Observations & Process Studies (OPS) - Research Objectives

Group Leaders: Stefan Kinne and Louise Nuijens

Our group is principally interested in using observations and process level understanding to constrain the representation of climate by earth system models on the one hand, and test predictions made by, or theories developed with the aid of, such models on the other.  In this regard some of the questions we are focusing on are:

• How do clouds (and aerosols) contribute to the observed radiation budget of the Earth System?

• What determines the aggregate behavior of cloud systems?

• Are their observational proxies for climate change, particularly cloud feedbacks?

Methodologically the group focuses on moist-processes in the atmospheric component of the Earth System, especially clouds and convection. We employ a wide variety of tools including simulations with cloud resolving models and direct numerical simulation, analysis and evaluation of satellite data products, including a new generation of active satellite remote sensors, airborne measurements with the new HALO research aircraft, and the development and maintenance of a state of the art observational facility on the Island of Barbados. The latter helps anchor a new international initiative on aerosols, clouds, precipitation and climate. The group also works closely with other groups in the department, particularly the global and regional modeling group, to improve the representation of physical processes in the climate system.