Articles | Volume 22, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8973-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8973-2022
Research article
 | 
12 Jul 2022
Research article |  | 12 Jul 2022

Do Arctic mixed-phase clouds sometimes dissipate due to insufficient aerosol? Evidence from comparisons between observations and idealized simulations

Lucas J. Sterzinger, Joseph Sedlar, Heather Guy, Ryan R. Neely III, and Adele L. Igel

Related authors

Above-cloud concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei help to sustain some Arctic low-level clouds
Lucas J. Sterzinger and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3529–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
A thermal-driven graupel generation process to explain dry-season convective vigor over the Amazon
Toshi Matsui, Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, Ann Fridlind, and Scott Braun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10793–10814, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024, 2024
Short summary
Modeling homogeneous ice nucleation from drop-freezing experiments: impact of droplet volume dispersion and cooling rates
Ravi Kumar Reddy Addula, Ingrid de Almeida Ribeiro, Valeria Molinero, and Baron Peters
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10833–10848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10833-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10833-2024, 2024
Short summary
Cloud water adjustments to aerosol perturbations are buffered by solar heating in non-precipitating marine stratocumuli
Jianhao Zhang, Yao-Sheng Chen, Takanobu Yamaguchi, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10425–10440, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10425-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10425-2024, 2024
Short summary
Glaciation of mixed-phase clouds: insights from bulk model and bin-microphysics large-eddy simulation informed by laboratory experiment
Aaron Wang, Steve Krueger, Sisi Chen, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Will Cantrell, and Raymond A. Shaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10245–10260, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10245-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10245-2024, 2024
Short summary
Microphysical processes involving the vapour phase dominate in simulated low-level Arctic clouds
Theresa Kiszler, Davide Ori, and Vera Schemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10039–10053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10039-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10039-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Bergeron, T.: On the physics of clouds and precipitation, Proc. 5th Assembly U. G. G. I., Lisbon, Portugal, 1935, pp. 156–180, https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10024028214/ (last access: 14 January 2022), 1935. a
Bharadwaj, N.: Millimeter Wavelength Cloud Radar (MMCRMOM), Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility [data set], https://doi.org/10.5439/1025228, 2010. a
Birch, C. E., Brooks, I. M., Tjernström, M., Shupe, M. D., Mauritsen, T., Sedlar, J., Lock, A. P., Earnshaw, P., Persson, P. O. G., Milton, S. F., and Leck, C.: Modelling atmospheric structure, cloud and their response to CCN in the central Arctic: ASCOS case studies, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 3419–3435, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-3419-2012, 2012. a
Birmili, W., Stratmann, F., and Wiedensohler, A.: Design of a DMA-based Size Spectrometer for a Large Particle Size Sange and Stable Operation, J. Aerosol Sci., 30, 549–553, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-8502(98)00047-0, 1999. a
Brooks, I. M., Tjernström, M., Persson, P. O. G., Shupe, M. D., Atkinson, R. A., Canut, G., Birch, C. E., Mauritsen, T., Sedlar, J., and Brooks, B. J.: The Turbulent Structure of the Arctic Summer Boundary Layer During The Arctic Summer Cloud-Ocean Study, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 9685–9704, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027234, 2017. a, b
Download
Short summary
Aerosol particles are required for cloud droplets to form, and the Arctic atmosphere often has much fewer aerosols than at lower latitudes. In this study, we investigate whether aerosol concentrations can drop so low as to no longer support a cloud. We use observations to initialize idealized model simulations to investigate a worst-case scenario where all aerosol is removed from the environment instantaneously. We find that this mechanism is possible in two cases and is unlikely in the third.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint