Conditional generation of cloud fields

Abstract

Processes related to cloud physics constitute the largest remaining scientific uncertainty in climate models and projections. This uncertainty stems from the coarse nature of current climate models and relatedly the lack of understanding of detailed physics. We train a generative adversarial network to generate realistic cloud fields conditioned on meterological reanalysis data for both climate model outputs as well as satellite imagery. While our network is able to generate realistic cloud fields, especially their large-scale patterns, more work is needed to refine its accuracy to resolve finer textural details of cloud masses to improve its predictions.