Overview

Clouds may never had a more important meaning to society as of today. The patterns of clouds are slowly changing, along with increases in global surface temperatures and changes in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols. How clouds respond to these changes exactly, may help determine how our climate as a whole will change. The largest source of uncertainty in future climate model predictions is due to the representation of cloud processes in these. These processes include the cloud processes themselves such as latent heat release due to condensation and evaporation, precipitation and cloud dynamics but also through their complex interaction with radiation, soil moisture, and large scale atmospheric dynamics.

Objectives of the school

In this context, this 2-week summerschool will provide an up to date overview of the scientific knowledge of all the relevant cloud processes and how they are affected in a future climate, from theoretical, observational and modeling perspectives. The lectures will be aimed for advanced graduate students, PhD candidates and young scientists with some background in one of the disciplinary areas covered by the school. The courses will be based on a comprehensive textbook on "cloud and climate" that is in preparation and the will provide the foundation of the content of the summerschool.

Attendees

This school is intended for a broad international audience: Advanced Master students, PhD students and young postdoctoral scientists, for a total of 55 attendees, not including the speakers and organizers. The attendees will have a background in one of disciplinary areas covered by the school (i.e. clouds and radiation, cloud microphysics, cloud dynamics, cloud modelling)

Programme

The school will consists of a series of consistent lectures presented by experts in the field. lectures will typically consists of one or two 90 minutes presentations. In addition (computer) exercise trainings will be organised.

i) Cloud Basics
● Lecture 1: Louise Nuijens (MPI Hamburg): Introduction and Overview
● Lecture 2: Hélène Chepfer (LMD): Clouds and radiation
● Lecture 3: Bjorn Stevens (MPI Hamburg): Cloud Dynamics
● Lecture 4: Hanna Pawlowska (Warsaw U.): Cloud Microphysics

ii) Models and their evaluations
● Lecture 5: Stephan de Roode (TU Delft): Conceptual and Theoretical Model
● Lecture 6: Françoise Guichard (Meteo France, CNRS):Cloud Resolving Models
● Lecture 7: A. Pier Siebesma (KNMI, TU Delft): Representation of clouds in large-scale models
● Lecture 8: Christian Jakob (Monash U.): Evaluation of clouds in large-scale models

iii) Cloud and Climate Processes
● Lecture 9: Gilles Bellon (Meteo France, CNRS): Tropical and subtropical Cloud systems
● Lecture 10: Gunilla Svensson (Stockholm U.): Extratropical and Polar Cloud systems
● Lecture 11: Cathy Hohenegger (MPI Hamburg): Clouds and Land Surface Interaction
● Lecture 12: Ulrike Lohmann (ETH Zurich): Clouds and Aerosols
● Lecture 13: Sandrine Bony (LMD): Clouds and Climate Change

Fees

The costs for accommodation, including meals is expected to amount to approximately 1000 euro per participant for the two weeks. Limited funding may be available to cover a portion of accommodation and travel costs.

Application

Registration for the summer school has closed. More students have applied than there are places available. Therefore a selection will have to take place. Students who have applied will be informed about acceptance as soon as possible. This is expected to be at the end of January/beginning of February 2013.