Articles | Volume 19, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4991-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4991-2019
Research article
 | 
12 Apr 2019
Research article |  | 12 Apr 2019

Turbulence-induced cloud voids: observation and interpretation

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

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Cited articles

Belin, F., Moisy, F., Tabeling, P., and Willaime, H.: Worms in a turbulence experiment, from hot wire time series, in: Fundamental Problematic Issues in Turbulence, Trends in Mathematics, 129–140, Springer Basel A.G., Basel, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8689-5_14, 1999. a
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Bodenschatz, E., Malinowski, S. P., Shaw, R. A., and Stratmann, F.: Can We Understand Clouds Without Turbulence?, Science, 327, 970–971, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1185138, 2010. a
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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.
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