Ryan Kramer (613/UMBC) and his proposal team were awarded funding for their proposal "Investigating the Vertically-Resolved Radiative Constraints on Tropical Precipitation with CloudSat and CALIPSO." His team consists of two Co-Investigators L. Oreopoulos (613/GSFC) and C. Terai (LLNL), and two Collaborators T. L’Ecuyer (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison) and T. Thorsen (LaRC).
Dr. Kramer provided more information on this new study: "On a global scale, precipitation is controlled by Earth’s energy budget. The atmosphere naturally loses radiative energy while condensation from precipitation acts as a heat source, compensating for the initial energy loss and helping to maintain balance. Many details of this relationship remain unclear. Using CloudSat and CALIPSO measurements, we will assess observed energy changes at different vertical levels of the atmosphere, testing the hypothesis that differing energy exchanges in the upper atmosphere of cloudy, convective regions versus the lower atmosphere of clear, subsidence regions are the key driver of global precipitation change. To do so we will apply techniques often reserved for analyzing climate models, providing a blueprint for investigating sources of uncertainty in the simulation of future precipitation change with global warming."