Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-639-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-639-2019
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

Related authors

Understanding aerosol–cloud interactions using a single-column model for a cold-air outbreak case during the ACTIVATE campaign
Shuaiqi Tang, Hailong Wang, Xiang-Yu Li, Jingyi Chen, Armin Sorooshian, Xubin Zeng, Ewan Crosbie, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Luke D. Ziemba, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10073–10092, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10073-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10073-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Building a comprehensive library of observed Lagrangian trajectories for testing modeled cloud evolution, aerosol–cloud interactions, and marine cloud brightening
Ehsan Erfani, Robert Wood, Peter Blossey, Sarah J. Doherty, and Ryan Eastman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8743–8768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8743-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8743-2025, 2025
Short summary
On the processes determining the slope of cloud water adjustments in weakly and non-precipitating stratocumulus
Fabian Hoffmann, Yao-Sheng Chen, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8657–8670, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8657-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8657-2025, 2025
Short summary
Ambient and intrinsic dependencies of evolving ice-phase particles within a decaying winter storm during IMPACTS
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
Short summary
High-resolution modeling of early contrail evolution from hydrogen-powered aircraft
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
Short summary
Accelerated impact of airborne glaciogenic seeding of stratiform clouds by turbulence
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
Short summary

Cited articles

Berry, E. X. and Reinhardt, R. L.: An analysis of cloud drop growth by collection: Part I. Double distributions, J. Atmos. Sci., 31, 1814–1824, 1974. a
Brandenburg, A.: Pencil Code, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2315093, 2018. a, b
Brenguier, J.-L., Bourrianne, T., Coelho, A. A., Isbert, J., Peytavi, R., Trevarin, D., and Weschler, P.: Improvements of droplet size distribution measurements with the Fast-FSSP (Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe), J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 15, 1077–1090, 1998. a, b
Chandrakar, K. K., Cantrell, W., Chang, K., Ciochetto, D., Niedermeier, D., Ovchinnikov, M., Shaw, R. A., and Yang, F.: Aerosol indirect effect from turbulence-induced broadening of cloud-droplet size distributions, P. Natl. Acad. Sci., 113, 14243–14248, 2016. a
Chen, S., Yau, M., and Bartello, P.: Turbulence effects of collision efficiency and broadening of droplet size distribution in cumulus clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 75, 203–217, 2018. a
Download
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.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint