Articles | Volume 16, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9235-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9235-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
28 Jul 2016
Research article |
| 28 Jul 2016
Theoretical study of mixing in liquid clouds – Part 1: Classical concepts
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Section,
Toronto, Canada
Alex Khain
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Mark Pinsky
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Jeffrey French
University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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We studied how airplane contrails form and persist under cold, moist conditions. Using computer simulations and real observations, we found that weather predicting models often underestimate moisture levels, limiting accurate trail prediction. Adjusting how ice grows in clouds allowed us to better simulate these contrails. Improving moisture representation in models can help predict the climate effects of these clouds.
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The phenomenon of high ice water content (HIWC) occurs in mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) when a large number of small ice particles with typical sizes of a few hundred micrometers is found at high altitudes. It was found that secondary ice production in the vicinity of the melting layer plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of HIWC. This study presents a conceptual model of the formation of HIWC in tropical MCSs based on in situ observations and numerical simulation.
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A remote sensing method to retrieve sizes of particles in ice clouds and precipitation from radar measurements at two wavelengths is described. This method is based on relating the particle size information to the ratio of radar signals at these two wavelengths. It is demonstrated that this ratio is informative about different characteristic particle sizes. Knowing atmospheric ice particle sizes is important for many applications such as precipitation estimation and climate modeling.
Alexei Korolev, Paul J. DeMott, Ivan Heckman, Mengistu Wolde, Earle Williams, David J. Smalley, and Michael F. Donovan
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The present study provides the first explicit in situ observation of secondary ice production at temperatures as low as −27 °C, which is well outside the range of the Hallett–Mossop process (−3 to −8 °C). This observation expands our knowledge of the temperature range of initiation of secondary ice in clouds. The obtained results are intended to stimulate laboratory and theoretical studies to develop physically based parameterizations for weather prediction and climate models.
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Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) clouds embedded in a stratiform precipitation event were uncovered via radar Doppler spectral analysis. Given the unprecedented detail of the observations, we show that multiple populations of secondary ice columns were generated in the pockets where larger cloud droplets are formed and not at some constant level within the cloud. Our results highlight that the K–H instability is favorable for liquid droplet growth and secondary ice formation.
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The evolution of monodisperse and polydisperse droplet size distributions (DSDs) during
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Mark Pinsky, Alexander Khain, and Alexei Korolev
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An idealized diffusion--evaporation model of time-dependent mixing between cloud and non-cloud volumes is analyzed. It is shown that the evolution of microphysical variables and the final equilibrium stage are unambiguously determined by two non-dimensional parameters. Delimitation between the types of mixing on the plane of these parameters is carried out. The definitions of homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixings are reconsidered and clarified. Results are compared with the classical concept.
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We present microphysical observations of cumulus clouds measured over south-west England during COPE in summer 2013. Detailed sampling focused on an isolated liquid cloud that glaciated as it matured to merge with a band of cloud downwind. The first ice particles observed were frozen drizzle, while columnar ice dominated in the mature stages. We discuss the interactions between the warm rain and secondary ice processes, and their importance for the formation of precipitation.
A. M. Fridlind, A. S. Ackerman, A. Grandin, F. Dezitter, M. Weber, J. W. Strapp, A. V. Korolev, and C. R. Williams
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Airbus measurements at elevations circa 11 km within large storm systems near Darwin and Santiago indicate ice mass distributed over area-equivalent diameters of 100-500 µm. Profiler-observed radar reflectivity and mean Doppler velocity under similar conditions are found to be consistent with measurements and with 1D simulations of steady-state stratiform rain columns initialized with observed ice size distributions. Results motivate investigation of ice formation pathways in Part II.
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An updraft parcel model with size-resolved microphysics is used to investigate microphysical pathways leading to ice water content > 2 g m-3 with mass median area-equivalent diameter of 200-300 micron reported at ~11 km in tropical deep convection. Parcel simulations require substantial source of small crystals at temperatures > ~-10 deg C growing by vapor deposition. Warm rain in weaker updrafts surprisingly leads to greater ice mass owing to reduced competition for available water vapor.
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
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We studied how airplane contrails form and persist under cold, moist conditions. Using computer simulations and real observations, we found that weather predicting models often underestimate moisture levels, limiting accurate trail prediction. Adjusting how ice grows in clouds allowed us to better simulate these contrails. Improving moisture representation in models can help predict the climate effects of these clouds.
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Short summary
Short summary
This study examines the impact of incorporating secondary ice production (SIP) parameterizations into high-resolution numerical weather prediction simulations for mid-latitude continental winter conditions. Aircraft in situ and remote sensing observations are used to evaluate the simulations. Results show that including SIP improves the representation of cloud and freezing rain properties, with its impact varying based on cloud regime, such as convective or stratiform.
Alexei Korolev, Zhipeng Qu, Jason Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Mélissa Cholette, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Greg M. McFarquhar, Paul Lawson, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11849–11881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, 2024
Short summary
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The phenomenon of high ice water content (HIWC) occurs in mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) when a large number of small ice particles with typical sizes of a few hundred micrometers is found at high altitudes. It was found that secondary ice production in the vicinity of the melting layer plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of HIWC. This study presents a conceptual model of the formation of HIWC in tropical MCSs based on in situ observations and numerical simulation.
David E. Kingsmill, Jeffrey R. French, and Neil P. Lareau
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023, 2023
Short summary
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This study uses in situ aircraft measurements to characterize the size and shape distributions of 10 µm to 6 mm diameter particles observed during six penetrations of wildfire-induced pyroconvection. Particles sampled in one penetration of a smoke plume are most likely pyrometeors composed of ash. The other penetrations are through pyrocumulus clouds where particle composition is most likely a combination of hydrometeors (ice particles) and pyrometeors (ash).
Sergey Y. Matrosov, Alexei Korolev, Mengistu Wolde, and Cuong Nguyen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6373–6386, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6373-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6373-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A remote sensing method to retrieve sizes of particles in ice clouds and precipitation from radar measurements at two wavelengths is described. This method is based on relating the particle size information to the ratio of radar signals at these two wavelengths. It is demonstrated that this ratio is informative about different characteristic particle sizes. Knowing atmospheric ice particle sizes is important for many applications such as precipitation estimation and climate modeling.
Alexei Korolev, Paul J. DeMott, Ivan Heckman, Mengistu Wolde, Earle Williams, David J. Smalley, and Michael F. Donovan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13103–13113, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13103-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13103-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The present study provides the first explicit in situ observation of secondary ice production at temperatures as low as −27 °C, which is well outside the range of the Hallett–Mossop process (−3 to −8 °C). This observation expands our knowledge of the temperature range of initiation of secondary ice in clouds. The obtained results are intended to stimulate laboratory and theoretical studies to develop physically based parameterizations for weather prediction and climate models.
Zhipeng Qu, Alexei Korolev, Jason A. Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Yongjie Huang, Greg M. McFarquhar, Hugh Morrison, Mengistu Wolde, and Cuong Nguyen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12287–12310, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12287-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12287-2022, 2022
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Secondary ice production (SIP) is an important physical phenomenon that results in an increase in the cloud ice particle concentration and can have a significant impact on the evolution of clouds. Here, idealized simulations of a tropical convective system were conducted. Agreement between the simulations and observations highlights the impacts of SIP on the maintenance of tropical convection in nature and the importance of including the modelling of SIP in numerical weather prediction models.
Yongjie Huang, Wei Wu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Ming Xue, Hugh Morrison, Jason Milbrandt, Alexei V. Korolev, Yachao Hu, Zhipeng Qu, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, and Ivan Heckman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2365–2384, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2365-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2365-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Numerous small ice crystals in tropical convective storms are difficult to detect and could be potentially hazardous for commercial aircraft. Previous numerical simulations failed to reproduce this phenomenon and hypothesized that key microphysical processes are still lacking in current models to realistically simulate the phenomenon. This study uses numerical experiments to confirm the dominant role of secondary ice production in the formation of these large numbers of small ice crystals.
Eshkol Eytan, Ilan Koren, Orit Altaratz, Mark Pinsky, and Alexander Khain
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16203–16217, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16203-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16203-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Describing cloud mixing processes is among the most challenging fronts in cloud physics. Therefore, the adiabatic fraction (AF) that serves as a mixing measure is a valuable metric. We use high-resolution (10 m) simulations of single clouds with a passive tracer to test the skill of different methods used to derive AF. We highlight a method that is insensitive to the available cloud samples and allows considering microphysical effects on AF estimations in different environmental conditions.
Haoran Li, Alexei Korolev, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13593–13608, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13593-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13593-2021, 2021
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Short summary
Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) clouds embedded in a stratiform precipitation event were uncovered via radar Doppler spectral analysis. Given the unprecedented detail of the observations, we show that multiple populations of secondary ice columns were generated in the pockets where larger cloud droplets are formed and not at some constant level within the cloud. Our results highlight that the K–H instability is favorable for liquid droplet growth and secondary ice formation.
Yongjie Huang, Wei Wu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Xuguang Wang, Hugh Morrison, Alexander Ryzhkov, Yachao Hu, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Jason Milbrandt, Alexei V. Korolev, and Ivan Heckman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6919–6944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, 2021
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Numerous small ice crystals in the tropical convective storms are difficult to detect and could be potentially hazardous for commercial aircraft. This study evaluated the numerical models against the airborne observations and investigated the potential cloud processes that could lead to the production of these large numbers of small ice crystals. It is found that key microphysical processes are still lacking or misrepresented in current numerical models to realistically simulate the phenomenon.
Alexei Korolev and Thomas Leisner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11767–11797, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11767-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11767-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Secondary ice production (SIP) plays a key role in the formation of ice particles in tropospheric clouds. This work presents a critical review of the laboratory studies related to secondary ice production. It aims to identify gaps in our knowledge of SIP as well as to stimulate further laboratory studies focused on obtaining a quantitative description of efficiencies for each SIP mechanism.
Adam Majewski and Jeffrey R. French
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5035–5054, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5035-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5035-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The study reports formation of supercooled drizzle drops in response to repeating kilometer-wide updrafts and downdrafts within a mixed-phase, mountain-layer cloud containing very little ice despite cold cloud top temperatures (T ~ -30°C). The discrete, embedded hydrometeor growth layers and downwind transition to drizzle production at cloud top indicates the relative importance of kinematic mechanisms in determining the location of precipitation development in cloud.
Alexei Korolev, Ivan Heckman, Mengistu Wolde, Andrew S. Ackerman, Ann M. Fridlind, Luis A. Ladino, R. Paul Lawson, Jason Milbrandt, and Earle Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1391–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1391-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1391-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study attempts identification of mechanisms of secondary ice production (SIP) based on the observation of small faceted ice crystals. It was found that in both mesoscale convective systems and frontal clouds, SIP was observed right above the melting layer and extended to the higher altitudes with colder temperatures. A principal conclusion of this work is that the freezing drop shattering mechanism is plausibly accounting for the measured ice concentrations in the observed condition.
Cuong M. Nguyen, Mengistu Wolde, and Alexei Korolev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5897–5911, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5897-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5897-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a methodology for high ice water content (HIWC) (up to 3.5 g m−3) retrieval from a dual-polarization side-looking X-band airborne radar. Zdr and Kdp are used to mitigate the effects of ice crystal shape and orientation on the variation in IWC – specific differential phase (Kdp) joint distribution. Empirical analysis shows that the proposed method improves the estimation bias by 35 % and increases the correlation by 4 % on average, compared to the method using Kdp alone.
Robert Jackson, Jeffrey R. French, David C. Leon, David M. Plummer, Sonia Lasher-Trapp, Alan M. Blyth, and Alexei Korolev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15329–15344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15329-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15329-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper looks at microphysical observations of growing cumulus clouds in the southwest United Kingdom sampled during the COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE). Our results suggest that secondary ice production processes are contributing to the observed concentrations and that entrainment of particles from remnant cloud layers may have acted to aid in secondary ice production.
Spencer Faber, Jeffrey R. French, and Robert Jackson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 3645–3659, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3645-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3645-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Laboratory and in-flight evaluations of uncertainties of measurements from a cloud droplet probe are presented. This study extends results of earlier studies by examining instrument response over a greater range of droplet sizes throughout the entire sample volume. Errors in droplet sizing based on the laboratory measurements tend to be less than 10 %, significantly less than typically quoted sizing accuracy for this class of instrument.
Mark Pinsky and Alexander Khain
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3659–3676, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3659-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3659-2018, 2018
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In this paper it is shown that the difference between the mixing diagrams for homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixing is insignificant and decreases with an increase in the DSD width. If the normalized droplet concentration is used, mixing diagrams do not show any significant dependency on relative humidity in the dry volume.
The main conclusion of the study is that traditional mixing diagrams cannot serve as a reliable tool in analysis of mixing type.
Eyal Ilotoviz and Alexander Khain
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 14317–14329, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14317-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14317-2016, 2016
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In this paper the evolution of deep convective clouds is simulated under different aerosol loading. The simulations are performed using a spectral-bin microphysics model in which droplet concentration at cloud base is calculated using a new analytical method. The effect of this accurate calculation of droplet concentration is analyzed by comparison with a standard method. The role of the smallest CCN in the aerosol spectra is investigated.
W. Richard Leaitch, Alexei Korolev, Amir A. Aliabadi, Julia Burkart, Megan D. Willis, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Heiko Bozem, Peter Hoor, Franziska Köllner, Johannes Schneider, Andreas Herber, Christian Konrad, and Ralf Brauner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11107–11124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11107-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11107-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Thought to be mostly unimportant for summertime Arctic liquid-water clouds, airborne observations show that atmospheric aerosol particles 50 nm in diameter or smaller and most likely from natural sources are often involved in cloud formation in the pristine Arctic summer. The result expands the reference for aerosol forcing of climate. Further, for extremely low droplet concentrations, no evidence is found for a connection between cloud liquid water and aerosol particle concentrations.
Jing Yang, Zhien Wang, Andrew J. Heymsfield, and Jeffrey R. French
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10159–10173, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10159-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10159-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides statistics of the vertical air motion characteristics in convective clouds using aircraft in situ measurements from three field campaigns. Small-scale drafts are frequently observed and make important contributions to total air mass flux. The probability density functions and profiles of the observed vertical velocity and air mass flux are provided. The differences among the three field campaigns are compared. Factors influencing the vertical air motions are discussed.
Mark Pinsky, Alexander Khain, Alexei Korolev, and Leehi Magaritz-Ronen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9255–9272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9255-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9255-2016, 2016
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The evolution of monodisperse and polydisperse droplet size distributions (DSDs) during
homogeneous mixing is analyzed. It is shown that the classic conceptual scheme, according to which homogeneous mixing leads to a decrease in the droplet mass under constant droplet concentration, is valid only in cases of initially very narrow DSDs. In cases of wide DSDs a decrease of both mass and concentration take place such that the characteristic droplet sizes remain nearly constant.
Mark Pinsky, Alexander Khain, and Alexei Korolev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9273–9297, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9273-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9273-2016, 2016
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An idealized diffusion--evaporation model of time-dependent mixing between cloud and non-cloud volumes is analyzed. It is shown that the evolution of microphysical variables and the final equilibrium stage are unambiguously determined by two non-dimensional parameters. Delimitation between the types of mixing on the plane of these parameters is carried out. The definitions of homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixings are reconsidered and clarified. Results are compared with the classical concept.
L. Magaritz-Ronen, M. Pinsky, and A. Khain
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1849–1862, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1849-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1849-2016, 2016
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The mechanism of drizzle formation in shallow stratocumulus clouds and the effect of turbulent mixing on this process are investigated using a Lagrangian-Eularian model of the cloud-topped boundary layer. It was found that first large drops form in volumes that are closest to adiabatic with extended residence near cloud top, and maximum values of LWC. Turbulent mixing was found able to delay the process of drizzle initiation but is essential for the further development of drizzle in the cloud.
J. W. Taylor, T. W. Choularton, A. M. Blyth, Z. Liu, K. N. Bower, J. Crosier, M. W. Gallagher, P. I. Williams, J. R. Dorsey, M. J. Flynn, L. J. Bennett, Y. Huang, J. French, A. Korolev, and P. R. A. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 799–826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-799-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-799-2016, 2016
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We present microphysical observations of cumulus clouds measured over south-west England during COPE in summer 2013. Detailed sampling focused on an isolated liquid cloud that glaciated as it matured to merge with a band of cloud downwind. The first ice particles observed were frozen drizzle, while columnar ice dominated in the mature stages. We discuss the interactions between the warm rain and secondary ice processes, and their importance for the formation of precipitation.
A. M. Fridlind, A. S. Ackerman, A. Grandin, F. Dezitter, M. Weber, J. W. Strapp, A. V. Korolev, and C. R. Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11713–11728, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11713-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11713-2015, 2015
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Airbus measurements at elevations circa 11 km within large storm systems near Darwin and Santiago indicate ice mass distributed over area-equivalent diameters of 100-500 µm. Profiler-observed radar reflectivity and mean Doppler velocity under similar conditions are found to be consistent with measurements and with 1D simulations of steady-state stratiform rain columns initialized with observed ice size distributions. Results motivate investigation of ice formation pathways in Part II.
A. S. Ackerman, A. M. Fridlind, A. Grandin, F. Dezitter, M. Weber, J. W. Strapp, and A. V. Korolev
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11729–11751, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11729-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11729-2015, 2015
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An updraft parcel model with size-resolved microphysics is used to investigate microphysical pathways leading to ice water content > 2 g m-3 with mass median area-equivalent diameter of 200-300 micron reported at ~11 km in tropical deep convection. Parcel simulations require substantial source of small crystals at temperatures > ~-10 deg C growing by vapor deposition. Warm rain in weaker updrafts surprisingly leads to greater ice mass owing to reduced competition for available water vapor.
A. Korolev and P. R. Field
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 761–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-761-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-761-2015, 2015
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Ambient and intrinsic dependencies of evolving ice-phase particles within a decaying winter storm during IMPACTS
High-resolution modeling of early contrail evolution from hydrogen-powered aircraft
Accelerated impact of airborne glaciogenic seeding of stratiform clouds by turbulence
Failed cyclogenesis of a mesoscale convective system near Cabo Verde: the role of the Saharan trade wind layer among other inhibiting factors observed during the CADDIWA field campaign
Sensitivities of simulated mixed-phase Arctic multilayer clouds to primary and secondary ice processes
Assessing glaciogenic seeding impacts in Australia's Snowy Mountains: an ensemble modeling approach
How the representation of microphysical processes affects tropical condensate in the global storm-resolving model ICON
Magnitude and timescale of liquid water path adjustments to cloud droplet number concentration perturbations for nocturnal non-precipitating marine stratocumulus
Cold pools mediate mesoscale adjustments of trade-cumulus fields to changes in cloud droplet number concentration
Numerical case study of the aerosol–cloud interactions in warm boundary layer clouds over the eastern North Atlantic with an interactive chemistry module
Influence of temperature and humidity on contrail formation regions in the general circulation model EMAC: a spring case study
On the impact of thunder on cloud ice crystals and droplets
Microphysical Parameter Choices Modulate Ice Content and Relative Humidity in the Outflow of a Warm Conveyor Belt
Counteracting influences of gravitational settling modulate aerosol impacts on cloud-base-lowering fog characteristics
The critical number and size of precipitation embryos to accelerate warm rain initiation
Impact on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition of the interaction of cloud microphysics and macrophysics with large-scale circulation
Technical note: Phase space depiction of cloud condensation nuclei activation and cloud droplet diffusional growth
Impact of wildfire smoke on Arctic cirrus formation – Part 2: Simulation of MOSAiC 2019–2020 cases
Constraining aerosol–cloud adjustments by uniting surface observations with a perturbed parameter ensemble
Investigating ice formation pathways using a novel two-moment multi-class cloud microphysics scheme
Exploiting airborne far-infrared measurements to optimise an ice cloud retrieval
Microphysics regimes due to haze–cloud interactions: cloud oscillation and cloud collapse
Microphysical fingerprints in anvil cloud albedo
Influence of Secondary Ice Production on cloud and rain properties: Analysis of the HYMEX IOP7a Heavy Precipitation Event
Factors Causing Stratocumulus to Deviate from Subtropical High Variability on Seasonal to Interannual Timescales
The influence of Amazonian anthropogenic emissions on new particle formation, aerosol, cloud and surface rain
Impact of secondary ice production on thunderstorm electrification under different aerosol conditions
Tropical cirrus evolution in a km-scale model with improved ice microphysics
Model analysis of biases in the satellite-diagnosed aerosol effect on the cloud liquid water path
Impacts of aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions on a short-term heavy rainfall event – A case study in the Guanzhong Basin, China
Evaluation of biases in mid-to-high-latitude surface snowfall and cloud phase in ERA5 and CMIP6 using satellite observations
Dynamical imprints on precipitation cluster statistics across a hierarchy of high-resolution simulations
Ice formation processes key in determining WCB outflow cirrus properties
Role of a key microphysical factor in mixed-phase stratocumulus clouds and their interactions with aerosols
Investigating the impact of subgrid-scale aerosol-cloud interaction on mesoscale meteorology prediction
Different responses of cold-air outbreak clouds to aerosol and ice production depending on cloud temperature
Identifying Synoptic Controls on Boundary Layer Thermodynamic and Cloud Properties in a Regional Forecast Model
Correction of ERA5 temperature and relative humidity biases by bivariate quantile mapping for contrail formation analysis
Can pollen affect precipitation?
Potential impacts of marine fuel regulations on an Arctic stratocumulus case and its radiative response
The subtleties of three-dimensional radiative effects in contrails and cirrus clouds
The impact of the mesh size and microphysics scheme on the representation of mid-level clouds in the ICON model in hilly and complex terrain
The role of ascent timescales for warm conveyor belt (WCB) moisture transport into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS)
On the Processes Determining the Slope of Cloud-Water Adjustments in Non-Precipitating Stratocumulus
Analysis of raindrop size distribution from the double moment cloud microphysics scheme for monsoon over a tropical station
High sensitivity of simulated fog properties to parameterized aerosol activation in case studies from ParisFog
Adiabatic and radiative cooling are both important causes of aerosol activation in simulated fog events in Europe
Estimating the concentration of silver iodide needed to detect unambiguous signatures of glaciogenic cloud seeding
Ice-nucleating particle concentration impacts cloud properties over Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, in COSMO-CLM2
Numerical simulation of aerosol concentration effects on cloud droplet size spectrum evolutions of warm stratiform clouds in Jiangxi, China
Andrew DeLaFrance, Lynn A. McMurdie, Angela K. Rowe, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8087–8106, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8087-2025, 2025
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Numerical modeling simulations are used to investigate ice crystal growth and decay processes within a banded region of enhanced precipitation rates during a prominent winter storm. We identify robust primary ice growth in the upper portion of the cloud but decay exceeding 70 % during fallout through a subsaturated layer. The ice fall characteristics and decay rate are sensitive to the ambient cloud properties, which has implications for radar-based measurements and precipitation accumulations.
Annemarie Lottermoser and Simon Unterstrasser
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7903–7924, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7903-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7903-2025, 2025
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Contrail cirrus significantly contributes to aviation's overall climate impact. As hydrogen combustion and fuel cell use are emerging technologies for aircraft propulsion, we simulated individual contrails from hydrogen propulsion during the first 6 min after exhaust emission, termed the vortex phase. The ice crystal loss during that stage is crucial, as the number of ice crystals has a large impact on the further evolution of contrails into contrail cirrus and their radiative forcing.
Meilian Chen, Xiaoqin Jing, Jiaojiao Li, Jing Yang, Xiaobo Dong, Bart Geerts, Yan Yin, Baojun Chen, Lulin Xue, Mengyu Huang, Ping Tian, and Shaofeng Hua
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7581–7596, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7581-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7581-2025, 2025
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Several recent studies have reported complete cloud glaciation induced by airborne-based glaciogenic cloud seeding over plains. Since turbulence is an important factor to maintain clouds in a mixed phase, it is hypothesized that turbulence may have an impact on the seeding effect. This hypothesis is evident in the present study, which shows that turbulence can accelerate the impact of airborne glaciogenic seeding of stratiform clouds.
Guillaume Feger, Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, Thibaut Dauhut, Julien Delanoë, and Pierre Coutris
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7447–7465, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7447-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7447-2025, 2025
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Saharan air at the trade wind layer, cold pools, and dry upper troposphere has these three main factors inhibiting the cyclogenesis of the Pierre Henri mesoscale convective system. The findings were obtained through observations made during two flights of the Clouds-Atmospheric Dynamics-Dust Interactions in West Africa (CADDIWA) campaign and a convection-permitting simulation run with the Meso-NH model. They provide new insights into the complex dynamics of cyclogenesis in the Cabo Verde region and challenge the existing model of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL).
Gabriella Wallentin, Annika Oertel, Luisa Ickes, Peggy Achtert, Matthias Tesche, and Corinna Hoose
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6607–6631, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6607-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6607-2025, 2025
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Multilayer clouds are common in the Arctic but remain underrepresented. We use an atmospheric model to simulate multilayer cloud cases from the Arctic expedition MOSAiC 2019/2020. We find that it is complex to accurately model these cloud layers due to the lack of correct temperature profiles. The model also struggles to capture the observed cloud phase and the relative concentration of cloud droplets and cloud ice. We constrain our model to measured aerosols to mitigate this issue.
Sisi Chen, Lulin Xue, Sarah A. Tessendorf, Thomas Chubb, Andrew Peace, Suzanne Kenyon, Johanna Speirs, Jamie Wolff, and Bill Petzke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6703–6724, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6703-2025, 2025
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This study aims to investigate how cloud seeding affects snowfall in Australia's Snowy Mountains. By running simulations with different setups, we found that seeding impact varies greatly with weather conditions. Seeding increased snow in stable weather but sometimes reduced it in stormy weather. This helps us to better understand when seeding works best to boost water supplies.
Ann Kristin Naumann, Monika Esch, and Bjorn Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6429–6444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6429-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6429-2025, 2025
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This study explores how uncertainties in the representation of microphysical processes affect the tropical condensate distribution in the global storm-resolving model ICON. The results point to the importance of the fall speed of hydrometeor particles and to a simple relationship: the faster a condensate falls, the less there is of it. Implications for the energy balance and precipitation properties are discussed.
Yao-Sheng Chen, Prasanth Prabhakaran, Fabian Hoffmann, Jan Kazil, Takanobu Yamaguchi, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6141–6159, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6141-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6141-2025, 2025
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Injecting sea salt aerosols into marine stratiform clouds can distribute the cloud water over more droplets in smaller sizes. This process is expected to make the clouds brighter, allowing them to reflect more sunlight back to space. However, it may also cause the clouds to lose water over time, reducing their ability to reflect sunlight. We use a computer model to show that the loss of cloud water occurs relatively quickly and does not completely offset the initial brightening.
Pouriya Alinaghi, Fredrik Jansson, Daniel A. Blázquez, and Franziska Glassmeier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6121–6139, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6121-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6121-2025, 2025
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Shallow clouds in the trades are a major source of uncertainty in climate projections. These clouds organize into striking mesoscale patterns that are exactly what climate models lack. This study explores the origin of such patterns and investigates how variations in microscale properties control them. The importance of microscale effects is compared to that of large-scale forcing on the mesoscale organization of trade-cumulus fields.
Hsiang-He Lee, Xue Zheng, Shaoyue Qiu, and Yuan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6069–6091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6069-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6069-2025, 2025
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The study investigates how aerosol–cloud interactions affect warm boundary layer stratiform clouds over the eastern North Atlantic. High-resolution weather model simulations reveal that non-rain clouds at the edge of cloud systems are prone to evaporation, leading to an aerosol drying effect and a transition of aerosols back to the accumulation mode for future activation. The study shows that this dynamic behavior is often not adequately represented in most previous prescribed-aerosol simulations.
Patrick Peter, Sigrun Matthes, Christine Frömming, Patrick Jöckel, Luca Bugliaro, Andreas Giez, Martina Krämer, and Volker Grewe
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5911–5934, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5911-2025, 2025
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Our study examines how well the global climate model EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) predicts contrail formation by analysing temperature and humidity – two key factors for contrail development and persistence. The model underestimates temperature, leading to an overprediction of contrail formation and larger ice-supersaturated regions. Adjusting the model improves temperature accuracy but adds uncertainties. Better predictions of contrail formation areas can help optimise flight tracks to reduce aviation's climate effect.
Konstantinos Kourtidis, Stavros Stathopoulos, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5935–5946, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5935-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5935-2025, 2025
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The sound of thunder induces mechanical effects on cloud droplets and ice particles, causing changes in their size distribution. A shock wave near the lightning channel causes extensive shattering of cloud particles. At a distance, the audio wave will cause agglomeration of particles. So, thunder may influence the rain generation process and the radiative properties of clouds. As global warming may influence the occurrence rate of lightning, a climate feedback may be induced by these mechanisms.
Cornelis Schwenk, Annette Miltenberger, and Annika Oertel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1816, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1816, 2025
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We studied how different parameter choices concerning cloud processes affect the simulated transport of water and ice into the upper atmosphere (which affects the greenhouse effect) during a weather system called a warm conveyor belt. Using a set of model experiments, we found that some parameters have a strong effect on humidity and ice, especially during fast ascents. These findings could help improve weather and climate models and may also be relevant for future climate engineering studies.
Nathan H. Pope and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5433–5444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5433-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5433-2025, 2025
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We used an atmospheric model that simulates a single column to study the sensitivity of marine fog formed through the lowering of the base of a stratus cloud to meteorology and aerosols. We found that higher aerosol concentration reduces the likelihood and duration of fog but leads to denser fog. This overall trend was caused by multiple physical mechanisms depending on conditions.
Jung-Sub Lim, Yign Noh, Hyunho Lee, and Fabian Hoffmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5313–5329, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5313-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5313-2025, 2025
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Rain formation in warm clouds begins when small droplets collide, but this process can be slow without larger droplets. We used simulations to explore the role of bigger droplets, known as precipitation embryos, in triggering rain. We found that they speed up rain only when their size and number exceed a critical threshold. This threshold becomes larger when collisions are naturally efficient, such as in clouds with broad droplet size distributions or strong turbulence.
Je-Yun Chun, Robert Wood, Peter N. Blossey, and Sarah J. Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5251–5271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025, 2025
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This study explores how aerosols affect clouds transitioning from stratocumulus to cumulus along trade winds under varying atmospheric conditions. We found that aerosols typically reduce precipitation and raise cloud height, but their impact changes when subsidence changes by aerosol enhancement are considered. Our findings indicate that the cooling effect of aerosols might be overestimated if these atmospheric changes are not accounted for.
Wojciech W. Grabowski and Hanna Pawlowska
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5273–5285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5273-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5273-2025, 2025
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A simple diagram to depict cloud droplets' formation via the activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) as well as their subsequent growth and evaporation is presented.
Albert Ansmann, Cristofer Jimenez, Daniel A. Knopf, Johanna Roschke, Johannes Bühl, Kevin Ohneiser, and Ronny Engelmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4867–4884, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4867-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4867-2025, 2025
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In this study, we focus on the potential impact of wildfire smoke on cirrus formation. Aerosol and cirrus observations with lidar and radar during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, presented in the companion paper (Ansmann et al., 2025), are closely linked to comprehensive modeling of ice nucleation in cirrus evolution processes, presented in this article. A clear impact of wildfire smoke on cirrus formation was found.
August Mikkelsen, Daniel T. McCoy, Trude Eidhammer, Andrew Gettelman, Ci Song, Hamish Gordon, and Isabel L. McCoy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4547–4570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4547-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4547-2025, 2025
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Whether increased aerosol increases or decreases liquid cloud mass has been a longstanding question. Observed correlations suggest that aerosols thin liquid cloud, but we are able to show that observations were consistent with an increase in liquid cloud in response to aerosols by leveraging a model where causality could be traced.
Tim Lüttmer, Peter Spichtinger, and Axel Seifert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4505–4529, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4505-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4505-2025, 2025
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We investigate ice formation pathways in idealized convective clouds using a novel microphysics scheme that distinguishes between five ice classes each with their own unique formation mechanism. Ice crystals from rime splintering form the lowermost layer of ice crystals around the updraft core. The majority of ice crystals in the anvil of the convective cloud stems from frozen droplets. Ice stemming from homogeneous and deposition nucleation was only relevant in the overshoot.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Rui Song, Richard Siddans, Richard Bantges, Jonathan Murray, Stuart Fox, and Cathryn Fox
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, 2025
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Upwelling radiation with wavelengths between 15 and 100 microns is theorised to be highly sensitive to the properties of ice clouds, particularly the shape of the ice crystals. We exploit this sensitivity and perform the first retrieval of ice cloud properties using these wavelengths from an observation taken on an aircraft and evaluate it against measurements of the cloud’s properties.
Fan Yang, Hamed Fahandezh Sadi, Raymond A. Shaw, Fabian Hoffmann, Pei Hou, Aaron Wang, and Mikhail Ovchinnikov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3785–3806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3785-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3785-2025, 2025
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Large-eddy simulations of a convection cloud chamber show two new microphysics regimes, cloud oscillation and cloud collapse, due to haze–cloud interactions. Our results suggest that haze particles and their interactions with cloud droplets should be considered especially in polluted conditions. To properly simulate haze–cloud interactions, we need to resolve droplet activation and deactivation processes, instead of using Twomey-type activation parameterization.
Declan L. Finney, Alan M. Blyth, Paul R. Field, Martin I. Daily, Benjamin J. Murray, Mengyu Sun, Paul J. Connolly, Zhiqiang Cui, and Steven Böing
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1227, 2025
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We present observation-informed modelling from the Deep Convective Microphysics Experiment to study how environmental conditions and cloud processes affect anvil cloud albedo and radiation. Aerosols influencing cloud droplets or influencing ice formation yield varying radiative effects. We introduce fingerprint metrics to discern these effects. Using detailed observations and modelling, we offer insights into high cloud radiative effects and feedbacks.
Pierre Grzegorczyk, Wolfram Wobrock, Aymeric Dziduch, and Céline Planche
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-819, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-819, 2025
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The impact of secondary ice production (SIP) on a HYMEX intense precipitation event is investigated using 3D bin microphysics. Including SIP improves agreement with in situ aircraft observations (ice crystal number concentration and supercooled drop number fraction), generates small ice crystals and redistributes condensed water mass toward smaller particle sizes. As these crystals melt, the liquid precipitation flux decreases, reducing total precipitation by 8 % and heavy rainfall by 20 %.
Hairu Ding, Bjorn Stevens, and Hauke Schmidt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-876, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-876, 2025
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This study examines the physical link between subtropical highs and stratocumulus variability. Using reanalysis data, we test two proposed pathways—one at the surface and one in the free troposphere—but find that neither is a dominant mechanism for stratocumulus variability on seasonal and interannual timescales. These results challenge the assumed influence of subtropical highs on stratocumulus and highlight the need for further research into lower tropospheric stability dynamics.
Xuemei Wang, Kenneth S. Carslaw, Daniel P. Grosvenor, and Hamish Gordon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-132, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-132, 2025
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Anthropogenic emissions can influence aerosol particle number concentrations via new particle formation. Our model simulations predict around 10 % increase of the particle and cloud droplet number concentrations when doubling the emissions in the Manaus region in the Amazonian wet season. However, the corresponding changes in cloud water and rain mass are around 4 %. Such weak response implied that this convective environment is not sensitive to the localised anthropogenic emission changes here.
Shiye Huang, Jing Yang, Jiaojiao Li, Qian Chen, Qilin Zhang, and Fengxia Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1831–1850, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1831-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1831-2025, 2025
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Aerosol and secondary ice production are both vital to charge separation in thunderstorms, but the relative importance of different SIP processes to cloud electrification under different aerosol conditions is not well understood. In this study, we show in a clean environment, the shattering of freezing drops has the greatest effect on the charging rate, while in a polluted environment, both rime splintering and the shattering of freezing drops have a significant effect on cloud electrification.
Blaž Gasparini, Rachel Atlas, Aiko Voigt, Martina Krämer, and Peter N. Blossey
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-203, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-203, 2025
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Tropical cirrus clouds, especially their evolution, are poorly understood, contributing to uncertainty in climate projections. We address this by using novel tracers in a cloud-resolving model to track the life cycle of cirrus clouds, providing insights into cloud formation, ice crystal evolution, and radiative effects. We also improve the model's cloud microphysics with a simple, computationally efficient approach that can be applied to other models.
Harri Kokkola, Juha Tonttila, Silvia M. Calderón, Sami Romakkaniemi, Antti Lipponen, Aapo Peräkorpi, Tero Mielonen, Edward Gryspeerdt, Timo Henrik Virtanen, Pekka Kolmonen, and Antti Arola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1533–1543, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1533-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1533-2025, 2025
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Understanding how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds is a scientific challenge. One question is how aerosols affects the amount of cloud water. We used a cloud-scale model to study these effects on marine clouds. The study showed that variations in cloud properties and instrument noise can cause bias in satellite-derived cloud water content. However, our results suggest that for similar weather conditions with well-defined aerosol concentrations, satellite data can reliably track these effects.
Naifang Bei, Bo Xiao, Ruonan Wang, Yuning Yang, Lang Liu, Yongming Han, and Guohui Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3558, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3558, 2025
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This study uses a cloud-resolving model to examine how aerosols influence a mesoscale convective system (MCS) in central China via aerosol-radiation (ARIs) and aerosol-cloud interactions (ACIs). Without ARIs, added aerosols don’t significantly affect precipitation due to cloud competition for moisture. ARIs can stabilize or enhance convection. High aerosol levels lead to a combined ARI and ACI effect that greatly reduces precipitation.
Franziska Hellmuth, Tim Carlsen, Anne Sophie Daloz, Robert Oscar David, Haochi Che, and Trude Storelvmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1353–1383, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1353-2025, 2025
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This article compares the occurrence of supercooled liquid-containing clouds (sLCCs) and their link to surface snowfall in CloudSat–CALIPSO, ERA5, and the CMIP6 models. Significant discrepancies were found, with ERA5 and CMIP6 consistently overestimating sLCC and snowfall frequency. This bias is likely due to cloud microphysics parameterization. This conclusion has implications for accurately representing cloud phase and snowfall in future climate projections.
Claudia Christine Stephan and Bjorn Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1209–1226, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1209-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1209-2025, 2025
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Tropical precipitation cluster area and intensity distributions follow power laws, but the physical processes responsible for this behavior remain unknown. We analyze global simulations that realistically represent precipitation processes. We consider Earth-like planets as well as virtual planets to realize different types of large-scale dynamics. Our finding is that power laws in Earth’s precipitation cluster statistics stem from the robust power laws in Earth’s atmospheric wind field.
Tim Lüttmer, Annette Miltenberger, and Peter Spichtinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-185, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-185, 2025
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We investigate ice formation pathways in a warm conveyor belt case study. We employ a multi-phase microphysics scheme that distinguishes between ice from different nucleation processes. Ice crystals in the cirrus outflow mostly stem from in-situ formation. Hence they were formed directly from the vapor phase. Sedimentational redistribution modulates cirrus properties and leads to a disagreement between cirrus origin classifications based on thermodynamic history and nucleation processes.
Seoung Soo Lee, Chang Hoon Jung, Jinho Choi, Young Jun Yoon, Junshik Um, Youtong Zheng, Jianping Guo, Manguttathil G. Manoj, Sang-Keun Song, and Kyung-Ja Ha
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 705–726, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-705-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-705-2025, 2025
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This study attempts to test a general factor that explains differences in the properties of different mixed-phase clouds using a modeling tool. Although this attempt is not to identify a factor that can perfectly explain and represent the properties of different mixed-phase clouds, we believe that this attempt acts as a valuable stepping stone towards a more complete, general way of using climate models to better predict climate change.
Wenjie Zhang, Hong Wang, Xiaoye Zhang, Yue Peng, Zhaodong Liu, Deying Wang, Da Zhang, Chen Han, Yang Zhao, Junting Zhong, Wenxing Jia, Huiqiong Ning, and Huizheng Che
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3677, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3677, 2025
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We implement a real-time subgrid-scale aerosol-cloud interaction (ACI) mechanism in a mesoscale atmospheric chemistry system and find that subgrid-scale ACI can improve meteorological factors predictions. This study demonstrates the importance of real-time subgrid-scale ACI to weather forecast and the necessity of multiscale ACI studies.
Xinyi Huang, Paul R. Field, Benjamin J. Murray, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Floortje van den Heuvel, and Kenneth S. Carslaw
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4070, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4070, 2025
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Cold-air outbreak (CAO) clouds play a vital role in climate prediction. This study explores the responses of CAO clouds to aerosols and ice production under different environmental conditions. We found that CAO cloud responses vary with cloud temperature and are strongly controlled by the liquid-ice partitioning in these clouds, suggesting the importance of good representations of cloud microphysics properties to predict the behaviours of CAO clouds in a warming climate.
Jordan Eissner, David Mechem, Yi Jin, Virendra Ghate, and James Booth
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3438, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3438, 2025
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Low-level clouds have important radiative feedbacks and can occur in a range of meteorological conditions, yet our knowledge and prediction of them are insufficient. We evaluate model forecasts of low-level cloud properties across a cold front and the associated environments that they form in. The model represents the meteorological conditions well and produces broken clouds behind the cold front in areas of strong surface forcing, large stability, and large-scale subsiding motion.
Kevin Wolf, Nicolas Bellouin, Olivier Boucher, Susanne Rohs, and Yun Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 157–181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-157-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-157-2025, 2025
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ERA5 atmospheric reanalysis and airborne in situ observations from IAGOS are compared in terms of the representation of the contrail formation potential and the presence of supersaturation. Differences are traced back to biases in ERA5 relative humidity fields. Those biases are addressed by applying a quantile mapping technique that significantly improved contrail estimation based on post-processed ERA5 data.
Marje Prank, Juha Tonttila, Xiaoxia Shang, Sami Romakkaniemi, and Tomi Raatikainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 183–197, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-183-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-183-2025, 2025
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Large primary bioparticles such as pollen can be abundant in the atmosphere. In humid conditions pollen can rupture and release a large number of fine sub-pollen particles (SPPs). The paper investigates what kind of birch pollen concentrations are needed for the pollen and SPPs to start playing a noticeable role in cloud processes and alter precipitation formation. In the studied cases only the largest observed pollen concentrations were able to noticeably alter the precipitation formation.
Luís Filipe Escusa dos Santos, Hannah C. Frostenberg, Alejandro Baró Pérez, Annica M. L. Ekman, Luisa Ickes, and Erik S. Thomson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 119–142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-119-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-119-2025, 2025
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The Arctic is experiencing enhanced surface warming. The observed decline in Arctic sea-ice extent is projected to lead to an increase in Arctic shipping activity, which may lead to further climatic feedbacks. Using an atmospheric model and results from marine engine experiments that focused on fuel sulfur content reduction and exhaust wet scrubbing, we investigate how ship exhaust particles influence the properties of Arctic clouds. Implications for radiative surface processes are discussed.
Julie Carles, Nicolas Bellouin, Najda Villefranque, and Jean-Louis Dufresne
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3642, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3642, 2025
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Cirrus and contrails affect Earth’s energy balance with a lot of remaining uncertainty. The balance between solar and terrestrial radiation is delicate to calculate, and factors as cloud optical depth, shape, Sun position are crucial to estimate the effect of those clouds on radiation. Also, often neglected three dimensional paths of radiation, or 3D effects, may be important to account for at climatic scale.
Nadja Omanovic, Brigitta Goger, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14145–14175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14145-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14145-2024, 2024
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We evaluated the numerical weather model ICON in two horizontal resolutions with two bulk microphysics schemes over hilly and complex terrain in Switzerland and Austria, respectively. We focused on the model's ability to simulate mid-level clouds in summer and winter. By combining observational data from two different field campaigns, we show that an increase in the horizontal resolution and a more advanced cloud microphysics scheme is strongly beneficial for cloud representation.
Cornelis Schwenk and Annette Miltenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14073–14099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14073-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14073-2024, 2024
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) transport moisture into the upper atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas. This transport is not well understood, and the role of rapidly rising air is unclear. We simulate a WCB and look at fast- and slow-rising air to see how moisture is (differently) transported. We find that for fast-ascending air more ice particles reach higher into the atmosphere and that frozen cloud particles are removed differently than during slow ascent, which has more water vapour.
Fabian Hoffmann, Yao-Sheng Chen, and Graham Feingold
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3893, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3893, 2024
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Clouds reflect a substantial portion of the incoming solar radiation back into space. This capacity is determined by the number of cloud droplets, which in turn is influenced by the number of aerosol particles, forming the basis for aerosol-cloud-climate interactions. In this study, we use a simple mixed-layer approach to understand the effect of aerosol on cloud water in non-precipitating stratocumulus.
Kadavathu Sreekumar Apsara, Jayakumar Aravindakshan, Anurose Theethai Jacob, Saji Mohandas, Paul Field, Hamish Gordan, Thara Prabhakaran, Mahen Konwar, and Vijapurap Srinivasa Prasad
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3538, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3538, 2024
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Science has made significant strides in weather prediction, especially for intense tropical rainfall that can lead to floods and landslides. Our study aims to improve monsoon rainfall forecasts by analyzing raindrop sizes. Using a new approach to model raindrop growth, we achieved a more accurate depiction of large rainfall events. These improvements can be generalized to enhance early warning systems, offering reliable predictions that help reduce risks from severe tropical weather events.
Pratapaditya Ghosh, Ian Boutle, Paul Field, Adrian Hill, Anthony Jones, Marie Mazoyer, Katherine J. Evans, Salil Mahajan, Hyun-Gyu Kang, Min Xu, Wei Zhang, Noah Asch, and Hamish Gordon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3376, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3376, 2024
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We study aerosol-fog interactions near Paris using a weather and climate model with high spatial resolution. We show that our model can simulate fog lifecycle effectively. We find that the fog droplet number concentrations, the amount of liquid water in the fog, and the vertical structure of the fog are highly sensitive to the parameterization that simulates droplet formation and growth. The changes we propose could improve fog forecasts significantly without increasing computational costs.
Pratapaditya Ghosh, Ian Boutle, Paul Field, Adrian Hill, Marie Mazoyer, Katherine J. Evans, Salil Mahajan, Hyun-Gyu Kang, Min Xu, Wei Zhang, and Hamish Gordon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3397, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3397, 2024
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We study the lifecycle of fog events in Europe using a weather and climate model. By incorporating droplet formation and growth driven by radiative cooling, our model better simulates the total liquid water in foggy atmospheric columns. We show that both adiabatic and radiative cooling play significant, often equally important roles in driving droplet formation and growth. We discuss strategies to address droplet number overpredictions, by improving model physics and addressing model artifacts.
Jing Yang, Jiaojiao Li, Meilian Chen, Xiaoqin Jing, Yan Yin, Bart Geerts, Zhien Wang, Yubao Liu, Baojun Chen, Shaofeng Hua, Hao Hu, Xiaobo Dong, Ping Tian, Qian Chen, and Yang Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13833–13848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13833-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13833-2024, 2024
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Detecting unambiguous signatures is vital for examining cloud-seeding impacts, but often, seeding signatures are immersed in natural variability. In this study, reflectivity changes induced by glaciogenic seeding using different AgI concentrations are investigated under various conditions, and a method is developed to estimate the AgI concentration needed to detect unambiguous seeding signatures. The results aid in operational seeding-based decision-making regarding the amount of AgI dispersed.
Florian Sauerland, Niels Souverijns, Anna Possner, Heike Wex, Preben Van Overmeiren, Alexander Mangold, Kwinten Van Weverberg, and Nicole van Lipzig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13751–13768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13751-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13751-2024, 2024
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We use a regional climate model, COSMO-CLM², enhanced with a module resolving aerosol processes, to study Antarctic clouds. We prescribe different concentrations of ice-nucleating particles to our model to assess how these clouds respond to concentration changes, validating results with cloud and aerosol observations from the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station. Our results show that aerosol–cloud interactions vary with temperature, providing valuable insights into Antarctic cloud dynamics.
Yi Li, Xiaoli Liu, and Hengjia Cai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13525–13540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13525-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13525-2024, 2024
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The influence of different aerosol modes on cloud processes remains controversial. We modified the aerosol spectra and concentrations to simulate a warm stratiform cloud process in Jiangxi, China, using the WRF-SBM scheme. Research shows that different aerosol spectra have diverse effects on cloud droplet spectra, cloud development, and the correlation between dispersion (ε) and cloud physics quantities. Compared to cloud droplet concentration, ε is more sensitive to the volume radius.
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Relationships between basic microphysical parameters are studied within the framework of homogeneous and extreme inhomogeneous mixing. Analytical expressions and numerical simulations of relationships between droplet concentration, extinction coefficient, liquid water content, and mean volume droplet size are presented. The obtained relationships between moments are used to identify type of mixing for in situ observations obtained in convective clouds.
Relationships between basic microphysical parameters are studied within the framework of...
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