CLOUD MICROPHYSICS GROUP
Professor Sonia Lasher-Trapp
Purdue University Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Welcome
Clouds are ubiquitous over the globe, and characteristics of the local atmosphere in which they develop can impact their behavior, including their ability to precipitate. Our research group travels to different regions of the world in order to take detailed observations of the cloud properties; we also simulate these clouds using a variety of models on workstations and high-speed computers.
Current research foci include:
• cumulus entrainment and mixing, and their influence on rainfall
• numerical modeling of precipitation efficiency, and how it may change with future regional climate change
• observation and numerical modeling of ice nucleation in maritime cumulus clouds
Continual advances in both observational techniques and modeling capabilities, driven by the importance of understanding cloud and precipitation processes to both operational weather forecasting as well as climate change studies, make cloud microphysics a dynamic and cutting-edge discipline in atmospheric science
