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Christopher R. Terai

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Washington
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
713 ATG Building
Seattle, WA
terai at atmos.washington.edu




About myself

I am a fifth year graduate student in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. I work with Dr. Robert Wood to study the interactions between aerosol particles, clouds, and precipitation. More specifically, I have been analyzing aircraft data from the VOCALS Regional Experiment. Using the data, I have studied precipitation susceptibility and cold pool formation under marine stratocumulus and am now studying the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in pockets of open cells.



My Research Interests

Much of my research is motivated by the broader question, “How do aerosol particles in the atmosphere affect cloud properties?” The numerous feedbacks between the aerosol particles, cloud microphysics, and cloud dynamics make studying these interactions both difficult and interesting. To simplify things, I have tried to focus in each of the many pathways in which aerosols can affect clouds and have been looking at how how aerosol particles affect drizzle properties and how drizzle can in turn affect marine stratocumulus clouds over the southeast Pacific.
For more, see Research.




Publications

Terai, C. R., R. Wood, D. C. Leon, and P. Zuidema (2012), Does precipitation susceptibility vary with increasing cloud thickness in marine stratocumulus?, Atmos. Chem. Phys.

Terai, C. R. and R. Wood (2013), Aircraft observations of cold pools under marine stratocumulus, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.

Gettelman, A., H. Morrison, C. R. Terai, and R. Wood (2013), Microphysical Process Rates and Global Aerosol-Cloud Interactions, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.




Clouds

Collection of cloud photos




Pictures from VOCALS
Stratocumulus cloud deck and sunrise as seen from the NSF/NCAR C-130. NSF/NCAR C-130

                                                                                      last update: 23rd June 2013