Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Synoptic and regional-scale meteorological controls of stratus altitude in the Namib Desert

Abstract. In the Namib Desert, fog is an essential water source and occurs when and where advected marine stratus clouds intersect with the land surface. However, the meteorological controls of the cloud base height are still insufficiently understood. This study aims to develop...

Observational Validation of Boundary‐Layer Cloud Regimes in Arctic Cold Air Outbreaks

Abstract Arctic cold air outbreaks (CAOs) produce low‐level cloud patterns influencing the surface radiative balance. The stability parameter (boundary‐layer height over Monin‐Obukhov length) is theorized to distinguish shear‐driven roll convection from buoyancy‐driven cellular c...

Right on time: evaluating accuracy and timing of burn-severity assessments to support post-fire management

Abstract Effective wildfire impact assessment and post-fire management rely on burn-severity maps that accurately characterize fire effects on vegetation and soils. These maps inform time-sensitive activities such as post-fire flood and debris-flow modeling, risk mitigation for h...

Assessing ozone dynamics during the 2023 summer STAQS field campaign using synergistic observations and model simulations

NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) geostationary satellite sensor provides high temporal and spatial resolution measurements critical for monitoring air quality. During the Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science (STAQS) component of the 2023 AGES+ campa...

Simulated reductions in heterogeneous isoprene epoxydiol reactive uptake from aerosol morphology in the contiguous United States using the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQv5.3.2)

Aerosol particles contain complex mixtures of polar and non-polar species that can undergo organic-inorganic phase separation. In phase-separated aerosol particles, the phase state of the outer organic coating can modulate heterogeneous chemistry. Heterogeneous chemistry leading...

The Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) contribution to CMIP7

Cloud processes constitute one of the key uncertainties for climate change projections. The fourth iteration of the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project, CFMIP4, contributes to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 7 (CMIP7), by providing a set of global climate...

Multi-season evaluation of temperature and wind in the marine boundary layer along the United States northeast coast in the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model

The High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model is run operationally by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide high-resolution short-range forecasts for the continental United States. The evaluation of the HRRR model off of the United States coasts has been...

Extratropical teleconnections in a multi-model ensemble nudged towards the observed QBO

The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), the dominant mode of interannual variability of monthly-mean zonal winds and temperatures in the equatorial stratosphere, has a significant influence on the circulation in other regions of the stratosphere and troposphere in boreal winter. To...

A Compensated Structure‐Function Approach to Measuring TKE Dissipation in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Abstract Despite the importance of turbulence measurements to atmospheric dynamics and modeling, developing objective, accurate schemes to estimate TKE dissipation ε from velocity time‐series has proven elusive. Objective schemes can be automated, as needed for large data sets ge...

Best Case/Worst Case: A Multisite Randomized Trial of Scenario Planning for Patients With Late‐Stage Kidney Disease

BACKGROUND: Best Case/Worst Case (BC/WC) is a communication tool to support nephrologists and older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease with decisions about dialysis. We compared the effectiveness of training nephrologists to use BC/WC versus usual care on receipt of pall...

Resolving Convective‐Scale Cloud and Precipitation Structures in Tropical Cyclone Rainbands With Novel Raman Lidar Observations

Abstract Low‐level clouds in the tropical cyclone (TC) rainbands modulate the radial inflow of warm, moist boundary layer air, which can impact TC intensity. Yet, precisely measuring rainband cloud boundaries with existing remote sensing techniques remains a challenge. To address...

Morphology‐Driven Ternary Pattern Space Spans Shallow Marine Clouds

Abstract Marine shallow clouds exhibit a variety of patterns, which have been the subject of extensive research. In this study, we introduce a new approach for their continuous classification using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) true color imagery. This met...

Evidence for endemism and local adaptation in Antarctic soil bacteria

Antarctic soils represent one of the more extreme environments for microbial life on Earth, yet they harbor heterogeneous and diverse microbial communities. Biologists have long hypothesized that Antarctic microorganisms are unique from those found on other continents due to the...

Coupling of Pacific and Indian Ocean variability disrupted by 19th century volcanism

The stability of inter-basin coupling between the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean remains uncertain. This study shows that past volcanism can temporarily weaken this relationship, but recent decoupling due to global warming is unprecedented.

Reconstruction of fallout deposition from U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests conducted in New Mexico and Nevada

Abstract Between 1945 and 1962, the United States conducted 101 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests in New Mexico and Nevada, dispersing radioactive fallout across the contiguous United States. We reconstruct the first 10 days of fission-product deposition from the 94 non-zero-yield...

Exploring divergent long-term stratospheric aerosol injection scenarios with the G2-SAI and ARISE-hybrid experiments

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) simulations are often short relative to climatic timescales and conducted against a background that evolves due to changes in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and other forcings. This can cause challenges in assessing certain...

Gravity Wave Energy Baselines (∼30–110 km) Established From Lidar Observations at McMurdo (77.84°S, 166.67°E), Antarctica: Energy Dissipation and Constituent Diffusion

Abstract Lidar observations above McMurdo, Antarctica from 2011 to 2024 are used to characterize gravity wave (GWs) potential energies () in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Alongside characterizations in the middle atmosphere (30–70 km), the GW baselines show dissipa...

Exploring the feasibility of an air sensor array for real-time detection and characterization of VOCs

Abstract. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important class of atmospheric chemical species that can be directly harmful to human health and contribute to the formation of hazardous secondary products. Measurements of ambient VOCs are typically made using “offline” techniq...

Middle atmosphere chemical and dynamical effects in the CCMI-2022 stratospheric aerosol injection scenario

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could slow surface warming, however, potential side effects include changes in stratospheric ozone and changes in regional surface temperatures and precipitation resulting from tropical lower stratospheric warming. Previous multi-mo...

Evaluation of the Impact of Aged Biomass Burning Emissions on the Global Ozone From the Surface to the Lower Stratosphere

Abstract Biomass burning (BB) is a major global sources of ozone (O 3 ) precursors, including nitrogen oxides (NO x ), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Here, we combine Community Earth System Model 1 with airborne measurements from the NASA Atmospheric...