Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N008375/1
Disentangling aerosol effects on shallow convection from meteorological co-variability
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor P Stier, University of Oxford, Oxford Physics
- Grant held at:
- University of Oxford, Oxford Physics
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Water In The Atmosphere
- Cloud droplets
- Cloud dynamics
- Cloud physics
- Cloud types
- Climate & Climate Change
- Regional & Extreme Weather
- Convective cloud & precip
- Abstract:
- Clouds play a key role in the earth system. Shallow convection is by far the most frequent global cloud regime yet its representation in global weather and climate models remains insufficient. While aerosol effects on shallow convection have been suggested from theory, modelling and observations, they remain highly uncertain. This project has the objective to disentangle aerosol effects on shallow convection from the meteorological co-variability inherent in observational studies. It builds on novel capabilities of the high-resolution set-up of the MetOffice Unified Model making it possible for the student to: 1) Accurately simulate aerosol-cloud interactions in large domains (~1000km) 2) Anchor these simulations with long-term observations 3) Disentangle aerosol-cloud co-variability from physical effects and understand the dominant physics in different cloudaerosol regimes 4) Determine the impact of aerosol-cloud interactions on weather forecasting performance and propose a practical framework for parametrizing aerosol-cloud interactions in coarse scale models This project will i) help to quantify and reduce the large uncertainties related to aerosol-cloud interactions, ii) investigate, evaluate and improve the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in the weather forecasting and climate modelling configurations of the MetOffice model and the UK Earth System Model, providing benefits to the MetOffice, the Earth Observation community and UK Space Agency and the World Climate Research Programme through a new GEWEX initiative. The student will be supervised by two experts in this area: Prof Philip Stier (Oxford), will be the main supervisor and oversee the student progress, and Prof Paul Field (MetOffice) and benefit significantly from the partnership approach through: 1) the combination of academic and professional (more targeted) supervision provided by experts in the area; 2) an understanding of the requirements for science in an operational context; 3) the experience and world leading expertise of the MetOffice in the development and evaluation of cloud representations in numerical models; 4) access to the leading facilities provided by the MetOffice (training, HPC, storage, support, code integration). The scale of the novel cloud-fieldresolving simulations performed in this project would not be possible in a PhD project without access to facilities and expertise provided by the MetOffice. In addition, the student will conduct the model evaluation using data of the Max Planck Institute's Barbados observatory during a research sojourn to MPI (visit funded by MPI, see project partner contributions), providing an international dimension. The student will be affiliated with the Physical Climate Stream of the Oxford DTP, providing an outstanding training environment in a year-group of 30 students across NERC's remit. This project is designed as a four-year programme, providing an advanced research skills and transferable skills programme supporting the student's professional development in addition to the core research outlined above. This project will facilitate cooperation between the Climate Processes group in Oxford Physics with Foundation Science of the MetOffice building on a track record of successful collaboration of the Climate Processes Group with the MetOffice Climate Science team on of aerosol cloud interactions.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N008375/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £92,105
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £18,758 | £62,349 | £11,000 |
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