Articles | Volume 22, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2769-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-22-2769-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 02 Mar 2022
| 02 Mar 2022
Factors affecting precipitation formation and precipitation susceptibility of marine stratocumulus with variable above- and below-cloud aerosol concentrations over the Southeast Atlantic
Cooperative Institute for Severe and High Impact Weather Research and
Operations, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Greg M. McFarquhar
Cooperative Institute for Severe and High Impact Weather Research and
Operations, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Joseph R. O'Brien
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand
Forks, ND, USA
Michael R. Poellot
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand
Forks, ND, USA
David J. Delene
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand
Forks, ND, USA
Rose M. Miller
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
Jennifer D. Small Griswold
Department of Meteorology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu,
HI, USA
Related authors
Travis Hahn, Hershel Weiner, Calvin Brooks, Jie Xi Li, Siddhant Gupta, and Dié Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1328, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1328, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how clouds evolve is important for improving weather predictions, but existing tools for tracking cloud changes are complex and difficult to compare. To address this, we developed the Community Cloud Model Evaluation Toolkit (CoCoMET) that makes it easier to analyze clouds in both models and observations. By simplifying data processing, standardizing results, and introducing new analysis features, CoCoMET helps researchers better evaluate cloud behavior and improve models.
Kerry Meyer, Steven Platnick, G. Thomas Arnold, Nandana Amarasinghe, Daniel Miller, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Mikael Witte, Brian Cairns, Siddhant Gupta, Greg McFarquhar, and Joseph O'Brien
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 981–1011, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-981-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-981-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite remote sensing retrievals of cloud droplet size are used to understand clouds and their interactions with aerosols and radiation but require many simplifying assumptions. Evaluation of these retrievals is typically done by comparing against direct measurements of droplets from airborne cloud probes. This paper details an evaluation of proxy airborne remote sensing droplet size retrievals against several cloud probes and explores the impact of key assumptions on retrieval agreement.
Dié Wang, Roni Kobrosly, Tao Zhang, Tamanna Subba, Susan van den Heever, Siddhant Gupta, and Michael Jensen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2436, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2436, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a new method to understand how tiny particles in the air, called aerosols, affect rain clouds in the Houston-Galveston area. Aerosols generally do not make these clouds grow much taller, with an average height increase of about 1 km under certain conditions. However, their effects on rainfall strength and cloud expansion are less certain. Clouds influenced by sea breezes show a stronger aerosol impact, possibly due to unaccounted factors like vertical winds in near-surface layers.
Siddhant Gupta, Dié Wang, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and Michael P. Jensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4487–4510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examine the lifecycle of isolated deep convective clouds (DCCs) in the Amazon rainforest. Weather radar echoes from the DCCs are tracked to evaluate their lifecycle. The DCC size and intensity increase, reach a peak, and then decrease over the DCC lifetime. Vertical profiles of air motion and mass transport from different seasons are examined to understand the transport of energy and momentum within DCC cores and to address the deficiencies in simulating DCCs using weather and climate models.
Calvin Howes, Pablo E. Saide, Hugh Coe, Amie Dobracki, Steffen Freitag, Jim M. Haywood, Steven G. Howell, Siddhant Gupta, Janek Uin, Mary Kacarab, Chongai Kuang, L. Ruby Leung, Athanasios Nenes, Greg M. McFarquhar, James Podolske, Jens Redemann, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Jenny P. S. Wong, Robert Wood, Huihui Wu, Yang Zhang, Jianhao Zhang, and Paquita Zuidema
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13911–13940, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13911-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13911-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand smoke properties and its interactions with clouds, we compare the WRF-CAM5 model with observations from ORACLES, CLARIFY, and LASIC field campaigns in the southeastern Atlantic in August 2017. The model transports and mixes smoke well but does not fully capture some important processes. These include smoke chemical and physical aging over 4–12 days, smoke removal by rain, sulfate particle formation, aerosol activation into cloud droplets, and boundary layer turbulence.
Paul A. Barrett, Steven J. Abel, Hugh Coe, Ian Crawford, Amie Dobracki, James Haywood, Steve Howell, Anthony Jones, Justin Langridge, Greg M. McFarquhar, Graeme J. Nott, Hannah Price, Jens Redemann, Yohei Shinozuka, Kate Szpek, Jonathan W. Taylor, Robert Wood, Huihui Wu, Paquita Zuidema, Stéphane Bauguitte, Ryan Bennett, Keith Bower, Hong Chen, Sabrina Cochrane, Michael Cotterell, Nicholas Davies, David Delene, Connor Flynn, Andrew Freedman, Steffen Freitag, Siddhant Gupta, David Noone, Timothy B. Onasch, James Podolske, Michael R. Poellot, Sebastian Schmidt, Stephen Springston, Arthur J. Sedlacek III, Jamie Trembath, Alan Vance, Maria A. Zawadowicz, and Jianhao Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6329–6371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand weather and climate, it is vital to go into the field and collect observations. Often measurements take place in isolation, but here we compared data from two aircraft and one ground-based site. This was done in order to understand how well measurements made on one platform compared to those made on another. Whilst this is easy to do in a controlled laboratory setting, it is more challenging in the real world, and so these comparisons are as valuable as they are rare.
Siddhant Gupta, Greg M. McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, Michael R. Poellot, David J. Delene, Ian Chang, Lan Gao, Feng Xu, and Jens Redemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12923–12943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The ability of NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites to retrieve cloud properties and estimate the changes in cloud properties due to aerosol–cloud interactions (ACI) was examined. There was good agreement between satellite retrievals and in situ measurements over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. This suggests that, combined with information on aerosol properties, satellite retrievals of cloud properties can be used to study ACI over larger domains and longer timescales in the absence of in situ data.
Rose M. Miller, Greg M. McFarquhar, Robert M. Rauber, Joseph R. O'Brien, Siddhant Gupta, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, Amie N. Dobracki, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Sharon P. Burton, Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, and Caroline Dang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14815–14831, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14815-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14815-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A large stratocumulus cloud deck resides off the west coast of central Africa. Biomass burning in Africa produces a large plume of aerosol that is carried by the wind over this stratocumulus cloud deck. This paper shows that particles with sizes from 0.01 to 1 mm reside within this plume. Past studies have shown that biomass burning produces such particles, but this is the first study to show that they can be transported westward, over long distances, to the Atlantic stratocumulus cloud deck.
Andrew M. Dzambo, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Kenneth Sinclair, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Siddhant Gupta, Greg McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, Brian Cairns, Andrzej P. Wasilewski, and Mikhail Alexandrov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5513–5532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5513-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work highlights a new algorithm using data collected from the 2016–2018 NASA ORACLES field campaign. This algorithm synthesizes cloud and rain measurements to attain estimates of cloud and precipitation properties over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. Estimates produced by this algorithm compare well against in situ estimates. Increased rain fractions and rain rates are found in regions of atmospheric instability. This dataset can be used to explore aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions.
Siddhant Gupta, Greg M. McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, David J. Delene, Michael R. Poellot, Amie Dobracki, James R. Podolske, Jens Redemann, Samuel E. LeBlanc, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, and Kristina Pistone
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4615–4635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Observations from the 2016 NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) field campaign examine how biomass burning aerosols from southern Africa affect marine stratocumulus cloud decks over the Southeast Atlantic. Instances of contact and separation between aerosols and clouds are examined to quantify the impact of aerosol mixing into cloud top on cloud drop numbers and sizes. This information is needed for improving Earth system models and satellite retrievals.
Jens Redemann, Robert Wood, Paquita Zuidema, Sarah J. Doherty, Bernadette Luna, Samuel E. LeBlanc, Michael S. Diamond, Yohei Shinozuka, Ian Y. Chang, Rei Ueyama, Leonhard Pfister, Ju-Mee Ryoo, Amie N. Dobracki, Arlindo M. da Silva, Karla M. Longo, Meloë S. Kacenelenbogen, Connor J. Flynn, Kristina Pistone, Nichola M. Knox, Stuart J. Piketh, James M. Haywood, Paola Formenti, Marc Mallet, Philip Stier, Andrew S. Ackerman, Susanne E. Bauer, Ann M. Fridlind, Gregory R. Carmichael, Pablo E. Saide, Gonzalo A. Ferrada, Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, Brian Cairns, Brent N. Holben, Kirk D. Knobelspiesse, Simone Tanelli, Tristan S. L'Ecuyer, Andrew M. Dzambo, Ousmane O. Sy, Greg M. McFarquhar, Michael R. Poellot, Siddhant Gupta, Joseph R. O'Brien, Athanasios Nenes, Mary Kacarab, Jenny P. S. Wong, Jennifer D. Small-Griswold, Kenneth L. Thornhill, David Noone, James R. Podolske, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Peter Pilewskie, Hong Chen, Sabrina P. Cochrane, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Timothy J. Lang, Eric Stith, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, Richard A. Ferrare, Sharon P. Burton, Chris A. Hostetler, David J. Diner, Felix C. Seidel, Steven E. Platnick, Jeffrey S. Myers, Kerry G. Meyer, Douglas A. Spangenberg, Hal Maring, and Lan Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1507–1563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Southern Africa produces significant biomass burning emissions whose impacts on regional and global climate are poorly understood. ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) is a 5-year NASA investigation designed to study the key processes that determine these climate impacts. The main purpose of this paper is to familiarize the broader scientific community with the ORACLES project, the dataset it produced, and the most important initial findings.
Travis Hahn, Hershel Weiner, Calvin Brooks, Jie Xi Li, Siddhant Gupta, and Dié Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1328, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1328, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how clouds evolve is important for improving weather predictions, but existing tools for tracking cloud changes are complex and difficult to compare. To address this, we developed the Community Cloud Model Evaluation Toolkit (CoCoMET) that makes it easier to analyze clouds in both models and observations. By simplifying data processing, standardizing results, and introducing new analysis features, CoCoMET helps researchers better evaluate cloud behavior and improve models.
Kerry Meyer, Steven Platnick, G. Thomas Arnold, Nandana Amarasinghe, Daniel Miller, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Mikael Witte, Brian Cairns, Siddhant Gupta, Greg McFarquhar, and Joseph O'Brien
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 981–1011, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-981-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-981-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite remote sensing retrievals of cloud droplet size are used to understand clouds and their interactions with aerosols and radiation but require many simplifying assumptions. Evaluation of these retrievals is typically done by comparing against direct measurements of droplets from airborne cloud probes. This paper details an evaluation of proxy airborne remote sensing droplet size retrievals against several cloud probes and explores the impact of key assumptions on retrieval agreement.
Jeonggyu Kim, Sungmin Park, Greg M. McFarquhar, Anthony J. Baran, Joo Wan Cha, Kyoungmi Lee, Seoung Soo Lee, Chang Hoon Jung, Kyo-Sun Sunny Lim, and Junshik Um
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12707–12726, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12707-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12707-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed idealized models to represent the shapes of ice particles found in deep convective clouds and calculated their single-scattering properties. By comparing these results with in situ measurements, we discovered that a mixture of shape models matches in situ measurements more closely than single-form models or aggregate models. This finding has important implications for enhancing the simulation of single-scattering properties of ice crystals in deep convective clouds.
Alexei Korolev, Zhipeng Qu, Jason Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Mélissa Cholette, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Greg M. McFarquhar, Paul Lawson, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11849–11881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The phenomenon of high ice water content (HIWC) occurs in mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) when a large number of small ice particles with typical sizes of a few hundred micrometers is found at high altitudes. It was found that secondary ice production in the vicinity of the melting layer plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of HIWC. This study presents a conceptual model of the formation of HIWC in tropical MCSs based on in situ observations and numerical simulation.
Dié Wang, Roni Kobrosly, Tao Zhang, Tamanna Subba, Susan van den Heever, Siddhant Gupta, and Michael Jensen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2436, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2436, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a new method to understand how tiny particles in the air, called aerosols, affect rain clouds in the Houston-Galveston area. Aerosols generally do not make these clouds grow much taller, with an average height increase of about 1 km under certain conditions. However, their effects on rainfall strength and cloud expansion are less certain. Clouds influenced by sea breezes show a stronger aerosol impact, possibly due to unaccounted factors like vertical winds in near-surface layers.
Michie Vianca De Vera, Larry Di Girolamo, Guangyu Zhao, Robert M. Rauber, Stephen W. Nesbitt, and Greg M. McFarquhar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5603–5623, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5603-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical oceanic low clouds remain a dominant source of uncertainty in cloud feedback in climate models due to their macrophysical properties (fraction, size, height, shape, distribution) being misrepresented. High-resolution satellite imagery over the Philippine oceans is used here to characterize cumulus macrophysical properties and their relationship to meteorological variables. Such information can act as a benchmark for cloud models and can improve low-cloud generation in climate models.
Siddhant Gupta, Dié Wang, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and Michael P. Jensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4487–4510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examine the lifecycle of isolated deep convective clouds (DCCs) in the Amazon rainforest. Weather radar echoes from the DCCs are tracked to evaluate their lifecycle. The DCC size and intensity increase, reach a peak, and then decrease over the DCC lifetime. Vertical profiles of air motion and mass transport from different seasons are examined to understand the transport of energy and momentum within DCC cores and to address the deficiencies in simulating DCCs using weather and climate models.
Calvin Howes, Pablo E. Saide, Hugh Coe, Amie Dobracki, Steffen Freitag, Jim M. Haywood, Steven G. Howell, Siddhant Gupta, Janek Uin, Mary Kacarab, Chongai Kuang, L. Ruby Leung, Athanasios Nenes, Greg M. McFarquhar, James Podolske, Jens Redemann, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Jenny P. S. Wong, Robert Wood, Huihui Wu, Yang Zhang, Jianhao Zhang, and Paquita Zuidema
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13911–13940, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13911-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13911-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand smoke properties and its interactions with clouds, we compare the WRF-CAM5 model with observations from ORACLES, CLARIFY, and LASIC field campaigns in the southeastern Atlantic in August 2017. The model transports and mixes smoke well but does not fully capture some important processes. These include smoke chemical and physical aging over 4–12 days, smoke removal by rain, sulfate particle formation, aerosol activation into cloud droplets, and boundary layer turbulence.
Rose Marie Miller, Robert M. Rauber, Larry Di Girolamo, Matthew Rilloraza, Dongwei Fu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Luke D. Ziemba, Sarah Woods, and Kenneth Lee Thornhill
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8959–8977, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8959-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8959-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The influence of human-produced aerosols on clouds remains one of the uncertainties in radiative forcing of Earth’s climate. Measurements of aerosol chemistry from sources around the Philippines illustrate the linkage between aerosol chemical composition and cloud droplet characteristics. Differences in aerosol chemical composition in the marine layer from biomass burning, industrial, ship-produced, and marine aerosols are shown to impact cloud microphysical structure just above cloud base.
Ruhi S. Humphries, Melita D. Keywood, Jason P. Ward, James Harnwell, Simon P. Alexander, Andrew R. Klekociuk, Keiichiro Hara, Ian M. McRobert, Alain Protat, Joel Alroe, Luke T. Cravigan, Branka Miljevic, Zoran D. Ristovski, Robyn Schofield, Stephen R. Wilson, Connor J. Flynn, Gourihar R. Kulkarni, Gerald G. Mace, Greg M. McFarquhar, Scott D. Chambers, Alastair G. Williams, and Alan D. Griffiths
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3749–3777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3749-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3749-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Observations of aerosols in pristine regions are rare but are vital to constraining the natural baseline from which climate simulations are calculated. Here we present recent seasonal observations of aerosols from the Southern Ocean and contrast them with measurements from Antarctica, Australia and regionally relevant voyages. Strong seasonal cycles persist, but striking differences occur at different latitudes. This study highlights the need for more long-term observations in remote regions.
Paul A. Barrett, Steven J. Abel, Hugh Coe, Ian Crawford, Amie Dobracki, James Haywood, Steve Howell, Anthony Jones, Justin Langridge, Greg M. McFarquhar, Graeme J. Nott, Hannah Price, Jens Redemann, Yohei Shinozuka, Kate Szpek, Jonathan W. Taylor, Robert Wood, Huihui Wu, Paquita Zuidema, Stéphane Bauguitte, Ryan Bennett, Keith Bower, Hong Chen, Sabrina Cochrane, Michael Cotterell, Nicholas Davies, David Delene, Connor Flynn, Andrew Freedman, Steffen Freitag, Siddhant Gupta, David Noone, Timothy B. Onasch, James Podolske, Michael R. Poellot, Sebastian Schmidt, Stephen Springston, Arthur J. Sedlacek III, Jamie Trembath, Alan Vance, Maria A. Zawadowicz, and Jianhao Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6329–6371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6329-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand weather and climate, it is vital to go into the field and collect observations. Often measurements take place in isolation, but here we compared data from two aircraft and one ground-based site. This was done in order to understand how well measurements made on one platform compared to those made on another. Whilst this is easy to do in a controlled laboratory setting, it is more challenging in the real world, and so these comparisons are as valuable as they are rare.
Siddhant Gupta, Greg M. McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, Michael R. Poellot, David J. Delene, Ian Chang, Lan Gao, Feng Xu, and Jens Redemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12923–12943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The ability of NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites to retrieve cloud properties and estimate the changes in cloud properties due to aerosol–cloud interactions (ACI) was examined. There was good agreement between satellite retrievals and in situ measurements over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. This suggests that, combined with information on aerosol properties, satellite retrievals of cloud properties can be used to study ACI over larger domains and longer timescales in the absence of in situ data.
Zhipeng Qu, Alexei Korolev, Jason A. Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Yongjie Huang, Greg M. McFarquhar, Hugh Morrison, Mengistu Wolde, and Cuong Nguyen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12287–12310, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12287-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12287-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Secondary ice production (SIP) is an important physical phenomenon that results in an increase in the cloud ice particle concentration and can have a significant impact on the evolution of clouds. Here, idealized simulations of a tropical convective system were conducted. Agreement between the simulations and observations highlights the impacts of SIP on the maintenance of tropical convection in nature and the importance of including the modelling of SIP in numerical weather prediction models.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Daniel T. McCoy, Ewan Crosbie, Richard H. Moore, Graeme J. Nott, David Painemal, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Armin Sorooshian, and Luke Ziemba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3875–3892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Droplet number concentration is a key property of clouds, influencing a variety of cloud processes. It is also used for estimating the cloud response to aerosols. The satellite retrieval depends on a number of assumptions – different sampling strategies are used to select cases where these assumptions are most likely to hold. Here we investigate the impact of these strategies on the agreement with in situ data, the droplet number climatology and estimates of the indirect radiative forcing.
Dongwei Fu, Larry Di Girolamo, Robert M. Rauber, Greg M. McFarquhar, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Jesse Loveridge, Yulan Hong, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Brian Cairns, Mikhail D. Alexandrov, Paul Lawson, Sarah Woods, Simone Tanelli, Sebastian Schmidt, Chris Hostetler, and Amy Jo Scarino
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8259–8285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8259-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8259-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite-retrieved cloud microphysics are widely used in climate research because of their central role in water and energy cycles. Here, we provide the first detailed investigation of retrieved cloud drop sizes from in situ and various satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques applied to real cumulus cloud fields. We conclude that the most widely used passive remote sensing method employed in climate research produces high biases of 6–8 µm (60 %–80 %) caused by 3-D radiative effects.
Yongjie Huang, Wei Wu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Ming Xue, Hugh Morrison, Jason Milbrandt, Alexei V. Korolev, Yachao Hu, Zhipeng Qu, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, and Ivan Heckman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2365–2384, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2365-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2365-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Numerous small ice crystals in tropical convective storms are difficult to detect and could be potentially hazardous for commercial aircraft. Previous numerical simulations failed to reproduce this phenomenon and hypothesized that key microphysical processes are still lacking in current models to realistically simulate the phenomenon. This study uses numerical experiments to confirm the dominant role of secondary ice production in the formation of these large numbers of small ice crystals.
Matthew W. Christensen, Andrew Gettelman, Jan Cermak, Guy Dagan, Michael Diamond, Alyson Douglas, Graham Feingold, Franziska Glassmeier, Tom Goren, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Edward Gryspeerdt, Ralph Kahn, Zhanqing Li, Po-Lun Ma, Florent Malavelle, Isabel L. McCoy, Daniel T. McCoy, Greg McFarquhar, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sandip Pal, Anna Possner, Adam Povey, Johannes Quaas, Daniel Rosenfeld, Anja Schmidt, Roland Schrödner, Armin Sorooshian, Philip Stier, Velle Toll, Duncan Watson-Parris, Robert Wood, Mingxi Yang, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 641–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Trace gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) are released from a variety of point sources around the globe. Examples include volcanoes, industrial chimneys, forest fires, and ship stacks. These sources provide opportunistic experiments with which to quantify the role of aerosols in modifying cloud properties. We review the current state of understanding on the influence of aerosol on climate built from the wide range of natural and anthropogenic laboratories investigated in recent decades.
Rose M. Miller, Greg M. McFarquhar, Robert M. Rauber, Joseph R. O'Brien, Siddhant Gupta, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, Amie N. Dobracki, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Sharon P. Burton, Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, and Caroline Dang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14815–14831, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14815-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14815-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A large stratocumulus cloud deck resides off the west coast of central Africa. Biomass burning in Africa produces a large plume of aerosol that is carried by the wind over this stratocumulus cloud deck. This paper shows that particles with sizes from 0.01 to 1 mm reside within this plume. Past studies have shown that biomass burning produces such particles, but this is the first study to show that they can be transported westward, over long distances, to the Atlantic stratocumulus cloud deck.
Ruhi S. Humphries, Melita D. Keywood, Sean Gribben, Ian M. McRobert, Jason P. Ward, Paul Selleck, Sally Taylor, James Harnwell, Connor Flynn, Gourihar R. Kulkarni, Gerald G. Mace, Alain Protat, Simon P. Alexander, and Greg McFarquhar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12757–12782, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12757-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12757-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Southern Ocean region is one of the most pristine in the world and serves as an important proxy for the pre-industrial atmosphere. Improving our understanding of the natural processes in this region is likely to result in the largest reductions in the uncertainty of climate and earth system models. In this paper we present a statistical summary of the latitudinal gradient of aerosol and cloud condensation nuclei concentrations obtained from five voyages spanning the Southern Ocean.
Yongjie Huang, Wei Wu, Greg M. McFarquhar, Xuguang Wang, Hugh Morrison, Alexander Ryzhkov, Yachao Hu, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Jason Milbrandt, Alexei V. Korolev, and Ivan Heckman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6919–6944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6919-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Numerous small ice crystals in the tropical convective storms are difficult to detect and could be potentially hazardous for commercial aircraft. This study evaluated the numerical models against the airborne observations and investigated the potential cloud processes that could lead to the production of these large numbers of small ice crystals. It is found that key microphysical processes are still lacking or misrepresented in current numerical models to realistically simulate the phenomenon.
Andrew M. Dzambo, Tristan L'Ecuyer, Kenneth Sinclair, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Siddhant Gupta, Greg McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, Brian Cairns, Andrzej P. Wasilewski, and Mikhail Alexandrov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5513–5532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5513-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work highlights a new algorithm using data collected from the 2016–2018 NASA ORACLES field campaign. This algorithm synthesizes cloud and rain measurements to attain estimates of cloud and precipitation properties over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. Estimates produced by this algorithm compare well against in situ estimates. Increased rain fractions and rain rates are found in regions of atmospheric instability. This dataset can be used to explore aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions.
Siddhant Gupta, Greg M. McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, David J. Delene, Michael R. Poellot, Amie Dobracki, James R. Podolske, Jens Redemann, Samuel E. LeBlanc, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, and Kristina Pistone
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4615–4635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Observations from the 2016 NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) field campaign examine how biomass burning aerosols from southern Africa affect marine stratocumulus cloud decks over the Southeast Atlantic. Instances of contact and separation between aerosols and clouds are examined to quantify the impact of aerosol mixing into cloud top on cloud drop numbers and sizes. This information is needed for improving Earth system models and satellite retrievals.
Dillon S. Dodson and Jennifer D. Small Griswold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1937–1961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1937-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1937-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The results here reinforce findings from previous in situ studies of the marine boundary layer. It is found that turbulence is maximized in the middle of the stratocumulus layer from latent heating effects. Precipitation acts to increase turbulence in the sub-cloud layer, while acting to stabilize the entire boundary layer after the evaporation of precipitation in the sub-cloud has stopped. A negative correlation is present between the boundary layer height and turbulence.
Jens Redemann, Robert Wood, Paquita Zuidema, Sarah J. Doherty, Bernadette Luna, Samuel E. LeBlanc, Michael S. Diamond, Yohei Shinozuka, Ian Y. Chang, Rei Ueyama, Leonhard Pfister, Ju-Mee Ryoo, Amie N. Dobracki, Arlindo M. da Silva, Karla M. Longo, Meloë S. Kacenelenbogen, Connor J. Flynn, Kristina Pistone, Nichola M. Knox, Stuart J. Piketh, James M. Haywood, Paola Formenti, Marc Mallet, Philip Stier, Andrew S. Ackerman, Susanne E. Bauer, Ann M. Fridlind, Gregory R. Carmichael, Pablo E. Saide, Gonzalo A. Ferrada, Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, Brian Cairns, Brent N. Holben, Kirk D. Knobelspiesse, Simone Tanelli, Tristan S. L'Ecuyer, Andrew M. Dzambo, Ousmane O. Sy, Greg M. McFarquhar, Michael R. Poellot, Siddhant Gupta, Joseph R. O'Brien, Athanasios Nenes, Mary Kacarab, Jenny P. S. Wong, Jennifer D. Small-Griswold, Kenneth L. Thornhill, David Noone, James R. Podolske, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Peter Pilewskie, Hong Chen, Sabrina P. Cochrane, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Timothy J. Lang, Eric Stith, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, Richard A. Ferrare, Sharon P. Burton, Chris A. Hostetler, David J. Diner, Felix C. Seidel, Steven E. Platnick, Jeffrey S. Myers, Kerry G. Meyer, Douglas A. Spangenberg, Hal Maring, and Lan Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1507–1563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Southern Africa produces significant biomass burning emissions whose impacts on regional and global climate are poorly understood. ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) is a 5-year NASA investigation designed to study the key processes that determine these climate impacts. The main purpose of this paper is to familiarize the broader scientific community with the ORACLES project, the dataset it produced, and the most important initial findings.
Mary Kacarab, K. Lee Thornhill, Amie Dobracki, Steven G. Howell, Joseph R. O'Brien, Steffen Freitag, Michael R. Poellot, Robert Wood, Paquita Zuidema, Jens Redemann, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3029–3040, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3029-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3029-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We find that extensive biomass burning aerosol plumes from southern Africa can profoundly influence clouds in the southeastern Atlantic. Concurrent variations in vertical velocity, however, are found to magnify the relationship between boundary layer aerosol and the cloud droplet number. Neglecting these covariances may strongly bias the sign and magnitude of aerosol impacts on the cloud droplet number.
Samuel E. LeBlanc, Jens Redemann, Connor Flynn, Kristina Pistone, Meloë Kacenelenbogen, Michal Segal-Rosenheimer, Yohei Shinozuka, Stephen Dunagan, Robert P. Dahlgren, Kerry Meyer, James Podolske, Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Brent Holben, Michael Diamond, Robert Wood, Paola Formenti, Stuart Piketh, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Monja Gerber, and Andreas Namwoonde
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1565–1590, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1565-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1565-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The southeast Atlantic during August–October experiences layers of smoke from biomass burning over marine stratocumulus clouds. Here we present the light attenuation of the smoke and its dependence in the spatial, vertical, and spectral domain through direct measurements from an airborne platform during September 2016. From our observations of this climatically important smoke, we found an average aerosol optical depth of 0.32 at 500 nm, slightly lower than comparative satellite measurements.
Dillon S. Dodson and Jennifer D. Small Griswold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7297–7317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7297-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7297-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This work looks at how the amount of aerosols contained in cloud affects the spatial orientation of the cloud droplets. Droplet orientation is important because it can lead to changes in the amount of time it takes precipitation to form. The results show that the aerosol amount does not have any effect on the droplet orientation. It is found however that the droplets are spaced closer together (there is increased droplet clustering) at cloud edge and top, as compared to center and bottom.
Joseph A. Finlon, Greg M. McFarquhar, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Robert M. Rauber, Hugh Morrison, Wei Wu, and Pengfei Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3621–3643, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3621-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3621-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A new approach describing the relationship between ice crystal mass (m) and dimension (D) is derived, characterizing it as a set of
equally realizableparameters based on the natural variability in cloud conditions observed by aircraft over the Great Plains. Results from this approach address shortcomings of microphysical parameterization schemes and remote sensing retrievals that employ a single m–D relation for a given ice species or environment.
Junshik Um, Greg M. McFarquhar, Jeffrey L. Stith, Chang Hoon Jung, Seoung Soo Lee, Ji Yi Lee, Younghwan Shin, Yun Gon Lee, Yiseok Isaac Yang, Seong Soo Yum, Byung-Gon Kim, Joo Wan Cha, and A-Reum Ko
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16915–16930, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16915-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16915-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
During the 2012 Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry experiment upper anvils of two storms were sampled. The occurrence of well-defined pristine crystals was low in the anvils, while single frozen droplets and frozen droplet aggregates (FDAs) were the dominant habits. A new algorithm was developed to automatically identify the number, size, and relative position of element frozen droplets within FDAs. The morphological characteristics of FDAs were compared with those of black carbon aggregates.
Emma Järvinen, Olivier Jourdan, David Neubauer, Bin Yao, Chao Liu, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrike Lohmann, Manfred Wendisch, Greg M. McFarquhar, Thomas Leisner, and Martin Schnaiter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15767–15781, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15767-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15767-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Using light diffraction it is possible to detect microscopic features within ice particles that have not yet been fully characterized. Here, this technique was applied in airborne measurements, where it was found that majority of atmospheric ice particles have features that significantly change the way ice particles interact with solar light. The microscopic features make ice-containing clouds more reflective than previously thought, which could have consequences for predicting our climate.
Michael S. Diamond, Amie Dobracki, Steffen Freitag, Jennifer D. Small Griswold, Ashley Heikkila, Steven G. Howell, Mary E. Kacarab, James R. Podolske, Pablo E. Saide, and Robert Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14623–14636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14623-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14623-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Smoke from Africa can mix into clouds over the southeast Atlantic and create new droplets, which brightens the clouds, reflects more sunlight, and thus cools the region. Using aircraft data from a NASA field campaign, we find that cloud properties are correlated with smoke as expected when the smoke is below the clouds but not when smoke is above the clouds because it takes several days for clouds to mix smoke downward. We recommend methods that can track clouds as they move for future studies.
Ann M. Fridlind, Xiaowen Li, Di Wu, Marcus van Lier-Walqui, Andrew S. Ackerman, Wei-Kuo Tao, Greg M. McFarquhar, Wei Wu, Xiquan Dong, Jingyu Wang, Alexander Ryzhkov, Pengfei Zhang, Michael R. Poellot, Andrea Neumann, and Jason M. Tomlinson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5947–5972, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5947-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5947-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding observed storm microphysics via computer simulation requires measurements of aerosol on which most hydrometeors form. We prepare aerosol input data for six storms observed over Oklahoma. We demonstrate their use in simulations of a case with widespread ice outflow well sampled by aircraft. Simulations predict too few ice crystals that are too large. We speculate that microphysics found in tropical storms occurred here, likely associated with poorly understood ice multiplication.
Ann M. Fridlind, Rachel Atlas, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Junshik Um, Greg M. McFarquhar, Andrew S. Ackerman, Elisabeth J. Moyer, and R. Paul Lawson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7251–7283, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7251-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7251-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Images of crystals within mid-latitude cirrus clouds are used to derive consistent ice physical and optical properties for a detailed cloud microphysics model, including size-dependent mass, projected area, and fall speed. Based on habits found, properties are derived for bullet rosettes, their aggregates, and crystals with irregular shapes. Derived bullet rosette fall speeds are substantially greater than reported in past studies, owing to differences in mass, area, or diameter representation.
L. M. Zamora, R. A. Kahn, M. J. Cubison, G. S. Diskin, J. L. Jimenez, Y. Kondo, G. M. McFarquhar, A. Nenes, K. L. Thornhill, A. Wisthaler, A. Zelenyuk, and L. D. Ziemba
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 715–738, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-715-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-715-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Based on extensive aircraft campaigns, we quantify how biomass burning smoke affects subarctic and Arctic liquid cloud microphysical properties. Enhanced cloud albedo may decrease short-wave radiative flux by between 2 and 4 Wm2 or more in some subarctic conditions. Smoke halved average cloud droplet diameter. In one case study, it also appeared to limit droplet formation. Numerous Arctic background Aitken particles can also interact with combustion particles, perhaps affecting their properties.
M. S. Norgren, J. D. Small, H. H. Jonsson, and P. Y. Chuang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 21–33, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-21-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-21-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds transport air from near the surface to higher altitudes. However, the amount of air transported in this way is poorly understood. In this study, measurements from aircraft of small clouds over Texas show that the amount is limited to the volume of the visible cloud and not more. This means that these clouds are not very effective at transporting pollution and moisture to upper reaches of the atmosphere, which in turn affects their redistribution and wider impact.
J. Um, G. M. McFarquhar, Y. P. Hong, S.-S. Lee, C. H. Jung, R. P. Lawson, and Q. Mo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3933–3956, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3933-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3933-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Dimensions of ice crystals increased with an increase in temperature and the L-W relationships of crystals with a given L depended heavily on temperature, whereas the aspect ratio depended only weakly on temperature. The relative frequency of occurrence of plates was much larger in anvil clouds compared to that of columnar crystals (i.e., columns and bullet rosettes), whereas the relative occurrence frequency of columnar crystals was much larger in non-anvil clouds.
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Measurement report: A survey of meteorological and cloud properties during ACTIVATE’s postfrontal flights and their suitability for Lagrangian case studies
Characterization of fog microphysics and their relationships with visibility at a mountain site in China
Hunting for gravity waves in non-orographic winter storms using 3+ years of regional surface air pressure network and radar observations
Theoretical framework for measuring cloud effective supersaturation fluctuations with an advanced optical system
Investigating the role of typhoon-induced waves and stratospheric hydration in the formation of tropopause cirrus clouds observed during the 2017 Asian monsoon
How does riming influence the observed spatial variability of ice water in mixed-phase clouds?
Moisture Budget Estimates Derived from Airborne Observations in an Arctic Atmospheric River During its Dissipation
In-cloud characteristics observed in US Northeast and Midwest non-orographic winter storms with implications for ice particle mass growth and residence time
Microphysical view of the development and ice production of mid-latitude stratiform clouds with embedded convection during an extratropical cyclone
Clouds and precipitation in the initial phase of marine cold-air outbreaks as observed by airborne remote sensing
Light scattering and microphysical properties of atmospheric bullet rosette ice crystals
Quantified ice-nucleating ability of AgI-containing seeding particles in natural clouds
Estimating the snow density using collocated Parsivel and Micro-Rain Radar measurements: a preliminary study from ICE-POP 2017/2018
Technical note: On the ice microphysics of isolated thunderstorms and non-thunderstorms in southern China – a radar polarimetric perspective
Distinctive aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions in marine boundary layer clouds from the ACE-ENA and SOCRATES aircraft field campaigns
Aerosol Indirect Effects on Cirrus Clouds Based on Global-Scale Airborne Observations and Machine Learning Models
Drivers of droplet formation in east Mediterranean orographic clouds
Observability of moisture transport divergence in Arctic atmospheric rivers by dropsondes
Elucidating the boundary layer turbulence dissipation rate using high-resolution measurements from a radar wind profiler network over the Tibetan Plateau
Environmental controls on isolated convection during the Amazonian wet season
Isotopic composition of convective rainfall in the inland tropics of Brazil
Measurement report: Cloud and environmental properties associated with aggregated shallow marine cumulus and cumulus congestus
Vertical Profiles of Liquid Water Content in fog layers during the SOFOG3D experiment
Lifecycle of updrafts and mass flux in isolated deep convection over the Amazon rainforest: insights from cell tracking
Thermodynamic and cloud evolution in a cold-air outbreak during HALO-(AC)3: quasi-Lagrangian observations compared to the ERA5 and CARRA reanalyses
Powering aircraft with 100 % sustainable aviation fuel reduces ice crystals in contrails
Supercooled liquid water clouds observed over Dome C, Antarctica: temperature sensitivity and cloud radiative forcing
Role of thermodynamic and turbulence processes on the fog life cycle during SOFOG3D experiment
Characterizing the near-global cloud vertical structures over land using high-resolution radiosonde measurements
Differences in microphysical properties of cirrus at high and mid-latitudes
Sub-cloud rain evaporation in the North Atlantic winter trade winds derived by pairing isotopic data with a bin-resolved microphysical model
Overview and statistical analysis of boundary layer clouds and precipitation over the western North Atlantic Ocean
A set of methods to evaluate the below-cloud evaporation effect on local precipitation isotopic composition: a case study for Xi'an, China
Earth-system-model evaluation of cloud and precipitation occurrence for supercooled and warm clouds over the Southern Ocean's Macquarie Island
Pollution slightly enhances atmospheric cooling by low-level clouds in tropical West Africa
Investigating an indirect aviation effect on mid-latitude cirrus clouds – linking lidar-derived optical properties to in situ measurements
Investigating the vertical extent and short-wave radiative effects of the ice phase in Arctic summertime low-level clouds
Microphysical and thermodynamic phase analyses of Arctic low-level clouds measured above the sea ice and the open ocean in spring and summer
Aircraft observations of gravity wave activity and turbulence in the tropical tropopause layer: prevalence, influence on cirrus clouds, and comparison with global storm-resolving models
Influence of air mass origin on microphysical properties of low-level clouds in a subarctic environment
Sensitivity of convectively driven tropical tropopause cirrus properties to ice habits in high-resolution simulations
Upper-tropospheric slightly ice-subsaturated regions: frequency of occurrence and statistical evidence for the appearance of contrail cirrus
Examination of aerosol indirect effects during cirrus cloud evolution
In situ microphysics observations of intense pyroconvection from a large wildfire
Conditions favorable for secondary ice production in Arctic mixed-phase clouds
Interaction between cloud–radiation, atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics based on observational data from GoAmazon 2014/15 and a cloud-resolving model
Snowfall in Northern Finland derives mostly from ice clouds
Observation of secondary ice production in clouds at low temperatures
In situ and satellite-based estimates of cloud properties and aerosol–cloud interactions over the southeast Atlantic Ocean
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau
Florian Tornow, Ann Fridlind, George Tselioudis, Brian Cairns, Andrew Ackerman, Seethala Chellappan, David Painemal, Paquita Zuidema, Christiane Voigt, Simon Kirschler, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5053–5074, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5053-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5053-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The recent NASA campaign ACTIVATE (Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment) performed 71 tandem flights in mid-latitude marine cold-air outbreaks off the US eastern seaboard. We provide meteorological and cloud transition stage context, allowing us to identify days that are most suitable for Lagrangian modeling and analysis. Surveyed cloud properties show signatures of cloud microphysical processes, such as cloud-top entrainment and secondary ice formation.
Quan Liu, Xiaojing Shen, Junying Sun, Yangmei Zhang, Bing Qi, Qianli Ma, Lujie Han, Honghui Xu, Xinyao Hu, Jiayuan Lu, Shuo Liu, Aoyuan Yu, Linlin Liang, Qian Gao, Hong Wang, Huizheng Che, and Xiaoye Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3253–3267, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3253-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3253-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Through simultaneous measurements of aerosol particles and fog droplets, the evolution of droplets size distribution during the eight observed fog events was investigated. The results showed that the concentration and size distribution of pre-fog aerosol had significant impacts on fog microphysical characteristics. The extinction of fog interstitial particles played an important role in visibility degradation for light fogs, especially in polluted regions.
Luke R. Allen, Sandra E. Yuter, Matthew A. Miller, and Laura M. Tomkins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1765–1790, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1765-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1765-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) are air oscillations in which buoyancy is the restoring force, and they may enhance precipitation under certain conditions. We used 3+ seasons of pressure data to identify GWs with wavelengths ≤ 170 km in the Toronto and New York metropolitan areas in the context of snow storms. We found only six GW events during snow storms, suggesting that GWs on those scales are uncommon at the two locations during snow storms and, thus, do not often enhance snowfall.
Ye Kuang, Jiangchuan Tao, Hanbing Xu, Li Liu, Pengfei Liu, Wanyun Xu, Weiqi Xu, Yele Sun, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1163–1174, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1163-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1163-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a novel optical framework to measure supersaturation, a fundamental parameter in cloud physics, by observing the scattering properties of particles that have or have not grown into cloud droplets. The technique offers high-resolution measurements, capturing essential fluctuations in supersaturation necessary for understanding cloud physics.
Amit Kumar Pandit, Jean-Paul Vernier, Thomas Duncan Fairlie, Kristopher M. Bedka, Melody A. Avery, Harish Gadhavi, Madineni Venkat Ratnam, Sanjeev Dwivedi, Kasimahanthi Amar Jyothi, Frank G. Wienhold, Holger Vömel, Hongyu Liu, Bo Zhang, Buduru Suneel Kumar, Tra Dinh, and Achuthan Jayaraman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14209–14238, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14209-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14209-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the formation mechanism of a tropopause cirrus cloud layer observed at extremely cold temperatures over Hyderabad in India during the 2017 Asian summer monsoon using balloon-borne sensors. Ice crystals smaller than 50 µm were found in this optically thin cirrus cloud layer. Combined analysis of back trajectories, satellite, and model data revealed that the formation of this layer was influenced by waves and stratospheric hydration induced by typhoon Hato.
Nina Maherndl, Manuel Moser, Imke Schirmacher, Aaron Bansemer, Johannes Lucke, Christiane Voigt, and Maximilian Maahn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13935–13960, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13935-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13935-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
It is not clear why ice crystals in clouds occur in clusters. Here, airborne measurements of clouds in mid-latitudes and high latitudes are used to study the spatial variability of ice. Further, we investigate the influence of riming, which occurs when liquid droplets freeze onto ice crystals. We find that riming enhances the occurrence of ice clusters. In the Arctic, riming leads to ice clustering at spatial scales of 3–5 km. This is due to updrafts and not higher amounts of liquid water.
Henning Dorff, Florian Ewald, Heike Konow, Mario Mech, Davide Ori, Vera Schemann, Andreas Walbröl, Manfred Wendisch, and Felix Ament
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3632, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3632, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using observations of an Arctic Atmospheric River (AR) from a long-range research aircraft, we analyse how moisture transported into the Arctic by the AR is transformed and how it interacts with the Arctic environment. The moisture transport divergence is the main driver of local moisture change over time. Surface precipitation and evaporation are rather weak when averaged over extended AR sectors, although considerable heterogeneity of precipitation within the AR is observed.
Luke R. Allen, Sandra E. Yuter, Declan M. Crowe, Matthew A. Miller, and K. Lee Thornhill
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3808, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3808, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed in-cloud characteristics using in situ measurements from 42 research flights across two field campaigns into non-orographic, non-lake effect winter storms. Much of the storm volume contains weak vertical motions (a few cm s-1), and most updrafts ≥ 0.5 m s-1 are small (< 1 km). Within 2 km of cloud radar echo top, stronger vertical motions and conditions for ice particle growth are more common. This implies the importance of cloud-top generating cells for production of snow particles.
Yuanmou Du, Dantong Liu, Delong Zhao, Mengyu Huang, Ping Tian, Dian Wen, Wei Xiao, Wei Zhou, Hui He, Baiwan Pan, Dongfei Zuo, Xiange Liu, Yingying Jing, Rong Zhang, Jiujiang Sheng, Fei Wang, Yu Huang, Yunbo Chen, and Deping Ding
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13429–13444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13429-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
By conducting in situ measurements, we investigated ice production processes in stratiform clouds with embedded convection over the North China Plain. The results show that the ice number concentration is strongly related to the distance to the cloud top, and the level with a larger distance to the cloud top has more graupel falling from upper levels, which promotes collision and coalescence between graupel and droplets and enhances secondary ice production.
Imke Schirmacher, Sabrina Schnitt, Marcus Klingebiel, Nina Maherndl, Benjamin Kirbus, André Ehrlich, Mario Mech, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12823–12842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12823-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12823-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
During Arctic marine cold-air outbreaks, cold air flows from sea ice over open water. Roll circulations evolve, forming cloud streets. We investigate the initial circulation and cloud development using high-resolution airborne measurements. We compute the distance an air mass traveled over water (fetch) from back trajectories. Cloud streets form at 15 km fetch, cloud cover strongly increases at around 20 km, and precipitation forms at around 30 km.
Shawn Wendell Wagner, Martin Schnaiter, Guanglang Xu, Franziska Nehlert, and Emma Järvinen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3316, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3316, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the interaction between cirrus clouds and solar radiation is critical for modeling the Earth’s climate. A common crystal type found in cirrus clouds is the bullet rosette. Here, atmospheric bullet rosettes measured from jet aircraft are analyzed for their morphological and radiative properties. Atmospheric bullet rosettes are found to be more morphologically complex than previously assumed. This complexity has a significant impact on their radiative properties.
Anna J. Miller, Christopher Fuchs, Fabiola Ramelli, Huiying Zhang, Nadja Omanovic, Robert Spirig, Claudia Marcolli, Zamin A. Kanji, Ulrike Lohmann, and Jan Henneberger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3230, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3230, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed the ability of silver iodide particles to form ice crystals in naturally-occurring liquid clouds below 0 °C and found that ≈0.1−1 % of particles nucleate ice, with a negative dependence on temperature. Contextualizing our results with previous laboratory studies, we help to bridge the gap between laboratory and field experiments and which also helps to inform future cloud seeding projects.
Wei-Yu Chang, Yung-Chuan Yang, Chen-Yu Hung, Kwonil Kim, Gyuwon Lee, and Ali Tokay
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11955–11979, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11955-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11955-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Snow density is derived by collocated Micro-Rain Radar (MRR) and Parsivel (ICE-POP 2017/2018). We apply the particle size distribution from Parsivel to a T-matrix backscattering simulation and compare with ZHH from MRR. Bulk density and bulk water fractions are derived from comparing simulated and calculated ZHH. Retrieved bulk density is validated by comparing snowfall rate measurements from Pluvio and the Precipitation Imaging Package. Snowfall rate consistency confirms the algorithm.
Chuanhong Zhao, Yijun Zhang, Dong Zheng, Haoran Li, Sai Du, Xueyan Peng, Xiantong Liu, Pengguo Zhao, Jiafeng Zheng, and Juan Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11637–11651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11637-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11637-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding lightning activity is important for meteorology and atmospheric chemistry. However, the occurrence of lightning activity in clouds is uncertain. In this study, we quantified the difference between isolated thunderstorms and non-thunderstorms. We showed that lightning activity was more likely to occur with more graupel volume and/or riming. A deeper ZDR column was associated with lightning occurrence. This information can aid in a deeper understanding of lighting physics.
Xiaojian Zheng, Xiquan Dong, Baike Xi, Timothy Logan, and Yuan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10323–10347, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10323-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The marine boundary layer aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) are examined using in situ measurements from two aircraft campaigns over the eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) and Southern Ocean (SOCRATES). The SOCRATES clouds have more and smaller cloud droplets. The ACE-ENA clouds exhibit stronger drizzle formation and growth. Results found distinctive aerosol–cloud interactions for two campaigns. The drizzle processes significantly alter sub-cloud aerosol budgets and impact the ACI assessments.
Derek Ngo, Minghui Diao, Ryan J. Patnaude, Sarah Woods, and Glenn Diskin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2122, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2122, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Key controlling factors of cirrus clouds were individually quantified using machine learning models, based on global-scale in-situ observations compiled from 12 flight campaigns at 67° S – 87° N. Relative humidity shows much larger effects on cirrus occurrences than vertical velocity. Aerosol indirect effects are seen from both large and small aerosols, which affect predictions of cirrus occurrences. Large aerosols significantly improve predictions of ice water content but not small aerosols.
Romanos Foskinis, Ghislain Motos, Maria I. Gini, Olga Zografou, Kunfeng Gao, Stergios Vratolis, Konstantinos Granakis, Ville Vakkari, Kalliopi Violaki, Andreas Aktypis, Christos Kaltsonoudis, Zongbo Shi, Mika Komppula, Spyros N. Pandis, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Alexandros Papayannis, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9827–9842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Analysis of modeling, in situ, and remote sensing measurements reveals the microphysical state of orographic clouds and their response to aerosol from the boundary layer and free troposphere. We show that cloud response to aerosol is robust, as predicted supersaturation and cloud droplet number levels agree with those determined from in-cloud measurements. The ability to determine if clouds are velocity- or aerosol-limited allows for novel model constraints and remote sensing products.
Henning Dorff, Heike Konow, Vera Schemann, and Felix Ament
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8771–8795, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8771-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8771-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using synthetic dropsondes, we assess how discrete spatial sampling and temporal evolution during flight affect the accuracy of real sonde-based moisture transport divergence in Arctic atmospheric rivers (ARs). Non-instantaneous sampling during temporal AR evolution deteriorates the divergence values more than spatial undersampling. Moisture advection is the dominating factor but most sensitive to the sampling method. We suggest a minimum of seven sondes to resolve the AR divergence components.
Deli Meng, Jianping Guo, Xiaoran Guo, Yinjun Wang, Ning Li, Yuping Sun, Zhen Zhang, Na Tang, Haoran Li, Fan Zhang, Bing Tong, Hui Xu, and Tianmeng Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8703–8720, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8703-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8703-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The turbulence in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remains unclear. Here we elucidate the vertical profile of and temporal variation in the turbulence dissipation rate in the PBL over the TP based on a radar wind profiler (RWP) network. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the turbulence profile over the whole TP has been revealed. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms of clouds acting on the PBL turbulence structure are investigated.
Leandro Alex Moreira Viscardi, Giuseppe Torri, David K. Adams, and Henrique de Melo Jorge Barbosa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8529–8548, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8529-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8529-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluate the environmental conditions that control how clouds grow from fair weather cumulus into severe thunderstorms during the Amazonian wet season. Days with rain clouds begin with more moisture in the air and have strong convergence in the afternoon, while precipitation intensity increases with large-scale vertical velocity, moisture, and low-level wind. These results contribute to understanding how clouds form over the rainforest.
Vinicius dos Santos, Didier Gastmans, Ana María Durán-Quesada, Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo, Kazimierz Rozanski, Oliver Kracht, and Demilson de Assis Quintão
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6663–6680, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6663-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6663-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present novel findings on convective rainfall, summer rain in the late afternoon, by coupling water stable isotopes, micro rain radar, and satellite data. We found the tallest clouds in the afternoon and much smaller clouds at night, resulting in differences in day–night ratios in water stable isotopes. We sampled rain and meteorological variables every 5–10 min, allowing us to evaluate the development of convective rainfall, contributing to knowledge of rainfall related to extreme events.
Ewan Crosbie, Luke D. Ziemba, Michael A. Shook, Taylor Shingler, Johnathan W. Hair, Armin Sorooshian, Richard A. Ferrare, Brian Cairns, Yonghoon Choi, Joshua DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Chris Hostetler, Simon Kirschler, Richard H. Moore, David Painemal, Claire Robinson, Shane T. Seaman, K. Lee Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, and Edward Winstead
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6123–6152, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6123-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Marine clouds are found to clump together in regions or lines, readily discernible from satellite images of the ocean. While clustering is also a feature of deep storm clouds, we focus on smaller cloud systems associated with fair weather and brief localized showers. Two aircraft sampled the region around these shallow systems: one incorporated measurements taken within, adjacent to, and below the clouds, while the other provided a survey from above using remote sensing techniques.
Théophane Costabloz, Frédéric Burnet, Christine Lac, Pauline Martinet, Julien Delanoë, Susana Jorquera, and Maroua Fathalli
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1344, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1344, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study documents vertical profiles of liquid water content (LWC) in fogs from in situ measurements collected during the SOFOG3D field campaign in 2019–2020. The analysis of 140 vertical profiles reveals a reverse trend in LWC, maximum values at ground decreasing with height, during stable conditions in optically thin fogs, evolving towards quasi-adiabatic characteristics when fogs become thick. These results offer new perspectives for better constraining fog numerical simulations.
Siddhant Gupta, Dié Wang, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and Michael P. Jensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4487–4510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4487-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examine the lifecycle of isolated deep convective clouds (DCCs) in the Amazon rainforest. Weather radar echoes from the DCCs are tracked to evaluate their lifecycle. The DCC size and intensity increase, reach a peak, and then decrease over the DCC lifetime. Vertical profiles of air motion and mass transport from different seasons are examined to understand the transport of energy and momentum within DCC cores and to address the deficiencies in simulating DCCs using weather and climate models.
Benjamin Kirbus, Imke Schirmacher, Marcus Klingebiel, Michael Schäfer, André Ehrlich, Nils Slättberg, Johannes Lucke, Manuel Moser, Hanno Müller, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3883–3904, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3883-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A research aircraft is used to track the changes in air temperature, moisture, and cloud properties for air that moves from cold Arctic sea ice onto warmer oceanic waters. The measurements are compared to two reanalysis models named ERA5 and CARRA. The biggest differences are found for air temperature over the sea ice and moisture over the ocean. CARRA data are more accurate than ERA5 because they better simulate the sea ice, the transition from sea ice to open ocean, and the forming clouds.
Raphael Satoru Märkl, Christiane Voigt, Daniel Sauer, Rebecca Katharina Dischl, Stefan Kaufmann, Theresa Harlaß, Valerian Hahn, Anke Roiger, Cornelius Weiß-Rehm, Ulrike Burkhardt, Ulrich Schumann, Andreas Marsing, Monika Scheibe, Andreas Dörnbrack, Charles Renard, Maxime Gauthier, Peter Swann, Paul Madden, Darren Luff, Reetu Sallinen, Tobias Schripp, and Patrick Le Clercq
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3813–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3813-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3813-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of contrails from a large passenger aircraft burning 100 % sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) show a 56 % reduction in contrail ice crystal numbers compared to conventional Jet A-1. Results from a climate model initialized with the observations suggest a significant decrease in radiative forcing from contrails. Our study confirms that future increased use of low aromatic SAF can reduce the climate impact from aviation.
Philippe Ricaud, Massimo Del Guasta, Angelo Lupi, Romain Roehrig, Eric Bazile, Pierre Durand, Jean-Luc Attié, Alessia Nicosia, and Paolo Grigioni
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 613–630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-613-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds affect the Earth's climate in ways that depend on the type of cloud (solid/liquid water). From observations at Concordia (Antarctica), we show that in supercooled liquid water (liquid water for temperatures below 0°C) clouds (SLWCs), temperature and SLWC radiative forcing increase with liquid water (up to 70 W m−2). We extrapolated that the maximum SLWC radiative forcing can reach 40 W m−2 over the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting the importance of SLWCs for global climate prediction.
Cheikh Dione, Martial Haeffelin, Frédéric Burnet, Christine Lac, Guylaine Canut, Julien Delanoë, Jean-Charles Dupont, Susana Jorquera, Pauline Martinet, Jean-François Ribaud, and Felipe Toledo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15711–15731, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15711-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15711-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper documents the role of thermodynamics and turbulence in the fog life cycle over southwestern France. It is based on a unique dataset collected during the SOFOG3D field campaign in autumn and winter 2019–2020. The paper gives a threshold for turbulence driving the different phases of the fog life cycle and the role of advection in the night-time dissipation of fog. The results can be operationalised to nowcast fog and improve short-range forecasts in numerical weather prediction models.
Hui Xu, Jianping Guo, Bing Tong, Jinqiang Zhang, Tianmeng Chen, Xiaoran Guo, Jian Zhang, and Wenqing Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15011–15038, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15011-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15011-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The radiative effect of cloud remains one of the largest uncertain factors in climate change, largely due to the lack of cloud vertical structure (CVS) observations. The study presents the first near-global CVS climatology using high-vertical-resolution soundings. Single-layer cloud mainly occurs over arid regions. As the number of cloud layers increases, clouds tend to have lower bases and thinner layer thicknesses. The occurrence frequency of cloud exhibits a pronounced seasonal diurnal cycle.
Elena De La Torre Castro, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Armin Afchine, Volker Grewe, Valerian Hahn, Simon Kirschler, Martina Krämer, Johannes Lucke, Nicole Spelten, Heini Wernli, Martin Zöger, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13167–13189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13167-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13167-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we show the differences in the microphysical properties between high-latitude (HL) cirrus and mid-latitude (ML) cirrus over the Arctic, North Atlantic, and central Europe during summer. The in situ measurements are combined with backward trajectories to investigate the influence of the region on cloud formation. We show that HL cirrus are characterized by a lower concentration of larger ice crystals when compared to ML cirrus.
Mampi Sarkar, Adriana Bailey, Peter Blossey, Simon P. de Szoeke, David Noone, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Mason D. Leandro, and Patrick Y. Chuang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12671–12690, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12671-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12671-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We study rain evaporation characteristics below shallow cumulus clouds over the North Atlantic Ocean by pairing isotope observations with a microphysical model. The modeled fraction of rain mass that evaporates below the cloud strongly depends on the raindrop size and distribution width. Moreover, the higher the rain mass fraction evaporated, the greater the change in deuterium excess. In this way, rain evaporation could be studied independently using only isotope and microphysical observations.
Simon Kirschler, Christiane Voigt, Bruce E. Anderson, Gao Chen, Ewan C. Crosbie, Richard A. Ferrare, Valerian Hahn, Johnathan W. Hair, Stefan Kaufmann, Richard H. Moore, David Painemal, Claire E. Robinson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Amy J. Scarino, Taylor J. Shingler, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10731–10750, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10731-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10731-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we present an overview of liquid and mixed-phase clouds and precipitation in the marine boundary layer over the western North Atlantic Ocean. We compare microphysical properties of pure liquid clouds to mixed-phase clouds and show that the initiation of the ice phase in mixed-phase clouds promotes precipitation. The observational data presented in this study are well suited for investigating the processes that give rise to liquid and mixed-phase clouds, ice, and precipitation.
Meng Xing, Weiguo Liu, Jing Hu, and Zheng Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9123–9136, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9123-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9123-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The below-cloud evaporation effect (BCE) on precipitation largely impacts the final isotopic composition. However, determining the BCE effect remains poorly constrained. Our work used a ΔdΔδ diagram to differentiate the below-cloud processes. Moreover, by comparing two different computing methods, we considered that both methods are suitable for evaluation the BCE, except for snowfall events. Overall, our work compiled a set of effective methods to evaluate the BCE effect.
McKenna W. Stanford, Ann M. Fridlind, Israel Silber, Andrew S. Ackerman, Greg Cesana, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Alain Protat, Simon Alexander, and Adrian McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9037–9069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9037-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9037-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds play an important role in the Earth’s climate system as they modulate the amount of radiation that either reaches the surface or is reflected back to space. This study demonstrates an approach to robustly evaluate surface-based observations against a large-scale model. We find that the large-scale model precipitates too infrequently relative to observations, contrary to literature documentation suggesting otherwise based on satellite measurements.
Valerian Hahn, Ralf Meerkötter, Christiane Voigt, Sonja Gisinger, Daniel Sauer, Valéry Catoire, Volker Dreiling, Hugh Coe, Cyrille Flamant, Stefan Kaufmann, Jonas Kleine, Peter Knippertz, Manuel Moser, Philip Rosenberg, Hans Schlager, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, and Jonathan Taylor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8515–8530, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8515-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8515-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
During the DACCIWA campaign in West Africa, we found a 35 % increase in the cloud droplet concentration that formed in a polluted compared with a less polluted environment and a decrease of 17 % in effective droplet diameter. Radiative transfer simulations, based on the measured cloud properties, reveal that these low-level polluted clouds radiate only 2.6 % more energy back to space, compared with a less polluted cloud. The corresponding additional decrease in temperature is rather small.
Silke Groß, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Qiang Li, Martin Wirth, Benedikt Urbanek, Martina Krämer, Ralf Weigel, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8369–8381, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8369-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8369-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Aviation-emitted aerosol can have an impact on cirrus clouds. We present optical and microphysical properties of mid-latitude cirrus clouds which were formed under the influence of aviation-emitted aerosol or which were formed under rather pristine conditions. We find that cirrus clouds affected by aviation-emitted aerosol show larger values of the particle linear depolarization ratio, larger mean effective ice particle diameters and decreased ice particle number concentrations.
Emma Järvinen, Franziska Nehlert, Guanglang Xu, Fritz Waitz, Guillaume Mioche, Regis Dupuy, Olivier Jourdan, and Martin Schnaiter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7611–7633, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7611-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7611-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Arctic is warming faster than other regions. Arctic low-level mixed-phase clouds, where ice crystals and liquid droplets co-exist, are thought to have an important role in Arctic warming. Here we show airborne measurements of vertical distribution of liquid and ice particles and their relative abundance. Ice particles are found in relative warm clouds, which can be explained by multiplication of existing ice crystals. However, the role of ice particles in redistributing sun light is minimal.
Manuel Moser, Christiane Voigt, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Valerian Hahn, Guillaume Mioche, Olivier Jourdan, Régis Dupuy, Christophe Gourbeyre, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Johannes Lucke, Yvonne Boose, Mario Mech, Stephan Borrmann, André Ehrlich, Andreas Herber, Christof Lüpkes, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7257–7280, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7257-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7257-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a comprehensive microphysical and thermodynamic phase analysis of low-level clouds in the northern Fram Strait, above the sea ice and the open ocean, during spring and summer. Using airborne in situ cloud data, we show that the properties of Arctic low-level clouds vary significantly with seasonal meteorological situations and surface conditions. The observations presented in this study can help one to assess the role of clouds in the Arctic climate system.
Rachel Atlas and Christopher S. Bretherton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4009–4030, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4009-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4009-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The tropical tropopause layer exists between the troposphere and the stratosphere in the tropics. Very thin cirrus clouds cool Earth's surface by scrubbing water vapor (a greenhouse gas) out of air parcels as they ascend through the tropical tropopause layer on their way to the stratosphere. We show observational evidence from aircraft that small-scale (< 100 km) gravity waves and turbulence increase the amount of ice in these clouds and may allow them to remove more water vapor from the air.
Konstantinos Matthaios Doulgeris, Ville Vakkari, Ewan J. O'Connor, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Heikki Lihavainen, and David Brus
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2483–2498, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2483-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2483-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated how different long-range-transported air masses can affect the microphysical properties of low-level clouds in a clean subarctic environment. A connection was revealed. Higher values of cloud droplet number concentrations were related to continental air masses, whereas the lowest values of number concentrations were related to marine air masses. These were characterized by larger cloud droplets. Clouds in all regions were sensitive to increases in cloud number concentration.
Fayçal Lamraoui, Martina Krämer, Armin Afchine, Adam B. Sokol, Sergey Khaykin, Apoorva Pandey, and Zhiming Kuang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2393–2419, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2393-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2393-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Cirrus in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) can play a key role in vertical transport. We investigate the role of different cloud regimes and the associated ice habits in regulating the properties of the TTL. We use high-resolution numerical experiments at the scales of large-eddy simulations (LESs) and aircraft measurements. We found that LES-scale parameterizations that predict ice shape are crucial for an accurate representation of TTL cirrus and thus the associated (de)hydration process.
Yun Li, Christoph Mahnke, Susanne Rohs, Ulrich Bundke, Nicole Spelten, Georgios Dekoutsidis, Silke Groß, Christiane Voigt, Ulrich Schumann, Andreas Petzold, and Martina Krämer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2251–2271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2251-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2251-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The radiative effect of aviation-induced cirrus is closely related to ambient conditions and its microphysical properties. Our study investigated the occurrence of contrail and natural cirrus measured above central Europe in spring 2014. It finds that contrail cirrus appears frequently in the pressure range 200 to 245 hPa and occurs more often in slightly ice-subsaturated environments than expected. Avoiding slightly ice-subsaturated regions by aviation might help mitigate contrail cirrus.
Flor Vanessa Maciel, Minghui Diao, and Ryan Patnaude
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1103–1129, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1103-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1103-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol indirect effects on cirrus clouds are investigated during cirrus evolution, using global-scale in situ observations and climate model simulations. As cirrus evolves, the mechanisms to form ice crystals also change with time. Both small and large aerosols are found to affect cirrus properties. Southern Hemisphere cirrus appears to be more sensitive to additional aerosols. The climate model underestimates ice crystal mass, likely due to biases of relative humidity and vertical velocity.
David E. Kingsmill, Jeffrey R. French, and Neil P. Lareau
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses in situ aircraft measurements to characterize the size and shape distributions of 10 µm to 6 mm diameter particles observed during six penetrations of wildfire-induced pyroconvection. Particles sampled in one penetration of a smoke plume are most likely pyrometeors composed of ash. The other penetrations are through pyrocumulus clouds where particle composition is most likely a combination of hydrometeors (ice particles) and pyrometeors (ash).
Julie Thérèse Pasquier, Jan Henneberger, Fabiola Ramelli, Annika Lauber, Robert Oscar David, Jörg Wieder, Tim Carlsen, Rosa Gierens, Marion Maturilli, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15579–15601, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15579-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15579-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
It is important to understand how ice crystals and cloud droplets form in clouds, as their concentrations and sizes determine the exact radiative properties of the clouds. Normally, ice crystals form from aerosols, but we found evidence for the formation of additional ice crystals from the original ones over a large temperature range within Arctic clouds. In particular, additional ice crystals were formed during collisions of several ice crystals or during the freezing of large cloud droplets.
Layrson J. M. Gonçalves, Simone M. S. C. Coelho, Paulo Y. Kubota, and Dayana C. Souza
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15509–15526, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15509-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15509-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This research aims to study the environmental conditions that are favorable and not favorable to cloud formation, in this case specifically for the Amazon region. The results found in this research will be used to improve the representation of clouds in numerical models that are used in weather and climate prediction. In general, it is expected that with better knowledge regarding the cloud–radiation interaction, it is possible to make a better forecast of weather and climate.
Claudia Mignani, Lukas Zimmermann, Rigel Kivi, Alexis Berne, and Franz Conen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13551–13568, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13551-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13551-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We determined over the course of 8 winter months the phase of clouds associated with snowfall in Northern Finland using radiosondes and observations of ice particle habits at ground level. We found that precipitating clouds were extending from near ground to at least 2.7 km altitude and approximately three-quarters of them were likely glaciated. Possible moisture sources and ice formation processes are discussed.
Alexei Korolev, Paul J. DeMott, Ivan Heckman, Mengistu Wolde, Earle Williams, David J. Smalley, and Michael F. Donovan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13103–13113, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13103-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13103-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The present study provides the first explicit in situ observation of secondary ice production at temperatures as low as −27 °C, which is well outside the range of the Hallett–Mossop process (−3 to −8 °C). This observation expands our knowledge of the temperature range of initiation of secondary ice in clouds. The obtained results are intended to stimulate laboratory and theoretical studies to develop physically based parameterizations for weather prediction and climate models.
Siddhant Gupta, Greg M. McFarquhar, Joseph R. O'Brien, Michael R. Poellot, David J. Delene, Ian Chang, Lan Gao, Feng Xu, and Jens Redemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12923–12943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12923-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The ability of NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites to retrieve cloud properties and estimate the changes in cloud properties due to aerosol–cloud interactions (ACI) was examined. There was good agreement between satellite retrievals and in situ measurements over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. This suggests that, combined with information on aerosol properties, satellite retrievals of cloud properties can be used to study ACI over larger domains and longer timescales in the absence of in situ data.
Étienne Vignon, Lea Raillard, Christophe Genthon, Massimo Del Guasta, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12857–12872, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine and resembles to a certain extent the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this study, we use innovative humidity measurements at Concordia Station to study the formation of ice fogs at temperatures <−40°C. We provide observational evidence that ice fogs can form through the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosols, a common nucleation pathway for cirrus clouds.
Cited articles
Abel, S. J. and Boutle, I. A.: An improved representation of the raindrop
size distribution for single-moment microphysics schemes, Q. J. Roy.
Meteor. Soc., 138, 2151–2162, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.1949, 2012.
Ackerman, A. S., Kirkpatrick, M. P., Stevens, D. E., and Toon, O. B.: The
impact of humidity above stratiform clouds on indirect aerosol climate
forcing, Nature, 432, 1014–1017, 2004.
Adebiyi, A. A. and Zuidema, P.: The role of the southern African easterly
jet in modifying the southeast Atlantic aerosol and cloud environments, Q.
J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 142, 1574–1589, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2765,
2016.
Ahlgrimm, M. and Forbes, R.: Improving the Representation of Low Clouds and
Drizzle in the ECMWF Model Based on ARM Observations from the Azores, Mon.
Weather Rev., 142, 668–685, https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-13-00153.1, 2014.
Ahlgrimm, M., Randall, D. A., and Kohler, M.: Evaluating cloud frequency of occurrence and cloud-top height using spaceborne lidar
observations, Mon. Weather Rev., 137, 4225–4237, 2009.
Albrecht, B.: Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness,
Science, 245, 1227–1230, 1989.
Bai, H., Gong, C., Wang, M., Zhang, Z., and L'Ecuyer, T.: Estimating precipitation susceptibility in warm marine clouds using multi-sensor aerosol and cloud products from A-Train satellites, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1763–1783, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1763-2018, 2018.
Baumgardner, D., Jonsson, H., Dawson, W., Connor, D. O., and Newton, R.: The
cloud, aerosol and precipitation spectrometer (CAPS): A new instrument for
cloud investigations, Atmos. Res., 59, 59–60, 2001.
Baumgardner, D., Abel, S. J., Axisa, D., Cotton, R., Crosier, J., Field, P., Gurganus, C., Heymsfield, A., Korolev, A., Kraemer, M., Lawson, P., McFarquhar, G., Ulanowski, Z., and Um, J.: Cloud ice properties: in situ measurement challenges, Meteor. Mon., 58, 9.1–9.23, https://doi.org/10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0011.1, 2017.
Behrangi, A., Stephens, G., Adler, R. F., Huffman, G. J., Lambrigtsen, B.,
and Lebsock, M.: An update on the oceanic precipitation rate and its zonal
distribution in light of advanced observations from space, J. Climate, 27,
3957–3965, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00679.1, 2014.
Bennartz, R.: Global assessment of marine boundary layer cloud droplet
number concentration from satellite, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D02201,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007547, 2007.
Boers, R., Acarreta, J. R., and Gras, J. L.: Satellite monitoring of the
first indirect aerosol effect: Retrieval of the droplet concentration of
water clouds, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D22208,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006838, 2006.
Bony, S. and Dufrense, J.-L.: Marine boundary layer clouds at the heart of
tropical feedback uncertainties in climate models, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32,
L20806, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL023851, 2005.
Boucher, O., Randall, D., Artaxo, P., Bretherton, C., Feingold, G., Forster,
P., Kerminen, V.-M., Kondo, Y., Liao, H., Lohmann, U., Rasch, P., Satheesh,
S. K., Sherwood, S., Stevens, B., and Zhang, X. Y.: Clouds and Aerosols, in:
Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working
Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, edited by: Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor,
M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley,
P. M., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York,
NY, USA, 571–657, 2013.
Boutle, I. A., Abel, S. J., Hill, P. G., and Morcrette, C. J.: Spatial
variability of liquid cloud and rain: observations and microphysical
effects, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 140, 583–594, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2140, 2014.
Braun, R. A., Dadashazar, H., MacDonald, A. B., Crosbie, E., Jonsson, H. H.,
Woods, R. K., Flagan, R. C., Seinfeld, J. H., and Sorooshian, A.: Cloud
Adiabaticity and Its Relationship to Marine Stratocumulus Characteristics
Over the Northeast Pacific Ocean, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123,
13790–13806, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029287, 2018.
Brenguier, J.-L., Pawlowska, H., Schuller, L., Preusker, R., Fischer, J.,
and Fouquart, Y.: Radiative properties of boundary layer clouds: Droplet
effective radius versus number concentration, J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 803–821,
2000.
Cai, Y., Snider, J. R., and Wechsler, P.: Calibration of the passive cavity aerosol spectrometer probe for airborne determination of the size distribution, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2349–2358, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2349-2013, 2013.
CDS: ERA5 Fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate, CDS [data set], https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/home (last access: 26 November 2019), 2017.
Chen, Y.-C., Christensen, M. W., Stephens, G. L., and Seinfeld, J. H.:
Satellite-based estimate of global aerosol–cloud radiative forcing by
marine warm clouds, Nat. Geosci., 7, 643–646, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2214, 2014.
Christensen, M. W. and Stephens, G. L.: Microphysical and macrophysical
responses of marine stratocumulus polluted by underlying ships. Part 2:
Impacts of haze on precipitating clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D11203,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD017125, 2012.
Chuang, P. Y., Saw, E. W., Small, J. D., Shaw, R. A., Sipperley, C. M.,
Payne, G. A., and Bachalo, W.: Airborne Phase 495 Doppler Interferometry for
Cloud Microphysical Measurements, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 42, 685–703, 2008.
Cochrane, S. P., Schmidt, K. S., Chen, H., Pilewskie, P., Kittelman, S., Redemann, J., LeBlanc, S., Pistone, K., Kacenelenbogen, M., Segal Rozenhaimer, M., Shinozuka, Y., Flynn, C., Platnick, S., Meyer, K., Ferrare, R., Burton, S., Hostetler, C., Howell, S., Freitag, S., Dobracki, A., and Doherty, S.: Above-cloud aerosol radiative effects based on ORACLES 2016 and ORACLES 2017 aircraft experiments, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6505–6528, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6505-2019, 2019.
Dadashazar, H., Wang, Z., Crosbie, E., Brunke, M., Zeng, X., Jonsson, H.,
Woods, R. K., Flagan, R. C., Seinfeld, J. H., and Sorooshian, A.:
Relationships between giant sea salt particles and clouds inferred from
aircraft physicochemical data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 3421–3434,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026019, 2017.
Delene, D. J.: Airborne Data Processing and Analysis Software Package, Earth
Sci. Inform., 4, 29–44, 2011.
Delene, D. J., Skow, A., O'Brien, J., Gapp, N., Wagner, S., Hibert, K., Sand, K., and Sova, G.: Airborne Data Processing and Analysis Software Package (Version 3981), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3733448, 2020.
Devasthale, A. and Thomas, M. A.: A global survey of aerosol-liquid water cloud overlap based on four years of CALIPSO-CALIOP data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 1143–1154, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-1143-2011, 2011.
Diamond, M. S., Dobracki, A., Freitag, S., Small Griswold, J. D., Heikkila, A., Howell, S. G., Kacarab, M. E., Podolske, J. R., Saide, P. E., and Wood, R.: Time-dependent entrainment of smoke presents an observational challenge for assessing aerosol–cloud interactions over the southeast Atlantic Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14623–14636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14623-2018, 2018.
Doherty, S. J., Saide, P. E., Zuidema, P., Shinozuka, Y., Ferrada, G. A., Gordon, H., Mallet, M., Meyer, K., Painemal, D., Howell, S. G., Freitag, S., Dobracki, A., Podolske, J. R., Burton, S. P., Ferrare, R. A., Howes, C., Nabat, P., Carmichael, G. R., da Silva, A., Pistone, K., Chang, I., Gao, L., Wood, R., and Redemann, J.: Modeled and observed properties related to the direct aerosol radiative effect of biomass burning aerosol over the southeastern Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1–46, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1-2022, 2022.
Douglas, A. and L'Ecuyer, T.: Quantifying variations in shortwave aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions using local meteorology and cloud state constraints, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6251–6268, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6251-2019, 2019.
Douglas, A. and L'Ecuyer, T.: Quantifying cloud adjustments and the radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite observations of warm marine clouds, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6225–6241, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020, 2020.
Duong, H. T., Sorooshian, A., and Feingold, G.: Investigating potential biases in observed and modeled metrics of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4027–4037, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4027-2011, 2011.
Dzambo, A. M., L'Ecuyer, T. S., Sy, O. O., and Tanelli, S.: The Observed
Structure and Precipitation Characteristics of Southeast Atlantic
Stratocumulus from Airborne Radar during ORACLES 2016–17, J. Appl. Meteor.
Climatol., 58, 2197–2215, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0032.1, 2019.
Dzambo, A. M., L'Ecuyer, T., Sinclair, K., van Diedenhoven, B., Gupta, S., McFarquhar, G., O'Brien, J. R., Cairns, B., Wasilewski, A. P., and Alexandrov, M.: Joint cloud water path and rainwater path retrievals from airborne ORACLES observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5513–5532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5513-2021, 2021.
Eastman, R., Warren, S. G., and Hahn, C. J.: Variations in Cloud Cover and
Cloud Types over the Ocean from Surface Observations, 1954–2008, J. Climate,
24, 5914–5934, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JCLI3972.1, 2011.
ECMWF: IFS Documentation, IFS Documentation CY47R1: IFS Documentation CY47R1 – Part IV: Physical Processes, https://doi.org/10.21957/cpmkqvhja, 2020.
Feingold, G. and Siebert, H.: Cloud – Aerosol Interactions from the Micro
to the Cloud Scale, from the Strungmann Forum Report, Clouds in the
Perturbed Climate System: Their Relationship to Energy Balance, Atmospheric
Dynamics, and Precipitation, 2, edited by: Heintzenberg, J. and Charlson, R.
J., MIT Press, ISBN 978-0-262-01287-4, 2009.
Gettelman, A., Morrison, H., Terai, C. R., and Wood, R.: Microphysical process rates and global aerosol–cloud interactions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9855–9867, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9855-2013, 2013.
Geoffroy, O., Brenguier, J.-L., and Sandu, I.: Relationship between drizzle rate, liquid water path and droplet concentration at the scale of a stratocumulus cloud system, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 4641–4654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-4641-2008, 2008.
Geoffroy, O., Brenguier, J.-L., and Burnet, F.: Parametric representation of the cloud droplet spectra for LES warm bulk microphysical schemes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4835–4848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-4835-2010, 2010.
Gordon, H., Field, P. R., Abel, S. J., Dalvi, M., Grosvenor, D. P., Hill, A. A., Johnson, B. T., Miltenberger, A. K., Yoshioka, M., and Carslaw, K. S.: Large simulated radiative effects of smoke in the south-east Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15261–15289, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15261-2018, 2018.
Gryspeerdt, E., Goren, T., Sourdeval, O., Quaas, J., Mülmenstädt, J., Dipu, S., Unglaub, C., Gettelman, A., and Christensen, M.: Constraining the aerosol influence on cloud liquid water path, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5331–5347, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5331-2019, 2019.
Gui, K., Che, H., Zheng, Y., Zhao, H., Yao, W., Li, L., Zhang, L., Wang, H., Wang, Y., and Zhang, X.: Three-dimensional climatology, trends, and meteorological drivers of global and regional tropospheric type-dependent aerosols: insights from 13 years (2007–2019) of CALIOP observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15309–15336, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15309-2021, 2021.
Gupta, S., McFarquhar, G. M., O'Brien, J. R., Delene, D. J., Poellot, M. R., Dobracki, A., Podolske, J. R., Redemann, J., LeBlanc, S. E., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., and Pistone, K.: Impact of the variability in vertical separation between biomass burning aerosols and marine stratocumulus on cloud microphysical properties over the Southeast Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4615–4635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4615-2021, 2021.
Hannay, C., Williamson, D., Hack, J., Kiehl, J., Olson, J., Klein, S.,
Bretherton, C., and Kohler, M.: Evaluation of forecasted south-east pacific stratocumulus in the NCAR, GFDL, and ECMWF
Models, J. Climate, 22, 2871–2889, 2009.
Hansen, J. and Travis, L. D.: Light scattering in planetary atmospheres,
Space Sci. Rev., 16, 527–610, 1974
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A.,
Muñoz-Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D.,
Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P.,
Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., De Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D.,
Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer,
A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková,
M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., de Rosnay,
P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., and Thépaut, J.-N.: The ERA5
Global Reanalysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 730, 1999–2049,
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803, 2020.
Hill, A. A., Dobbie, S., and Yin, Y.: The impact of aerosols on
non-precipitating marine stratocumulus. Model description and prediction of
the indirect effect, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 134, 1143–1154,
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.278, 2008.
Hintze, J. L. and Nelson, R. D.: Violin Plots: A Box Plot-Density Trace
Synergism, Am. Stat., 52, 181–184, 1998.
Jiang, H., Feingold, G., and Sorooshian, A.: Effect of aerosol on the
susceptibility and efficiency of precipitation in trade cumulus clouds, J.
Atmos. Sci., 67, 3525–3540, 2010.
Jung, E., Albrecht, B. A., Sorooshian, A., Zuidema, P., and Jonsson, H. H.: Precipitation susceptibility in marine stratocumulus and shallow cumulus from airborne measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11395–11413, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11395-2016, 2016.
Khairoutdinov, M. and Kogan, Y.: A new cloud physics parameterization in a
large-eddy simulation model of marine stratocumulus, Mon. Weather Rev., 128,
229–243, 2000.
King, W. D., Parkin, D. A., and Handsworth, R. J.: A hot-wire liquid water
device having fully calculable response characteristics, J. Appl. Meteorol.,
17, 1809–1813, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1978)017<1809:AHWLWD>2.0.CO;2, 1978.
Klein, S. A. and Hartmann, D. L.: The seasonal cycle of low stratiform
clouds, J. Climate, 6, 1587–1606, 1993.
Köhler, M., Ahlgrimm, M., and Beljaars, A.: Unified treatment of dry
convective and stratocumulus-topped boundary layers in the ECMWF model, Q.
J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 43–57, 2011.
Kubar, T. L., Hartmann, D. L., and Wood, R.: Understanding the importance of
microphysics and macrophysics for warm rain in marine low clouds. Part I:
Satellite observations, J. Atmos. Sci. 66, 2953–2972, 2009.
Lance, S., Brock, C. A., Rogers, D., and Gordon, J. A.: Water droplet calibration of the Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) and in-flight performance in liquid, ice and mixed-phase clouds during ARCPAC, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 1683–1706, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-1683-2010, 2010.
Lawrence, M. G.: The relationship between relative humidity and the dewpoint
temperature in moist air: A simple conversion and applications, B. Am.
Meteorol. Soc., 86, 225–233, 2005.
Lawson, R. P., Stewart, R. E., and Angus, L. J.: Observations and numerical
simulations of the origin and development of very large snowflakes, J.
Atmos. Sci., 55, 3209–3229, 1998.
Lawson, R. P., O'Connor, D., Zmarzly, P., Weaver, K., Baker, B. A., Mo, Q.,
and Jonsson, H.: The 2D-S (Stereo) probe: Design and preliminary tests of a
new airborne, high-speed, high-resolution imaging probe, J. Atmos. Ocean.
Tech., 23, 1462–1477, 2006.
LeBlanc, S. E., Redemann, J., Flynn, C., Pistone, K., Kacenelenbogen, M., Segal-Rosenheimer, M., Shinozuka, Y., Dunagan, S., Dahlgren, R. P., Meyer, K., Podolske, J., Howell, S. G., Freitag, S., Small-Griswold, J., Holben, B., Diamond, M., Wood, R., Formenti, P., Piketh, S., Maggs-Kölling, G., Gerber, M., and Namwoonde, A.: Above-cloud aerosol optical depth from airborne observations in the southeast Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1565–1590, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1565-2020, 2020.
Mardi, A. H., Dadashazar, H., MacDonald, A. B., Crosbie, E., Coggon, M. M., Aghdam, M. A., Woods, R. K., Jonsson, H. H., Flagan, R. C., Seinfeld, J. H., and Sorooshian, A.: Effects of Biomass Burning on Stratocumulus Droplet Characteristics, Drizzle Rate, and Composition, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 12301–12318, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jd031159, 2019.
Mauger, G. S. and Norris, J. R.: Meteorological bias in satellite estimates
of aerosol-cloud relationships, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L16824,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL029952, 2007.
McComiskey, A. and Feingold, G.: The scale problem in quantifying aerosol indirect effects, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 1031–1049, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-1031-2012, 2012.
McFarquhar, G. M., Finlon, J. A., Stechman, D. M., Wu, W., Jackson, R. C.,
and Freer, M.: University of Illinois/Oklahoma Optical Array Probe (OAP)
Processing Software, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1285969, 2018.
Morrison, H. and Gettelman, A.: A new two-moment bulk stratiform cloud
microphysics scheme in the community atmosphere model, version 3 (CAM3).
Part I: Description and numerical tests, J. Climate, 21, 3642–3659,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2105.1, 2008.
O’Brien, J. R., Poellot, M., Delene, D., McFarquhar, G., Spanu, A., Gupta, S., Detwiler, A., and Miller, R.: The Impacts of Airborne Cloud Microphysical Instrumentation Mounting Location on Measurements Made During the Observations of Aerosols and Clouds and Their Interactions (ORACLES) Project, in preparation, 2022.
ORACLES Science Team: Suite of Aerosol, Cloud, and Related Data Acquired
Aboard P3 During ORACLES 2018, Version 2, NASA Ames Earth Science Project
Office [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/Suborbital/ORACLES/P3/2018_V2, 2020a.
ORACLES Science Team: Suite of Aerosol, Cloud, and Related Data Acquired
Aboard P3 During ORACLES 2017, Version 2, NASA Ames Earth Science Project
Office [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/Suborbital/ORACLES/P3/2017_V2, 2020b.
ORACLES Science Team: Suite of Aerosol, Cloud, and Related Data Acquired
Aboard P3 During ORACLES 2016, Version 2, NASA Ames Earth Science Project
Office [data set], https://doi.org/10.5067/Suborbital/ORACLES/P3/2016_V2, 2020c.
Oreopoulos, L. and Rossow, W. B.: The cloud radiative effects of
International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project weather states, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 116, D12202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015472, 2011.
Painemal, D. and Zuidema, P.: Assessment of MODIS cloud effective radius and
optical thickness retrievals over the Southeast Pacific with VOCALS-REx in
situ measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 116, D24206,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016155, 2011.
Penner, J. E., Quaas, J., Storelvmo, T., Takemura, T., Boucher, O., Guo, H., Kirkevåg, A., Kristjánsson, J. E., and Seland, Ø.: Model intercomparison of indirect aerosol effects, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 3391–3405, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-3391-2006, 2006.
Pennypacker, S., Diamond, M., and Wood, R.: Ultra-clean and smoky marine boundary layers frequently occur in the same season over the southeast Atlantic, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2341–2351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2341-2020, 2020.
Pistone, K., Redemann, J., Doherty, S., Zuidema, P., Burton, S., Cairns, B., Cochrane, S., Ferrare, R., Flynn, C., Freitag, S., Howell, S. G., Kacenelenbogen, M., LeBlanc, S., Liu, X., Schmidt, K. S., Sedlacek III, A. J., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., Shinozuka, Y., Stamnes, S., van Diedenhoven, B., Van Harten, G., and Xu, F.: Intercomparison of biomass burning aerosol optical properties from in situ and remote-sensing instruments in ORACLES-2016, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9181–9208, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9181-2019, 2019.
Pistone, K., Zuidema, P., Wood, R., Diamond, M., da Silva, A. M., Ferrada, G., Saide, P. E., Ueyama, R., Ryoo, J.-M., Pfister, L., Podolske, J., Noone, D., Bennett, R., Stith, E., Carmichael, G., Redemann, J., Flynn, C., LeBlanc, S., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., and Shinozuka, Y.: Exploring the elevated water vapor signal associated with the free tropospheric biomass burning plume over the southeast Atlantic Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9643–9668, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9643-2021, 2021.
Platnick, S. and Twomey, S.: Determining the susceptibility of cloud albedo
to changes in droplet concentration with the advanced very high resolution
radiometer, J. Appl. Meteor., 33, 334–346, 1994.
Possner, A., Eastman, R., Bender, F., and Glassmeier, F.: Deconvolution of boundary layer depth and aerosol constraints on cloud water path in subtropical stratocumulus decks, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3609–3621, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3609-2020, 2020.
Quaas, J., Arola, A., Cairns, B., Christensen, M., Deneke, H., Ekman, A. M. L., Feingold, G., Fridlind, A., Gryspeerdt, E., Hasekamp, O., Li, Z., Lipponen, A., Ma, P.-L., Mülmenstädt, J., Nenes, A., Penner, J. E., Rosenfeld, D., Schrödner, R., Sinclair, K., Sourdeval, O., Stier, P., Tesche, M., van Diedenhoven, B., and Wendisch, M.: Constraining the Twomey effect from satellite observations: issues and perspectives, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15079–15099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, 2020.
Rao S., Dey S.: Consistent signal of aerosol indirect and semi-direct effect
on water clouds in the oceanic regions adjacent to the Indian subcontinent, Atmos. Res., 232, 104677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.104677, 2020.
Redemann, J., Wood, R., Zuidema, P., Doherty, S. J., Luna, B., LeBlanc, S. E., Diamond, M. S., Shinozuka, Y., Chang, I. Y., Ueyama, R., Pfister, L., Ryoo, J.-M., Dobracki, A. N., da Silva, A. M., Longo, K. M., Kacenelenbogen, M. S., Flynn, C. J., Pistone, K., Knox, N. M., Piketh, S. J., Haywood, J. M., Formenti, P., Mallet, M., Stier, P., Ackerman, A. S., Bauer, S. E., Fridlind, A. M., Carmichael, G. R., Saide, P. E., Ferrada, G. A., Howell, S. G., Freitag, S., Cairns, B., Holben, B. N., Knobelspiesse, K. D., Tanelli, S., L'Ecuyer, T. S., Dzambo, A. M., Sy, O. O., McFarquhar, G. M., Poellot, M. R., Gupta, S., O'Brien, J. R., Nenes, A., Kacarab, M., Wong, J. P. S., Small-Griswold, J. D., Thornhill, K. L., Noone, D., Podolske, J. R., Schmidt, K. S., Pilewskie, P., Chen, H., Cochrane, S. P., Sedlacek, A. J., Lang, T. J., Stith, E., Segal-Rozenhaimer, M., Ferrare, R. A., Burton, S. P., Hostetler, C. A., Diner, D. J., Seidel, F. C., Platnick, S. E., Myers, J. S., Meyer, K. G., Spangenberg, D. A., Maring, H., and Gao, L.: An overview of the ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) project: aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions in the southeast Atlantic basin, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1507–1563, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1507-2021, 2021.
Rogers, R. R. and Yau, M. K.: A Short Course in Cloud Physics, 3rd edn., International Series in Natural Philosophy, Butterworth-Heinemann, 290 pp., ISBN 9780750632157, 1989.
Sakaeda, N., Wood, R., and Rasch, P. J.: Direct and semidirect aerosol
effects of southern African biomass burning aerosol, J. Geophys. Res., 116,
D12205, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015540, 2011.
Small, J. D., Chuang, P. Y., Feingold, G., and Jiang, H.: Can aerosol
decrease cloud lifetime?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, 16806,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038888, 2009.
Sorooshian, A., Feingold, G., Lebsock, M. D., Jiang, H., and Stephens, G.
L.: On the precipitation susceptibility of clouds to aerosol perturbations,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L13803, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038993, 2009.
Sorooshian, A., Feingold, G., Lebsock, M. D., Jiang, H., and Stephens, G.:
Deconstructing the precipitation susceptibility construct: improving
methodology for aerosol cloud precipitation studies, J. Geophys. Res., 115,
D17201, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013426, 2010.
Sorooshian, A., Anderson, B., Bauer, S. E., Braun, R. A., Cairns, B.,
Crosbie, E., Dadashazar, H., Diskin, G., Ferrare, R., Flagan, R. C., Hair,
J., Hostetler, C., Jonsson, H. H., Kleb, M. M., Liu, H. Y., MacDonald, A.
B., McComiskey, A., Moore, R., Painemal, D., Russell, L. M., Seinfeld, J.
H., Shook, M., Smith, W. L., Thornhill, K., Tselioudis, G., Wang, H. L.,
Zeng, X. B., Zhang, B., Ziemba, L., and Zuidema, P.:
Aerosol-Cloud-Meteorology Interaction Airborne Field Investigations: Using
Lessons Learned from the US West Coast in the Design of ACTIVATE off the US
East Coast, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 100, 1511–1528, https://doi.org/10.1175/Bams-D-18-0100.1, 2019.
Stephens, G. L., L'Ecuyer, T., Forbes, R., Gettlemen, A., Golaz, J. C.,
Bodas-Salcedo, A., Suzuki, K., Gabriel, P., and Haynes, J.: Dreary state of
precipitation in global models, J. Geophys. Res.- Atmos., 115, D24211,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jd014532, 2010.
Terai, C. R., Wood, R., Leon, D. C., and Zuidema, P.: Does precipitation susceptibility vary with increasing cloud thickness in marine stratocumulus?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 4567–4583, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-4567-2012, 2012.
Toll, V., Christensen, M., Quaas, J., and Bellouin, N.: Weak average
liquid-cloud-water response to anthropogenic aerosols, Nature, 572, 51–55,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1423-9, 2019.
Trenberth, K. and Fasullo, J.: Global warming due to increasing absorbed
solar radiation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L07706, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037527,
2009.
Twomey, S.: Pollution and the Planetary Albedo, Atmos. Environ., 8,
1251–1256, 1974.
Twomey, S.: The influence of pollution on the shortwave albedo of clouds, J.
Atmos. Sci., 34, 1149–1152, 1977.
Wilcox, E. M.: Stratocumulus cloud thickening beneath layers of absorbing smoke aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 11769–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-11769-2010, 2010.
Wood, R.: Stratocumulus Clouds, Mon. Weather Rev., 140, 2373–2423,
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-11-00121.1, 2012.
Wood, R. and Bretherton, C. S.: On the relationship between stratiform low
cloud cover and lower-tropospheric stability, J. Climate, 19, 6425–6432,
2006.
Wood, R. and Hartmann, D. L.: Spatial variability of liquid water path in
marine low cloud: the importance of mesoscale cellular convection, J.
Climate, 19, 1748–1764, 2006.
Wood, R., Kubar, T. L., and Hartmann, D. L.: Understanding the Importance of
Microphysics and Macrophysics for Warm Rain in Marine Low Clouds. Part II:
Heuristic Models of Rain Formation, J. Atmos. Sci., 66, 2973–2990,
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JAS3072.1, 2009.
Xue, H. and Feingold, G.: Large eddy simulations of trade wind cumuli:
investigation of aerosol indirect effects, J. Atmos. Sci., 63, 1605–1622,
2006.
Zhang, Z. and Platnick, S.: An assessment of differences between cloud
effective particle radius retrievals for marine water clouds from three
MODIS spectral bands, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 116, D20215,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016216, 2011.
Zuidema, P., Redemann, J., Haywood, J., Wood, R., Piketh, S., Hipondoka, M.
and Formenti, P.: Smoke and Clouds above the Southeast Atlantic: Upcoming
Field Campaigns Probe Absorbing Aerosol's Impact on Climate, B. Am.
Meteorol. Soc., 97, 1131–1135, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00082.1, 2016.
Short summary
This study evaluates the impact of biomass burning aerosols on precipitation in marine stratocumulus clouds using observations from the NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) field campaign over the Southeast Atlantic. Instances of contact and separation between aerosol and cloud layers show polluted clouds have a lower precipitation rate and a lower precipitation susceptibility. This information will help improve cloud representation in Earth system models.
This study evaluates the impact of biomass burning aerosols on precipitation in marine...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint