Articles | Volume 26, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1769-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1769-2026
Research article
 | 
04 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 04 Feb 2026

Understanding the causes of satellite–model discrepancies in aerosol–cloud interactions using near-LES simulations of marine boundary layer clouds

Shaoyue Qiu, Xue Zheng, Peng Wu, Hsiang-He Lee, and Xiaoli Zhou

Related authors

Numerical case study of the aerosol–cloud interactions in warm boundary layer clouds over the eastern North Atlantic with an interactive chemistry module
Hsiang-He Lee, Xue Zheng, Shaoyue Qiu, and Yuan Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6069–6091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6069-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6069-2025, 2025
Short summary
Daytime variation in the aerosol indirect effect for warm marine boundary layer clouds in the eastern North Atlantic
Shaoyue Qiu, Xue Zheng, David Painemal, Christopher R. Terai, and Xiaoli Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2913–2935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2913-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2913-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Abdul-Razzak, H. and Ghan, S. J.: A parameterization of aerosol activation: 2. Multiple aerosol types, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 105, 6837–6844, https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD901161, 2000. 
Ackerman, A., Kirkpatrick, M., Stevens, D., and Toon, O.: The impact of humidity above stratiform clouds on indirect aerosol climate forcing, Nature, 432, 1014–1017, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03174, 2004. 
Albrecht, B. A.: Aerosols, cloud microphysics, and fractional cloudiness, Science, 245, 1227–1230, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.245.4923.1227, 1989. 
Arola, A., Lipponen, A., Kolmonen, P., Virtanen, T. H., Bellouin, N., Grosvenor, D. P., Gryspeerdt, E., Quaas, J., and Kokkola, H.: Aerosol effects on clouds are concealed by natural cloud heterogeneity and satellite retrieval errors, Nat. Commun., 13, 7357, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34948-5, 2022. 
Bretherton, C. S., Blossey, P. N., and Uchida, J.: Cloud droplet sedimentation, entrainment efficiency, and subtropical stratocumulus albedo, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027648, 2007. 
Download
Short summary
Model liquid water path (LWP) responses match satellite observations, showing decreased (increased) LWP for non-precipitating thin (precipitating) clouds, due to realistic simulations of non-precipitating and drizzling regimes. However, LWP increases for non-precipitating thick clouds, opposite to satellite-based decreases, due to excessive precipitation, moist bias in cloud-top humidity, and cloud droplet number–LWP relations from internal cloud processes, rather than aerosol-cloud interaction.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint