Articles | Volume 25, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14479-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14479-2025
Research article
 | 
04 Nov 2025
Research article |  | 04 Nov 2025

Secondary ice formation in cumulus congestus clouds: insights from observations and aerosol-aware large-eddy simulations

Silvia M. Calderón, Noora Hyttinen, Harri Kokkola, Tomi Raatikainen, R. Paul Lawson, and Sami Romakkaniemi

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Cited articles

Ahola, J., Korhonen, H., Tonttila, J., Romakkaniemi, S., Kokkola, H., and Raatikainen, T.: Modelling mixed-phase clouds with the large-eddy model UCLALES–SALSA, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11639–11654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11639-2020, 2020. a
Åström, J., Cook, S., Enderlin, E. M., Sutherland, D. A., Mazur, A., and Glasser, N.: Fragmentation theory reveals processes controlling iceberg size distributions, Journal of Glaciology, 67, 603–612, https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2021.14, 2021. a
Atlas, R. L., Bretherton, C. S., Khairoutdinov, M. F., and Blossey, P. N.: Hallett-Mossop Rime Splintering Dims Cumulus Clouds Over the Southern Ocean: New Insight From Nudged Global Storm-Resolving Simulations, AGU Advances, 3, e2021AV000454, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000454, 2022. a
Barahona, D.: On the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of immersion ice nucleation, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17119–17141, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17119-2018, 2018. a
Beard, K. V.: Terminal Velocity and Shape of Cloud and Precipitation Drops Aloft, Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 33, 851–864, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1976)033<0851:TVASOC>2.0.CO;2, 1976. a
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Field campaigns suggest secondary ice production (SIP) from mm-sized supercooled droplets drives rapid glaciation and precipitation development in summer cumulus congestus clouds lacking ice-nucleating particles. Our large-eddy simulations with sectional aerosol–hydrometeor microphysics support this, reproducing observed size distributions and showing how SIP accelerates aggregation, enhancing surface precipitation.
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