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NCAR 2023 Advanced Study Program (ASP) Colloquium:

The Atmospheric Boundary Layer:

Integrating Complexity Across Disciplines

ASP Summer Colloquium: July 17th-28th, 2023

Rich Neale (rneale@ucar.edu)

Atmospheric Modeling and Predictability (AMP)

Climate and Global Dynamics (CGD)

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is a major facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. 1852977.

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Boulder

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  • Hot early in the week afternoon thunderstorms later, warm weekend
  • Drink lots of water + apply sunscreen
  • Take it easy (esp. if you go higher)
  • Some air quality warnings
  • Please, don’t start any wildfires

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Weather

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Introduction

Welcome!

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  • This is the Main Seminar Room (MSR) - Morning Speakers
  • Please: No drink in the room. Don’t touch the screen.
  • The Damon Room (afternoon projects)
  • Office areas are restricted to staff (but OK to be escorted to chat)
  • Lightning talks and Project talks will be in the MSR
  • Lunch on South Side of main building (12pm – today 12:30pm)
  • ‘UCAR Visitor Network’ wireless access (requires sign-up)
  • Most information is available on the colloquium webpage

https://ncar.github.io/ASP-Colloquium-2023

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  • Let’s try to communicate through Slack

https://slack.com/ workspace: asp-colloquium-2023

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  • For administrative/organization issues: Scott Briggs (sbriggs@ucar.edu)

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Program

Sukanta Basu, Albany �Elie R. Bou-Zeid, Princeton�Rich Neale, NCAR, CGD (Climate)�Yang Li, Baylor 

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Local Organizers

Alma Hodzic, NCAR, ACOM (Chemistry)�Branko Kosovic, NCAR, RAL (Research Applications)�Steve Oncley, NCAR, EOL (Observations) �Ned Patton, NCAR, MMM (Mesoscale Meterology) 

Organization Committee and Speakers

Julio Bacmeister, NCAR �Sukanta Basu, Albany �Gordon Bonan, NCAR�Elie R. Bou-Zeid, Princeton�Charlotte DeMott, Colorado State University �Ian Faloona, UC Davis �Ethan Guttman, NCAR �Alma Hodzic, NCAR �Pedro Jiminez, NCAR�Branko Kosovic, NCAR �Vince Larson, University Wisconsin, Madison�Dan Li, Boston University �Yang Li, Baylor �Julie Lunquist, University of Colorado/National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) �Jakob Mann, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) �Brian Medeiros, NCAR �Rich Neale, NCAR �Steve Oncley, NCAR �Ned Patton, NCAR �Ivana Stiperski, University of Innsbruck �Gunilla Svensson, Stockholm University �Jessica Tomaszewski, REsurety �Michael Tjernstrom, Stockholm University �Pauita Zuidema, University of Miami 

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Speakers/Presentations

  • Summarize their career path
  • Talk more generally about a topic as much as personal research
  • Encourage two-way interaction
  • Ask lots of questions!
  • We have encouraged speakers to stick around for discussions during the day
  • Talks will be recorded
  • Slides in the google drive

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What to Expect

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Research Projects

  • First week spent spinning up with different activities
    • Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model
    • Community Earth System Model (CESM)
    • Chemistry Land-surface Atmosphere Soil Slab (CLASS) model
    • Observations-based activity

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Today: Getting started + WRF

Tues: CESM

Wed: CLASS + observations

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Be patient with us!

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What to Expect

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Research Projects

  • Second week – Diving in to a collaborative PBL project
    • Choose a piece (or pieces) of this weeks activities for part of your project
    • Formulate PBL-related research questions
    • About 10 hours of project time
    • A number of notebooks resources will be available (eventually)
    • Feel free to work with software you’re more comfortable with (ncview, ncl, idl, ncview, panoply)
    • Share your work: Even if a notebook is simple!
    • Feel free to work in pairs
    • Think about how you would present your topic in the 5-minute talk
    • Have fun!

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What to Expect

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Research Questions

  • Does the vertical PBL structure agree with theory (models and observations)?
  • How is the PBL evolution dependent on model settings or parameterizations?
  • What features of the PBL are associated with extreme conditions (weather, chemistry)
  • What are the sensitivities of the PBL to environmental conditions?
  • What are the sensitivities of the PBL to changes in environmental conditions?
  • Are models good enough for energy generation or policy decisions related to the PBL?

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What to Expect

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Professional Development

  • NCAR Education, Engagement & Early-Career Development (EdEC)
    • How to give a bad talk (and prepare a good one): Valerie Sloan
    • Implicit bias: Adriana Medina
    • Social Media and Careers: Rose Sentana
    • Early Career Round Table
  • Other activities
    • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
    • Dinner talk: Chemistry in the Boundary Layer
    • Games on the tree plaza (weather permitting)

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What to Expect

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About Me

Rich Neale

  • First in family to go to university
  • University of Reading, UK (92-02)
    • Meteorology and Physics (B.Sc.)
    • Climate Modeling (Ph.D.): Aqua-planets
    • Post-doc: Tropical Teleconnnections
  • NOAA/University of Colorado (02-05)
    • Convective organization
  • NCAR: Project Scientist (05-present)
    • CAM4-CAM7 model development
    • Deep convection
    • Tropical Variability (MJO, ENSO)
    • Section head (AMP)

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The Atmospheric Boundary Layer

https://doi.org/10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-18-0013.1

Why is Studying the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Important?

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Understanding the ABL is essential for improving weather prediction, assessing air quality, studying climate change, optimizing energy production, ensuring aviation safety, and conducting environmental studies. It allows us to make informed decisions and develop strategies to address various challenges related to weather, climate, pollution, energy, and the environment.

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