This is a past event.

This event will be held in M&M U113.

The topic of Oumaima Lamaakel's talk is entitled Large-Eddy Simulation of Precipitating Shallow Cumulus Convection 

Abstract:
Clouds forming in the atmospheric boundary layer, typically the lowermost 4 km of the atmosphere, have a large impact on the Earth's energy balance and are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate projections. The development of precipitation in shallow cumulus clouds changes the spatial structure of convection and creates large-scale organization affecting the boundary layer energy balance. The development of convective organization is studied using large-eddy simulations (LES) of the trade-wind boundary layer observed during the Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) campaign. The LES employ extensive horizontal domains, up to 330 x 330 km in the horizontal directions, and fine resolution (40 m). The cloud structure transitions from uniformly scattered cumulus to organized cloud clusters when sufficient precipitation develops. The development of large-scale organization develops rapidly and has a large impact on the turbulent-flow statistics. The structure of the flow organization and turbulence strongly depend on the LES domain size. In contrast, mean profiles do not depend on computational domain size. It is shown that large-scale organization primarily affects the horizontal fluctuations in the flow through the creation of local cloud-system circulations rather that changes to the individual cumulus-topped convective elements. 

Bio:
Dr. Oumaima Lamaakel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Lab working with Dr. Joao Teixeira on the development and utilization of models and parametrizations to represent atmospheric convection and planetary boundary layer turbulence. She completed her PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut where she specialized in Large Eddy Simulation of atmospheric convection for her research. Prior to her PhD, she earned a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution, and a Bachelor's degree in General Engineering from Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, where she co-founded an underwater robotics technology startup in 2016. Her research interests lie in geophysical fluid dynamics, the dynamics of boundary-layer clouds, and the development and validation of atmospheric models using observational data.