Members of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s science team are major contributors to radiation and cloud research. Scientists and investigators using ARM publish about 150 peer-reviewed journal articles per year, and ARM data are used in many studies published by other scientific organizations. These documented research efforts represent tangible evidence of ARM’s contribution to advances in almost all areas of atmospheric radiation and cloud research.
Research Highlights
Recent Highlights
Light absorption by black carbon in wildfire-driven storms
7 October 2024
Fast, Jerome D
Supported by:
Research area: Aerosol Processes
Pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds form from wildfire-driven convection. PyroCb clouds contain large amounts of black carbon (BC) mixed with water and organics. BC particles have a large effect on our climate because they can absorb sunlight, but BC absorption depends on how it is mixed with other materials. Previously, the extent [...]
Modeling the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in the laboratory
2 October 2024
Ovchinnikov, Mikhail; Wang, Aaron
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
Clouds are one of the most uncertain components in numerical weather prediction and climate models. Mixed-phase clouds (those containing both supercooled liquid water and ice) can be especially challenging to represent. Theory predicts that when ice and liquid coexist in a cloud, ice crystals will grow while liquid droplets evaporate. [...]
Studying isolated deep convective clouds over the Amazon rainforest
2 October 2024
Gupta, Siddhant; Wang, Die
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
Deep convective clouds play a crucial role in precipitation, atmospheric circulation, and Earth’s energy budget. It is challenging to quantify the vertical motion of air within tall storm clouds formed by convection. These storm clouds are called deep convective clouds (DCCs). Vertical air motion affects critical cloud properties like size [...]