Judith A. Curry - US grants

In support of the TOGA/COARE objectives, this project is a study of the surface radiative processes in the western Pacific warm pool region. The objective of the program is to provide analyses of: sea-surface "skin" temperature, precipitable water, cloud properties, and components of the surface longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes, with spatial resolution of 30 km and temporal resolution of 3 hours for the entire TOGA COARE primary domain. The data for the analyses will be obtained principally by satellite remote sensing, with the ISCCP data set and algorithms playing a substantial role. Available surface and aircraft data will be utilized to validate the remote sensing algorithms and will also be blended with the satellite retrievals for the final analysis products. An aircraft sub-program is proposed specifically to investigate cloud-radiative properties, and to validate the satellite-derived surface fluxes. The proposed research will be accomplished in three stages: i) remote sensing pilot study to develop and compare satellite algorithms; ii) validation of remote sensing algorithms using TOGA COARE IOP surface and aircraft observations and preparation of high-resolution analyses for the IOP; and iii) diagnostic and studies modeling studies utilizing the analyzed fields. Diagnostic fluxes by synoptic and mesoscale atmospheric focing will be conducted. The temporal response of the ocean mixed layer to fluctuations in the surface radiative fluxes will be examined using an ocean mixed-layer model. The ocean mixed-layer model will be coupled to an atmospheric radiative-convective model to assess the radiative and cloud feedbacks occurring between the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers. This research is important because it serves as one of the principal TOGA/COARE studies of the processes responsible for sensitive region of the world, the western Pacific Ocean, the field site of TOGA/COARE.

9320938 Curry This project is an integrated experimental and modeling effort to understand and interpret the evolution of sea ice characteristics, cloud properties, and radiation fluxes during the autumnal freezing of the coastal waters of the Beaufort Sea. It will carried out in the scientific context of the Beaufort and Arctic Seas Experiment (BASE), a Canadian program whose objective is an improved understanding of weather systems in the Canadian Arctic, and whose focus is the hydrologic balance of the Mackenzie River. This project will make use of the NCAR C-130 aircraft, and BASE will provide substantial synergistic observational facilities. The direct aircraft observations will be supplemented by satellite data to extend the time and space scales of the analyses, and will be used to interpret and validate satellite retrieval algorithms. A three-dimensional mesoscale model of the atmosphere will be used to interpret the temporal and spatial evolution of the sea ice cover and the atmospheric boundary layer characteristics. A coupled sea ice model will be used to interpret the physical processes of the sea ice that respond to atmospheric forcing. The result of the research will be an improved understanding of the atmospheric modulation of the surface radiation balance and the effect of the radiation balance on the freezing of coastal waters. ***

Research supported by this grant is under the auspices of the Arctic Systems Science (ARCSS) Global Change Research Program and is jointly sponsored by the Division of Ocean Sciences and the Office of Polar Programs. Work to be performed represents preliminary steps towards a major 5-year research project named SHEBA, which is envisioned to study the heat budget of the Arctic Ocean and its impact on global change. The primary goals of SHEBA are: (1) to develop, test and implement models of arctic ocean- atmosphere-ice processes that demonstrably improve simulations of the present day arctic climate, including its variability, using General Circulation Models (GCMs), and (2) to improve the interpre- tation of satellite remote sensing data in the Arctic for analysis of the arctic climate system and provide reliable data for model input, model validation and climate monitoring. Researchers at the University of Colorado will use data taken from aircraft in previous experiments similar to SHEBA to analyze the status cloud data so that the SHEBA field experiment may be planned more efficiently. The aircraft-derived data will be used to validate the results from remote sensing data taken from satellites so that those results may be extended beyond the specific region of the proposed field experiment. ??

Abstract ATM-9525801 Curry, Judith A. University of Colorado Title: Impact of Tropical Ocean Surface Fluxes on the Atmosphere and Upper Ocean: Extensions from TOGA COARE This is a three project to investigate the heat and water vapor budgets in the TOGA COARE region in a novel manner by utilizing surface and remotely sensed satellite measurements and sophisticated one dimensional air sea interaction model and atmospheric radiative transfer model. The maintenance of the warm pool is the central problem of TOGA COARE and the heat and water budgets are critical to understand this. Therefore this work is highly relevant to TOGA COARE and climate issues. The specific goals to be achieved are: 1) Determine cloud characteristics and radiation fluxes by examining aircraft and atmospheric soundings, 2) Extend satellite flux analysis to the entire Pacific Ocean and 3) Complete gridded surface flux analysis for TOGA COARE IOP.

ABSTRACT OPP-9701523 OPP-9701880 BROOKS, STEVEN MASLANIK, JAMES NATIONAL OCEANIC AND UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION This research project is a key component of a large, coordinated, multi-investigator program, Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean. The research program will be conducted for 14 months from a ship frozen into the ice pack. These investigators will utilize measurements of the flux of heat from different surface ice conditions of the permanent ice cap of the Arctic Ocean. Their results will help determine how atmospheric and oceanic heating is coupled to adsorption of heat by the ice. These measurements are critical to understanding how heat is reflected or absorbed by the sea ice as it melts in the summer and thickens in the winter in response to seasonal variations in climate. The measurements of surface ice conditions will be incorporated into a modeling program that makes an essential contribution to the measurements and modeling by the SHEBA team of researchers. This project will be integral to the full SHEBA measurement program of atmospheric and oceanic variables conducted with a large array of instruments on the ice floe and aircraft flying above as well as ice and ocean property measurements made on and below the ice floe. The combined set of measurements and sea ice models in SHEBA will allow refinement of climate models for the Arctic region. Those improved models will lead to better predictions of the climate and the permanence of the Arctic ice cap under a proposed global warming that could occur if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increased above present levels.

ABSTRACT OPP-9703127 CURRY, JUDITH UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO This research project is a key component of a large, coordinated, multi-investigator program, Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean. The research program will be conducted for 14 months from a ship frozen into the ice pack. These investigators will measure atmospheric conditions of the permanent ice cap of the Arctic Ocean from a scientifically instrumented C-130 aircraft during the Spring and Fall in conjunction with a NASA research program jointly conducted at the site. These researchers will determine the flux of incoming heat radiating onto the ice floe as a function of changing cloud conditions. Their results will help determine how atmospheric heating is coupled to adsorption of heat by the ice. These measurements are critical to understanding how heat is reflected or absorbed by the ice as it melts in the summer and thickens in the winter in response to seasonal variations in climate. The aircraft measurement program makes an essential contribution to the SHEBA team of researchers who will measure atmospheric variables with a large array of instruments on the ice floe and aircraft flying above as well as ice and ocean property measurements made on and below the ice floe. The combined set of measurements in SHEBA will allow refinement of climate models for the Arctic region. Those improved models will lead to better predictions of the climate and the permanence of the Arctic ice cap under a proposed global warming that could occur if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increased above present levels.

This project is part of an integrated set of proposals for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean project. The goal of the current phase of the SHEBA project is to use data collected during a one year experiment during which an icebreaker frozen into the ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was used as a platform for data collection. A full annual cycle of data relating to feedbacks of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system was collected and will be used to improve model parameterizations of sea ice response to global warming. This project will assemble a data set of atmospheric boundary layer parameters in order to improve the physics used in models. The researchers are collaborating with other investigators looking at additional aspects of the cloud-radiation feedback mechanisms. The activities of this project are an essential effort to enhance the outcome of the SHEBA research projects designed to improve column, mesoscale and General Circulation Models (GCMs) that facilitate better simulations of the Arctic sea ice response to projected global warming trends.

The project will develop an Arctic-capable aerosonde, design an instrument package for it, field test the instruments, and collect data in the Barrow, AK vicinity. The aerosonde is an autonomous aircraft that that builds on a design of a smaller platform that has flown in the Arctic. The improved aerosonde will be more robust and have increased navigational as well scientific instrumentation than its predecessor. The improved aerosonde will be able to fly over land and sea ice in order to make measurements of surface and near-surface properties that play a role in redistribution of heat in climate feedback systems. The remotely operated aerosonde also allows measurements to be made without the need of humans entering a very dangerous environment, particularly during the most hazardous time of the year. The aeorsonde will add an important access capability to Arctic research for a wide variety of atmospheric and surface properties studies.

This project is part of an integrated set of proposals for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean project. The goal of the current phase of the SHEBA project is to use data collected during a one year experiment during which an icebreaker frozen into the ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was used as a platform for data collection. A full annual cycle of data relating to feedbacks of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system was collected and will be used to improve model parameterizations of sea ice response to global warming. This project will analyze data sets of surface properties for the atmospheric boundary layer and cloud-microphysics to identify the parameters controlling cloud-radiation feedback. Better parameterization of the feedbacks will allow other investigators looking at additional aspects of cloud-radiation feedback mechanisms to improve model simulation of the heat budget. The activities of this project are an essential effort to enhance the outcome of the SHEBA research projects designed to improve column, mesoscale and General Circulation Models (GCMs) that facilitate better simulations of the Arctic sea ice response to projected global warming trends.

This project is part of an integrated set of proposals for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean project. The goal of the current phase of the SHEBA project is to use data collected during a one year experiment during which an icebreaker frozen into the ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was used as a platform for data collection. A full annual cycle of data relating to feedbacks of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system was collected and will be used to improve model parameterizations of sea ice response to global warming. This project will utilize surface data to evaluate the cloud radiation feedback mechanisms that affect the heat balance. The data will be used in a regional model developed by the investigator to assess which parameters are important for use in global models. The activities of this project are an essential effort to enhance the outcome of the SHEBA research projects designed to improve column, mesoscale and General Circulation Models (GCMs) that facilitate better simulations of the Arctic sea ice response to projected global warming trends.

Climate in northern regions is expected to change dramatically in the coming decades. Climate research has developed tools to predict long-range change and to evaluate the uncertainty in these predictions. It is possible that these research products could potentially play a role in regional and local decision making. However, communities may have alternate approches to dealing with climate events and climate change, approaches that may not link to predicitive research products. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research would conduct interviews and small conferences with residents of the Alaskan North Slope communities. These gatherings will be used (1) to evaluate the understanding by individuals within these communities about climate events, (2) to determine what policies or actions they take to adapt to or mitigate climate events, and (3) to examine whether their culture institutions can incorporate predictive research products.

The research project examines ways to utilize climate information gained by the scientific community in conjunction with the traditional knowledge held by people native to the Arctic as a determinate for making decisions in response to changing climate conditions in the far north. A range of scenarios for changing climate conditions such as decreased sea ice, changing frequency of extreme weather events, storm surges, and other environmental factors will be used to predict the probability of variable environmental conditions that could lead to decisions in the local communities about management of resources, marine transportation options, and coastal construction. Local stakeholder groups will be used to identify how socioeconomic decision-making might be done in response to various probabilities for changing climate on a variety of time scales. An interdisciplinary education project will integrate natural and social sciences with specific application to arctic climate and socioeconomic issues. The project will contribute to the Human dimensions of the Arctic system (HARC) initiative of the Arctic System Science Program.