Aircraft Observations for Improved Physical Parameterization for Seasonal Prediction

The objective of this effort is to obtain extensive measurements in the MABL under different cloud fractions specially aimed at quantifying various statistical quantities needed to examine and develop PDF-based cloud and turbulence parameterizations. The data set produced will help us understand the characteristics of empirical PDF of various dynamic and thermodynamic variables and their relevant turbulent statistics. In particular, we seek to understand the interplay among various physical processes in the cloudy boundary layer including surface forcing, longwave radiative cooling and shortwave radiative warming, turbulence transport, cloud microphysics, and entrainment and relate these processes to the PDF analyses. These measurements and analyses will be used by our collaborating modelers to evaluate different PDF cloud parameterization schemes in mesoand large scale forecast models with the goal of developing new parameterizations.