Clouds play essential roles in weather and climate systems, with their representations in models consistently ranking among the largest uncertainties. Long-term cloud observations with accurate uncertainty estimates are highly demand, as is a better understanding of cloud processes. It is crucial to understand the origins and behaviors both of cloud properties and of their attendant uncertainties. Recent improvements in the availability and quality of observations, model simulations, and tools for comparing these different types of data are advancing our understanding of cloud processes and parameterized representations of clouds in models.

This session invites papers focusing on cloud properties, cloud processes, and cloud-associated models and parameterizations. Related topics include but are not limited to 1) cloud observations and retrievals; 2) analyses of cloud properties; 3) quantification of cloud-related uncertainties; 4) cloud and precipitation processes and their parameterization in models; 5) the weather and climate impacts of clouds.