Fall Meeting 2022

December 12 - 16, 2022

Atmospheric physical and chemical processes span a wide range of scales from the molecular/turbulent to the larger regional and planetary scales. Advances in modeling capabilities and computing resources have enabled multi-scale investigations of atmospheric processes that are influenced by both large-scale forcing and local scales related to turbulence and terrain heterogeneity. While existing weather models and their physical parameterizations are formulated for specific scales and assumptions, quantification of models’ skills and validity when considering interactions of a wide range of scales remain largely unexplored, particularly in real case studies. Further, key uncertainties remain as to applying numerical weather models at gray zone resolutions, for which subgrid parametrization assumptions on the grid size are violated in both mesoscale and microscale models and may result in unrealistic flow structures. New research approaches to properly perform coupled meso- to micro-scale simulations, as well as new scale aware parameterizations, are thus needed to improve understanding of fundamental physical and chemical processes in the boundary layer. These new developments would lead to enhanced multiscale model predictive capabilities for a range of conditions, environments, and applications including dynamically changing large scale forcing, atmospheric flows over heterogeneous surfaces, complex terrain, and urban areas as well as for transport and dispersion, wildland fire spread, and wind energy applications.