Theory of Convective Parameterization

Cloud feedbacks are widely acknowledged to provide the largest source of uncertainty in climate modelling (as in the most recent IPCC report on climate change). One particularly big and particularly stubborn problem is how to treat precipitating, convective clouds. This issue persists despite the vast amount of effort that has gone into observational campaigns and modelling studies over decades.

In recent times, satellite missions have begun to provide enormous amounts of detailed information on cloud properties, and sophisticated, high-resolution, cloud-resolving models (CRMs) have come into widespread use. But even these advances have proved very hard to translate into clear climate modelling improvements. At least in part, these difficulties occur because we lack a well-developed, solid theoretical framework. The current standard formulation for the representation of convective clouds was introduced over thirty years ago. Although it has been much elaborated upon since, almost all of the basic features have remained the same. So it's perhaps not such a big surprise that many of the problems have remained the same too! But some of those problems may be far from insurmountable...

Some links for this work:

Books:

1. Two-volume book on convective parameterization

Book chapters:

1. Chapter on closure
2. Chapter on convective quasi-equilibrium

Papers:

1. An article copupling the convective energy cycle with large-scale dynamics
2. An article explaining the practical problems in using a strict quasi-equilibrium closure
3. An article presenting a general framework for equilibrium mass flux closure
4. Final report of COST Action on convective parameterization
5. Description of summer school on convective parameterization
6. A comprehensive paper on the coupling of shallow and deep convection
7. A short paper on the coupling of shallow and deep convection
8. A review of convective quasi-equilibrium
9. Description of convective parameterization workshop at Savona
10. An article proposing a new modelling framework for statistical cumulus dynamics
11. A prognostic system for convective clouds, with discharge-recharge
12. A comment article on population dynamics as a prognostic system for convective clouds
13. A paper on the theory of bulk mass flux parameterization
14. Description of convective parameterization workshop at Hamburg

Talks:

1. An invited talk on convection closure and energy cycle, given at a workshop at the National Meteorological Administration in Bucharest.
2. A set of six lectures on parameterization for NWP given at a summer school in Nanjing:

Overview and cloud cover parameterization
Microphysics parameterization
Boundary layer parameterization
Convection parameterization: Part I
Convection parameterization: Part II
Convection resolving models
3. Lectures on mass flux parameterization, given at a COST Action summer school in Brac, Croatia.
4. An invited talk comparing bulk and spectral mass flux schemes, given at a workshop in Savona.
5. An invited talk on a modelling framework for statistical cumulus dynamics, given at a workshop on Hamiltonian and statistical mechanics approaches at LMU in Munich.
6. An internal workshop talk on parameterization assumptions that breakdown at greyzone resolutions.
7. An invited talk on convective parameterization beyond traditional limits, given at a workshop on stochastic methods in climate modelling at the Isaac Newton institute in Cambridge.
8. Some thoughts on self-organized criticality and possible relations to tropical convection, given at a Workshop on Climate Thermodynamics.
9. An introduction to convective parameterization and some of its issues, given as a seminar at the Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge.
10. An invited talk on the statistical mechanics of moist convection, given at the Workshop on Concepts for Convective Parmeterisations in Large-Scale Models, in Hamburg.

Reports:

1. COST Action report on coupling of shallow and deep convection
2. COST Action report on statistical cumulus dynamics