Articles | Volume 20, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12163-2020
© Author(s) 2020. 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-20-12163-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
27 Oct 2020
Research article |
| 27 Oct 2020
| 27 Oct 2020
Drivers of cloud droplet number variability in the summertime in the southeastern United States
Aikaterini Bougiatioti
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, P. Penteli, 15236, Greece
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Athanasios Nenes
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Laboratory of Atmospheric Processes and their Impacts, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Institute for Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 26504 Patras, Greece
Jack J. Lin
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
now at: Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland
Charles A. Brock
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Joost A. de Gouw
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
now at: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Jin Liao
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
now at: Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamic Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
now at: Universities Space Research Association, GESTAR, Columbia, MD 21046, USA
Ann M. Middlebrook
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
André Welti
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
now at: Atmospheric Composition Research Unit, Finnish Meteorological Institute, 00560 Helsinki, Finland
Data sets
SENEX 2013 NOAA https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/projects/senex/
Short summary
The number concentration of droplets in clouds in the summertime in the southeastern United States is influenced by aerosol variations but limited by the strong competition for supersaturated water vapor. Concurrent variations in vertical velocity magnify the response of cloud droplet number to aerosol increases by up to a factor of 5. Omitting the covariance of vertical velocity with aerosol number may therefore bias estimates of the cloud albedo effect from aerosols.
The number concentration of droplets in clouds in the summertime in the southeastern United...
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