Cloud-droplet growth due to supersaturation fluctuations in stratiform clouds

Li, Xiang-Yu; Svensson, Gunilla; Brandenburg, Axel; Haugen, Nils E. L.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-639-2019

Articles | Volume 19, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-639-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Particle-based methods for simulating atmospheric aerosol...

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-639-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 1

Research article

|

17 Jan 2019

Research article |

| 17 Jan 2019

Cloud-droplet growth due to supersaturation fluctuations in stratiform clouds

Xiang-Yu Li, Gunilla Svensson, Axel Brandenburg, and Nils E. L. Haugen

Data sets

Cloud droplet growth due to supersaturation fluctuations in stratiform clouds X.-Y. Li, G. Svensson, A. Brandenburg, and N. E. L. Haugen https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2538027

Pencil Code A. Brandenburg https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2315093

Short summary

The broadening of droplet size distributions in stratiform clouds, where the updraft velocity is almost zero, is puzzling. Without turbulence, the classical treatment of condensational growth of cloud droplets fails to explain this broadening. We investigated the time evolution of droplet size distributions using direct numerical simulations, where turbulence is resolved into the smallest scales. We found that the broadening is due to the turbulence-facilitated supersaturation fluctuations.