Impact on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition of the interaction of cloud microphysics and macrophysics with large-scale circulation

Chun, Je-Yun; Wood, Robert; Blossey, Peter N.; Doherty, Sarah J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025

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

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025

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

Articles | Volume 25, issue 10

Research article

|

26 May 2025

Research article |

| 26 May 2025

Impact on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition of the interaction of cloud microphysics and macrophysics with large-scale circulation

Je-Yun Chun, Robert Wood, Peter N. Blossey, and Sarah J. Doherty

Data sets

Impact on the Stratocumulus-to-cumulus Transition of the Interaction of Cloud Microphysics and Macrophysics with Large-scale Circulation J.-Y. Chun https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15093143

Model code and software

Cloud Resolving Modeling of the ARM Summer 1997 IOP: Model Formulation, Results, Uncertainties, and Sensitivities (http://rossby.msrc.sunysb.edu/SAM.html) M. F. Khairoutdinov and D. A. Randall https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<0607:CRMOTA>2.0.CO;2

Short summary

This study explores how aerosols affect clouds transitioning from stratocumulus to cumulus along trade winds under varying atmospheric conditions. We found that aerosols typically reduce precipitation and raise cloud height, but their impact changes when subsidence changes by aerosol enhancement are considered. Our findings indicate that the cooling effect of aerosols might be overestimated if these atmospheric changes are not accounted for.