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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Dependencies of Simulated Convective Cell and System Growth Biases on Atmospheric Instability and Model Resolution

Abstract This study evaluates convective cell properties and their relationships with convective and stratiform rainfall within a season‐long convection‐permitting weather research and forecasting simulation over central Argentina using radar, satellite, and radiosonde measurements from the RELAMPAGO‐CACTI field campaign. The simulation slightly underestimates radar‐estimated rainfall over the ∼3.5‐month evaluation period but underestimates stratiform rainfall by 46% and overestimates convective rainfall by 43%. As convective available potential energy (CAPE) increases, the convective rainfall overestimation decreases, but the stratiform rainfall underestimation increases such that the contribution of convective to total rainfall remains constantly high biased by ∼26%. Overestimated convective rainfall arises from the simulation generating 2.6 times more precipitating convective cells (14,299) than observed by radar (5,662) despite similar observed and simulated cell growth processes, with relatively wide cells contributing mostly to excessive convective rainfall. Relatively shallow cells, typically reaching heights of 4–7 km, contribute most to the cell number bias. This cell number bias increases as CAPE decreases, potentially because cells and their updrafts become narrower and more under‐resolved as CAPE decreases. The gross overproduction of precipitating shallow cells leads to overly efficient precipitation and inadequate detrainment of ice aloft, thereby diminishing the formation of robust stratiform rainfall regions. Decreasing model horizontal grid spacing from 3 to 1 or 0.333 km for low (<300 J kg −1 ) and high CAPE (>1,000 J kg −1 ) cases results in minimal change to cell number, depth, and convective‐to‐stratiform partitioning biases. This suggests that improving prediction of these convective properties depends on factors beyond solely increasing model resolution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Constraining the Aerosol Effects on Deep Convective Clouds by Considering the Coupling Between Clouds and the Planetary Boundary Layer

Several mechanisms have been proposed for the aerosol invigoration effect. Although their principles are well established, their actual magnitudes and roles in cloud development remain uncertain and debatable. This uncertainty partly stems from observational-based studies, in which it has been challenging to separate the co-variability between aerosols and meteorology. Addressing this problem requires large data samples. To this end, this study employs the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement data set expanding to 16 years (some up to 17 years, compared to 10 years in previous work) in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. It also conducts a more careful and rigorous analysis to isolate the influences of convective available potential energy (CAPE) and synoptic patterns to address a previously raised concern. We incorporated a new key process affecting aerosol-cloud interaction: cloud-surface coupling. The state/degree of the coupling relationship turns out to play an important role in the invigoration effect. Our analysis reinforces earlier findings of a robust positive relationship between cloud thickness and aerosol loading across CAPE percentiles—but only under cloud-surface coupled conditions. The increase in cloud thickness with aerosol loading is most pronounced in coupled clouds with high CAPE and bases below 1 km. Coupled clouds with bases below 1 km thicken between 1 and 4 km, depending on the CAPE percentile. Decoupled clouds show no such systematic changes. Synoptic patterns also lead to different strengths of the invigoration effect. Clean and polluted air masses are predominantly associated with northerly and southerly winds, respectively, with a stronger invigoration effect in cleaner air masses.

Geosciences↗
NASA NTRS1992

Recommendations for a wind profiling network to support Space Shuttle launches

The feasibility is examined of a network of clear air radar wind profilers to forecast wind conditions before Space Shuttle launches during winter. Currently, winds are measured only in the vicinity of the shuttle launch site and wind loads on the launch vehicle are estimated using these measurements. Wind conditions upstream of the Cape are not monitored. Since large changes in the wind shear profile can be associated with weather systems moving over the Cape, it may be possible to improve wind forecasts over the launch site if wind measurements are made upstream. A radar wind profiling system is in use at the Space Shuttle launch site. This system can monitor the wind profile continuously. The existing profiler could be combined with a number of radars located upstream of the launch site. Thus, continuous wind measurements would be available upstream and at the Cape. NASA-Marshall representatives have set the requirements for radar wind profiling network. The minimum vertical resolution of the network must be set so that the wind shears over the depths greater than or = 1 km will be detected. The network should allow scientists and engineers to predict the wind profile over the Cape 6 hours before a Space Shuttle launch.

Zamora, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Convective available potential energy in the environment of oceanic and continental clouds: Correction and comments

In 1980, Zipser and LeMone estimated the convective available potential energy (CAPE) for the Thunderstorm Project cumulonimbus environment to be about 3000 J per kg. By assuming the most adiabat reported by Byers and Braham (1949) to be that of an undilute parcel rather than a reference moist adiabat, a significant error was introduced. On the basis of recent calculations made under similar conditions in Oklahoma and Florida, CAPE is now estimated to be considerably lower. These lower CAPE estimates shed doubt on the suggestion that differences in CAPE account for differences in the vertical velocities in convective updrafts over land and over the ocean.

Lucas, Christopher↗
NASA NTRS2015

Noachian Impact Ejecta on Murray Ridge and Pre-impact Rocks on Wdowiak Ridge, Endeavour Crater, Mars: Opportunity Observations

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been exploring Meridiani Planum since January 2004, and has completed 4227% of its primary mission. Opportunity has been investigating the geology of the rim of 22 km diameter Endeavour crater, first on the Cape York segment and now on Cape Tribulation. The outcrops are divided York; (ii) the Shoemaker fm, impact breccias representing ejecta from the crater; into three formations: (i) the lower Matijevic fm, a pre-impact lithology on Cape and (iii) the upper Grasberg fm, a post-impact deposit that drapes the lower portions of the eroded rim segments. On the Cape Tribulation segment Opportunity has been studying the rocks on Murray Ridge, with a brief sojourn to Wdowiak Ridge west of the rim segment. team member Thomas Wdowiak, who died in 2013.) One region of Murray Ridge has distinctive CRISM spectral characteristics indicating the presence of a small concentration of aluminous smectite based on a 2.2 micron Al-OH combination band (hereafter, the Al-OH region).

Mittlefehldt, D. W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Relative Contributions of Surface Parcel and Atmospheric Environment to Convective Potential during Interstorm Periods

Convective instability is affected by both surface heat fluxes into near-surface air parcels and the atmospheric profile encountered as these air parcels are lifted aloft. In this study, we investigate the evolution of buoyancy experienced by surface-based parcels, taking interstorm soil moisture drydowns as fundamental time periods. We use profile observations of atmospheric temperature and humidity from ground-based passive remote sensing and in situ observations available at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma, United States, and examine drydown events during the warm seasons from 2017 to 2022. Results reveal new insights on the emergence and growth of convective available potential energy (CAPE) during drydowns. We observe that the peak convective potential appears in the afternoon and grows in the midtroposphere (68% of 66 drydown events), with the largest CAPE values toward the end of the drydown event. We also find that the near-surface parcel contributes more to the evolution of CAPE than the atmospheric environment (86% of drydown events). These findings highlight the importance of surface heat fluxes and moisture availability from surface-based parcels in modulating the evolution of atmospheric conditions favorable for convection, underscoring the interplay between surface processes and atmospheric dynamics in driving convective instability.

Atmosphere-land interaction↗
NASA NTRS2015

Coordinated Field Campaigns in Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico

NASA's GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission concept recommended by the U.S. National Research Council (2007) focuses on measurements of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols and aquatic coastal ecology and biogeochemistry from geostationary orbit (35,786 km altitude). Two GEO-CAPE-sponsored multi-investigator ship-based field campaigns were conducted to coincide with the NASA Earth Venture Suborbital project DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality) field campaigns: (1) Chesapeake Bay in July 2011 and (2) northwestern Gulf of Mexico in September 2013. Goal: to evaluate whether GEO-CAPE coastal mission measurement and instrument requirements are optimized to address science objectives while minimizing ocean color satellite sensor complexity, size and cost - critical mission risk reduction activities. NASA continues to support science studies related to the analysis of data collected as part of these coordinated field campaigns and smaller efforts.

GoMex↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Effect of Updraft Entrainment on Convective Cell Deepening in Realistic Large-Eddy Simulations

Entrainment of surrounding cooler and drier air into convective updrafts is one of the key processes that influence deep convection initiation and growth. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of entrainment on isolated convective cloud growth in idealized simulations, but the importance of this effect in realistic conditions with many interacting convective clouds remains uncertain. We examine the impact of entrainment on the depth reached by convective clouds in realistic large-eddy simulations (LES) over central Argentina during the Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign. Cloudy updrafts and their associated properties are assigned to convective cells tracked with radar reflectivity signatures. Several thousand convective cells are tracked over two high convective available potential energy (CAPE) and two low CAPE cases that support cells of varying depths and intensities. Entrainment is calculated explicitly as the fluxes of air into the outer surface of each cloudy updraft. Single-predictor logistic regression models are used to determine the relative importance of updraft, near-updraft, and preconvective initiation atmospheric conditions in predicting whether convective cells become deep. We then build a multiple-predictor regression model pairing important updraft and meteorological metrics with fractional entrainment rate. The probability of cells transitioning to deep convection is most sensitive to ambient 600-hPa relative humidity (42% of total metric contribution to cloud depth predictability), followed by low-level CAPE (28%), cloud-base updraft width (19%), and fractional entrainment (11%). Thus, the initial width of the updraft along with potential buoyancy and its dilution through the midtroposphere collectively determine whether deep convection will result from shallower clouds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Observed Variability in Convective Cell Characteristics and Near-Storm Environments across the Sea- and Bay-Breeze Fronts in Southeast Texas

Abstract During the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) IOP spanning June–September 2022, two fixed ARM sites and a mobile team concurrently sampled the airmass heterogeneity across sea- and bay-breeze fronts around the greater Houston metropolitan region. Here, we quantify the spatiotemporal variability between maritime (coastal/bay side of breeze fronts) and continental (inland side of breeze fronts) air masses over 15 IOP days characterized by strong sea-breeze forcing. We analyze environmental profile data from 177 radiosondes and use S- and C-band radar data to track and quantify the variability in attributes of more than 2300 shallow and transitioning cells across different air masses. The composite analysis of environmental profiles indicates that during the early afternoon, the sea-breeze maritime air mass exhibits lower convective available potential energy (CAPE) than the bay-breeze maritime air mass. As the sea breeze advances inland with time, CAPE within the maritime air mass exceeds that of the continental air mass to the north of the breeze fronts. In general, maritime cells have a larger mean composite reflectivity and cell widths than continental cells; however, the response varies between shallow and transitioning cells. Mean composite 20-dB Z echo-top heights, however, are similar across air masses for both shallow and transitioning cells. The continental and maritime inflow air mass for transitioning cells has significantly different mean values for mixed-layer entrainment CAPE, lifted condensation level, level of free condensation, boundary layer depth, and diluted equilibrium level. For shallow cells, only total precipitable water shows a significant difference. Significance Statement The greater Houston metropolitan area is a natural laboratory for understanding the individual impacts of background meteorology and aerosols on convective clouds. Due to its proximity to the Gulf Coast and Galveston Bay, the Houston region experiences a diurnal precipitation cycle in the summer, driven by convection triggered from sea- and bay-breeze fronts. These fronts act as a boundary between air masses with distinct thermodynamic and environmental characteristics. Convergence along these fronts and interactions between storm outflow and the fronts facilitate convection initiation in different mesoscale air masses. This study quantifies the heterogeneity among these air masses while investigating their influence on cloud microphysics. We find that the effect of airmass heterogeneity is more pronounced for the bulk microphysical properties in shallow clouds.

Sharma, Milind↗
NASA NTRS1973

Coastal and submarine features on MSS imagery of Southeastern Massachusetts: Comparison with conventional maps

Three ERTS-1, MSS images of southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod Bay, Cape Cod, and Nantucket Sound, show a variety of dynamic geologic and hydrologic phenomena. Coastal features imaged include the coastline at different time in the tidal cycle, harbors, lakes and ponds, marshes (wetlands), and beach and dune areas; submarine features include tidal flats, shoals, dredged and natural channels, and bars. Comparison with conventional maps at 1:1,000,000 and 1:250,000 scales show many inaccuracies between the ERTS imagery and the two map scales. The ERTS-1 imagery can be used to increase the accuracy of these maps, portray additional environmental information, and provide the capability for frequent updating of maps at such scales. ERTS-1 imagery provides a very cost effective method for provision of certain types of environmental data for Cape Cod and environs.

Williams, R. S., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Global atmospheric distribution and trend of methylchloroform /CH3CCl3/

Results of global measurements of the concentration of atmospheric methylchloroform, a man-made gas with potentially harmful environmental consequences, performed over a two-year period are presented. Samples were collected weekly at Pt. Barrow and Poker Flats, Alaska, Cape Meares, Oregon, Cape Kumakahi, Hawaii, Samoa, and Cape Grim, Tasmania, and yearly at the South Pole, and methylchloroform concentrations were determined by electron capture-gas chromatographic techniques. A latitudinal profile of CH3CCl3 concentrations derived from the data exhibits a bump at high northern latitudes, where most of the sources are located. Average concentrations calculated for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres showed a rise in global concentrations at a rate of 6.7 + or - 2.0%/year for the period from January 1979 to January 1981, with concentrations rising more slowly in 1980 than in 1979. These yearly increases are also smaller than earlier rates of increase, explainable by a reduction in the rate of emission increase, and are consistent with an atmospheric lifetime of between 6 and 10 years.

Rasmussen, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Trends of atmospheric methane in the Southern Hemisphere

Atmospheric observations spanning the past three years show that methane increased at 1.2 (plus or minus 0.3)% per year at Cape Grim in Tasmania (41 deg S). This rate of increase can be compared to the 1.9 (plus or minus 0.4)% per year observed at Cape Meares in Oregon (45 deg N) over the past two years. Over the corresponding period the concentration at Cape Grim increased by 1.4 (plus or minus 0.4)% per year. The Southern Hemisphere data also suggest seasonal variations with minimum concentrations in March and maximum in September. These results are based on 26 large-volume stable air samples collected cryogenically in stainless steel flasks and 75 smaller-volume air samples collected in glass flasks, all analyzed by a gas chromatograph using a flame ionization detector.

Fraser, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Systematic chemical variations in large 3AB iron meteorites: Clues to core crystallization

Analysis of numerous individual iron meteorites have shown that fractional crystallization of iron cores result in variations in chemical concentration of the solid core which span several orders of magnitude. The magnitude and direction of the resulting spatial gradients in the core can provide clues to the physical nature of the core crystallization process. We have analyzed suites of samples from three large 3AB irons (Cape York, 58t; Chupaderos, 24t; Morito, 10t) in order to estimate local chemical gradients. Initial results for the concentrations of Ge, Pd, Pt (Massey group), Ir, Au, As, Co, Os, and Rh (Dalhouse group), and P (Arizona group) show significant ranges among the Cape York and Chupaderos samples and marginally significant ranges among the Morito samples. Measurements of Au, Ir, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, As, W, Re (from UCLA) and Ni and Co (Arizona group) are in progress. We find a spatial Ir gradient in Chupaderos with a magnitude similar to the one reported for Agpalilik (Cape York iron) by Esbensen et al.

Haack, H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Measurements of lower tropospheric ozone at mid-latitudes of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere

Ground-based measurements of ozone have been carried out at three stations in the German alps (47 deg N, 11 deg E, altitudes 740, 1776, and 2962 m a.s.l.) as well as at the coastal station Cape Point (34 deg S, 18 deg E). For the mountain sites (at 1776 and 2962 m), trend calculations based on monthly means have yielded O3 growth rates of 0.8 and 0.9 ppbv yr(exp -1), respectively, over the period 1978-91. Seasonally differentiated data sets have yielded higher rates for summer than for winter. The impact of near-ground photochemical O3 production on the observed O3 concentration is shown. No significant long-term O3 trend has been observed at 740 m (valley floor) as well as at the southern hemispheric station Cape Point. Evidence exists for a close relationship between the amplitude variations of the annual cycles of O3 and CO at Cape Point.

Scheel, Hans-Eckhart↗
NASA NTRS1994

Site velocities before and after the Loma Prieta and Gulf of Alaska earthquakes determined from VLBI

We use geodetic data from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to determine the pre- and postseismic velocities of two sites. We then place limits on variations in interseismic strain buildup. The 1987 and 1988 Gulf of Alaska earthquakes (each Ms = 7.6) broke the Pacific plate interior. During the earthquakes the Cape Yakataga site moved 78 mm toward southwest. During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (Ms = 7.1) the Fort Ord site moved 48 mm toward north. Baselines (a) from Fairbanks to Cape Yakataga and (b) from Mojave to Fort Ord change at nearly the same rate before and after the earthquakes. Postseismic transients, which we determine from differences between post- and preseismic rates, are minor: at Cape Yakataga the transient is 3 +/- 4 mm in a postseismic interval of 23 months, and at Fort Ord the transient is 6 +/- 5 mm in 21 months. The slip beneath the Loma Prieta rupture needed to generate the Fort Ord transient is 0.22 +/- 0.19 m, one-tenth the coseismic slip (2 m). We analyze elastic lithosphere-viscous asthenosphere models to determine that the characteristic time describing exponential decay in deep fault slip is longer than 6 years. The VLBI measurements are consistent with uniform interseismic strain buildup. They disagree with fast postseismic rates caused by an asthenosphere with very low viscosity.

Argus, Donald F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Land-Atmosphere Interactions: Successes, Problems and Prospects

After two decades of active research, a much better understanding of the broader role of biospheric processes on the local climate has emerged. A surface-albedo increase, particularly in desert border regions of the subtropics (as well as the deforested tropical regions), leads to a net surface energy deficit, which in turn leads to a relative sinking and reduced rainfall. On the other hand, studies of the influence of altered ratios of evapotranspiration and sensible fluxes, in situations where the net solar income is unchanged, show that evapotranspiration is a more desirable flux for increased precipitation and vitality of the biosphere. Besides providing water vapor and convective available potential energy (CAPE) to the lower troposphere, evapotranspiration helps in building larger CAPE before "turning on" the moist-convection. Larger CAPE in the lower troposphere enables convection to reach into the deeper atmosphere thereby heating the upper troposphere; indeed, moist-convection is also accompanied by the evaporation of falling precipitation that cools and moistens the lower atmosphere. While convective, as opposed to stratiform, precipitation reduces the fractional cloud cover; it also allows more solar radiation to reach the surface thereby invigorating surface fluxes. These, together with moist convection and associated downdrafts help to maintain the characteristic upper temperature limit(s) of the moist-land as well as oceanic regions. Regardless of the above understanding, several important problems continue to hinder the accurate simulation of a realistic land atmosphere interaction in a numerical model (both GCM and/or Meso-scale models). Among the unsolved problems are parameterization of sub-grid scale land processes that include small-scale variability of soil moisture, snow-cover and snow-physics, the biodiversity of the biosphere, orography, local drainage characteristics under natural conditions, and surface flow over the natural terrain. A well-known non-linear response of surface fluxes to these variations makes the problem of parameterizing land-atmosphere interaction processes hard-to-address and simulate, particularly in a GCM. In our presentation, we will discuss how orographic, snow-cover, and water table interactions can be included into a Simple Biosphere Model such as SiB/SSiB. Figure I shows how, in the Russian region, spring snowmelt affects the soil moisture profile. Corresponding figure 2 shows how interaction with the water table decreases the natural evapotranspiration in the Sahel region simulation. While these simulations need better validation with data, the simulations reveal that surface processes are sensitive to these parameterizations. With these developments, we continue to advance our understanding of the interaction of land with the atmosphere aloft, but the intrinsic variability of the newer parameters, e. g., hydraulic properties of the soil, diminish the positive influences of these advances on the improved climate simulation with GCMs.

Sud, Y. C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Environmental Characteristics of Convective Systems During TRMM-LBA

In this paper, data collected from 51 days of continual upper atmospheric soundings and TOGA radar at ABRACOS Hill during the TRMM-LBA experiment are used to describe the mean thermodynamic and kinematic airmass properties of wet season convection over Rondonia, Brazil. Distinct multi-day easterly and westerly lower tropospheric wind regimes occurred during the campaign with contrasting airmass characteristics. Westerly wind periods featured modest CAPE (1000 J/kg), moist conditions (>90% RH) extending through 700 mb and shallow (900 mb) speed shear on the order of 10(exp -4)/s. This combination of characteristics promoted convective systems that featured a relatively large fraction of stratiform rainfall and weak convection nearly devoid of lightning. The environment is very similar to the general airmass conditions experienced during the Darwin, Australia monsoon convective regime. In contrast, easterly regime convective systems were more strongly electrified and featured larger convective rain rates and reduced stratiform rainfall fraction. These systems formed in an environment with significantly larger CAPE (1500 J/kg), drier lower and middle level humidities (< 80% RH) and a wind shear layer that was both stronger (10(exp -3)/s) and deeper (700 mb). The larger CAPE resulted from strong insolation under relatively cloud-free skies (owing to reduced column humidity) and was also weakly capped in the lowest 1-2 km, thus contributing to a more explosive growth of convection. The time series of low- and mid-level averaged humidity exhibited marked variability between westerly and easterly regimes and was characterized by low frequency (i.e., multi-day to weekly) oscillations. The synoptic scale origins of these moisture fluctuations are examined, which include the effects of variable low-level airmass trajectories and upper-level, westward migrating cyclonic vortices. The results reported herein provide an environmental context for ongoing dual Doppler analyses and numerical modeling case studies of individual TRMM-LBA convective systems.

Halverson, Jeffrey B.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report. Volume Six

In the course of its inquiry into the February 1, 2003 destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board conducted a series of public hearings at Houston, Texas; Cape Canaveral, Florida; and Washington, DC. Testimony from these hearings was recorded and then transcribed. This appendix, Volume VI of the Report, is a compilation of those transcripts. Contents: Transcripts of Board Public Hearings; Appendix H.1 March 6, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.2 March 17, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.3 March 18, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H. 4 March 25, 2003 Cape Canaveral, Florida; Appendix H.5 March 26, 2003 Cape Canaveral, Florida; Appendix H.6 April 7, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.7 April 8, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.8 April 23, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.9 May 6, 2003 Houston, Texas; Appendix H.10 June 12, 2003 Washington, DC.

CAIB (COLUMBIA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BOARD)↗