Different responses of cold-air outbreak clouds to aerosol and ice production depending on cloud temperature

Huang, Xinyi; Field, Paul R.; Murray, Benjamin J.; Grosvenor, Daniel P.; van den Heuvel, Floortje; Carslaw, Kenneth S.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11363-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11363-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11363-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

Research article

|

26 Sep 2025

Research article |

| 26 Sep 2025

Different responses of cold-air outbreak clouds to aerosol and ice production depending on cloud temperature

Xinyi Huang, Paul R. Field, Benjamin J. Murray, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Floortje van den Heuvel, and Kenneth S. Carslaw

Data sets

Model data used for figures in paper submitted to ACP "Different responses of cold-air outbreak clouds to aerosol and ice production depending on cloud temperature" Xinyi Huang https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14536461

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

MODIS 1km Calibrated Radiances Product, MODIS Adaptive Processing System MODIS Characterization Support Team (MCST) https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD021KM.061

ODIS Geolocation Fields Product MODIS Characterization Support Team (MCST) https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD03.061

MODIS Atmosphere L2 Cloud Product, MODIS Adaptive Processing System S. Platnick et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD06_L2.061

Model code and software

Ice-nucleating particle measurements from the M-Phase 2022 flight campaign M. Tarn et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14781199

Short summary

Cold-air outbreak (CAO) clouds play a vital role in climate prediction. This study explores the responses of CAO clouds to aerosols and ice production under different environmental conditions. We found that CAO cloud responses vary with cloud temperature and are strongly controlled by the liquid–ice partitioning in these clouds, suggesting the importance of good representations of cloud microphysics properties to predict the behaviours of CAO clouds in a warming climate.