SDM KibanA 3rd General Meeting

By Anuproject

Venue: Snow and Ice Research Center (SIRC), Nagaoka
Date: 11–12 December 2025
Purpose: Sharing research progress and discussing future plans for the Kakenhi Kiban A project

The third general meeting of the Super-Droplet Method (SDM) KibanA research project was held at the Snow and Ice Research Center in Nagaoka. The meeting brought together project members to share recent scientific progress, discuss ongoing challenges, and plan future research activities toward the completion of the Kiban A project.

As part of the meeting, participants visited the Snow and Ice Research Center to observe state-of-the-art snowfall and precipitation measurement facilities. The visit highlighted advanced techniques used to characterize precipitation not only in terms of amount, but also individual particle properties, including shape and size. A key feature was the conveyor-belt imaging system, which allows high-resolution observation of falling snow particles while preserving their natural structure.

The scientific sessions included presentations on SDM model development, observational studies, and numerical simulations, covering both warm-phase and mixed-phase cloud systems through idealized and real-atmosphere simulations.
Major topics included:

  • Development in SDM of melting and freezing microphysics, a joint radar simulator, and simulations of line-shaped heavy rainfall systems

  • Orographic cloud studies over Mt. Tsukuba and the Hokuriku region

  • Snow cloud studies, including idealized mixed-phase experiments, 3D snow cloud simulations (L- and T-modes), Hokkaido snowfall cases, and observations at SIRC

  • Low-level clouds over Tokyo, using Tokyo Skytree observations and corresponding SDM simulations

  • Deep convective clouds over India, focusing on aerosol sensitivity and evaluation with aircraft-based observations

  • Maritime cumulus and congestus clouds in the tropics, based on ship-based observations, idealized simulations, and ICMW congestus cases

  • Mixed-phase snow cloud cases from the ICMW COMBLE and ICE-POP experiments

Conclusion

The meeting demonstrated steady progress across both modeling and observational components of the SDM KibanA project. Continued integration of SDM development, observational analyses, and diverse case studies will further enhance understanding of precipitation and snowfall processes and strengthen future project outcomes.