Improving process representations of Clouds and Aerosols in Earth System Models Using AI/ML: Current and future opportunities with E3SM
Clouds and aerosols are critical processes for understanding both sides of climate prediction: climate forcing and climate feedback. Because of the multi-scale interactions of clouds, turbulence and aerosols, it is particularly hard to represent cloud and aerosol processes at the right scale in global models. We now have several unique opportunities to make fundamental advances to put climate prediction on a sounder scientific basis than the current empirical treatments for cloud physics in E3SM and other models. We have lots of cloud and aerosol data and basic known physics at the small scale we can use in new ways. This presentation will discuss how a hierarchy of physical and data driven models can be used to make progress. Some examples from recent work in E3SM and EAGLES will be shown on cloud microphysics, aerosols, and radiative transfer. In addition, more radical methods for the use of data in the Digital Twin framework are possible and will be discussed.