Feedbacks between Vegetation, Aerosol and Cloud Processes Using Observations and a Unified Regional Climate Model

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

The impacts of clouds and aerosols on terrestrial carbon and water cycles and the resultant feedbacks to atmospheric processes are core in understanding land-atmosphere coupling. This project will advance our understanding of vegetation-CO2-aerosol-cloud interactions, and improve the representation of CO2- and aerosol- induced feedbacks within a regional-scale modeling system. This study will use outreach to broaden K-12 education and the inform the public on these important interactions to help us better understand the earth's climate system. This study will merge the existing CSU-RAMS coupled biosphere-atmosphere modeling system (SiB-RAMS) with the cloud-resolving Aerosol-RAMS (that includes direct and indirect effects) to form an integrated, process-based Vegetation-Aerosol-Cloud modeling system (VAC-RAMS). This will allow us to better understand spatial and temporal variability in land surface fluxes of energy, water, and CO2, induced by clouds, aerosols and cloud-aerosol interactions. The study will also identify ecosystem feedbacks that are critical to cloud-aerosol interactions and quantify these feedbacks using VAC-RAMS and observations from a 2007 field campaign. This will allow the investigators to assess the importance of aerosol forcing on clouds through biophysical and biogeochemical pathways.