The main goal of the NCAR Water Cycle Across Scales initiative is to improve
predictions of the water cycle in weather and climate models. This goal will be achieved through
increased understanding of processes within the water cycle, thereby enabling improvements to convective,
land surface, and microphysical parameterizations. Phase I (FY02-05) has been on the summer water cycle
over the Continental U.S. using data from the
IHOP_2002
field program, NCAR/NCEP and ECMWF ERA-40 re-analysis data, and modeling studies.
Four focus areas have been defined, as shown in the figure below. Specific
tasks for each focus area are also listed, as well as the interactions among tasks. A particular area of
focus will be utilizing the diurnal cycle of water cycle processes, particularly precipitation over the
Continental U.S. as it provides a means of systematically examining, testing and improving model predictions.
Steering committee: Roy Rasmussen (chairman), Fei Chen, Jim Hack, Mitch Moncrieff, David Parsons, Kevin Trenberth, Tom Warner, and Jim Wilson.
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