Evaluation of Ice and Mixed-Phase Cloud Characteristics in GCMs based on In-situ and Remote Sensing Observations

Representations of ice and mixed-phase cloud characteristics in global climate models (GCMs) have large impacts on global cloud radiative effects and equilibrium climate sensitivity. In this study, observations of cloud hydrometeors, aerosols, water vapor and vertical velocity from multiple field campaigns will be used to evaluate three global climate models NCAR CESM, DOE E3SM and NASA GEOS. Specifically, cloud microphysical and macrophysical properties and aerosol indirect effects will be examined for latitudes from 87N to 77S, with a special focus on Southern Ocean, Antarctica, and Arctic regions. Composite observation datasets have been developed to provide an extensive coverage of geographical locations in both hemispheres (e.g., Patnaude and Diao, 2020; Patnaude et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2020). Several methods have been developed in order to facilitate a scale-aware, definition-aware comparison between coarser-resolution GCM simulations and high-resolution observations, including aircraft-based in-situ observations and ground-based remote sensing observations (DAlessandro et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2020; Yip et al., 2021). Model evaluation results will be presented for mixed-phase cloud regime between 0C and -40C as well as cirrus cloud regime at temperature -40C.