Articles | Volume 21, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2765-2021
Research article
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24 Feb 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 24 Feb 2021

A-Train estimates of the sensitivity of the cloud-to-rainwater ratio to cloud size, relative humidity, and aerosols

Kevin M. Smalley and Anita D. Rapp

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We use satellite observations of shallow cumulus clouds to investigate the influence of cloud size on the ratio of cloud water path to rainwater (WRR) in different environments. For a fixed temperature and relative humidity, WRR increases with cloud size, but it varies little with aerosols. These results imply that increasing WRR with rising temperature relates not only to deeper clouds but also to more frequent larger clouds.
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