017-12-01

Reliable climate projections require realistic simulations of Arctic cloud feedbacks. Of particular importance is accurately simulating Arctic mixed-phase stratocumuli (AMPS), which are ubiquitous and play an important role in regional climate due to their impact on the surface energy budget and atmospheric boundary layer structure through cloud-driven turbulence, radiative forcing, and precipitation. AMPS are challenging to model due to uncertainties in ice microphysical processes that determine phase partitioning between ice and radiatively important cloud liquid water. Since temperatures in AMPS are too warm for homogenous ice nucleation, ice must form through heterogeneous nucleation. In this presentation we discuss a relatively unexplored source of ice production-recycling of ice nuclei in regions of ice subsaturation. AMPS frequently have ice-subsaturated air near the cloud-driven mixed-layer base where falling ice crystals can sublimate, leaving behind IN. This study provides an idealized framework to understand feedbacks between dynamics and microphysics that maintain phase-partitioning in AMPS. In addition, the results of this study provide insight into the mechanisms and feedbacks that may maintain cloud ice in AMPS even when entrainment of IN at the mixed-layer boundaries is weak.

Neuronal nets in robotics; Redes neuronales en robotica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jimenez Sanchez, Raul

1999-06-01

The paper gives a generic idea of the solutions that the neuronal nets contribute to the robotics. The advantages and the inconveniences are exposed that have regarding the conventional techniques. It also describe the more excellent applications as the pursuit of trajectories, the positioning based on images, the force control or of the mobile robots management, among others.

+Cloud: An Agent-Based Cloud Computing Platform

OpenAIRE

González, Roberto; Hernández de la Iglesia, Daniel; de la Prieta Pintado, Fernando; Gil González, Ana Belén

2017-01-01

Cloud computing is revolutionizing the services provided through the Internet, and is continually adapting itself in order to maintain the quality of its services. This study presents the platform +Cloud, which proposes a cloud environment for storing information and files by following the cloud paradigm. This study also presents Warehouse 3.0, a cloud-based application that has been developed to validate the services provided by +Cloud.

Structure, shape, and evolution of radiatively accelerated QSO emission-line clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumenthal, G.R.; Mathews, W.G.

1979-01-01

The possibility that the broad emission-line regions of QSOs and active galactic nuclei are formed by a multitude of small clouds which are radiatively accelerated is discussed. Although this model is by no means certain at present, it has four virtues: (1) Observed emission-line widths can be produced with observationally allowed electron densities, UV luminosities, and ionization levels. (2) The acceleration force is coherent in each cloud are found. (3) Reasonable line profiles can result for all emission lines. (4) Photoionization of hydrogen accounts for both heating and acceleration of the emission-line gas. A self-consistent model is developed for the structure, shape, and evolution of radiatively accelerated clouds. The shape varies with cloud mass, and two distinct types of clouds. Fully ionized clouds of very low mass approach a nearly spherical shape. However, all clouds having masses greater than some critical mass adopt a ''pancake'' shape. The condition for constant cloud mass in the cloud frame is shown to be equivalent to the equation of motion of a cloud in the rest frame of the QSO. The emission-line profiles can be sensitive to radial variations in the properties of the intercloud medium, and those properties that correspond to observed profiles are discussed. Finally, the covering factor of a system of pancake clouds is estimated along with the total number of clouds required--approximately 10 14 clouds in each QSO

Lidar studies of extinction in clouds in the ECLIPS project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, C.; Platt, R.; Young, S.A.; Patterson, G.P.

1992-01-01

The Experimental Cloud Lidar Pilot Study (ECLIPS) project has now had two active phases in 1989 and 1991. A number of laboratories around the world have taken part in the study. The observations have yielded new data on cloud height and structure, and have yielded some useful new information on the retrieval of cloud optical properties, together with the uncertainties involved. Clouds have a major impact on the climate of the earth. They have the effect of reducing the mean surface temperature from 30 C for a cloudless planet to a value of about 15 C for present cloud conditions. However, it is not at all certain how clouds would react to a change in the planetary temperature in the event of climate change due to a radiative forcing from greenhouse gases. Clouds both reflect out sunlight (negative feedback) and enhance the greenhouse effect (positive feedback), but the ultimate sign of cloud feedback is unknown. Because of these uncertainties, campaigns to study clouds intensely were initiated. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology (ISCPP) and the FIRE Campaigns (cirrus and stratocumulus) are examples. The ECLIPS was set up similarly to the above experiments to obtain information specifically on cloud base, but also cloud top (where possible), optical properties, and cloud structure. ECLIPS was designed to allow as many laboratories as possible globally to take part to get the largest range of clouds. It involves observations with elastic backscatter lidar, supported by infrared fluxes at the ground and radiosonde data, as basic instrumentation. More complex experiments using beam filter radiometers, solar pyranometers, and satellite data and often associated with other campaigns were also encouraged to join ECLIPS

A numerical model of the electrodynamics of plasma within the contaminant gas cloud of the space shuttle orbiter at low Earth orbit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eccles, J.V.; Raitt, W.J.; Banks, P.M.

1989-01-01

This paper presents results from a two-dimensional, finite-difference model used to solve for the time evolution of low beta plasma within the neutral contaminant cloud in the vicinity of space platforms in low earth orbit. The model of the ambient and contaminant plasma dynamics takes into account the effects of the geomagnetic field, electric fields, background ionosphere, ion-neutral collisions, chemistry, and both Pederson and Hall currents. Net ionization and charge exchange source terms are included in the fluid equations to study electrodynamic effects of chemistry within a moving neutral cloud in the low earth orbit ionosphere. The model is then used with complete water cloud chemistry to simulate the known outgassing situation of the space shuttle Orbiter. A comparison is made of the model results with plasma observations made during daytime on OSS-1/STS-3 mission. The reported density enhancements of the OSS-1 mission are unattainable with normal photoionization and charge exchange rates of simple water cloud chemistry used in the two-dimensional model. The enhanced densities are only attained by a generic chemistry model if a net ionization rate 1,000 times higher than the photoionization rate of water is used. It is also shown that significant plasma buildup at the front of the contaminant neutral cloud can occur due to momentum transfer from the neutral outgas cloud to the plasma through elastic collisions and charge exchange. The currents caused by elastic and reactive collisions result in the generation of a small polarization electric field within the outgas cloud

Cloud microphysics and aerosol indirect effects in the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Lohmann

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The double-moment cloud microphysics scheme from ECHAM4 that predicts both the mass mixing ratios and number concentrations of cloud droplets and ice crystals has been coupled to the size-resolved aerosol scheme ECHAM5-HAM. ECHAM5-HAM predicts the aerosol mass, number concentrations and mixing state. The simulated liquid, ice and total water content and the cloud droplet and ice crystal number concentrations as a function of temperature in stratiform mixed-phase clouds between 0 and −35° C agree much better with aircraft observations in the ECHAM5 simulations. ECHAM5 performs better because more realistic aerosol concentrations are available for cloud droplet nucleation and because the Bergeron-Findeisen process is parameterized as being more efficient.

The total anthropogenic aerosol effect includes the direct, semi-direct and indirect effects and is defined as the difference in the top-of-the-atmosphere net radiation between present-day and pre-industrial times. It amounts to −1.9 W m⁻² in ECHAM5, when a relative humidity dependent cloud cover scheme and aerosol emissions representative for the years 1750 and 2000 from the AeroCom emission inventory are used. The contribution of the cloud albedo effect amounts to −0.7 W m⁻². The total anthropogenic aerosol effect is larger when either a statistical cloud cover scheme or a different aerosol emission inventory are employed because the cloud lifetime effect increases.

Wyrtki Jets: Role of Intraseasonal forcing

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

44

2018-04-16

Apr 16, 2018 ... and global climate system (Vinayachandran et al., 1999; Murtugudde and .... wind forcing influence the WJs? and how does this relate to its observed ...... Lau, K., and H. Wu, 2010: Characteristics of precipitation, cloud, and la-.

Silicon Photonics Cloud (SiCloud)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

DeVore, P. T. S.; Jiang, Y.; Lynch, M.

2015-01-01

Silicon Photonics Cloud (SiCloud.org) is the first silicon photonics interactive web tool. Here we report new features of this tool including mode propagation parameters and mode distribution galleries for user specified waveguide dimensions and wavelengths.......Silicon Photonics Cloud (SiCloud.org) is the first silicon photonics interactive web tool. Here we report new features of this tool including mode propagation parameters and mode distribution galleries for user specified waveguide dimensions and wavelengths....

Double-moment cloud microphysics scheme for the deep convection parameterization in the GFDL AM3

Science.gov (United States)

Belochitski, A.; Donner, L.

2014-12-01

A double-moment cloud microphysical scheme originally developed by Morrision and Gettelman (2008) for the stratiform clouds and later adopted for the deep convection by Song and Zhang (2011) has been implemented in to the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's atmospheric general circulation model AM3. The scheme treats cloud drop, cloud ice, rain, and snow number concentrations and mixing ratios as diagnostic variables and incorporates processes of autoconversion, self-collection, collection between hydrometeor species, sedimentation, ice nucleation, drop activation, homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing, and the Bergeron-Findeisen process. Such detailed representation of microphysical processes makes the scheme suitable for studying the interactions between aerosols and convection, as well as aerosols' indirect effects on clouds and their roles in climate change. The scheme is first tested in the single column version of the GFDL AM3 using forcing data obtained at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurment project's Southern Great Planes site. Scheme's impact on SCM simulations is discussed. As the next step, runs of the full atmospheric GCM incorporating the new parameterization are compared to the unmodified version of GFDL AM3. Global climatological fields and their variability are contrasted with those of the original version of the GCM. Impact on cloud radiative forcing and climate sensitivity is investigated.

Constraining Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions of Orographic Mixed-Phase Clouds with Trajectory Budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Glassmeier, F.; Lohmann, U.

2016-12-01

Orographic precipitation is prone to strong aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions because the time for precipitation development is limited to the ascending section of mountain flow. At the same time, cloud microphysical development is constraint by the strong dynamical forcing of the orography. In this contribution, we discuss how changes in the amount and composition of droplet- and ice-forming aerosols influence precipitation in idealized simulations of stratiform orographic mixed-phase clouds. We find that aerosol perturbations trigger compensating responses of different precipitation formation pathways. The effect of aerosols is thus buffered. We explain this buffering by the requirement to fulfill aerosol-independent dynamical constraints. For our simulations, we use the regional atmospheric model COSMO-ART-M7 in a 2D setup with a bell-shaped mountain. The model is coupled to a 2-moment warm and cold cloud microphysics scheme. Activation and freezing rates are parameterized based on prescribed aerosol fields that are varied in number, size and composition. Our analysis is based on the budget of droplet water along trajectories of cloud parcels. The budget equates condensation as source term with precipitation formation from autoconversion, accretion, riming and the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process as sink terms. Condensation, and consequently precipitation formation, is determined by dynamics and largely independent of the aerosol conditions. An aerosol-induced change in the number of droplets or crystals perturbs the droplet budget by affecting precipitation formation processes. We observe that this perturbation triggers adjustments in liquid and ice water content that re-equilibrate the budget. As an example, an increase in crystal number triggers a stronger glaciation of the cloud and redistributes precipitation formation from collision-coalescence to riming and from riming to vapor deposition. We theoretically confirm the dominant effect of water

Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

CERN Document Server

Barreiro Megino, Fernando Harald; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna; Medrano Llamas, Ramón; van der Ster, Daniel

2014-01-01

The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in "Big Data" in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R&D investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain ...

Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

CERN Multimedia

Barreiro Megino, Fernando Harald; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna; Medrano Llamas, Ramón; van der Ster, Daniel

2013-01-01

The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in "Big Data" in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R&D; investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain...

Timing-Constrained FPGA Placement: A Force-Directed Formulation and Its Performance Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srilata Raman

1996-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present a simple but efficient timing-driven placement algorithm for FPGAs. The algorithm computes forces acting on a logic block in the FPGA to determine its relative location with respect to other blocks. The forces depend on the criticality of nets shared between the two blocks. Unlike other net-based approaches, timing constraints are incorporated directly into the force equations to guide the placement. Slot assignment is then used to move the blocks into valid slot locations on the FPGA chip. The assignment algorithm also makes use of the delay information of nets so that the final placement is able to meet the timing criteria specified for the circuit. The novelty of the approach lies in the formulation of the force equations and the manner in which weights of the nets are dynamically altered to influence the placement. Experiments conducted on industrial test circuits and MCNC circuits give very promising results and indicate that the algorithm succeeds in significantly reducing the maximum delay in the circuit. In addition, routability is not adversely affected and running time is low.

Ten Years of Cloud Properties from MODIS: Global Statistics and Use in Climate Model Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Platnick, Steven E.

2011-01-01

The NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), launched onboard the Terra and Aqua spacecrafts, began Earth observations on February 24, 2000 and June 24,2002, respectively. Among the algorithms developed and applied to this sensor, a suite of cloud products includes cloud masking/detection, cloud-top properties (temperature, pressure), and optical properties (optical thickness, effective particle radius, water path, and thermodynamic phase). All cloud algorithms underwent numerous changes and enhancements between for the latest Collection 5 production version; this process continues with the current Collection 6 development. We will show example MODIS Collection 5 cloud climatologies derived from global spatial . and temporal aggregations provided in the archived gridded Level-3 MODIS atmosphere team product (product names MOD08 and MYD08 for MODIS Terra and Aqua, respectively). Data sets in this Level-3 product include scalar statistics as well as 1- and 2-D histograms of many cloud properties, allowing for higher order information and correlation studies. In addition to these statistics, we will show trends and statistical significance in annual and seasonal means for a variety of the MODIS cloud properties, as well as the time required for detection given assumed trends. To assist in climate model evaluation, we have developed a MODIS cloud simulator with an accompanying netCDF file containing subsetted monthly Level-3 statistical data sets that correspond to the simulator output. Correlations of cloud properties with ENSO offer the potential to evaluate model cloud sensitivity; initial results will be discussed.

Cloud Processed CCN Suppress Stratus Cloud Drizzle

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, J. G.; Noble, S. R., Jr.

2017-12-01

Conversion of sulfur dioxide to sulfate within cloud droplets increases the sizes and decreases the critical supersaturation, Sc, of cloud residual particles that had nucleated the droplets. Since other particles remain at the same sizes and Sc a size and Sc gap is often observed. Hudson et al. (2015) showed higher cloud droplet concentrations (Nc) in stratus clouds associated with bimodal high-resolution CCN spectra from the DRI CCN spectrometer compared to clouds associated with unimodal CCN spectra (not cloud processed). Here we show that CCN spectral shape (bimodal or unimodal) affects all aspects of stratus cloud microphysics and drizzle. Panel A shows mean differential cloud droplet spectra that have been divided according to traditional slopes, k, of the 131 measured CCN spectra in the Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) off the Central California coast. K is generally high within the supersaturation, S, range of stratus clouds (< 0.5%). Because cloud processing decreases Sc of some particles, it reduces k. Panel A shows higher concentrations of small cloud droplets apparently grown on lower k CCN than clouds grown on higher k CCN. At small droplet sizes the concentrations follow the k order of the legend, black, red, green, blue (lowest to highest k). Above 13 µm diameter the lines cross and the hierarchy reverses so that blue (highest k) has the highest concentrations followed by green, red and black (lowest k). This reversed hierarchy continues into the drizzle size range (panel B) where the most drizzle drops, Nd, are in clouds grown on the least cloud-processed CCN (blue), while clouds grown on the most processed CCN (black) have the lowest Nd. Suppression of stratus cloud drizzle by cloud processing is an additional 2nd indirect aerosol effect (IAE) that along with the enhancement of 1st IAE by higher Nc (panel A) are above and beyond original IAE. However, further similar analysis is needed in other cloud regimes to determine if MASE was

Horizontal ichthyoplankton tow-net system with unobstructed net opening

Science.gov (United States)

Nester, Robert T.

1987-01-01

The larval fish sampler described here consists of a modified bridle, frame, and net system with an obstruction-free net opening and is small enough for use on boats 10 m or less in length. The tow net features a square net frame attached to a 0.5-m-diameter cylinder-on-cone plankton net with a bridle designed to eliminate all obstructions forward of the net opening, significantly reducing currents and vibrations in the water directly preceding the net. This system was effective in collecting larvae representing more than 25 species of fish at sampling depths ranging from surface to 10 m and could easily be used at greater depths.

A Highly Scalable Data Service (HSDS) using Cloud-based Storage Technologies for Earth Science Data

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelis, A.; Readey, J.; Votava, P.; Henderson, J.; Willmore, F.

2017-12-01

Cloud based infrastructure may offer several key benefits of scalability, built in redundancy, security mechanisms and reduced total cost of ownership as compared with a traditional data center approach. However, most of the tools and legacy software systems developed for online data repositories within the federal government were not developed with a cloud based infrastructure in mind and do not fully take advantage of commonly available cloud-based technologies. Moreover, services bases on object storage are well established and provided through all the leading cloud service providers (Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, etc…) of which can often provide unmatched "scale-out" capabilities and data availability to a large and growing consumer base at a price point unachievable from in-house solutions. We describe a system that utilizes object storage rather than traditional file system based storage to vend earth science data. The system described is not only cost effective, but shows a performance advantage for running many different analytics tasks in the cloud. To enable compatibility with existing tools and applications, we outline client libraries that are API compatible with existing libraries for HDF5 and NetCDF4. Performance of the system is demonstrated using clouds services running on Amazon Web Services.

Design of a Net-Metering and PV Exhibit for the 2005 Solar Decathlon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wassmer, M.; Warner, C.

2005-01-01

In the 2005 Solar Decathlon competition, 19 collegiate teams will design, build, and operate grid-independent homes powered by photovoltaic (PV) arrays on the National Mall. The prominence of grid-interconnected systems in the marketplace has provided the impetus for the development of a net-metering exhibit to be installed and operated during the competition. The exhibit will inform the visiting public about PV basics and appropriate alternatives to grid-independent systems. It will consist of four interactive components. One will be designed to educate people about the principles of net metering using a small PV array, a grid-interactive inverter, and a variable load. Additional components of the exhibit will demonstrate the effects of orientation, cloud cover, and nighttime on performance. The nighttime component will discuss appropriate storage options for different applications.

Higher-moment measurements of net-kaon, net-charge and net-proton multiplicity distributions at STAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarkar, Amal

2014-01-01

In this paper, we report the measurements of the various moments, such as mean, standard deviation (σ), skewness (S) and kurtosis (κ) of the net-kaon, net-charge and net-proton multiplicity distributions at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions from √(s NN )=7.7 to 200 GeV with the STAR experiment at RHIC. This work has been done with the aim to locate the critical point on the QCD phase diagram. These moments and their products are related to the thermodynamic susceptibilities of conserved quantities such as net baryon number, net charge, and net strangeness as well as to the correlation length of the system which diverges in an ideal infinite thermodynamic system at the critical point. For a finite system, existing for a finite time, a non-monotonic behavior of these variables would indicate the presence of the critical point. Furthermore, we also present the moment products Sσ, κσ 2 of net-kaon, net-charge and net-proton multiplicity distributions as a function of collision centrality and energy. The energy and the centrality dependence of higher moments and their products have been compared with different models

Experiments with a laser cooled cloud of atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, Vasant; Banerjee, Ayan; Rapol, Umakant

1999-01-01

We discuss two experiments that can be performed using a cloud of laser-cooled and trapped atoms, namely Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and search for a permanent Electric Dipole Moment (EDM). BEC can be observed in Rb atoms in a magnetic trap by using forced evaporative cooling to continuously lower the temperature below the condensation limit. The cloud is cooled by preferentially ejecting the hottest atoms from a magnetic trap. The magnetic trap is loaded with laser-cooled atoms from a magneto-optic trap. The EDM experiment can be performed with a laser-cooled cloud of Yb atoms. The atoms are spin polarized and the precession of the spin is measured in the presence of a strong electric field applied perpendicular to the spin direction. The use of laser-cooled atoms should greatly enhance the sensitivity of the experiment. (author)

Carbon pellet cloud striations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parks, P.B.

1989-01-01

Fine scale striations, with alternating rows of bright and dark zones, have been observed in the ablation clouds of carbon pellets injected into the TEXT tokamak. The striations extend along the magnetic field for about 1 cm with quite regular cross-field variations characterized by a wavelength of a few mm. Their potential as a diagnostic tool for measuring q-profiles in tokamaks provides motivation for investigating the origin of the striations. The authors propose that the striations are not due to a sequence of high and low ablation rates because of the finite thermal magnetic islands localized at rational surfaces, q = m/n, would be responsible for reducing the electron flux to the pellet region; the length of the closed field line which forms the local magnetic axis of the island is too long to prevent a depletion of plasma electrons in a flux tube intercepting the pellet for the duration 2 rp / vp . Instead, they propose that striations are the manifestation of the saturated state of growing fluctuations inside the cloud. The instability is generated by E x B rotation of the ablation cloud. The outward centrifugal force points down the ablation density gradient inducing the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The instability is not present for wave numbers along the field lines, which may explain why the striations are long and uniform in that direction. The E field develops inside the ablation cloud as a result of cold electron return currents which are induced to cancel the incoming hot plasma electron current streaming along the field lines

Experience with the construction of the cable net cooling tower at Schmehausen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erdmann, W.

1977-01-01

The static system of the cooling tower consists of a concrete column 181 metres high from which a 145 meter high cable with a base diameter of 141 metres is suspended and tensioned. The cable net is covered on the inside with aluminium sheeting. Banks of tubes, which constitute the actual coding system, are arranged in the form of rings around the column in a self-supporting structure. Of the very wide range of problems which occurred in the construction of this cooling tower, the following are discussed in the paper: 1) Stressing of the concrete column during the construction period. 2) Stiffening the net using separation rings. 3) Net connection points on the ring foundation. 4) Control of the cable forces and the cable net geometry. 5) Start of sheeting erection. (orig.) [de

Cloud vertical profiles derived from CALIPSO and CloudSat and a comparison with MODIS derived clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, S.; Sun-Mack, S.; Miller, W. F.; Rose, F. G.; Minnis, P.; Wielicki, B. A.; Winker, D. M.; Stephens, G. L.; Charlock, T. P.; Collins, W. D.; Loeb, N. G.; Stackhouse, P. W.; Xu, K.

2008-05-01

CALIPSO and CloudSat from the a-train provide detailed information of vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols. The vertical distribution of cloud occurrence is derived from one month of CALIPSO and CloudSat data as a part of the effort of merging CALIPSO, CloudSat and MODIS with CERES data. This newly derived cloud profile is compared with the distribution of cloud top height derived from MODIS on Aqua from cloud algorithms used in the CERES project. The cloud base from MODIS is also estimated using an empirical formula based on the cloud top height and optical thickness, which is used in CERES processes. While MODIS detects mid and low level clouds over the Arctic in April fairly well when they are the topmost cloud layer, it underestimates high- level clouds. In addition, because the CERES-MODIS cloud algorithm is not able to detect multi-layer clouds and the empirical formula significantly underestimates the depth of high clouds, the occurrence of mid and low-level clouds is underestimated. This comparison does not consider sensitivity difference to thin clouds but we will impose an optical thickness threshold to CALIPSO derived clouds for a further comparison. The effect of such differences in the cloud profile to flux computations will also be discussed. In addition, the effect of cloud cover to the top-of-atmosphere flux over the Arctic using CERES SSF and FLASHFLUX products will be discussed.

Fog and Cloud Induced Aerosol Modification Observed by AERONET

Science.gov (United States)

Eck, T. F.; Holben, B. N.; Reid, J. S.; Giles, D. M.; Rivas, M. A.; Singh, R. P.; Tripathi, S. N.; Bruegge, C. J.; Platnick, S. E.; Arnold, G. T.;

The Dependence of Cloud Property Trend Detection on Absolute Calibration Accuracy of Passive Satellite Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Shea, Y.; Wielicki, B. A.; Sun-Mack, S.; Minnis, P.; Zelinka, M. D.

2016-12-01

Detecting trends in climate variables on global, decadal scales requires highly accurate, stable measurements and retrieval algorithms. Trend uncertainty depends on its magnitude, natural variability, and instrument and retrieval algorithm accuracy and stability. We applied a climate accuracy framework to quantify the impact of absolute calibration on cloud property trend uncertainty. The cloud properties studied were cloud fraction, effective temperature, optical thickness, and effective radius retrieved using the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Cloud Property Retrieval System, which uses Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer measurements (MODIS). Modeling experiments from the fifth phase of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) agree that net cloud feedback is likely positive but disagree regarding its magnitude, mainly due to uncertainty in shortwave cloud feedback. With the climate accuracy framework we determined the time to detect trends for instruments with various calibration accuracies. We estimated a relationship between cloud property trend uncertainty, cloud feedback, and Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity and also between effective radius trend uncertainty and aerosol indirect effect trends. The direct relationship between instrument accuracy requirements and climate model output provides the level of instrument absolute accuracy needed to reduce climate model projection uncertainty. Different cloud types have varied radiative impacts on the climate system depending on several attributes, such as their thermodynamic phase, altitude, and optical thickness. Therefore, we also conducted these studies by cloud types for a clearer understanding of instrument accuracy requirements needed to detect changes in their cloud properties. Combining this information with the radiative impact of different cloud types helps to prioritize among requirements for future satellite sensors and understanding the climate detection

Force on an Asymmetric Capacitor

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bahder, Thomas

2003-01-01

.... At present, the physical basis for the Biefeld-Brown effect is not understood. The order of magnitude of the net force on the asymmetric capacitor is estimated assuming two different mechanisms of charge conduction between its electrodes...

Single interval longwave radiation scheme based on the net exchanged rate decomposition with bracketing

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Geleyn, J.- F.; Mašek, Jan; Brožková, Radmila; Kuma, P.; Degrauwe, D.; Hello, G.; Pristov, N.

2017-01-01

Roč. 143, č. 704 (2017), s. 1313-1335 ISSN 0035-9009 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415 Institutional support: RVO:86652079 Keywords : numerical weather prediction * climate models * clouds * parameterization * atmospheres * formulation * absorption * scattering * accurate * database * longwave radiative transfer * broadband approach * idealized optical paths * net exchanged rate decomposition * bracketing * selective intermittency Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology OBOR OECD: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences Impact factor: 3.444, year: 2016

A Study of Direct and Cloud-Mediated Radiative Forcing of Climate Due to Aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Shao-Cai

1999-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that in the southeastern US and eastern China, the general greenhouse warming due to anthropogenic gaseous emissions is dominated by the cooling effect of anthropogenic aerosols. To verify this model prediction in eastern China and southeastern US, we analyzed regional patterns of climate changes at 72 stations in eastern China during 1951- 94 (44 years), and at 52 stations in the southeastern US during 1949-94 (46 years) to detect the fingerprint of aerosol radiative forcing. It was found that the mean rates of change of annual mean daily, maximum, minimum temperatures and diurnal temperature range (DTR) in eastern China were 0.8, -0.2, 1.8, and -2.0 C/100 years respectively, while the mean rates of change of annual mean daily, maximum, minimum temperatures and DTR in the southeastern US were -0.2, -0.6, 0.2, and -0.8 C/100 years, respectively. This indicates that the high rate of increase in annual mean minimum temperature in eastern China results in a slightly warming trend of daily temperature, while the high rate of decrease in annual mean maximum temperature and low rate of increase in annual mean minimum temperature lead to the cooling trend of daily temperature in the southeastern US. We found that the warming from the longwave forcing due to both greenhouse gases and aerosols was completely counteracted by the shortwave aerosol forcing in the southeastern US in the past 46 years. A slightly overall warming trend in eastern China is evident; winters have become milder. This finding is explained by hypothesizing that increasing energy usage during the past 44 years has resulted in more coal and biomass burning, thus increasing the emission of absorbing soot and organic aerosols in eastern China. Such emissions, in addition to well-known Asia dust and greenhouse gases, may be responsible for the winter warming trend in eastern China that we have reported here. The sensitivity of aerosol

Can We Use Single-Column Models for Understanding the Boundary Layer Cloud-Climate Feedback?

Science.gov (United States)

Dal Gesso, S.; Neggers, R. A. J.

2018-02-01

This study explores how to drive Single-Column Models (SCMs) with existing data sets of General Circulation Model (GCM) outputs, with the aim of studying the boundary layer cloud response to climate change in the marine subtropical trade wind regime. The EC-EARTH SCM is driven with the large-scale tendencies and boundary conditions as derived from two different data sets, consisting of high-frequency outputs of GCM simulations. SCM simulations are performed near Barbados Cloud Observatory in the dry season (January-April), when fair-weather cumulus is the dominant low-cloud regime. This climate regime is characterized by a near equilibrium in the free troposphere between the long-wave radiative cooling and the large-scale advection of warm air. In the SCM, this equilibrium is ensured by scaling the monthly mean dynamical tendency of temperature and humidity such that it balances that of the model physics in the free troposphere. In this setup, the high-frequency variability in the forcing is maintained, and the boundary layer physics acts freely. This technique yields representative cloud amount and structure in the SCM for the current climate. Furthermore, the cloud response to a sea surface warming of 4 K as produced by the SCM is consistent with that of the forcing GCM.

Inferred effects of cloud deposition on forest floor nutrient cycling and microbial properties along a short elevation gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavoie, M.; Bradley, R.L.

2003-01-01

Higher cloud cover significantly decreases forest floor pH, decrease exchangeable cations, modifies mineral-N speciation and increases physiological stress within microbial communities. - Cloud water deposition often increases with elevation, and it is widely accepted that this cloud water increases acid loading to upland forest ecosystems. A study was undertaken in south-eastern Quebec to determine if a 250 m elevation gradient (i.e. 420-665 m), along a uniform sugar-maple stand on the slope of Mount Orford, corresponded to a pH gradient in the forest floor and to predictable changes in soil nutrient availability and microbial properties. Precipitation data from a nearby study, and a photographic survey, provided presumptive evidence that this elevation gradient corresponded to a strong gradient in cloud water deposition. Forest floor temperature did not differ significantly across elevations. Forest floor moisture content was significantly higher, whereas pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg were significantly lower, at the higher elevations. Average seasonal net nitrification rates, determined by long-term laboratory incubations, did not differ significantly across elevations, whereas average seasonal net ammonification rates were significantly higher at higher elevations. Basal respiration rates and microbial biomass did not differ significantly across elevations, but metabolic quotient was significantly higher at higher elevations indicating possible environmental stress on forest floor microbial communities due to cloud water deposition. Anaerobic N mineralisation rates were significantly higher at higher elevations suggesting that N-limited microbial communities frequently exposed to cloud cover can be important short-term sinks for atmospheric N, thereby contributing to increase the active-N fraction of forest floors. We conclude that, where no significant changes in vegetation or temperature occur, elevation gradients can still be used to understand the spatial

A MILP for multi-machine injection moulding sequencing in the scope of C2NET Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz Andrés

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of C2NET European H2020 Funded Project is the creation of cloud-enabled tools for supporting the SMEs supply network optimization of manufacturing and logistic assets based on collaborative demand, production and delivery plans. In the scope of C2NET Project, and particularly in the Optimisation module (C2NET OPT, this paper proposes a novel holistic mixed integer linear programing (MILP model to optimise the injection sequencing in a multi-machine case. The results of the MILP will support the production planner decision-making process in the calculation of (i moulds setup in certain machines, and (ii the amount of products to produce in order to minimise the setup, inventory, and backorders costs. The designed MILP takes part of the algorithms repository created in C2NET European Funded Project to solve realistic industry planning problems. The MILP is verified in realistic data considering three data sets with different sizes, in order to test it’s the computation efficiency.

A statistical approach to the life cycle analysis of cumulus clouds selected in a virtual reality environment

Science.gov (United States)

Heus, Thijs; Jonker, Harm J. J.; van den Akker, Harry E. A.; Griffith, Eric J.; Koutek, Michal; Post, Frits H.

2009-03-01

In this study, a new method is developed to investigate the entire life cycle of shallow cumuli in large eddy simulations. Although trained observers have no problem in distinguishing the different life stages of a cloud, this process proves difficult to automate, because cloud-splitting and cloud-merging events complicate the distinction between a single system divided in several cloudy parts and two independent systems that collided. Because the human perception is well equipped to capture and to make sense of these time-dependent three-dimensional features, a combination of automated constraints and human inspection in a three-dimensional virtual reality environment is used to select clouds that are exemplary in their behavior throughout their entire life span. Three specific cases (ARM, BOMEX, and BOMEX without large-scale forcings) are analyzed in this way, and the considerable number of selected clouds warrants reliable statistics of cloud properties conditioned on the phase in their life cycle. The most dominant feature in this statistical life cycle analysis is the pulsating growth that is present throughout the entire lifetime of the cloud, independent of the case and of the large-scale forcings. The pulses are a self-sustained phenomenon, driven by a balance between buoyancy and horizontal convergence of dry air. The convective inhibition just above the cloud base plays a crucial role as a barrier for the cloud to overcome in its infancy stage, and as a buffer region later on, ensuring a steady supply of buoyancy into the cloud.

In-cloud oxalate formation in the global troposphere: a 3-D modeling study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Myriokefalitakis

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Organic acids attract increasing attention as contributors to atmospheric acidity, secondary organic aerosol mass and aerosol hygroscopicity. Oxalic acid is globally the most abundant dicarboxylic acid, formed via chemical oxidation of gas-phase precursors in the aqueous phase of aerosols and droplets. Its lifecycle and atmospheric global distribution remain highly uncertain and are the focus of this study. The first global spatial and temporal distribution of oxalate, simulated using a state-of-the-art aqueous-phase chemical scheme embedded within the global 3-dimensional chemistry/transport model TM4-ECPL, is here presented. The model accounts for comprehensive gas-phase chemistry and its coupling with major aerosol constituents (including secondary organic aerosol. Model results are consistent with ambient observations of oxalate at rural and remote locations (slope = 1.16 ± 0.14, r² = 0.36, N = 114 and suggest that aqueous-phase chemistry contributes significantly to the global atmospheric burden of secondary organic aerosol. In TM4-ECPL most oxalate is formed in-cloud and less than 5 % is produced in aerosol water. About 62 % of the oxalate is removed via wet deposition, 30 % by in-cloud reaction with hydroxyl radical, 4 % by in-cloud reaction with nitrate radical and 4 % by dry deposition. The in-cloud global oxalate net chemical production is calculated to be about 21–37 Tg yr⁻¹ with almost 79 % originating from biogenic hydrocarbons, mainly isoprene. This condensed phase net source of oxalate in conjunction with a global mean turnover time against deposition of about 5 days, maintain oxalate's global tropospheric burden of 0.2–0.3 Tg, i.e. 0.05–0.1 Tg-C that is about 5–9 % of model-calculated water soluble organic carbon burden.

ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTION DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION DEFENSE CID AND CLOUD PLATFORM ON THE BASE OF INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Vishniakov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Two problems the use of intelligence technologies in information defense (ITID – creating specialized knowledge bases with threats simulation and high the security level in corporative nets and cloud computing are presented. The analysis of t wo directions of the second ITID problem: the intelligence decision support systems and the malt y-agent system use are given. As trends and conception development of intelligence technologies are the perfection of methods. models, architectures, and hard-sot ware tools for ITID in corporative systems and cloud computing.

How accurately can the instantaneous aerosol effect on cloud albedo be constrained?

Science.gov (United States)

Gryspeerdt, E.; Quaas, J.; Ferrachat, S.; Gettelman, A.; Ghan, S. J.; Lohmann, U.; Neubauer, D.; Morrison, H.; Partridge, D.; Stier, P.; Takemura, T.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Zhang, K.

2017-12-01

Aerosol-cloud interactions are the most uncertain component of the anthropogenic radiative forcing, with a significant fraction of this uncertainty coming from uncertainty in the radiative forcing due to instantaneous changes in cloud albedo (the RFaci). Aerosols can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC), so previous studies have used the sensitivity of CDNC to aerosol properties as a method of estimating the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that this sensitivity is unsuitable as a constraint on the RFaci, as it differs in the present day and pre-industrial atmosphere. This would place significant limits on our ability to constrain the RFaci from satellite observations. In this study, a selection of global aerosol-climate models are used to investigate the suitability of various aerosol proxies and methods for calculating the RFaci from present day data. A linear-regression based sensitivity of CDNC to aerosol perturbations can lead to large errors in the diagnosed RFaci, as can the use of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) as an aerosol proxy. However, we show that if suitable choices of aerosol proxy are made and the anthropogenic aerosol contribution is known, it is possible to diagnose the anthropogenic change in CDNC, and so the RFaci, using present day aerosol-cloud relationships.

Investigating a solar influence on cloud cover using the North American Regional Reanalysis data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krahenbuhl Daniel Scott

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The controversial connection between cosmic rays, solar activity, and cloud cover is investigated using a climatological reconstructed reanalysis product: the North American Regional Reanalysis which provides high-resolution, low, mid-level, high, and total cloud cover data over a Lambert conformal conic projection permitting land/ocean discrimination. Pearson’s product-moment regional correlations were obtained between monthly cloud cover data and solar variability indicators, cosmic ray neutron monitors, several climatological indices, including the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO, and between cloud layers. Regions of the mid-latitude oceans exhibited a positive correlation with cosmic ray flux. Additionally, this maritime low cloud cover exhibits the only failed correlation significance with other altitudes. The cross correlation reveals that cloud cover is positively correlated everywhere but for ocean low cloud cover, supporting the unique response of the marine layer. The results of this investigation suggest that with the assumption that solar forcing does impact cloud cover, measurements of solar activity exhibits a slightly higher correlation than GCRs. The only instance where GCRs exhibit a positive regional correlation with cloud cover is for maritime low clouds. The AMO exerts the greatest control of cloud cover in the NARR domain.

CLIMATE CHANGE. Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Poulsen, Christopher J; Tabor, Clay; White, Joseph D

2015-06-12

The percentage of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere varied between 10% and 35% throughout the Phanerozoic. These changes have been linked to the evolution, radiation, and size of animals but have not been considered to affect climate. We conducted simulations showing that modulation of the partial pressure of oxygen (pO2), as a result of its contribution to atmospheric mass and density, influences the optical depth of the atmosphere. Under low pO2 and a reduced-density atmosphere, shortwave scattering by air molecules and clouds is less frequent, leading to a substantial increase in surface shortwave forcing. Through feedbacks involving latent heat fluxes to the atmosphere and marine stratus clouds, surface shortwave forcing drives increases in atmospheric water vapor and global precipitation, enhances greenhouse forcing, and raises global surface temperature. Our results implicate pO2 as an important factor in climate forcing throughout geologic time. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The architecture of neutrophil extracellular traps investigated by atomic force microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Pires, Ricardo H.; Felix, Stephan B.; Delcea, Mihaela

2016-07-01

Neutrophils are immune cells that engage in a suicidal pathway leading to the release of partially decondensed chromatin, or neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs behave as a double edged sword; they can bind to pathogens thereby ensnaring them and limiting their spread during infection; however, they may bind to host circulating materials and trigger thrombotic events, and are associated with autoimmune disorders. Despite the fundamental role of NETs as part of an immune system response, there is currently a very poor understanding of how their nanoscale properties are reflected in their macroscopic impact. In this work, using a combination of fluorescence and atomic force microscopy, we show that NETs appear as a branching filament network that results in a substantially organized porous structure with openings with 0.03 +/- 0.04 μm2 on average and thus in the size range of small pathogens. Topological profiles typically up to 3 +/- 1 nm in height are compatible with a ``beads on a string'' model of nucleosome chromatin. Typical branch lengths of 153 +/- 103 nm appearing as rigid rods and height profiles of naked DNA in NETs of 1.2 +/- 0.5 nm are indicative of extensive DNA supercoiling throughout NETs. The presence of DNA duplexes could also be inferred from force spectroscopy and the occurrence of force plateaus that ranged from ~65 pN to 300 pN. Proteolytic digestion of NETs resulted in widespread disassembly of the network structure and considerable loss of mechanical properties. Our results suggest that the underlying structure of NETs is considerably organized and that part of its protein content plays an important role in maintaining its mesh architecture. We anticipate that NETs may work as microscopic mechanical sieves with elastic properties that stem from their DNA-protein composition, which is able to segregate particles also as a result of their size. Such a behavior may explain their participation in capturing pathogens and their association

Structure and trapping of three-dimensional dust clouds in a capacitively coupled rf-discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arp, O.; Block, D.; Piel, A.

2005-01-01

In this survey the recently found 'Coulomb balls' are discussed, which show an unusual kind of crystalline order. These three-dimensional dust clouds consisting of hundreds or thousands of micrometer-sized dust particles have a spherical shape and exist in a wide range of plasma conditions. Coulomb balls are optically highly transparent and have macroscopic dimensions of several millimeters in diameter. The clouds allow for the observation of each single particle and thus the complete reconstruction of the crystal structure by means of video microscopy techniques. The particles are arranged in distinct nested shells in which they form patterns with mostly five and six neighbors. The confinement of Coulomb balls by dielectric walls involves electric forces, surface charges, ion drag forces, and thermophoretic levitation. The thermophoretic force field is measured with tracer particles and particle image velocimetry (PIV). The electric forces are derived from simulations with the two-dimensional SIGLO-2D code. It is shown the the sum of all confining forces results in a stable potential well that describes levitation and spherical confinement of the Coulomb ball

Thermodynamics and Cloud Radiative Effect from the First Year of GoAmazon

Science.gov (United States)

Collow, Allie Marquardt; Miller, Mark; Trabachino, Lynne

2015-01-01

Deforestation is an ongoing concern for the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil and associated changes to the land surface have been hypothesized to alter the climate in the region. A comprehensive set of meteorological observations at the surface and within the lower troposphere above Manacapuru, Brazil and data from the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2) are used to evaluate the seasonal cycle of cloudiness, thermodynamics, and the radiation budget. While ample moisture is present in the Amazon Rainforest year round, the northward progression of the Hadley circulation during the dry season contributes to a drying of the middle troposphere and inhibits the formation of deep convection. This results in a reduction in cloudiness and precipitation as well as an increase in the height of the lifting condensation level, which is shown to have a negative correlation to the fraction of low clouds. Frequent cloudiness prevents solar radiation from reaching the surface and clouds are often reflective with high values of shortwave cloud radiative effect at the surface and top of the atmosphere. Cloud radiative effect is reduced during the dry season however the dry season surface shortwave cloud radiative effect is still double what is observed during the wet season in other tropical locations. Within the column, the impact of clouds on the radiation budget is more prevalent in the longwave part of the spectrum, with a net warming in the wet season.

Using satellites and global models to investigate aerosol-cloud interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Gryspeerdt, E.; Quaas, J.; Goren, T.; Sourdeval, O.; Mülmenstädt, J.

2017-12-01

Aerosols are known to impact liquid cloud properties, through both microphysical and radiative processes. Increasing the number concentration of aerosol particles can increase the cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC). Through impacts on precipitation processes, this increase in CDNC may also be able to impact the cloud fraction (CF) and the cloud liquid water path (LWP). Several studies have looked into the effect of aerosols on the CDNC, but as the albedo of a cloudy scene depends much more strongly on LWP and CF, an aerosol influence on these properties could generate a significant radiative forcing. While the impact of aerosols on cloud properties can be seen in case studies involving shiptracks and volcanoes, producing a global estimate of these effects remains challenging due to the confounding effect of local meteorology. For example, relative humidity significantly impacts the aerosol optical depth (AOD), a common satellite proxy for CCN, as well as being a strong control on cloud properties. This can generate relationships between AOD and cloud properties, even when there is no impact of aerosol-cloud interactions. In this work, we look at how aerosol-cloud interactions can be distinguished from the effect of local meteorology in satellite studies. With a combination global climate models and multiple sources of satellite data, we show that the choice of appropriate mediating variables and case studies can be used to develop constraints on the aerosol impact on CF and LWP. This will lead to improved representations of clouds in global climate models and help to reduce the uncertainty in the global impact of anthropogenic aerosols on cloud properties.

Surface net solar radiation estimated from satellite measurements - Comparisons with tower observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhanqing; Leighton, H. G.; Cess, Robert D.

1993-01-01

A parameterization that relates the reflected solar flux at the top of the atmosphere to the net solar flux at the surface in terms of only the column water vapor amount and the solar zenith angle was tested against surface observations. Net surface fluxes deduced from coincidental collocated satellite-measured radiances and from measurements from towers in Boulder during summer and near Saskatoon in winter have mean differences of about 2 W/sq m, regardless of whether the sky is clear or cloudy. Furthermore, comparisons between the net fluxes deduced from the parameterization and from surface measurements showed equally good agreement when the data were partitioned into morning and afternoon observations. This is in contrast to results from an empirical clear-sky algorithm that is unable to account adequately for the effects of clouds and that shows, at Boulder, a distinct morning to afternoon variation. It is also demonstrated that the parameterization may be applied to irradiances at the top of the atmosphere that have been temporally averaged. The good agreement between the results of the parameterization and surface measurements suggests that the algorithm is a useful tool for a variety of climate studies.

Observationally constrained estimates of carbonaceous aerosol radiative forcing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Chul E; Ramanathan, V; Decremer, Damien

2012-07-17

Carbonaceous aerosols (CA) emitted by fossil and biomass fuels consist of black carbon (BC), a strong absorber of solar radiation, and organic matter (OM). OM scatters as well as absorbs solar radiation. The absorbing component of OM, which is ignored in most climate models, is referred to as brown carbon (BrC). Model estimates of the global CA radiative forcing range from 0 to 0.7 Wm(-2), to be compared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's estimate for the pre-Industrial to the present net radiative forcing of about 1.6 Wm(-2). This study provides a model-independent, observationally based estimate of the CA direct radiative forcing. Ground-based aerosol network data is integrated with field data and satellite-based aerosol observations to provide a decadal (2001 through 2009) global view of the CA optical properties and direct radiative forcing. The estimated global CA direct radiative effect is about 0.75 Wm(-2) (0.5 to 1.0). This study identifies the global importance of BrC, which is shown to contribute about 20% to 550-nm CA solar absorption globally. Because of the inclusion of BrC, the net effect of OM is close to zero and the CA forcing is nearly equal to that of BC. The CA direct radiative forcing is estimated to be about 0.65 (0.5 to about 0.8) Wm(-2), thus comparable to or exceeding that by methane. Caused in part by BrC absorption, CAs have a net warming effect even over open biomass-burning regions in Africa and the Amazon.

The role of water ice clouds in the Martian hydrologic cycle

Science.gov (United States)

James, Philip B.

1990-01-01

A one-dimensional model for the seasonal cycle of water on Mars has been used to investigate the direction of the net annual transport of water on the planet and to study the possible role of water ice clouds, which are included as an independent phase in addition to ground ice and water vapor, in the cycle. The calculated seasonal and spatial patterns of occurrence of water ice clouds are qualitatively similar to the observed polar hoods, suggesting that these polar clouds are, in fact, an important component of water cycle. A residual dry ice in the south acts as a cold trap which, in the absence of sources other than the caps, will ultimately attract the water ice from the north cap; however, in the presence of a source of water in northern midlatitudes during spring, it is possible that the observed distribution of vapor and ice can be in a steady state even if a residual CO2 cap is a permanent feature of the system.

Sensitivity studies of different aerosol indirect effects in mixed-phase clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Hoose

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Aerosols affect the climate system by changing cloud characteristics. Using the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM, we investigate different aerosol effects on mixed-phase clouds: The glaciation effect, which refers to a more frequent glaciation due to anthropogenic aerosols, versus the de-activation effect, which suggests that ice nuclei become less effective because of an anthropogenic sulfate coating. The glaciation effect can partly offset the indirect aerosol effect on warm clouds and thus causes the total anthropogenic aerosol effect to be smaller. It is investigated by varying the parameterization for the Bergeron-Findeisen process and the threshold coating thickness of sulfate (SO₄-crit, which is required to convert an externally mixed aerosol particle into an internally mixed particle. Differences in the net radiation at the top-of-the-atmosphere due to anthropogenic aerosols between the different sensitivity studies amount up to 0.5 W m⁻². This suggests that the investigated mixed-phase processes have a major effect on the total anthropogenic aerosol effect.

Joint classification and contour extraction of large 3D point clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Timo; Wegner, Jan D.; Schindler, Konrad

2017-08-01

We present an effective and efficient method for point-wise semantic classification and extraction of object contours of large-scale 3D point clouds. What makes point cloud interpretation challenging is the sheer size of several millions of points per scan and the non-grid, sparse, and uneven distribution of points. Standard image processing tools like texture filters, for example, cannot handle such data efficiently, which calls for dedicated point cloud labeling methods. It turns out that one of the major drivers for efficient computation and handling of strong variations in point density, is a careful formulation of per-point neighborhoods at multiple scales. This allows, both, to define an expressive feature set and to extract topologically meaningful object contours. Semantic classification and contour extraction are interlaced problems. Point-wise semantic classification enables extracting a meaningful candidate set of contour points while contours help generating a rich feature representation that benefits point-wise classification. These methods are tailored to have fast run time and small memory footprint for processing large-scale, unstructured, and inhomogeneous point clouds, while still achieving high classification accuracy. We evaluate our methods on the semantic3d.net benchmark for terrestrial laser scans with >109 points.

Force application during handcycling and handrim wheelchair propulsion: an initial comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnet, Ursina; van Drongelen, Stefan; Veeger, D H; van der Woude L, H V

2013-12-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the external applied forces, the effectiveness of force application and the net shoulder moments of handcycling in comparison with handrim wheelchair propulsion at different inclines. Ten able-bodied men performed standardized exercises on a treadmill at inclines of 1%, 2.5% and 4% with an instrumented handbike and wheelchair that measured three-dimensional propulsion forces. The results showed that during handcycling significantly lower mean forces were applied at inclines of 2.5% (P propulsion. The force effectiveness did not differ between the devices (P = .757); however, the effectiveness did increase with higher inclines during handcycling whereas it stayed constant over all inclines for wheelchair propulsion. The resulting peak net shoulder moments were lower for handcycling compared with wheelchair propulsion at all inclines (P < .001). These results confirm the assumption that handcycling is physically less straining.

Prediction model for initial point of net vapor generation for low-flow boiling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Qi; Zhao Hua; Yang Ruichang

2003-01-01

The prediction of the initial point of net vapor generation is significant for the calculation of phase distribution in sub-cooled boiling. However, most of the investigations were developed in high-flow boiling, and there is no common model that could be successfully applied for the low-flow boiling. A predictive model for the initial point of net vapor generation for low-flow forced convection and natural circulation is established here, by the analysis of evaporation and condensation heat transfer. The comparison between experimental data and calculated results shows that this model can predict the net vapor generation point successfully in low-flow sub-cooled boiling

Stratocumulus Cloud Top Radiative Cooling and Cloud Base Updraft Speeds

Science.gov (United States)

Kazil, J.; Feingold, G.; Balsells, J.; Klinger, C.

2017-12-01

Cloud top radiative cooling is a primary driver of turbulence in the stratocumulus-topped marine boundary. A functional relationship between cloud top cooling and cloud base updraft speeds may therefore exist. A correlation of cloud top radiative cooling and cloud base updraft speeds has been recently identified empirically, providing a basis for satellite retrieval of cloud base updraft speeds. Such retrievals may enable analysis of aerosol-cloud interactions using satellite observations: Updraft speeds at cloud base co-determine supersaturation and therefore the activation of cloud condensation nuclei, which in turn co-determine cloud properties and precipitation formation. We use large eddy simulation and an off-line radiative transfer model to explore the relationship between cloud-top radiative cooling and cloud base updraft speeds in a marine stratocumulus cloud over the course of the diurnal cycle. We find that during daytime, at low cloud water path (CWP correlated, in agreement with the reported empirical relationship. During the night, in the absence of short-wave heating, CWP builds up (CWP > 50 g m-2) and long-wave emissions from cloud top saturate, while cloud base heating increases. In combination, cloud top cooling and cloud base updrafts become weakly anti-correlated. A functional relationship between cloud top cooling and cloud base updraft speed can hence be expected for stratocumulus clouds with a sufficiently low CWP and sub-saturated long-wave emissions, in particular during daytime. At higher CWPs, in particular at night, the relationship breaks down due to saturation of long-wave emissions from cloud top.

Worldwide data sets constrain the water vapor uptake coefficient in cloud formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Raatikainen, Tomi; Nenes, Athanasios; Seinfeld, John H; Morales, Ricardo; Moore, Richard H; Lathem, Terry L; Lance, Sara; Padró, Luz T; Lin, Jack J; Cerully, Kate M; Bougiatioti, Aikaterini; Cozic, Julie; Ruehl, Christopher R; Chuang, Patrick Y; Anderson, Bruce E; Flagan, Richard C; Jonsson, Haflidi; Mihalopoulos, Nikos; Smith, James N

2013-03-05

Cloud droplet formation depends on the condensation of water vapor on ambient aerosols, the rate of which is strongly affected by the kinetics of water uptake as expressed by the condensation (or mass accommodation) coefficient, αc. Estimates of αc for droplet growth from activation of ambient particles vary considerably and represent a critical source of uncertainty in estimates of global cloud droplet distributions and the aerosol indirect forcing of climate. We present an analysis of 10 globally relevant data sets of cloud condensation nuclei to constrain the value of αc for ambient aerosol. We find that rapid activation kinetics (αc > 0.1) is uniformly prevalent. This finding resolves a long-standing issue in cloud physics, as the uncertainty in water vapor accommodation on droplets is considerably less than previously thought.

The Net Climate Impact of Coal-Fired Power Plant Emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Shindell, D.; Faluvegi, G.

2010-01-01

Coal-fired power plants influence climate via both the emission of long-lived carbon dioxide (CO2) and short-lived ozone and aerosol precursors. Using a climate model, we perform the first study of the spatial and temporal pattern of radiative forcing specifically for coal plant emissions. Without substantial pollution controls, we find that near-term net global mean climate forcing is negative due to the well-known aerosol masking of the effects of CO2. Imposition of pollution controls on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides leads to a rapid realization of the full positive forcing from CO2, however. Long-term global mean forcing from stable (constant) emissions is positive regardless of pollution controls. Emissions from coal-fired power plants until 1970, including roughly 1/3 of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions, likely contributed little net global mean climate forcing during that period though they may have induce weak Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude (NHml) cooling. After that time many areas imposed pollution controls or switched to low sulfur coal. Hence forcing due to emissions from 1970 to 2000 and CO2 emitted previously was strongly positive and contributed to rapid global and especially NHml warming. Most recently, new construction in China and India has increased rapidly with minimal application of pollution controls. Continuation of this trend would add negative near-term global mean climate forcing but severely degrade air quality. Conversely, following the Western and Japanese pattern of imposing air quality pollution controls at a later time could accelerate future warming rates, especially at NHmls. More broadly, our results indicate that due to spatial and temporal inhomogeneities in forcing, climate impacts of multi-pollutant emissions can vary strongly from region to region and can include substantial effects on maximum rate-of-change, neither of which are captured by commonly used global metrics. The method we introduce here to estimate

Numerical Simulations of Turbulent Molecular Clouds Regulated by Radiation Feedback Forces. II. Radiation-Gas Interactions and Outflows

Science.gov (United States)

Raskutti, Sudhir; Ostriker, Eve C.; Skinner, M. Aaron

2017-12-01

Momentum deposition by radiation pressure from young, massive stars may help to destroy molecular clouds and unbind stellar clusters by driving large-scale outflows. We extend our previous numerical radiation hydrodynamic study of turbulent star-forming clouds to analyze the detailed interaction between non-ionizing UV radiation and the cloud material. Our simulations trace the evolution of gas and star particles through self-gravitating collapse, star formation, and cloud destruction via radiation-driven outflows. These models are idealized in that we include only radiation feedback and adopt an isothermal equation of state. Turbulence creates a structure of dense filaments and large holes through which radiation escapes, such that only ˜50% of the radiation is (cumulatively) absorbed by the end of star formation. The surface density distribution of gas by mass as seen by the central cluster is roughly lognormal with {σ }{ln{{Σ }}}=1.3{--}1.7, similar to the externally projected surface density distribution. This allows low surface density regions to be driven outwards to nearly 10 times their initial escape speed {v}{esc}. Although the velocity distribution of outflows is broadened by the lognormal surface density distribution, the overall efficiency of momentum injection to the gas cloud is reduced because much of the radiation escapes. The mean outflow velocity is approximately twice the escape speed from the initial cloud radius. Our results are also informative for understanding galactic-scale wind driving by radiation, in particular, the relationship between velocity and surface density for individual outflow structures and the resulting velocity and mass distributions arising from turbulent sources.

Net-baryon-, net-proton-, and net-charge kurtosis in heavy-ion collisions within a relativistic transport approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahrgang, Marlene; Schuster, Tim; Stock, Reinhard; Mitrovski, Michael; Bleicher, Marcus

2012-01-01

We explore the potential of net-baryon, net-proton and net-charge kurtosis measurements to investigate the properties of hot and dense matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Contrary to calculations in a grand-canonical ensemble we explicitly take into account exact electric and baryon charge conservation on an event-by-event basis. This drastically limits the width of baryon fluctuations. A simple model to account for this is to assume a grand-canonical distribution with a sharp cut-off at the tails. We present baseline predictions of the energy dependence of the net-baryon, net-proton and net-charge kurtosis for central (b≤2.75 fm) Pb+Pb/Au+Au collisions from E lab =2A GeV to √(s NN )=200 GeV from the UrQMD model. While the net-charge kurtosis is compatible with values around zero, the net-baryon number decreases to large negative values with decreasing beam energy. The net-proton kurtosis becomes only slightly negative for low √(s NN ). (orig.)

Cloud networking understanding cloud-based data center networks

CERN Document Server

Lee, Gary

2014-01-01

Cloud Networking: Understanding Cloud-Based Data Center Networks explains the evolution of established networking technologies into distributed, cloud-based networks. Starting with an overview of cloud technologies, the book explains how cloud data center networks leverage distributed systems for network virtualization, storage networking, and software-defined networking. The author offers insider perspective to key components that make a cloud network possible such as switch fabric technology and data center networking standards. The final chapters look ahead to developments in architectures

The role of clouds and oceans in global greenhouse warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffert, M.I.

1992-12-01

During the past three years we have conducted several studies using models and a combination of satellite data, in situ meteorological and oceanic data, and paleoclimate reconstructions, under the DoE program, ''Quantifying the Link Between Change in Radiative Balance and Atmospheric Temperature''. Our goals were to investigate effects of global cloudiness variations on global climate and their implications for cloud feedback and continue development and application of NYU transient climate/ocean models, with emphasis on coupled effects of greenhouse warming and feedbacks by both the clouds and oceans. Our original research plan emphasized the use of cloud, surface temperature and ocean data sets interpreted by focused climate/ocean models to develop a cloud radiative forcing scenario for the past 100 years and to assess the transient climate response; to narrow key uncertainties in the system; and to identify those aspects of the climate system most likely to be affected by greenhouse warming over short, medium and long time scales

Effects of clamping force on the water transport and performance of a PEM (proton electrolyte membrane) fuel cell with relative humidity and current density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cha, Dowon; Ahn, Jae Hwan; Kim, Hyung Soon; Kim, Yongchan

2015-01-01

The clamping force should be applied to a proton electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell due to its structural characteristics. The clamping force affects the ohmic and mass transport resistances in the PEM fuel cell. In this study, the effects of the clamping force on the water transport and performance characteristics of a PEM fuel cell are experimentally investigated with variations in the relative humidity and current density. The water transport characteristics were analyzed by calculating the net drag coefficient. The ohmic resistance decreased with the increase in the clamping force due to the reduced contact resistance and more even membrane hydration. However, the mass transport resistance increased with the increase in the clamping force due to the gas diffusion layer compression. The net drag coefficient decreased with the increase in the clamping force due to high water back-diffusion. Additionally, the relationship between the total resistance and the net drag coefficient was investigated. - Highlights: • Effects of clamping force on the performance of a PEM fuel cell are investigated. • Water transport characteristics are analyzed using net drag coefficient. • Ohmic resistance decreased with clamping force, but mass transport resistance increased. • Net drag coefficient decreased with the increase in clamping force. • Total resistance was significantly degraded for a net drag coefficient below 0.2.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part I; Low-Level Cloud Macrophysical, Microphysical, and Radiative Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Xi, Baike

2005-01-01

. The low stratus cloud amount monotonically increases from midnight to early morning (0930 LT), and remains large until around local noon, then declines until 1930 LT when it levels off for the remainder of the night. In the morning, the stratus cloud layer is low, warm, and thick with less LWC, while in the afternoon it is high, cold, and thin with more LWC. Future parts of this series will consider other cloud types and cloud radiative forcing at the ARM SCF.

Aerosols and their Impact on Radiation, Clouds, Precipitation & Severe Weather Events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Zhanqing; Rosenfeld, Daniel; Fan, Jiwen

2017-09-22

Aerosols, the tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere, have been in the forefront of environmental and climate change sciences as the primary atmospheric pollutant and external force affecting Earth’s weather and climate. There are two dominant mechanisms by which aerosols affect weather and climate: aerosol-radiation interactions (ARI) and aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI). ARI arises from aerosol scattering and absorption, which alters the radiation budgets of the atmosphere and surface, while ACI is rooted to the fact that aerosols serve as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei. Both ARI and ACI are coupled with atmospheric dynamics to produce a chain of complex interactions with a large range of meteorological variables that influence both weather and climate. Elaborated here are the impacts of aerosols on the radiation budget, clouds (microphysics, structure, and lifetime), precipitation, and severe weather events (lightning, thunderstorms, hail, and tornados). Depending on environmental variables and aerosol properties, the effects can be both positive and negative, posing the largest uncertainties in the external forcing of the climate system. This has considerably hindered our ability in projecting future climate changes and in doing accurate numerical weather predictions.

Subtropical Low Cloud Responses to Central and Eastern Pacific El Nino Events

Science.gov (United States)

Rapp, A. D.; Bennartz, R.; Jiang, J. H.; Kato, S.; Olson, W. S.; Pinker, R. T.; Su, H.; Taylor, P. C.

2014-12-01

The eastern Pacific El Niño event in 2006-2007 and the central Pacific El Niño event during 2009-2010 exhibit opposite responses in the top of atmosphere (TOA) cloud radiative effects. These responses are driven by differences in large-scale circulation that result in significant low cloud anomalies in the subtropical southeastern Pacific. Both the vertical profile of cloud fraction and cloud water content are reduced during the eastern Pacific El Niño; however, the shift in the distribution of cloud characteristics and the physical processes underlying these changes need further analysis. The NASA Energy and Water Cycle Study (NEWS) Clouds and Radiation Working Group will use a synthesis of NEWS data products, A-Train satellite measurements, reanalysis, and modeling approaches to further explore the differences in the low cloud response to changes in the large-scale forcing, as well as try to understand the physical mechanism driving the observed changes in the low clouds for the 2006/07 and 2009/10 distinct El Niño events. The distributions of cloud macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties over the southeast Pacific will first be compared for these two events using a combination of MODIS, CloudSat/CALIPSO, and CERES data. Satellite and reanalysis estimates of changes in the vertical temperature and moisture profiles, lower tropospheric stability, winds, and surface heat fluxes are then used to identify the drivers for observed differences in the clouds and TOA radiative effects.

Net Zero Energy Military Installations: A Guide to Assessment and Planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Booth, S.; Barnett, J.; Burman, K.; Hambrick, J.; Westby, R.

2010-08-01

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recognizes the strategic importance of energy to its mission, and is working to reduce energy consumption and enhance energy self-sufficiency by drawing on local clean energy sources. A joint initiative formed between DoD and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to address military energy use led to a task force to examine the potential for net zero energy military installations, which would produce as much energy on site as they consume in buildings, facilities, and fleet vehicles. This report presents an assessment and planning process to examine military installations for net zero energy potential. Net Zero Energy Installation Assessment (NZEIA) presents a systematic framework to analyze energy projects at installations while balancing other site priorities such as mission, cost, and security.

Formation of giant cloud complexes by the Parker-Jeans instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elmegreen, B.G.

1982-01-01

The Parker-Jeans instability is considered as a possible mechanism for forming the giant cloud complexes observed near OB associations. We use a previously derived dispersion relation to evaluate the masses and growth times of the dominant modes in this instability. The results show that massive clouds (Mroughly-equal10 6 M/sub sun/) can form quickly (roughly-equal12 million yr) in the high density environments (5 cm -3 ) associated with spiral density wave shocks. For densities larger than about 3 cm -3 , these clouds form primarily as a result of the self-graviational forces in the interstellar medium. Lower mass clouds (Mroughly-equal10 5 M/sub sun/) can form in lower density environments as a result of the pure Parker instability. The masses of the clouds that form when the density exceeds about 3 cm -3 are insensitive to the magnetic field strength, cosmic ray pressure, and ambient density (even in compressed media.). These masses are essentially the Jeans mass in a magnetic interstellar medium. The occurrence of a characteristic mass may explain the similarity of the local OB associations. The role of the Parker-Jeans instability as part of a complete theory of cloud formation is summarized

Long-term Satellite Observations of Cloud and Aerosol Radiative Effects Using the (A)ATSR Satellite Data Record

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, M.; McGarragh, G.; Thomas, G.; Povey, A.; Proud, S.; Poulsen, C. A.; Grainger, R. G.

2016-12-01

Radiative forcing by clouds, aerosols, and their interactions constitute some of the largest sources of uncertainties in the climate system (Chapter 7 IPCC, 2013). It is essential to understand the past through examination of long-term satellite observation records to provide insight into the uncertainty characteristics of these radiative forcers. As part of the ESA CCI (Climate Change Initiative) we have recently implemented a broadband radiative flux algorithm (known as BUGSrad) into the Optimal Retrieval for Aerosol and Cloud (ORAC) scheme. ORAC achieves radiative consistency of its aerosol and cloud products through an optimal estimation scheme and is highly versatile, enabling retrievals for numerous satellite sensors: ATSR, MODIS, VIIRS, AVHRR, SLSTR, SEVIRI, and AHI. An analysis of the 17-year well-calibrated Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) data is used to quantify trends in cloud and aerosol radiative effects over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. The El Niño Southern Oscillation stands out as the largest contributing mode of variability to the radiative energy balance (long wave and shortwave fluxes) at the top of the atmosphere. Furthermore, trends in planetary albedo show substantial decreases across the Arctic Ocean (likely due to the melting of sea ice and snow) and modest increases in regions dominated by stratocumulus (e.g., off the coast of California) through notable increases in cloud fraction and liquid water path. Finally, changes in volcanic activity and biomass burning aerosol over this period show sizeable radiative forcing impacts at local-scales. We will demonstrate that radiative forcing from aerosols and clouds have played a significant role in the identified key climate processes using 17 years of satellite observational data.

Formation of giant molecular clouds in global spiral structures: the role of orbital dynamics and cloud-cloud collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, W.W. Jr.; Stewart, G.R.

1987-01-01

The different roles played by orbital dynamics and dissipative cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in a global spiral structure are investigated. The interstellar medium (ISM) is simulated by a system of particles, representing clouds, which orbit in a spiral-perturbed, galactic gravitational field. The overall magnitude and width of the global cloud density distribution in spiral arms is very similar in the collisional and collisionless simulations. The results suggest that the assumed number density and size distribution of clouds and the details of individual cloud-cloud collisions have relatively little effect on these features. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions play an important steadying role for the cloud system's global spiral structure. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions also damp the relative velocity dispersion of clouds in massive associations and thereby aid in the effective assembling of GMC-like complexes

Evaluation of Passive Multilayer Cloud Detection Using Preliminary CloudSat and CALIPSO Cloud Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Minnis, P.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chang, F.; Huang, J.; Nguyen, L.; Ayers, J. K.; Spangenberg, D. A.; Yi, Y.; Trepte, C. R.

2006-12-01

During the last few years, several algorithms have been developed to detect and retrieve multilayered clouds using passive satellite data. Assessing these techniques has been difficult due to the need for active sensors such as cloud radars and lidars that can "see" through different layers of clouds. Such sensors have been available only at a few surface sites and on aircraft during field programs. With the launch of the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites on April 28, 2006, it is now possible to observe multilayered systems all over the globe using collocated cloud radar and lidar data. As part of the A- Train, these new active sensors are also matched in time ad space with passive measurements from the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - EOS (AMSR-E). The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) has been developing and testing algorithms to detect ice-over-water overlapping cloud systems and to retrieve the cloud liquid path (LWP) and ice water path (IWP) for those systems. One technique uses a combination of the CERES cloud retrieval algorithm applied to MODIS data and a microwave retrieval method applied to AMSR-E data. The combination of a CO2-slicing cloud retireval technique with the CERES algorithms applied to MODIS data (Chang et al., 2005) is used to detect and analyze such overlapped systems that contain thin ice clouds. A third technique uses brightness temperature differences and the CERES algorithms to detect similar overlapped methods. This paper uses preliminary CloudSat and CALIPSO data to begin a global scale assessment of these different methods. The long-term goals are to assess and refine the algorithms to aid the development of an optimal combination of the techniques to better monitor ice 9and liquid water clouds in overlapped conditions.

Enhancement of Feedback Efficiency by Active Galactic Nucleus Outflows via the Magnetic Tension Force in the Inhomogeneous Interstellar Medium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asahina, Yuta; Ohsuga, Ken [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Nomura, Mariko, E-mail: asahina@cfca.jp [Keio University, Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8522 (Japan)

2017-05-01

By performing three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations of subrelativistic jets and disk winds propagating into the magnetized inhomogeneous interstellar medium (ISM), we investigate the magnetic effects on the active galactic nucleus feedback. Our simulations reveal that the magnetic tension force promotes the acceleration of the dense gas clouds, since the magnetic field lines, which are initially straight, bend around the gas clouds. In the jet models, the velocity dispersion of the clouds increases with an increase in the initial magnetic fields. The increment of the kinetic energy of the clouds is proportional to the initial magnetic fields, implying that the magnetic tension force increases the energy conversion efficiency from the jet to the gas clouds. Through simulations of the mildly collimated disk wind and the funnel-shaped disk wind, we confirm that such an enhancement of the energy conversion efficiency via the magnetic fields appears even if the energy is injected via the disk winds. The enhancement of the acceleration of the dense part of the magnetized ISM via the magnetic tension force will occur wherever the magnetized inhomogeneous matter is blown away.