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Click on image for 5-day simulation
of a cloud systems model
This initiative is focused on how the various components of the water cycle interact over a specific
geographical area, rather than focus on the details of any individual process over different locations. For instance,
the formation of a flash flood is due to high volumes of rain falling in a small geographic area over a short period of
time. The formation of the rain involves microphysical processes, while the dynamical triggering mechanisms for cloud
formation may be due to mesoscale or synoptic forcing on large scales, while the rapid accumulation of water into a flood
involves intermediate scales. In addition, interactions between convective scale processes and the local environment, such
as between convective outflows and vertical shear, or the atmospheric response to convective heating, can control the
evolution and movement of convective systems. Therefore, we adopt a multidisciplinary, multi-scale strategy that
straddles four NCAR Divisions (ATD,
CGD, MMM,
RAL).
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