Convective Cloud Urban Boundary-layer Experiment

The research seeks to leverage a planned field campaign to investigate convective storms in the coastal urban area around Houston, Texas. Commonly observed convective systems in the region cause severe damage to life and property in the coastal urban area. Excess heat and aerosols released from the urban environment and sea breeze impact the dynamics of convective cloud systems.

However, the interaction and feedback between urban areas and convective cloud systems are not well understood. The study will use enhanced atmospheric observations and numerical modeling to study how urban areas impact the formation, journey, and dissipation of convective cloud cells. The research will link human activities in coastal urban environments to convective cloud systems by conducting a field experiment in coordination with the planned Tracking Aerosol-Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) sponsored by the Department of Energy at the same area.

In addition, the investigators will develop a comprehensive urban modeling framework that will integrate atmospheric dynamics and aerosol impacts with key anthropogenic influences. The project will involve education and outreach activities for university students and the local public as well as train undergraduate and graduate students in Earth System science and develop new courses and course modules related to urban climate systems.

The research team will also work closely with the Texas Air Quality Commission as well as TRACER scientists from various US universities and national laboratories for sharing observations from a variety of platforms to understand convective storms over the area.

The experimental campaign will concentrate on the ocean-urban-rural interface. The campaign will continuously monitor the evolution of cloud characteristics, surface-atmosphere forcing, boundary layer state, aerosol forcing, sea-breeze circulation, and precipitation. The setup will aid in understanding coastal-urban land-atmosphere interactions, an area of research with significant knowledge gaps and their connections with convective cloud systems.

Numerical models constrained by observations will be used to investigate urban-cloud interaction and thunderstorms to understand and quantify the impacts of various urban forcings on the evolution and characteristics of convective storms. The primary objectives of the study are: 1) To understand how critical urban boundary layer processes impact convective cloud formation. 2) To investigate the impact of urbanization on storm formation, movement, and dissipation. 3) To investigate the feedback of convective clouds in urban atmospheric and surface energy processes.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.