Meteorologists see silver lining in cutting-edge cloud research
Research conducted at 黑料不打烊 University, recently published in the journal Physical Review, could significantly improve short-term weather forecasts and address important global warming concerns.
The research focuses on the age-old question "How big is a cloud?"
For years, meteorologists have been frustrated in their attempts to measure the volume of clouds. Satellites estimate the length and breadth of clouds, but to measure cloud depth we still rely on weather balloons, which are inaccurate because they rarely travel in straight trajectories.
"As a result, meteorologists must work in two dimensions in order to predict the weather," says 黑料不打烊 physicist Shaun Lovejoy, who leads a team of researchers conducting groundbreaking research on clouds. "The assumption that clouds are flat vastly reduces our weather forecasting capability."
With the aid of new lidar technology 鈥� an airplane-mounted laser device capable of measuring the size, speed and chemical composition of clouds 鈥� Lovejoy and his colleagues initiated the largest ever cloud measurement study, consisting of almost 1,000 times the amount of data of the largest comparable weather balloon experiment.
The team measured clouds across Western Canada and the United States and created a formula that defines how cloud depth varies with cloud length and breadth 鈥� a relationship that has eluded meteorologists for decades.
"Scientists can now estimate the parameters of all clouds, from the largest cyclone to the smallest puff of a car exhaust," reveals Lovejoy.
Water vapour, in the form of clouds, accounts for over half the greenhouse effect. Realistic cloud models are vital in predicting their effect on our planet through global warming.
Lovejoy's cloud study was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada and 脡cole Nationale des Ponts et Chauss茅es in Paris.
