Research Highlights

 

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.

Recent Highlights

SCREAM Underestimates Supercooled Cloud Liquid Water

11 September 2024

Zhang, Yunyan; Zheng, Xue

Supported by: ARM ASR

Research area: Cloud Processes

Cold air outbreaks (CAOs) happen when cold, dry air flows over warmer ocean areas, creating extensive boundary layer clouds. Marine CAOs and their associated planetary boundary layer and cloud fields present challenges for numerical models, including kilometer-scale models like the DOE global Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM). This is [...]

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Turbulent effects on droplet coalescence: a crucial factor for observed rain development

3 September 2024

Morrison, Hugh Clifton

Supported by: ASR

Research area: Cloud Processes

As a critical factor governing the life cycle and radiative forcing of clouds, rain formation is a key element of weather and climate. Cloud microphysics–turbulence interactions occur across a wide range of scales and are challenging to represent in atmospheric models with limited resolution. The goal of this study is [...]

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Using SAIL data to examine cold-season precipitation in complex terrain

28 August 2024

Feldman, Daniel; Heflin, Stella

Supported by: ARM ASR

Research area: Atmospheric Thermodynamics and Vertical Structures

This case study focused on a series of successive winter storms in the Rocky Mountain range of the Upper Colorado River Basin, where a deeper understanding of precipitation is important not just to advancing atmospheric science in complex terrain, but also to many end-users, including those that focus on avalanche [...]

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