Tying in High Resolution E3SM with ARM Data (THREAD)

Constraining cloud and precipitation processes using observational data

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Quick facts

  • Livermore’s Atmospheric System Research (ASR) team focuses on physical mechanisms controlling the development of the planetary boundary layer, clouds, and precipitation; how clouds and precipitation interact with the underlying land surface; and how well these interactive processes are represented in models designed to simulate current climate and future conditions.
  • To reduce uncertainties in climate modeling, the ASR team are using observational data to determine which of the model-simulated responses of clouds and precipitation to environmental conditions and their variation are realistic and predictable.
  • Access to decades of DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) continuous ground-based observations gathered in climate-critical locations helps enable cloud modeling evaluation and enhancement.

Clouds play a vital role in weather and climate by affecting the transfer of solar radiation and by transporting and delivering precipitation in the form of rain, snow, and ice. How climate change will affect cloud behavior remains the top uncertainty associated with climate change prediction.  Lawrence Livermore scientists—recognized leaders in cloud processes research—are developing a mechanistic understanding of clouds through observations, diagnosis of parameterized processes in climate models, and analysis of their responses to various environmental conditions in current and future climate scenarios.

Schematic diagram illustrating the approaches, science foci, and tools for THREAD.
Schematic diagram illustrating the approaches, science foci, and tools for THREAD, a project bridging DOE’s ARM and E3SM programs. THREAD uses Atmospheric Radiation Measurement observations for diagnosis and improvement of E3SM’s kilometer-scale model configuration known as the Simplified Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmospheric Model (SCREAM).

Tying in High Resolution E3SM with ARM Data (THREAD), a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science project that began in October 2022, aims to integrate the two predominant capabilities of DOE’s climate science research, the global kilometer grid-scale storm resolving configuration of E3SM—SCREAM—and the long-term, comprehensive, ground-based Atmospheric Radiation Measurement climate monitoring capability. The THREAD team is employing three modeling tools in their research, including a regionally refined version of SCREAM featuring 3.25 km resolution over the region where ARM data is captured, a highly efficient stand-alone cloud-resolving version of SCREAM, and a single-column model linked to the physics of comparatively lower-resolution versions of E3SM. Their project aims to answer three science questions:

  • How can we effectively diagnose a model’s strengths and weaknesses and transfer process-level understanding based on observations into model improvements?
  • How well can SCREAM represent the interactions between mesoscale variables (which occur on the scale of 5 kilometers to several hundred kilometers) and smaller-scale processes, such as those controlling the formation of clouds and precipitation?
  • How well can SCREAM represent the physics-based interactions between land and atmosphere at various time scales?

Coming soon

The THREAD team is also exploring machine learning methods for constraining turbulence and its relationship to microphysics in the model. Further, the team is partnering closely with SCREAM developers to ensure any model enhancements resulting from the research can be rapidly incorporated into SCREAM.

Learn more about cloud modeling

Contact

Yunyan Zhang
 [email protected]