Climatic Effects of/Controls on Mesoscale Processes

The primary goal of this CIMMS thematic area is to extend and apply the understanding of mesoscale processes to the problem of climate maintenance and change in several contexts. Stratiform cloud cover in the boundary layer, which is a primary uncertainty in the climatic energy balance, is to a large extent controlled by mesoscale and microscale processes. Lightning, essentially a mesoscale phenomenon, produces chemically and radiatively active chemicals which should be considered in the "greenhouse" problem. This theme also includes investigation of the influence of the large-scale climatic environment on the mesoscale systems that produce growing season rainfall in regions such as central North America and Subsaharan Africa.