Clouds and Convection

Our research focuses on improving the fundamental understanding of cloud and convective processes and their influence on the radiative budget and hydrological cycle. We combine observations, high-resolution modelling and conceptual studies and target physical processes across all relevant scales. The main topics of our group are:

1. Understanding the importance of mesoscale processes for the climate system
   Our goal is to improve process understanding of key tropical mesoscale processes, like convective downdrafts driven by rain evaporation, cold pools and associated gust fronts, and shallow mesoscale circulations. We are particularly interested in assessing their large-scale impact, for example on the radiation budget through cloud feedbacks and on the hydrological cycle through modulating precipitation efficiency.
2. Improving the representation of cloud and convective processes in high-resolution models
   With the help of new process observations and understanding we quantitatively assess the skill of hectometer and kilometer-scale simulations in representing cloud and mesoscale processes. We will synthesize what we learn in targeted model development, focusing both on numerical models like ICON and simple models like mixed-layer frameworks.

These topics come together in our ERC starting grant project ROTOЯ, which will elucidate how the evaporation of tiny rain drops influences our life on Earth. We are also heavily involved in the ORCESTRA field campaign, which takes place in August/September 2024 and where we lead the SCORE component.

Photo: NASA Worldview