Workshop for In Situ Airborne Instrumentation: Addressing and Solving Measurement Problems in Ice Clouds; Seaside, Oregon; June 25-27, 2010

Droplet Measurement Technologies, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Despite advancements over the past several decades in our understanding of processes essential to the formation and evolution of ice in clouds and associated impacts on weather and climate, serious gaps remain. Many of these can be traced to uncertainties and limitations of measurement technologies currently employed aboard cloud-penetrating research aircraft. Descriptions of complex interactions between aerosols (both natural and anthropogenic) and cloud particles are similarly hindered by lack of adequate instrumentation to accurately identify primary modes of ice initiation, discriminate liquid water from ice, and more comprehensively address the chemistry of cloud particles and hydrometeors. Development of a clear and comprehensive description of these gaps, identification of emerging technologies appropriate for bridging them, and discussion of standardized data processing and exchange protocols that would facilitate progress toward these objectives are among topics to be addressed at a summer workshop to be held June 25-27, 2010 at Seaside, Oregon. This location and timing will facilitate participation of instrument builders, aircraft facility managers, and a desirably broad spectrum of both seasoned and early-career cloud microphysical researchers already gathering for the 13th Conference on Cloud Physics, slated for the following week in nearby Portland, Oregon. Support will be offered to defray travel and lodging/per diem expenses of workshop participants, and will be complemented by analogous contributions from two other federal research agencies (NASA and DOE) to facilitate the broad participation viewed as critical to catalyzing rapid progress. The intellectual merit of this workshop rests in its contribution to advancement of knowledge re: the quality and limitations of currently-available ice cloud measurements, the identification of key obstacles to progress and candidate technologies to surmount these obstacles, and development of plans for improved collaboration and communication (e.g., standardized protocols for instrument calibration and data exchange) to support improved analysis and interpretation of these measurements. Broader impacts will derive from dissemination of workshop outcomes via a comprehensive Technical Note and through an associated journal publication, via educational opportunities for both early-career workshop participants and students accessing workshop publications, and by facilitating exchange across a diverse group of workshop participants including members of underrepresented groups.