The GFDL Cloud Microphysics Parameterization

Clouds play critical roles in our daily weather and in the global energy and water budgets that regulate the climate of the Earth (Lamb and Verlinde, 2011; Houze, 2014). The formation and evolution of clouds significantly impact precipitation forecasts in numerical weather prediction (Seifert and Beheng, 2005; Morrison and Grabowski, 2008; Baldauf et al., 2011; Bauer et al., 2015). Clouds and their impacts on solar and thermal radiation are among the most challenging aspects of climate prediction (Trenberth et al., 2009; Stephens et al., 2012; Wild et al., 2019). Therefore, the representation of clouds in atmospheric models has to be paid particular attention to. Among all physical processes in a model, cloud microphysics is less well represented but is of critical importance. Because the processes are not readily resolved in time and space, cloud microphysics parameterization is essential from large-eddy to global simulations (Morrison and Grabowski, 2008; Kogan, 2013; Nogherotto et al., 2016). Grant no. NA18OAR4320123