Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7313-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7313-2018
Research article
 | 
25 May 2018
Research article |  | 25 May 2018

Cloud droplet size distribution broadening during diffusional growth: ripening amplified by deactivation and reactivation

Fan Yang, Pavlos Kollias, Raymond A. Shaw, and Andrew M. Vogelmann

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Cited articles

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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.
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