Workshop Overview

 

Climate Feedbacks and Future Remote Sensing Observation

overviewschedulelist of attendees

August 31-September 10, 2009
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125

Water vapor and cloud - climate feedbacks are currently considered to be the two most important feedbacks in the context of climate change. Although more realistic in terms of water vapor, present-day climate models fail to properly represent the physical processes associated with cloud-climate feedbacks. Remote sensing from space of these small-scale processes, such as clouds, turbulence and convection, is notoriously difficult and is still not good enough in order to provide the necessary constraints that would lead to a better understanding of the climate system and to improved climate prediction.

The goals of this Mini-Program are:

  • To bring together scientists from different branches of the climate research community (theory, models, observations) to address key problems in the physics of climate feedbacks;
  • To promote the use of remote sensing observational data in the climate physics and climate modeling community;
  • To provide guidance on future research and future missions regarding the physics of climate change.

For questions contact: Joao Teixeira, Yuk Yung or Michele Judd.


"Image of Joao Teixeira, JPL"

Mini-Program Co-Lead Joao Teixeira from JPL.

Detail from horizontal cross section through the moist static energy at 500 m

Detail from horizontal cross section through the moist static energy at 500 m after the transition to deep convection (from Khairoutdinov and Randall 2006).