Deconvolution of boundary layer depth and aerosol constraints on cloud water path in subtropical stratocumulus decks

Possner, Anna; Eastman, Ryan; Bender, Frida; Glassmeier, Franziska

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3609-2020

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3609-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3609-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 6

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

26 Mar 2020

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 26 Mar 2020

Deconvolution of boundary layer depth and aerosol constraints on cloud water path in subtropical stratocumulus decks

Anna Possner, Ryan Eastman, Frida Bender, and Franziska Glassmeier

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3609-2020-supplement

Data sets

MODIS Atmosphere L3 Monthly Product (08_L3) S. Platnick, P. Hubanks, K. Meyer, and M. D. King https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/archive/allData/61/MYD08_D3

MERRA-2 inst3_3d_asm_Nv: 3d, 3-Hourly, Instantaneous, Model-Level, Assimilation, Assimilated Meteorological Fields V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/WWQSXQ8IVFW8

CERES Level 3 SSF1deg-Day Aqua-MODIS HDF file – Edition 4A D. Doelling https://doi.org/10.5067/AQUA/CERES/SSF1DEGDAY_L3.004A

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Short summary

Cloud water content and the number of droplets inside clouds covary with boundary layer depth. This covariation may amplify the change in water content due to a change in droplet number inferred from long-term observations. Taking this into account shows that the change in water content for increased droplet number in observations and high-resolution simulations agrees in shallow boundary layers. Meanwhile, deep boundary layers are under-sampled in process-scale simulations and observations.