Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7313-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7313-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
25 May 2018
Research article |
| 25 May 2018
| 25 May 2018
Cloud droplet size distribution broadening during diffusional growth: ripening amplified by deactivation and reactivation
Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
Pavlos Kollias
Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
Raymond A. Shaw
Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, USA
Andrew M. Vogelmann
Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
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Mario Mech, Maximilian Maahn, Stefan Kneifel, Davide Ori, Emiliano Orlandi, Pavlos Kollias, Vera Schemann, and Susanne Crewell
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The Passive and Active Microwave TRAnsfer tool (PAMTRA) is a public domain software package written in Python and Fortran for the simulation of microwave remote sensing observations. PAMTRA models the interaction of radiation with gases, clouds, precipitation, and the surface using either in situ observations or model output as input parameters. The wide range of applications is demonstrated for passive (radiometer) and active (radar) instruments on ground, airborne, and satellite platforms.
Katia Lamer, Pavlos Kollias, Alessandro Battaglia, and Simon Preval
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2363–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2363-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2363-2020, 2020
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According to ground-based radar observations, 50 % of liquid low-level clouds over the Atlantic extend below 1.2 km and are thinner than 400 m, thus limiting their detection from space. Using an emulator, we estimate that a 250 m resolution radar would capture cloud base better than the CloudSat radar which misses about 52 %. The more sensitive EarthCARE radar is expected to capture cloud cover but stretch cloud. This calls for the operation of interlaced pulse modes for future space missions.
Mariko Oue, Aleksandra Tatarevic, Pavlos Kollias, Dié Wang, Kwangmin Yu, and Andrew M. Vogelmann
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Dennis Niedermeier, Jens Voigtländer, Silvio Schmalfuß, Daniel Busch, Jörg Schumacher, Raymond A. Shaw, and Frank Stratmann
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In-cloud supersaturation is crucial for droplet activation, growth, and drizzle initiation but is poorly known and hardly measured. Here we provide a novel method to estimate supersaturation fluctuation in stratocumulus clouds using remote-sensing measurements, and results show that our estimated supersaturation agrees reasonably well with in situ measurements. Our method provides a unique way to estimate supersaturation in stratocumulus clouds from long-term ground-based observations.
Mario Mech, Leif-Leonard Kliesch, Andreas Anhäuser, Thomas Rose, Pavlos Kollias, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5019–5037, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, 2019
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An improved understanding of Arctic mixed-phase clouds and their contribution to Arctic warming can be achieved by observations from airborne platforms with remote sensing instruments. Such an instrument is MiRAC combining active and passive techniques to gain information on the distribution of clouds, the occurrence of precipitation, and the amount of liquid and ice within the cloud. Operated during a campaign in Arctic summer, it could observe lower clouds often not seen by spaceborne radars.
Pavlos Kollias, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, and Alain Protat
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4949–4964, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4949-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4949-2019, 2019
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Profiling millimeter-wavelength radars are the cornerstone instrument of surface-based observatories. Calibrating these radars is important for establishing a long record of observations suitable for model evaluation and improvement. Here, the CloudSat CPR is used to assess the calibration of a record over 10 years long of ARM cloud radar observations (a total of 44 years). The results indicate that correction coefficients are needed to improve record reliability and usability.
Katia Lamer, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Zeen Zhu, Bradley Isom, Nitin Bharadwaj, and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4931–4947, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4931-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4931-2019, 2019
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This article describes the three newly deployed second-generation radar of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program. Techniques to retrieve precipitation rate from their measurements are presented: noise and clutter filtering, gas and liquid attenuation correction, and radar reflectivity calibration. Rain rate for a 40 km radius domain around Graciosa estimated from all three radar differ, which highlights the need to consider sensor capabilities when interpreting radar measurements.
Alessandro Battaglia and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3335–3349, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3335-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3335-2019, 2019
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This work investigates the potential of an innovative differential absorption radar for retrieving relative humidity inside ice clouds. The radar exploits the strong spectral dependence of the water vapour absorption for frequencies close to the 183 GHz water vapour band.
Results show that observations from a system with 4–6 frequencies can provide
novel information for understanding the formation and growth of ice crystals.
Katarzyna Karpińska, Jonathan F. E. Bodenschatz, Szymon P. Malinowski, Jakub L. Nowak, Steffen Risius, Tina Schmeissner, Raymond A. Shaw, Holger Siebert, Hengdong Xi, Haitao Xu, and Eberhard Bodenschatz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4991–5003, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4991-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4991-2019, 2019
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Observations of clouds at a mountain-top laboratory revealed for the first time the presence of “voids”, i.e., elongated volumes inside a cloud that are devoid of droplets. Theoretical and numerical analyses suggest that these voids are a result of strong and long-lasting vortex presence in turbulent air. If this is confirmed in further investigation, the effect may become an important part of models describing cloud evolution and rain formation.
Mariko Oue, Pavlos Kollias, Alan Shapiro, Aleksandra Tatarevic, and Toshihisa Matsui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1999–2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1999-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1999-2019, 2019
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This study investigated impacts of the selected radar volume coverage pattern, the sampling time period, the number of radars used, and the added value of advection correction on the retrieval of vertical air motion from a multi-Doppler-radar technique. The results suggest that the use of rapid-scan radars can substantially improve the quality of wind retrievals and that the retrieved wind field needs to be carefully used considering the limitations of the radar observing system.
Guangjie Zheng, Yang Wang, Allison C. Aiken, Francesca Gallo, Michael P. Jensen, Pavlos Kollias, Chongai Kuang, Edward Luke, Stephen Springston, Janek Uin, Robert Wood, and Jian Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17615–17635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17615-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17615-2018, 2018
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Here, we elucidate the key processes that drive marine boundary layer (MBL) aerosol size distribution in the eastern North Atlantic (ENA) using long-term measurements. The governing equations of particle concentration are established for different modes. Particles entrained from the free troposphere represent the major source of MBL cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), contributing both directly to CCN population and indirectly by supplying Aitken-mode particles that grow to CCN in the MBL.
Katia Lamer, Ann M. Fridlind, Andrew S. Ackerman, Pavlos Kollias, Eugene E. Clothiaux, and Maxwell Kelley
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4195–4214, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4195-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4195-2018, 2018
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Weather and climate predictions of cloud, rain, and snow occurrence remain uncertain, in part because guidance from observation is incomplete. We present a tool that transforms predictions into observations from ground-based remote sensors. Liquid water and ice occurrence errors associated with the transformation are below 8 %, with ~ 3 % uncertainty. This (GO)2-SIM forward-simulator tool enables better evaluation of cloud, rain, and snow occurrence predictions using available observations.
Michael L. Larsen and Raymond A. Shaw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4261–4272, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4261-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4261-2018, 2018
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A statistical tool frequently utilized to measure scale-dependent departures from perfect randomness is the radial distribution function. This tool has many strengths, but it is not easy to calculate for particle detections within a three-dimensional sample volume. In this manuscript, we introduce and test a new method to estimate the three-dimensional radial distribution function in realistic measurement volumes.
Damao Zhang, Zhien Wang, Pavlos Kollias, Andrew M. Vogelmann, Kang Yang, and Tao Luo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4317–4327, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4317-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4317-2018, 2018
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Ice production in atmospheric clouds is important for global water cycle and radiation budget. Active satellite remote sensing measurements are analyzed to quantitatively study primary ice particle production in stratiform mixed-phase clouds on a global scale. We quantify the geographic and seasonal variations of ice production and their correlations with aerosol, especially mineral dust activities. The results can be used to evaluate mixed-phased clouds simulations by global climate models.
Xiaoli Zhou, Andrew S. Ackerman, Ann M. Fridlind, Robert Wood, and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12725–12742, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12725-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12725-2017, 2017
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Shallow maritime clouds make a well-known transition from stratocumulus to trade cumulus with flow from the subtropics equatorward. Three-day large-eddy simulations that investigate the potential influence of overlying African biomass burning plumes during that transition indicate that cloud-related impacts are likely substantially cooling to negligible at the top of the atmosphere, with magnitude sensitive to background and perturbation aerosol and cloud properties.
Kirk W. North, Mariko Oue, Pavlos Kollias, Scott E. Giangrande, Scott M. Collis, and Corey K. Potvin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2785–2806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2785-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2785-2017, 2017
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Vertical air motion retrievals from 3DVAR multiple distributed scanning Doppler radars are compared against collocated profiling radars and retrieved from an upward iteration integration iterative technique to characterize their veracity. The retrieved vertical air motions are generally within 1–2 m s−1 of agreement with profiling radars and better solution than the upward integration technique, and therefore can be used as a means to improve parameterizations in numerical models moving forward.
Claudia Acquistapace, Stefan Kneifel, Ulrich Löhnert, Pavlos Kollias, Maximilian Maahn, and Matthias Bauer-Pfundstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1783–1802, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1783-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1783-2017, 2017
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The goal of the paper is to understand what the optimal cloud radar settings for drizzle detection are. The number of cloud radars in the world has increased in the last 10 years and it is important to develop strategies to derive optimal settings which can be applied to all radar systems. The study is part of broader research focused on better understanding the microphysical process of drizzle growth using ground-based observations.
Fan Yang, Raymond Shaw, and Huiwen Xue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9421–9433, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9421-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9421-2016, 2016
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When dry air is mixed into a cloud, droplets evaporate. If the diluted cloud mixture continues to rise, the remaining droplets will grow. In this work we show theoretically and computationally that a critical height exists, above which the droplets in a mixed, diluted cloud volume become larger than those in an undiluted volume. An environment that is humid and aerosol free is most favorable for producing such large droplets, which may contribute to the onset of precipitation formation.
B. Wehner, F. Werner, F. Ditas, R. A. Shaw, M. Kulmala, and H. Siebert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11701–11711, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11701-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11701-2015, 2015
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During the CARRIBA campaign on Barbados, 91 cases with increased aerosol particle number concentrations near clouds were detected from helicopter-borne measurements. Most of these cases are correlated with enhanced irradiance in the ultraviolet range. The events have a mean length of 100m, corresponding to a lifetime of 300s, meaning a growth of several nm/h. Such high values cannot be explained by sulfuric acid alone; thus extremely low volatility organic compounds are probably involved here.
S. Risius, H. Xu, F. Di Lorenzo, H. Xi, H. Siebert, R. A. Shaw, and E. Bodenschatz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3209–3218, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3209-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3209-2015, 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)
How well can persistent contrails be predicted? An update
Present-day correlations are insufficient to predict cloud albedo change by anthropogenic aerosols in E3SM v2
Simulations of primary and secondary ice production during an Arctic mixed-phase cloud case from the Ny-Ålesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT) campaign
Microphysical characteristics of precipitation within convective overshooting over East China observed by GPM DPR and ERA5
Effects of radiative cooling on advection fog over the northwest Pacific Ocean: observations and large-eddy simulations
Evaluating the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process in ICON in large-eddy mode with in situ observations from the CLOUDLAB project
Aerosol-induced closure of marine cloud cells: enhanced effects in the presence of precipitation
Impact of ice multiplication on the cloud electrification of a cold-season thunderstorm: a numerical case study
Developing a climatological simplification of aerosols to enter the cloud microphysics of a global climate model
Interactions between trade wind clouds and local forcings over the Great Barrier Reef: a case study using convection-permitting simulations
Variability in the properties of the distribution of the relative humidity with respect to ice: implications for contrail formation
Simulating the seeder–feeder impacts on cloud ice and precipitation over the Alps
Cloud response to co-condensation of water and organic vapors over the boreal forest
Distribution and morphology of non-persistent contrail and persistent contrail formation areas in ERA5
Glaciation of Mixed-Phase Clouds: Insights from Bulk Model and Bin-Microphysics Large-Eddy Simulation Informed by Laboratory Experiment
Above-cloud concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei help to sustain some Arctic low-level clouds
Revisiting the evolution of downhill thunderstorms over Beijing: A new perspective from radar wind profiler mesonet
Contrail formation on ambient aerosol particles for aircraft with hydrogen combustion: a box model trajectory study
Effects of intermittent aerosol forcing on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition
Finite domains cause bias in measured and modeled distributions of cloud sizes
Cloud properties and their projected changes in CMIP models with low to high climate sensitivity
A systematic evaluation of high-cloud controlling factors
Water isotopic characterisation of the cloud–circulation coupling in the North Atlantic trades – Part 2: The imprint of the atmospheric circulation at different scales
Impact of urban land use on mean and heavy rainfall during the Indian summer monsoon
Tracking precipitation features and associated large-scale environments over southeastern Texas
Understanding Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in a Single-Column Model: Intercomparison with Process-Level Models and Evaluation against ACTIVATE Field Measurements
Towards a more reliable forecast of ice supersaturation: concept of a one-moment ice-cloud scheme that avoids saturation adjustment
Microphysical processes involving the vapour phase dominate in simulated low-level Arctic clouds
Opinion: Tropical cirrus – from micro-scale processes to climate-scale impacts
Exploring aerosol-cloud interactions in liquid-phase clouds over eastern China and its adjacent ocean using the WRF-Chem-SBM model
Water isotopic characterisation of the cloud–circulation coupling in the North Atlantic trades – Part 1: A process-oriented evaluation of COSMOiso simulations with EUREC4A observations
Assimilation of 3D polarimetric microphysical retrievals in a convective-scale NWP system
Sensitivity of cloud-phase distribution to cloud microphysics and thermodynamics in simulated deep convective clouds and SEVIRI retrievals
Assessing the destructiveness of tropical cyclones induced by anthropogenic aerosols in an atmosphere–ocean coupled framework
Opinion: A critical evaluation of the evidence for aerosol invigoration of deep convection
Historical (1960–2014) lightning and LNOx trends and their controlling factors in a chemistry–climate model
The chance of freezing – a conceptional study to parameterize temperature-dependent freezing by including randomness of ice-nucleating particle concentrations
On the sensitivity of aerosol-cloud interactions to changes in sea surface temperature in radiative-convective equilibrium
Evaluation of hygroscopic cloud seeding in warm-rain processes by a hybrid microphysics scheme using a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model: a real case study
Radiation fog properties in two consecutive events under polluted and clean conditions in the Yangtze River Delta, China: a simulation study
A bin microphysics parcel model investigation of secondary ice formation in an idealised shallow convective cloud
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic
Insights of warm-cloud biases in Community Atmospheric Model 5 and 6 from the single-column modeling framework and Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) observations
Interaction of microphysics and dynamics in a warm conveyor belt simulated with the ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) model
Does prognostic seeding along flight tracks produce the desired effects of cirrus cloud thinning?
Large-eddy simulation of a two-layer boundary-layer cloud system from the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition
Opposing trends of cloud coverage over land and ocean under global warming
Aerosol–cloud–radiation interaction during Saharan dust episodes: the dusty cirrus puzzle
Aerosol–cloud impacts on aerosol detrainment and rainout in shallow maritime tropical clouds
Mixed-phase direct numerical simulation: ice growth in cloud-top generating cells
Sina Hofer, Klaus Gierens, and Susanne Rohs
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7911–7925, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7911-2024, 2024
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We try to improve the forecast of ice supersaturation (ISS) and potential persistent contrails using data on dynamical quantities in addition to temperature and relative humidity in a modern kind of regression model. Although the results are improved, they are not good enough for flight routing. The origin of the problem is the strong overlap of probability densities conditioned on cases with and without ice-supersaturated regions (ISSRs) in the important range of 70–100 %.
Naser Mahfouz, Johannes Mülmenstädt, and Susannah Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7253–7260, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7253-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7253-2024, 2024
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Climate models are our primary tool to probe past, present, and future climate states unlike the more recent observation record. By constructing a hypothetical model configuration, we show that present-day correlations are insufficient to predict a persistent uncertainty in climate projection (how much sun because clouds will reflect in a changing climate). We hope our result will contribute to the scholarly conversation on better utilizing observations to constrain climate uncertainties.
Britta Schäfer, Robert Oscar David, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Julie Thérèse Pasquier, Georgia Sotiropoulou, and Trude Storelvmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7179–7202, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7179-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7179-2024, 2024
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Mixed-phase clouds, i.e., clouds consisting of ice and supercooled water, are very common in the Arctic. However, how these clouds form is often not correctly represented in standard weather models. We show that both ice crystal concentrations in the cloud and precipitation from the cloud can be improved in the model when aerosol concentrations are prescribed from observations and when more processes for ice multiplication, i.e., the production of new ice particles from existing ice, are added.
Nan Sun, Gaopeng Lu, and Yunfei Fu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7123–7135, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7123-2024, 2024
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Microphysical characteristics of convective overshooting are essential but poorly understood, and we examine them by using the latest data. (1) Convective overshooting events mainly occur over NC (Northeast China) and northern MEC (Middle and East China). (2) Radar reflectivity of convective overshooting over NC accounts for a higher proportion below the zero level, while the opposite is the case for MEC and SC (South China). (3) Droplets of convective overshooting are large but sparse.
Liu Yang, Saisai Ding, Jing-Wu Liu, and Su-Ping Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6809–6824, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6809-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6809-2024, 2024
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Advection fog occurs when warm and moist air moves over a cold sea surface. In this situation, the temperature of the foggy air usually drops below the sea surface temperature (SST), particularly at night. High-resolution simulations show that the cooling effect of longwave radiation from the top of the fog layer permeates through the fog, resulting in a cooling of the surface air below SST. This study emphasizes the significance of monitoring air temperature to enhance sea fog forecasting.
Nadja Omanovic, Sylvaine Ferrachat, Christopher Fuchs, Jan Henneberger, Anna J. Miller, Kevin Ohneiser, Fabiola Ramelli, Patric Seifert, Robert Spirig, Huiying Zhang, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6825–6844, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6825-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6825-2024, 2024
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We present simulations with a high-resolution numerical weather prediction model to study the growth of ice crystals in low clouds following glaciogenic seeding. We show that the simulated ice crystals grow slower than observed and do not consume as many cloud droplets as measured in the field. This may have implications for forecasting precipitation, as the ice phase is crucial for precipitation at middle and high latitudes.
Matthew W. Christensen, Peng Wu, Adam C. Varble, Heng Xiao, and Jerome D. Fast
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6455–6476, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6455-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6455-2024, 2024
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Clouds are essential to keep Earth cooler by reflecting sunlight back to space. We show that an increase in aerosol concentration suppresses precipitation in clouds, causing them to accumulate water and expand in a polluted environment with stronger turbulence and radiative cooling. This process enhances their reflectance by 51 %. It is therefore prudent to account for cloud fraction changes in assessments of aerosol–cloud interactions to improve predictions of climate change.
Jing Yang, Shiye Huang, Tianqi Yang, Qilin Zhang, Yuting Deng, and Yubao Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5989–6010, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5989-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5989-2024, 2024
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This study contributes to filling the dearth of understanding the impacts of different secondary ice production (SIP) processes on the cloud electrification in cold-season thunderstorms. The results suggest that SIP, especially the rime-splintering process and the shattering of freezing drops, has significant impacts on the charge structure of the storm. In addition, the modeled radar composite reflectivity and flash rate are improved after implementing the SIP processes in the model.
Ulrike Proske, Sylvaine Ferrachat, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5907–5933, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5907-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5907-2024, 2024
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Climate models include treatment of aerosol particles because these influence clouds and radiation. Over time their representation has grown increasingly detailed. This complexity may hinder our understanding of model behaviour. Thus here we simplify the aerosol representation of our climate model by prescribing mean concentrations, which saves run time and helps to discover unexpected model behaviour. We conclude that simplifications provide a new perspective for model study and development.
Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, Michael Manton, and Daniel Harrison
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5713–5736, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5713-2024, 2024
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We studied how shallow clouds and rain behave over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) using a detailed weather model. We found that the shape of the land, especially mountains, and particles in the air play big roles in influencing these clouds. Surprisingly, the sea's temperature had a smaller effect. Our research helps us understand the GBR's climate and how various factors can influence it, where the importance of the local cloud in thermal coral bleaching has recently been identified.
Sidiki Sanogo, Olivier Boucher, Nicolas Bellouin, Audran Borella, Kevin Wolf, and Susanne Rohs
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5495–5511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5495-2024, 2024
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Relative humidity relative to ice (RHi) is a key variable in the formation of cirrus clouds and contrails. This study shows that the properties of the probability density function of RHi differ between the tropics and higher latitudes. In line with RHi and temperature variability, aircraft are likely to produce more contrails with bioethanol and liquid hydrogen as fuel. The impact of this fuel change decreases with decreasing pressure levels but increases from high latitudes to the tropics.
Zane Dedekind, Ulrike Proske, Sylvaine Ferrachat, Ulrike Lohmann, and David Neubauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5389–5404, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5389-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5389-2024, 2024
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Ice particles precipitating into lower clouds from an upper cloud, the seeder–feeder process, can enhance precipitation. A numerical modeling study conducted in the Swiss Alps found that 48 % of observed clouds were overlapping, with the seeder–feeder process occurring in 10 % of these clouds. Inhibiting the seeder–feeder process reduced the surface precipitation and ice particle growth rates, which were further reduced when additional ice multiplication processes were included in the model.
Liine Heikkinen, Daniel G. Partridge, Sara Blichner, Wei Huang, Rahul Ranjan, Paul Bowen, Emanuele Tovazzi, Tuukka Petäjä, Claudia Mohr, and Ilona Riipinen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5117–5147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5117-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5117-2024, 2024
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The organic vapor condensation with water vapor (co-condensation) in rising air below clouds is modeled in this work over the boreal forest because the forest air is rich in organic vapors. We show that the number of cloud droplets can increase by 20 % if considering co-condensation. The enhancements are even larger if the air contains many small, naturally produced aerosol particles. Such conditions are most frequently met in spring in the boreal forest.
Kevin Wolf, Nicolas Bellouin, and Olivier Boucher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5009–5024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5009-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5009-2024, 2024
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The contrail formation potential and its tempo-spatial distribution are estimated for the North Atlantic flight corridor. Meteorological conditions of temperature and relative humidity are taken from the ERA5 re-analysis and IAGOS. Based on IAGOS flight tracks, crossing length, size, orientation, frequency of occurrence, and overlap of persistent contrail formation areas are determined. The presented conclusions might provide a guide for statistical flight track optimization to reduce contrails.
Aaron Wang, Steve Krueger, Sisi Chen, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Will Cantrell, and Raymond A. Shaw
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1140, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1140, 2024
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This study employs two methods to examine a laboratory experiment on clouds with both ice and liquid phases. The first assumes well-mixed properties; the second resolves the spatial distribution of turbulence and cloud particles. Results show that while the trends in mean properties generally align, when turbulence is resolved, liquid droplets are not fully depleted by ice due to incomplete mixing. This underscores the threshold of ice mass fraction in distinguishing mixed-phase from ice clouds.
Lucas J. Sterzinger and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3529–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, 2024
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Using idealized large eddy simulations, we find that clouds forming in the Arctic in environments with low concentrations of aerosol particles may be sustained by mixing in new particles through the cloud top. Observations show that higher concentrations of these particles regularly exist above cloud top in concentrations that are sufficient to promote this sustenance.
Xiaoran Guo, Jianping Guo, Tianmeng Chen, Ning Li, Fan Zhang, and Yuping Sun
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-707, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-707, 2024
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The prediction of downhill thunderstorm (DS) remains elusive due to the lack of profiling observations. Here we propose a novel objective method to identify the DS event and its evolutions, based on which enhance and dissipated DS are discriminated. The radar wind profiler (RWP) mesonet in Beijing is used to derive areal divergence and vertical velocity, which are used to explore the DS ambient environment. These dynamic variables from RWP help explain the spatio-temporal evolution of DS.
Andreas Bier, Simon Unterstrasser, Josef Zink, Dennis Hillenbrand, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, and Annemarie Lottermoser
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2319–2344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024, 2024
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Using hydrogen as aviation fuel affects contrails' climate impact. We study contrail formation behind aircraft with H2 combustion. Due to the absence of soot emissions, contrail ice crystals are assumed to form only on ambient particles mixed into the plume. The ice crystal number, which strongly varies with temperature and aerosol number density, is decreased by more than 80 %–90 % compared to kerosene contrails. However H2 contrails can form at lower altitudes due to higher H2O emissions.
Prasanth Prabhakaran, Fabian Hoffmann, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1919–1937, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1919-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1919-2024, 2024
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In this study, we explore the impact of deliberate aerosol perturbation in the northeast Pacific region using large-eddy simulations. Our results show that cloud reflectivity is sensitive to the aerosol sprayer arrangement in the pristine system, whereas in the polluted system it is largely proportional to the total number of aerosol particles injected. These insights would aid in assessing the efficiency of various aerosol injection strategies for climate intervention applications.
Thomas D. DeWitt and Timothy J. Garrett
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-67, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-67, 2024
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There is considerable disagreement on mathematical parameters that describe the numbers of clouds of different sizes, as well as the size of the largest clouds. Both are key defining characteristics of the Earth's atmosphere. A previous study provided an incorrect explanation for the disagreement. Instead, the disagreements may be explained by prior studies not properly accounting for the size of their measurement domain. We offer recommendations for how the domain size can be accounted for.
Lisa Bock and Axel Lauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1587–1605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1587-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1587-2024, 2024
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Climate model simulations still show a large range of effective climate sensitivity (ECS) with high uncertainties. An important contribution to ECS is cloud climate feedback. We investigate the representation of cloud physical and radiative properties from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project models grouped by ECS. We compare the simulated cloud properties of today’s climate from three ECS groups and quantify how the projected changes in cloud properties and cloud radiative effects differ.
Sarah Wilson Kemsley, Paulo Ceppi, Hendrik Andersen, Jan Cermak, Philip Stier, and Peer Nowack
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-226, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-226, 2024
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Aiming to inform parameter selection for future observational constraint analyses, we incorporate five candidate meteorological drivers specifically targeting high clouds, into a cloud controlling factor framework within a range of spatial domain sizes. We find a discrepancy between optimal domain size for predicting local and globally-aggregated cloud radiative anomalies, and identify upper tropospheric static stability as an important high-cloud controlling factor.
Leonie Villiger and Franziska Aemisegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 957–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-957-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-957-2024, 2024
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Three numerical simulations performed with an isotope-enabled weather forecast model are used to investigate the cloud–circulation coupling between shallow trade-wind cumulus clouds and atmospheric circulations on different scales. It is shown that stable water isotopes near cloud base in the tropics reflect (1) the diel cycle of the atmospheric circulation, which drives the formation and dissipation of clouds, and (2) changes in the large-scale circulation over the North Atlantic.
Renaud Falga and Chien Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 631–647, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-631-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-631-2024, 2024
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The impact of urban land use on regional meteorology and rainfall during the Indian summer monsoon has been assessed in this study. Using a cloud-resolving model centered around Kolkata, we have shown that the urban heat island effect led to a rainfall enhancement via the amplification of convective activity, especially during the night. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the kinetic effect of the city induced the initiation of a nighttime storm.
Ye Liu, Yun Qian, Larry K. Berg, Zhe Feng, Jianfeng Li, Jingyi Chen, and Zhao Yang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-112, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-112, 2024
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Various weather conditions influence different intense rains in southeastern Texas. MCSs contribute to both average and extreme rainfall year-round, while IDC play a role in heavy rain during summer and fall. In spring, fall, and winter, frontal weather triggers convection, while in summer, IDC is linked to both fronts and high-pressure systems, and MCSs are more associated with fronts. Front-associated convection starts around 1100 UTC, while high-pressure-related convection starts a bit later.
Shuaiqi Tang, Hailong Wang, Xiang-Yu Li, Jingyi Chen, Armin Sorooshian, Xubin Zeng, Ewan Crosbie, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Luke D. Ziemba, and Christiane Voigt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3149, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3149, 2024
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We examined marine boundary-layer clouds and their interactions with aerosols in the E3SM single-column model (SCM) for a case study. The SCM shows good agreement in simulating the clouds with high-resolution models. It reproduces the relationship between cloud droplet and aerosol particle number concentrations as produced in global models. However, the relationship between cloud liquid water and droplet number concentration are different, which warrants further investigation.
Dario Sperber and Klaus Gierens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15609–15627, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15609-2023, 2023
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A significant share of aviation's climate impact is due to persistent contrails. Avoiding their creation is a step toward sustainable air transportation. For this purpose, a reliable forecast of so-called ice-supersaturated regions is needed, which then allows one to plan aircraft routes without persistent contrails. Here, we propose a method that leads to the better prediction of ice-supersaturated regions.
Theresa Kiszler, Davide Ori, and Vera Schemann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2986, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2986, 2023
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This study evaluates microphysical processes in simulated clouds. The focus lies on low-level clouds in the Arctic and their phase-partitioning. We found that the dominating phase changes are via the vapour phase and that there are differences between the polar night and day. We quantified the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process and showed that it decreases the liquid substantially. This study improves our understanding of microphysical processes in models and gives ideas for improvements.
Blaž Gasparini, Sylvia C. Sullivan, Adam B. Sokol, Bernd Kärcher, Eric Jensen, and Dennis L. Hartmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15413–15444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15413-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15413-2023, 2023
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Tropical cirrus clouds are essential for climate, but our understanding of these clouds is limited due to their dependence on a wide range of small- and large-scale climate processes. In this opinion paper, we review recent advances in the study of tropical cirrus clouds, point out remaining open questions, and suggest ways to resolve them.
Jianqi Zhao, Xiaoyan Ma, Johannes Quaas, and Hailing Jia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2858, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2858, 2023
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We explore aerosol-cloud interactions in liquid-phase clouds over eastern China and its adjacent ocean in winter based on WRF-Chem-SBM model which couples a spectral-bin cloud microphysics and online aerosol module. Our study highlights the differences in aerosol-cloud interactions between land and ocean, precipitation clouds and non-precipitation clouds, and differentiates and quantifies their underlying mechanisms.
Leonie Villiger, Marina Dütsch, Sandrine Bony, Marie Lothon, Stephan Pfahl, Heini Wernli, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Patrick Chazette, Pierre Coutris, Julien Delanoë, Cyrille Flamant, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Martin Werner, and Franziska Aemisegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14643–14672, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14643-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14643-2023, 2023
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This study evaluates three numerical simulations performed with an isotope-enabled weather forecast model and investigates the coupling between shallow trade-wind cumulus clouds and atmospheric circulations on different scales. We show that the simulations reproduce key characteristics of shallow trade-wind clouds as observed during the field experiment EUREC4A and that the spatial distribution of stable-water-vapour isotopes is shaped by the overturning circulation associated with these clouds.
Lucas Reimann, Clemens Simmer, and Silke Trömel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14219–14237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14219-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14219-2023, 2023
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Polarimetric radar observations were assimilated for the first time in a convective-scale numerical weather prediction system in Germany and their impact on short-term precipitation forecasts was evaluated. The assimilation was performed using microphysical retrievals of liquid and ice water content and yielded slightly improved deterministic 9 h precipitation forecasts for three intense summer precipitation cases with respect to the assimilation of radar reflectivity alone.
Cunbo Han, Corinna Hoose, Martin Stengel, Quentin Coopman, and Andrew Barrett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14077–14095, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14077-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14077-2023, 2023
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Cloud phase has been found to significantly impact cloud thermodynamics and Earth’s radiation budget, and various factors influence it. This study investigates the sensitivity of the cloud-phase distribution to the ice-nucleating particle concentration and thermodynamics. Multiple simulation experiments were performed using the ICON model at the convection-permitting resolution of 1.2 km. Simulation results were compared to two different retrieval products based on SEVIRI measurements.
Yun Lin, Yuan Wang, Jen-Shan Hsieh, Jonathan H. Jiang, Qiong Su, Lijun Zhao, Michael Lavallee, and Renyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13835–13852, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13835-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13835-2023, 2023
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Tropical cyclones (TCs) can cause catastrophic damage to coastal regions. We used a numerical model that explicitly simulates aerosol–cloud interaction and atmosphere–ocean coupling. We show that aerosols and ocean coupling work together to make TC storms bigger but weaker. Moreover, TCs in polluted air have more rainfall and higher sea levels, leading to more severe storm surges and flooding. Our research highlights the roles of aerosols and ocean-coupling feedbacks in TC hazard assessment.
Adam C. Varble, Adele L. Igel, Hugh Morrison, Wojciech W. Grabowski, and Zachary J. Lebo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13791–13808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13791-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13791-2023, 2023
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As atmospheric particles called aerosols increase in number, the number of droplets in clouds tends to increase, which has been theorized to increase storm intensity. We critically evaluate the evidence for this theory, showing that flaws and limitations of previous studies coupled with unaddressed cloud process complexities draw it into question. We provide recommendations for future observations and modeling to overcome current uncertainties.
Yanfeng He and Kengo Sudo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13061–13085, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13061-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13061-2023, 2023
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Lightning has big social impacts. Lightning-produced NOx (LNOx) plays a vital role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. Investigating past lightning and LNOx trends can provide essential indicators of all lightning-related phenomena. Simulations show almost flat global lightning and LNOx trends during 1960–2014. Past global warming enhances the trends positively, but increases in aerosol have the opposite effect. Moreover, global lightning decreased markedly after the Pinatubo eruption.
Hannah C. Frostenberg, André Welti, Mikael Luhr, Julien Savre, Erik S. Thomson, and Luisa Ickes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10883–10900, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10883-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10883-2023, 2023
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Observations show that ice-nucleating particle concentrations (INPCs) have a large variety and follow lognormal distributions for a given temperature. We introduce a new immersion freezing parameterization that applies this lognormal behavior. INPCs are drawn randomly from a temperature-dependent lognormal distribution. We then show that the ice content of the modeled Arctic stratocumulus cloud is highly sensitive to the probability of drawing large INPCs.
Suf Lorian and Guy Dagan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2096, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2096, 2023
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We examine the combined effect of aerosols and sea surface temperature (SST) on clouds under equilibrium conditions in cloud-resolving radiative-convective equilibrium simulations. We demonstrate that the aerosol-cloud interaction effect on top-of-atmosphere energy gain strongly depends on the underlying SST, while the short-wave part of the spectrum is significantly more sensitive to SST. Furthermore, increasing aerosols influences upper troposphere stability and thus anvil cloud fraction.
Kai-I Lin, Kao-Shen Chung, Sheng-Hsiang Wang, Li-Hsin Chen, Yu-Chieng Liou, Pay-Liam Lin, Wei-Yu Chang, Hsien-Jung Chiu, and Yi-Hui Chang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10423–10438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10423-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10423-2023, 2023
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This study develops a hybrid microphysics scheme to enable the complex model simulation of cloud seeding based on observational cloud condensation nuclei size distribution. Our results show that more precipitation can be developed in the scenarios seeding in the in-cloud region, and seeding over an area of tens km2 is the most efficient strategy due to the strengthening of the accretion process. Moreover, particles bigger than 0.4 μm are the main factor contributing to cloud-seeding effects.
Naifu Shao, Chunsong Lu, Xingcan Jia, Yuan Wang, Yubin Li, Yan Yin, Bin Zhu, Tianliang Zhao, Duanyang Liu, Shengjie Niu, Shuxian Fan, Shuqi Yan, and Jingjing Lv
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9873–9890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9873-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9873-2023, 2023
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Fog is an important meteorological phenomenon that affects visibility. Aerosols and the planetary boundary layer (PBL) play critical roles in the fog life cycle. In this study, aerosol-induced changes in fog properties become more remarkable in the second fog (Fog2) than in the first fog (Fog1). The reason is that aerosol–cloud interaction (ACI) delays Fog1 dissipation, leading to the PBL meteorological conditions being more conducive to Fog2 formation and to stronger ACI in Fog2.
Rachel L. James, Jonathan Crosier, and Paul J. Connolly
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9099–9121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9099-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9099-2023, 2023
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Secondary ice production (SIP) may significantly enhance the ice particle concentration in mixed-phase clouds. We present a systematic modelling study of secondary ice formation in idealised shallow convective clouds for various conditions. Our results suggest that the SIP mechanism of collisions of supercooled water drops with more massive ice particles may be a significant ice formation mechanism in shallow convective clouds outside the rime-splintering temperature range (−3 to −8 °C).
Melanie Lauer, Annette Rinke, Irina Gorodetskaya, Michael Sprenger, Mario Mech, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8705–8726, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023, 2023
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We present a new method to analyse the influence of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts on the precipitation in the Arctic, based on two campaigns: ACLOUD (early summer 2017) and AFLUX (early spring 2019). There are differences between both campaign periods: in early summer, the precipitation is mostly related to ARs and fronts, especially when they are co-located, while in early spring, cyclones isolated from ARs and fronts contributed most to the precipitation.
Yuan Wang, Xiaojian Zheng, Xiquan Dong, Baike Xi, and Yuk L. Yung
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8591–8605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8591-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8591-2023, 2023
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Marine boundary layer clouds remain poorly predicted in global climate models due to multiple entangled uncertainty sources. This study uses the in situ observations from a recent field campaign to constrain and evaluate cloud physics in a simplified version of a climate model. Progress and remaining issues in the cloud physics parameterizations are identified. We systematically evaluate the impacts of large-scale forcing, microphysical scheme, and aerosol concentrations on the cloud property.
Annika Oertel, Annette K. Miltenberger, Christian M. Grams, and Corinna Hoose
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8553–8581, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8553-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8553-2023, 2023
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are cloud- and precipitation-producing airstreams in extratropical cyclones that are important for the large-scale flow and cloud radiative forcing. We analyze cloud formation processes during WCB ascent in a two-moment microphysics scheme. Quantification of individual diabatic heating rates shows the importance of condensation, vapor deposition, rain evaporation, melting, and cloud-top radiative cooling for total heating and WCB-related potential vorticity structure.
Colin Tully, David Neubauer, Diego Villanueva, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7673–7698, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7673-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7673-2023, 2023
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This study details the first attempt with a GCM to simulate a fully prognostic aerosol species specifically for cirrus climate intervention. The new approach is in line with the real-world delivery mechanism via aircraft. However, to achieve an appreciable signal from seeding, smaller particles were needed, and their mass emissions needed to be scaled by at least a factor of 100. These biases contributed to either overseeding or small and insignificant effects in response to seeding cirrus.
Ines Bulatovic, Julien Savre, Michael Tjernström, Caroline Leck, and Annica M. L. Ekman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7033–7055, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7033-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7033-2023, 2023
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We use numerical modeling with detailed cloud microphysics to investigate a low-altitude cloud system consisting of two cloud layers – a type of cloud situation which was commonly observed during the summer of 2018 in the central Arctic (north of 80° N). The model generally reproduces the observed cloud layers and the thermodynamic structure of the lower atmosphere well. The cloud system is maintained unless there are low aerosol number concentrations or high large-scale wind speeds.
Huan Liu, Ilan Koren, Orit Altaratz, and Mickaël D. Chekroun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6559–6569, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6559-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6559-2023, 2023
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Clouds' responses to global warming contribute the largest uncertainty in climate prediction. Here, we analyze 42 years of global cloud cover in reanalysis data and show a decreasing trend over most continents and an increasing trend over the tropical and subtropical oceans. A reduction in near-surface relative humidity can explain the decreasing trend in cloud cover over land. Our results suggest potential stress on the terrestrial water cycle, associated with global warming.
Axel Seifert, Vanessa Bachmann, Florian Filipitsch, Jochen Förstner, Christian M. Grams, Gholam Ali Hoshyaripour, Julian Quinting, Anika Rohde, Heike Vogel, Annette Wagner, and Bernhard Vogel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6409–6430, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6409-2023, 2023
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We investigate how mineral dust can lead to the formation of cirrus clouds. Dusty cirrus clouds lead to a reduction in solar radiation at the surface and, hence, a reduced photovoltaic power generation. Current weather prediction systems are not able to predict this interaction between mineral dust and cirrus clouds. We have developed a new physical description of the formation of dusty cirrus clouds. Overall we can show a considerable improvement in the forecast quality of clouds and radiation.
Gabrielle R. Leung, Stephen M. Saleeby, G. Alexander Sokolowsky, Sean W. Freeman, and Susan C. van den Heever
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5263–5278, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5263-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5263-2023, 2023
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This study uses a suite of high-resolution simulations to explore how the concentration and type of aerosol particles impact shallow tropical clouds and the overall aerosol budget. Under more-polluted conditions, there are more aerosol particles present, but we also find that clouds are less able to remove those aerosol particles via rainout. Instead, those aerosol particles are more likely to be detrained aloft and remain in the atmosphere for further aerosol–cloud interactions.
Sisi Chen, Lulin Xue, Sarah Tessendorf, Kyoko Ikeda, Courtney Weeks, Roy Rasmussen, Melvin Kunkel, Derek Blestrud, Shaun Parkinson, Melinda Meadows, and Nick Dawson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5217–5231, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5217-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5217-2023, 2023
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The possible mechanism of effective ice growth in the cloud-top generating cells in winter orographic clouds is explored using a newly developed ultra-high-resolution cloud microphysics model. Simulations demonstrate that a high availability of moisture and liquid water is critical for producing large ice particles. Fluctuations in temperature and moisture down to millimeter scales due to cloud turbulence can substantially affect the growth history of the individual cloud particles.
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Short summary
Cloud droplet size distribution (CDSD), which is related to cloud albedo and lifetime, is usually observed broader than predicted from adiabatic parcel calculations. Results in this study show that the CDSD can be broadened during condensational growth as a result of Ostwald ripening amplified by droplet deactivation and reactivation. Our results suggest that it is important to consider both curvature and solute effects before and after cloud droplet activation in a 3-D cloud model.
Cloud droplet size distribution (CDSD), which is related to cloud albedo and lifetime, is...
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