Boundary layer cloud variability and associated environmental influences in the ARM SGP domain during HI-SCALE

Current global model grid cells are approaching resolutions as fine as 25 to 50 km. While some cloud processes will be resolved more explicitly, others will still require parameterizations to represent the inherent variability. Cloud variability and interactions within this domain will still require representation at the sub-grid level. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program's Southern Great Plains (SGP) site hosted the Holistic Interactions of Shallow Clouds, Aerosols and Land-Ecosystems (HI-SCALE) field campaign in 2016. The SGP domain consists of a central facility and numerous extended facilities over 9,000 square miles in northern Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. The central facility is heavily equipped with active and passive remote, and in situ sensors measuring clouds, aerosols, precipitation, and radiation. Four of the extended facilities, located approximately 40-50 km from the central facility, are equipped with a subset of these instruments focused on boundary layer profiling. During the HI-SCALE field campaign ARM deployed the Gulfstream-1 aircraft to measure aerosols, clouds, and atmospheric state over the central and extended facilities. We will examine the variability of clouds across this domain during HI-SCALE using both ground and aircraft-based measurements. We will also evaluate environmental factors, such as meteorological regime, boundary layer structure, aerosol, and surface properties, to understand the potential influence of these factors on shallow cloud properties.