The water cycle across scales

Despite the importance of water and a tremendous body of work researching its processes, critical questions regarding the global water cycle remain. These questions range from fundamental details of the spectroscopy of water, to the forecasting of precipitation, to closing the budget of the hydrological cycle on many scales. This paper discusses integrating themes and strategic opportunities identified during the first National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Early Career Scientist Association Junior Faculty Forum on Future Scientific Directions in June 2003. These include: transport and transformations (atmospheric convection as prototype issue); developing collaborative research; fostering operational-research linkages; the role of observations in water-cycle research; and improved metrics for evaluating theories and models.