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Key Notes on Investigating Aerosol Impacts on Deep Convective Clouds

Presentation Date
Monday, January 29, 2024 at 2:45pm - Monday, January 29, 2024 at 3:00pm
Location
The Baltimore Convention Center - 329
Authors

Author

Abstract

Deep convective clouds (DCCs) play a crucial role in Earth's energy and water cycles, significantly impacting human systems by generating hazardous weather conditions. Aerosols are recognized as important environmental factors that can influence DCCs. However, accurately quantifying and qualifying their effects remains a significant challenge, leading to substantial uncertainty. Previous theoretical, modeling, and observational studies have proposed a couple of mechanisms to explain the impact of aerosols on thermal-driven thunderstorms. A few recent studies argued different results by reexamining the previous studies, highlighting the need to clarify the essential knowledge on how to appropriately investigate aerosol impacts on deep convection and identify misconceptions or pitfalls that new researchers should avoid. Here we elucidate the reasons leading to different results and clarify the confusion introduced, with a hope to facilitate future advancements in the aerosol-cloud interaction field.

Category
16th Symposium on Aerosol Cloud Climate Interactions
Funding Program Area(s)