Aerosols, Convection, Clouds, and Climate Sensitivity: understanding the processes and climate impacts of the interactions between aerosol pollution and tropical convective clouds

Introduction

Interactions between anthropogenic aerosol particles and clouds are the largest source of uncertainty in the historical radiative forcing of climate. Aerosol effects on tropical deep convective clouds could constitute a major component of this forcing, but the underlying physical mechanisms are poorly understood, and the associated global climate forcing has not been rigorously quantified before.

Research Challenge

These knowledge gaps have been highlighted as an urgent research challenge in recent assessment reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Climate Research Programme.

Project Objectives

AC3S seeks to address this challenge by applying state-of-the-art observational and modeling techniques that span the disciplines of aerosol-cloud interactions and climate science. The project will be carried out in several phases:

1. Regional Analysis: I will perform regional analysis of satellite observations, in-situ aircraft measurements, and high-resolution numerical simulations to investigate hypotheses about the physical mechanisms that govern the interactions between aerosols and tropical deep convective clouds.

2. Global Assessment: I will analyze global satellite observations to attain the first rigorous assessment of global climate forcing from these aerosol-cloud interactions.

3. Synthesis and Implications: Finally, I will synthesize the evidence and quantify the implications of the results for Earth’s climate sensitivity to carbon-dioxide forcing and 21st-century global warming.

Expected Outcomes

This integrated approach will advance the field of aerosol-cloud-climate interactions and ensure that the results are immediately accessible to a broad audience, including policymakers and future IPCC assessment reports.