CONSTRAIN scientists lead EUREC4A campaign

Earlier this year, CONSTRAIN scientists Sandrine Bony and Bjorn Stevens led the EUREC4A field study, an international initiative in support of the World Climate Research Programme’s Grand Science Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity.

EUREC4A aims to advance understanding of the interactions between clouds, convection and circulation and their role in climate change, asking questions such as: How resilient or sensitive is the shallow cumulus cloud amount to variations in the strength of convective mixing, surface turbulence and large-scale circulations? How do the radiative effects of water vapor and clouds influence shallow circulations and convection? To what extent do mesoscale patterns of convective organization condition the response of clouds to perturbations?  And what are the implications of all of the above for how clouds respond to warming?

The results will feed into the CONSTRAIN project, helping us to reduce uncertainties around how clouds are represented in climate models.

EUREC4A took place between 20 January and 20 February 2020 with operations based out of Barbados.

Visit the EUREC4A website