VOCALS The focus of VOCALS is to better understand and simulate how marine boundary layer cloud systems surrounding the Americas interact with the coupled.

VOCALS

The focus of VOCALS is to better understand and simulate how marine boundary layer cloud systems surrounding the Americas interact with the coupled ocean-atmosphere-land system on diurnal to interannual timescales.

VOCALS•An overall goal of VEPIC (VAMOS Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate) is to develop and promote scientific activities leading to improved understanding and simulation of southeastern Pacific stratus decks, their interaction with weather systems (including deep convection), the seasonal cycle and interannual climate variations over South America, and their feedback with the underlying ocean.

•VEPIC activities include diagnostic and modeling studies, new sustained observations, and pilot and intensive enhanced observational programs.

•VOCALS is a process study that builds on progress from EPIC2001, modeling, remote sensing, and sustained observations.

Marine stratocumulus clouds play key roles in the climate of the tropics.The southeastern Pacific and Atlantic host two of the major tropical stratocumulus cloud decks. Pilot observations in EPIC indicate differences in the MABL structure in the Peru/Chile stratus from those studied off California and the Azores.

VOCALS Scientific Issues• On what time and space scales does continental

heating/mechanical forcing impact boundary layer cloud/radiative forcing?

• How sensitive is the overall tropical circulation and ENSO to variations of Eastern Pacific cloud topped boundary layer properties and why?

• What are dominant feedbacks on seasonal to interannual time scales among Sc clouds, surface winds, upwelling, coastal currents and SST in E Pacific?

• Does natural and anthropogenic aerosol variability significantly modulate the Sc?

• What processes control SST and upper ocean heat content and structure over the domain?

• What is the connectivity of the ocean to remote regions?

Steps towards VOCALS• Studies during EPIC and annual cruises to service the WHOI

mooring at 20°S, 85°W have identified distinct spatial and temporal variability of the cloud deck and deficiencies in the models

• Persistent patches of clear sky (POCS) and aerosol and radar observations have led to interest in cloud microphysics and drizzle

• These observations also point to a strong diurnal cycle and support the belief that a propagating subsidence wave is responsible, indicating that the Andes and flow blocking play a role in Sc dynamics

• Accurate air-sea fluxes and oceanographic observations at the WHOI mooring point to oceanic Rossby waves having a significant role in maintaining the local heat balance and setting SST under the stratus

• Close to the coast different processes have been identified, including O-A interactions thru trapped coastal (e.g. Kelvin) waves, coastal jets, and upwelling

• Tropical and extratropical disturbances have impacts on stratus cloud deck

• Feedback between cool SST, ABL stability, cloud cover remains a focus

6-day EPIC buoy period soundings vs. global models

• Forecast models and esp. GCMs underestimate ABL depth.• Cloud is too shallow, thin (but surface drizzle still too high).

(Bretherton et al. 2004)

(Weller)

Operational models have problems with surface fluxes

MODIS visible reflectance, 15Z 20 Oct. 2001

POCS

Modis effective cloud droplet radius – large (clean) in polynya small in coastal pollution

POCs drizzle more

Figure by Kim Comstock/Rob Wood

Can we model apparent local aerosol-cloud-drizzle feedback?

U. Chile has installed ceilometer and surface met at San Felix Is.

LCL (surface met)

Cloud base (ceilometer)

Shows daytime rise of LCL, cld. base, with synoptic variations

Well-mixed

Decoupled

Mostly clearGarreaud

Slide 14

[cm s-1] ECMWF VERTICAL VELOCITY

[dBZ]10

-10

0

EPIC2001-Sc Diurnal Cycle(20S, 85 W)

Wood

Daytime subsidence max

AM subsidence max PM subsidence max

Diurnal variation of horizontal surface wind divergence from Quikscat

Hypothesis: Subsidence wave driven by diurnal heating cycle over Andes reaches buoy at noon.

seabreeze

?

Wood

18LT06LT

MM5 simulation also shows late afternoon convergence at coast, midnight ascent at buoy!

Garreaud

Ekman heat flux (numbers and color contours) is a small contribution to local heat balance. Climatological SST isolines are close to parallel to wind stress in offshore region.

Mesoscale variability associated with Rossby waves

VOCALS - Process Study Foci

Cloud/drizzle/aerosol interactions Further offshore, usually larger cloud drop radius• Why? More aerosol near the coast? Pollution?

Ocean productivity, DNS? Salt/wind?• How does this feedback on mean Sc albedo?

Vertical PBL structure?

Ocean• Ekman .vs. eddy heat transport to the west .vs. air-sea

interaction• Vertical mixing at buoy: role of “sagging trades”,

comparison with ocean GCMs• Horizontal extent of nutrients and relation to offshore

transport mechanisms• Space/time nature of eddy heat transport offshore• Vertical ocean (and atmosphere) cross-section along a

latitude line• Regional ocean modeling of 1500 km nearest South

American coast• Coastal wind jet and relation with coastal upwelling and

clouds

VOCALS - Process Study Foci

COUPLED ISSUES• Seasonal cycle of SST

• Continental influence on long timescales

• Cloud feedbacks on ENSO

VOCALS - Process Study Foci

VOCALS Strategies

• Oct 2007 process study preceeded by enhanced monitoring.

• Global and mesoscale model evaluation and improvement (e.g parameterization development) using multiscale data sets.

• Model sensitivity studies to refine hypotheses and target observations.

• Science by synthesis/use of existing data sets, enhancement through targeted instrument procurement, algorithm evaluation and development, and enhanced observation periods.

• Co-ordination with oceanographic, aerosol, cloud process communities, including CLIVAR CPT, CLOUDSAT, etc.

Implementation of VOCALS•Oct 2007 process study preceeded by enhanced

monitoring.

•Global and mesoscale model evaluation and improvement (e.g parameterization development) using multiscale data sets.

•Model sensitivity studies to refine hypotheses and target observations.

•Science by synthesis/use of existing data sets, enhancement through targeted instrument procurement, algorithm evaluation and development, and enhanced observation periods.

•Co-ordination with oceanographic, aerosol, cloud process communities, including CLIVAR CPT, CLOUDSAT, etc.

Implementation of VOCALSUtilize annual cruises to WHOI buoy, extend the track to sample the cloud deck and pass by San Felix; utilize cruise by Chile, Peru, CPPS

Proposed Dec 2004 cruise track

Implementation of VOCALS

Implementation of VOCALS2007 Process Study - Oct 2007

Aircraft - Chris Brethertoncloud radar, aerosols, cloud microphysics, fluxesdropsondes, SST, passive microwave (cloud liquid water)Iquique

Aerosondes - Steve Esbenson (Bob Wellerto contact)San Felix/Iquiqueflying radiosonde temp/humidity/ radiationaerosols

Ship1 - Chris Fairallcloud radar, fluxes, aerosols, C-band,lidar, biologySeaSoar/ADCP

Ship 2 Oscar Pizarrocoastal oceanography and meteorology, biology

CPPS cruise - Rodrigo Nunez, Pilar Cornejo, Jose Rutllant, Antonio Rodriguez, Efrain RodriguezEdwin Pinto, Eduardo Lazo

costal oceanography and meteorology

Implementation of VOCALS2007 Process Study - Oct 2007

WHOI buoy - Bob Wellerair-sea flux, Temp, sal, veloc

SHOA buoy - Rodrigo Nunezinstrumentation, work soon to add

Easter Island transect - Rodrigo NunexCoastal moorings - Oscar Pizarro

add temp, T/S/P sensorsArgo floats/surface drifters - enhancement for Oct 2007

Bob Weller/Mike PattersonSan Felix - Jose Rutllant, Rene Garreaud, Bruce Albrecht,

Chilean met, Steve Esbensen, radiosondespowerlow power ceilometer, aerosols,wind profiler, cloud radar, aerosondes

Coastal observations - Rene Garreaudenhancement

Satellite Bretherton/WoodData Management - Williams

Implementation of VOCALSPreparation for 2007:

CPPS coastal cruise every year

Research cruise data to be mined

San Felix Island mid 2006 enhanced instrumentation

DART buoy enhanced instrumentation

Remote sensing

Modelling CIIFEN, UdeC, U ChileBretherton CPT, Roberto Mechoso

Deploying ARGO floats, SST drifters to augment coverage

Implementation of VOCALSTimeline:

March 2004 VPM7 assignmentsMay 2004 Chile/Peru naval cruiseJune 1 2004 revised VOCALS planJune 2004 CLIVAR BaltimoreOct 2004 CPPS cruiseNov 2004 Arica-Valparaiso cruise, WHOI buoy

Jan 2005 VOCALS field/modelling workshopValparaiso meeting

March 2005 VPM8May 2005 Chile/Peru naval cruiseOct 2005 CPPS cruiseNov 2005 WHOI cruiseMarch 2006 VPM9June 2006 San Felix enhancedOct 2006 dry-run workshopOct 2006 CPPS cruiseNov 2006March 2007 VPM10

Oct 2007 VOCALS process study

Recommended Actions - 1

•Major continuing efforts in diagnostic, sensitivity, parameterization studies of SE Pac stratocumulus and variability based on past field studies, satellite/model products, and observational enhancements.

•Add an ocean diagnostic study component based on ARGO/ODA, cruises, WHOI buoy aimed at better understanding of ocean upwelling/lateral heat transport processes and their reln. to atmospheric variability.

•Global atm./coupled, mesoscale atm., and regional ocean modeling.

•VOCAL ‘radiator fin’ coupled O-A-L expt. (Oct 07)

Recommended Actions - 2

•Augment San Felix Island instrumentation with wind profiler, radiation, microwave LWP, and aerosol sampler.

•Augment DART buoy, coastal buoy, coastal stations

•NOAA/ETL sfc/remote sensing instrumentation on Pacific and Atlantic buoy maintenance cruises, as well as in RICO.

•Develop a VOCAL data set through a distributed satellite/model/in situ data archive maintained by JOSS. Archive ECMWF and NCEP hi-res column data at WHOI buoy, SFI in co-ordination with CEOP.

•Coordinate with proposed US CLIVAR cloud-climate sensitivity “climate process team” (CPT) to feed into coupled model development.

Low-latitude cloud feedback Climate Process Team

Goal: Reduce uncertainty in low-latitude cloud feedbacks on climate sensitivity.

• In-depth diagnosis of cloud feedbacks in models.

• Implement ‘best-practices’ parameterizations honed via single-column methods, newest observations.

• Start with boundary-layer clouds, move to deep convective systems.

Recommended Actions - 3

•Improve cloud/aerosol instrumentation on the R/V Ronald Brown (cloud radar and aerosol sampling) as part of her standard equipment package.

•Organize a special VOCALS cruise and flights to co-ordinate, evaluate and synthesize the long-term sampling from buoys, drifting floats, coastal and island stations and satellites.

•Support a radiosonde observation period at San Felix or Juan Fernandez Islands in co-ordination with the VAMOS/SALLJ field campaign.

Diurnal subsidence wave

Cld microphys. gradient

Ocn heat transport

Coastal jet

• 3-4 weeks• Surveyed in a radiator pattern by ship (ocn, cld obs)• Aircraft flights along

VOCALS ‘radiator-fin’ experiment ca. Oct. 2007• Transect between WHOI buoy and coast• Goals: Cloud/aerosol interactions, PBL diurnal cycle

mesoscale ocean structure

buoy