The Fourth Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Radiation and Climate will be held at Colby College in Waterville, Maine during the period July 24 - 29, 2005 and will focus on the four dimensional interaction between radiation and the three phases of water. This conference will bring together, and foster discussion among, scientists studying various aspects of atmospheric radiative transfer. The conference will have a first-rate, international line-up of 22 speakers and 9 discussion leaders that will secure continuity of the scientific excellence that has been a hallmark of Gordon Conferences for over 70 years. As Gordon Conferences are supported in part by Gordon Research Conferences, this proposal is seeking additional support to provide financial support of conference fees and/or travel costs for students, postdocs, and other young investigators as well as invited speakers and discussion leaders.
Intellectual Merit: This GRC recognizes explicitly that much of what makes Earth's climate so complex, difficult to predict, and worthy of study arises from the four-dimensional interaction between radiation and the three phases of water. It is generally agreed that the most elusive of these interactions involve clouds, and so discussion of clouds and radiative transfer for cloudy atmospheres form the core of this GRC. The areas to be covered by the conference include: Hydro-Radiative Climatology Absorption and Scattering Radiative Transfer - I: Two-Stream Approximation and Averaging Radiative Transfer - II: Dynamical Models Radiative Transfer - III: Innovative Remote Sensing Cloud Observing Systems Assimilation of Cloud Data Modelling and Observing Clouds and Radiation Analyses of Cloud Feedbacks and Radiative Sensitivities. The above areas represent both basic and cutting edge research in the area of Radiation and Climate, and it is expected that the discussions will facilitate better understanding of the field and will provoke new research on unsolved problems.
Broader Impacts: The Fourth Gordon Research Conference on Radiation and Climate is expected to be an exciting educational experience for all participants - students and established researchers alike. The students who participate in this activity will benefit by obtaining a better understanding of one of the fundamental physical processes governing the climate system - the transfer of electromagnetic radiation - AND its interaction with clouds - a primary, and perhaps the least understood, component of the climate system. Established researchers should benefit by an exposure to recent advances and new ideas in this field. Overall, the exchanges of ideas are expected to benefit society by encouraging further exploration and discoveries of the climate system, thereby perhaps increasing our capability for making useful predictions and assessments of anthropogenic impact on the climate system.
