Research Highlights

 

Highlights will be written for high-level accomplishments and published journal articles of ASR research. Each PI should submit one highlight per fiscal year.

Recent Highlights

Objective determination of synoptic states

4 November 2018

Mechem, David B.

Supported by: ASR

Research area: Cloud Distributions/Characterizations

Studies that explore aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions must account for the different environments in which these processes occur. This effort demonstrates an objective approach based on self-organizing maps (SOMs) to classify the synoptic state (meteorological environment) that is sufficiently general to be applied to any geographical area.

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Mean precipitation change from a deepening troposphere

3 November 2018

Romps, David

Supported by: ASR

Research area: Radiation Processes

Why does the equilibrated global precipitation rate increase at roughly 2% per K in all global climate models?  Despite the ubiquity of this result, we have not yet had an explanation for it.

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Molecular and physical characteristics of aerosol at Pico Mountain Observatory in the Azores

23 October 2018

Mazzoleni, Lynn R; Mazzoleni, Claudio

Supported by: ASR

Research area: Aerosol Processes

Oxidation plays an important role in governing the interactions of organic aerosol with clouds and atmospheric heterogeneous chemical reactions. To learn more about the chemistry of long-range-transported free tropospheric aerosol, we studied the molecular composition of organic aerosol collected at the Pico Mountain Observatory in the Azores. 

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Time scales in study of turbulent entrainment-mixing processes

23 October 2018

Liu, Yangang

Supported by: ARM ASR

Research area: Cloud Processes

Different microphysical time scales, including droplet evaporation time, phase relaxation time, and reaction time, have been used in investigation of turbulent entrainment-mixing processes and their effects on cloud microphysical properties. This study addresses the outstanding question of which is the proper microphysical time scale and reconciles the differences.

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Different regimes and active regions of aerosol indirect effects

23 October 2018

Liu, Yangang

Supported by: ASR

Research area: Cloud-Aerosol-Precipitation Interactions

Different regimes of aerosol indirect effects and the active regions over the global ocean are studied and identified by analyzing long-term satellite measurements of aerosol and cloud properties.

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