Advanced design to represent cloud turbulence improves simulations in a multi-scale model
Friday, May 1, 2015 - 06:50
in Earth & Climate
Low and wispy clouds have escaped climate model detection until now. A new modeling system captures their most difficult-to-picture side: turbulence. Researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led implementation of a new system to represent turbulence in a multi-scale atmosphere model that improves the simulated distribution of low clouds. The research tackles a key weakness of atmospheric models that use grid sizes too coarse to solve for turbulence. With the new formula, researchers now capture low clouds that have a big impact on Earth's energy budget.