Articles | Volume 21, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1035-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1035-2021
Research article
 | 
26 Jan 2021
Research article |  | 26 Jan 2021

Precipitation enhancement in stratocumulus clouds through airborne seeding: sensitivity analysis by UCLALES-SALSA

Juha Tonttila, Ali Afzalifar, Harri Kokkola, Tomi Raatikainen, Hannele Korhonen, and Sami Romakkaniemi

Related authors

How horizontal transport and turbulent mixing impact aerosol particle and precursor concentrations at a background site in the UAE
Jutta Kesti, Ewan J. O'Connor, Anne Hirsikko, John Backman, Maria Filioglou, Anu-Maija Sundström, Juha Tonttila, Heikki Lihavainen, Hannele Korhonen, and Eija Asmi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9369–9386, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9369-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9369-2024, 2024
Short summary
Comparing the simulated influence of biomass burning plumes on low-level clouds over the southeastern Atlantic under varying smoke conditions
Alejandro Baró Pérez, Michael S. Diamond, Frida A.-M. Bender, Abhay Devasthale, Matthias Schwarz, Julien Savre, Juha Tonttila, Harri Kokkola, Hyunho Lee, David Painemal, and Annica M. L. Ekman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4591–4610, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4591-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4591-2024, 2024
Short summary
Technical note: Emulation of a large-eddy simulator for stratocumulus clouds in a general circulation model
Kalle Nordling, Jukka-Pekka Keskinen, Sami Romakkaniemi, Harri Kokkola, Petri Räisänen, Antti Lipponen, Antti-Ilari Partanen, Jaakko Ahola, Juha Tonttila, Muzaffer Ege Alper, Hannele Korhonen, and Tomi Raatikainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 869–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-869-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-869-2024, 2024
Short summary
Aerosol–stratocumulus interactions: towards a better process understanding using closures between observations and large eddy simulations
Silvia M. Calderón, Juha Tonttila, Angela Buchholz, Jorma Joutsensaari, Mika Komppula, Ari Leskinen, Liqing Hao, Dmitri Moisseev, Iida Pullinen, Petri Tiitta, Jian Xu, Annele Virtanen, Harri Kokkola, and Sami Romakkaniemi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12417–12441, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12417-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12417-2022, 2022
Short summary
Impacts of marine organic emissions on low-level stratiform clouds – a large eddy simulator study
Marje Prank, Juha Tonttila, Jaakko Ahola, Harri Kokkola, Thomas Kühn, Sami Romakkaniemi, and Tomi Raatikainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10971–10992, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10971-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10971-2022, 2022
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)
The critical number and size of precipitation embryos to accelerate warm rain initiation
Jung-Sub Lim, Yign Noh, Hyunho Lee, and Fabian Hoffmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5313–5329, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5313-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5313-2025, 2025
Short summary
Impact on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition of the interaction of cloud microphysics and macrophysics with large-scale circulation
Je-Yun Chun, Robert Wood, Peter N. Blossey, and Sarah J. Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5251–5271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025, 2025
Short summary
Technical note: Phase space depiction of cloud condensation nuclei activation and cloud droplet diffusional growth
Wojciech W. Grabowski and Hanna Pawlowska
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5273–5285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5273-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5273-2025, 2025
Short summary
Impact of wildfire smoke on Arctic cirrus formation – Part 2: Simulation of MOSAiC 2019–2020 cases
Albert Ansmann, Cristofer Jimenez, Daniel A. Knopf, Johanna Roschke, Johannes Bühl, Kevin Ohneiser, and Ronny Engelmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4867–4884, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4867-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4867-2025, 2025
Short summary
Constraining aerosol–cloud adjustments by uniting surface observations with a perturbed parameter ensemble
August Mikkelsen, Daniel T. McCoy, Trude Eidhammer, Andrew Gettelman, Ci Song, Hamish Gordon, and Isabel L. McCoy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4547–4570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4547-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4547-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Ackerman, A. S., van Zanten, M. C., Stevens, B., Savic-Jovcic, V., Bretherton, C. S., Chlond, A., Golaz, J.-C., Jiang, H., Khairoutdinov, M., Krueger, S. K., Lewellen, D. C., Lock, A., Moeng,C.-H., Nakamura, K., Petters, M. D., Snider, J. R., Weinbrecht, S., and Zulauf, M.: Large-Eddy Simulations of a Drizzling, Stratocumulus-Topped Marine Boundary Layer, Mon. Weather Rev., 137, 1083–1110, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008MWR2582.1, 2009. a, b
Bian, H., Froyd, K., Murphy, D. M., Dibb, J., Darmenov, A., Chin, M., Colarco, P. R., da Silva, A., Kucsera, T. L., Schill, G., Yu, H., Bui, P., Dollner, M., Weinzierl, B., and Smirnov, A.: Observationally constrained analysis of sea salt aerosol in the marine atmosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10773–10785, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10773-2019, 2019. a, b
Bigg, E. K.: An independent evaluation of a South African hygroscopic cloud seeding experiment, 1991–1995, Atmos. Res., 43, 111–127, 1997. a
Boutle, I., Price, J., Kudzotsa, I., Kokkola, H., and Romakkaniemi, S.: Aerosol–fog interaction and the transition to well-mixed radiation fog, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 7827–7840, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7827-2018, 2018. a
Bruintjes, R. T.: A Review of Cloud Seeding Experiments to Enhance Precipitation and Some New Prospects, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 80, 805–820, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1999)080<0805:AROCSE>2.0.CO;2, 1999. a
Download
Short summary
The focus of this study is on rain enhancement by deliberate injection of small particles into clouds (cloud seeding). The particles, usually released from an aircraft, are expected to enhance cloud droplet growth, but its practical feasibility is somewhat uncertain. To improve upon this, we simulate the seeding effects with a numerical model. The model reproduces the main features seen in field observations, with a strong sensitivity to the total mass of the injected particle material.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint