Most of my studies involved the lower one or two kilometers of the atmosphere, termed the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The ABL responds to energy fluxes at the surface and is the layer of air that humans experience most. Coincidentally, it is the layer of air which we relentlessly pump full of pollutants day after day. Away from the few millimeters at the surface for which conduction plays an important role in the transfer of energy across the surface-atmosphere interface, convection redistributes heat within the ABL. Convective plumes with scales as large as the ABL height can occur on a warm day with adequate solar insolation at the surface. Turbulent eddies can also occur in a stable atmosphere where vertical wind shear exists. Momentum from aloft is mixed-down to the surface resulting in surface wind fluctuations. These surface winds further the transport of energy from the surface to the atmosphere.....and round-and-round it goes until the necessary energy gradients are removed.

Comparison of modeled (CAM3, 2000-2005) and observed (NASA's reprocessed QuikSCAT, 2000-2005) 10-m wind speeds. Regions discussed include the TOGA TAO region (heavily influenced by the ITCZ), Asian monsoon and trade-wind regions.

Manuscript in Preparation:

2000-2005 climatology:

Animations of monthly climatology:

Animations of seasonal climatology:

Comparison of 2000-2005 TAO/TRITON and NASA's Seawinds 10-m wind speeds (T42):

Animations of monthly climatology (T42):

Animations of seasonal climatology (T42):

Using formulations devised by Justus et al., we implemented a 4-bin wind speed PDF at each model timestep. This PDF is a function of mean gridcell wind speed. Here the results from a 10yr CAM3 simulation run at T85 horizontal resolution.

AMWG Diagnostics Plots (CAM3.1 10yr Simulation):

Mean Annual Differences (4-bin PDF minus 1-bin PDF, 10yrs):

Multi-level Plots(4-bin PDF minus 1-bin PDF, 10yrs):

Mean Seasonal Differences (4-bin PDF minus 1-bin PDF, 10yrs):

Multi-level Seasonal Plots(4-bin PDF minus 1-bin PDF, 10yrs):

Through the implementation of a physically-based wind speed PDF, we hope to achieve unresolved sub-grid scale wind variability within CAM3. This physically-based PDF will be a function of atmospheric stability during the previous time step. Resulting changes in surface fluxes and climate will be evaluated.