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Researchers study the Arctic for signs of climate change.
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Clouds, Radiation, and Surface Processes Division
Dr. Chris Fairall, Chief
The CRSP division develops measurement systems and techniques and applies those
systems/techniques to various NOAA research missions. Our research emphasis is
on atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) physical processes and associated interactions
with the surface (ocean, land, ice) and the free troposphere
where we seek fundamental understanding to promote the development of
parameterizations useful for numerical models and diagnostic studies.
Our measurement system emphasis is in remote sensors on NOAA satellites or
surface-based sensors developed at ETL mixed with complex integrated systems of
in situ sensors for studies of surface interactions. This division has participated
in projects involving all three of NOAA's major research themes:
- Short term forecasting (FASTEX, PACJET),
- Interannual to decadal (CLIVAR EPIC and GEWEX) and
- Decadal to Centennial (GASEX, HOA)
and a variety of forecast and climate-oriented research programs sponsored by other
agencies. The division supports other NOAA research and operational missions
through development of NOAA satellite algorithms and mentoring atmospheric
measurement systems on the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown (the
primary research vessel for OAR). This division works jointly with the other
ETL divisions and with PMEL,AOML, AL, NESDIS, and NCEP plus a host of universities
and government laboratories.
Division working groups are:
CARG is presently involved with developing long-term, detailed data sets of cloud
properties from a sophisticated suite of remote sensors (radars, IR radiometers, MW
radiometers) and retrieval techniques which have been developed by ETL over the last
7 years. An integral part of this activity is to validate the retrievals with
in-situ aircraft data to determine the accuracy of these novel methods. The methods
have been applied to data collected in the Arctic Ocean during the SHEBA program and
are also being applied on an ongoing basis to data
collected at the DOE/ARM site in Barrow, Alaska. The group is also active in NOAA's
CLIVAR EPIC study of deep convection and stratocumulus clouds in the eastern Pacific.
These data sets are being applied to a number of
problems which impact studies of interannual and decadal change including developing
and testing cloud
parameterizations, validating satellite-based cloud retrievals, and long-term
monitoring of marine and Arctic clouds.
This group is active in the development of interagency SEARCH initiative.
The Satellite Remote Sensing Program uses visible, infrared, active, and passive microwave remote sensing to study weather and climate variability. A major focus is on the development of long-term data sets, accurate calibration
and intercalibration, and development and application of radiative transfer theory. Research efforts are focused in
two main areas, the global water and energy cycle and air-sea interactions. In the global water and energy cycle
area, observational weather and climate studies are performed using satellite water vapor, cloud water, rainfall, and
radiation budget data, studies of water budget processes using NWP and GCM analysis products, and spectroscopic
studies of water vapor radiative transfer, and combining surface-based with satellite remote sensing. Air-sea
interaction work is focused on application of satellite remote sensing to retrieval of SST, the surface energy budget,
and ocean rough surface scattering.
The Marine and Air-Sea Interaction Research Group is primarily an experimental group investigating various issues
in air-sea/ice interaction associated with the transfer of momentum, heat, moisture, trace gases, and particles at the
wavy interface of the ocean. Our principal focus is on fluxes: measurement techniques, studies of fundamental
physical processes, and development of simplified representations of those processes. The group also deals with the
scope of interactions (atmospheric or oceanic) from the microscale to boundary-layer scales. The work has
application in various areas such as operational weather forecasting, global climate modeling, air quality, assessment
of CO2 trends, improving satellite retrievals, and understanding air-sea-interaction mechanisms affecting hurricane intensity.
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