Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4067-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4067-2026
Research article
 | 
24 Mar 2026
Research article |  | 24 Mar 2026

Drop clustering and drop size correlations from holographic imagery suggest cloud droplet spectral broadening via entrainment-mixing

John J. D'Alessandro, Robert Wood, and Peter N. Blossey

Related authors

Subseasonal and spatial variability of biomass burning aerosol radiative properties observed over the Southeast Atlantic during ORACLES 2016–2018
Logan T. Mitchell, Connor J. Flynn, Kristina Pistone, Samuel E. LeBlanc, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Hong Chen, Paquita Zuidema, Robert Wood, and Jens Redemann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1418,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1418, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
G6-1.5K-MCB: Marine Cloud Brightening Scenario design for the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) in CESM2.1, E3SMv2.0, and UKESM1.1
Haruki Hirasawa, Matthew Henry, Philip J. Rasch, Robert Wood, Sarah J. Doherty, James Haywood, Alex Wong, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Ezra Brody, and Hailong Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4810,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4810, 2025
Short summary
Tropical cirrus evolution in a kilometer-scale model with improved ice microphysics
Blaž Gasparini, Rachel Atlas, Aiko Voigt, Martina Krämer, and Peter N. Blossey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 9957–9979, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9957-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9957-2025, 2025
Short summary
Building a comprehensive library of observed Lagrangian trajectories for testing modeled cloud evolution, aerosol–cloud interactions, and marine cloud brightening
Ehsan Erfani, Robert Wood, Peter Blossey, Sarah J. Doherty, and Ryan Eastman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8743–8768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8743-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8743-2025, 2025
Short summary
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
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5251–5271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5251-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Baker, B. and Lawson, R. P.: Analysis of tools used to quantify droplet clustering in clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 3355–3367, https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JAS3409.1, 2010. 
Baker, B. A.: Turbulent entrainment and mixing in clouds: a new observational approach, J. Atmos. Sci., 49, 387–404, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1992)049<0387:TEAMIC>2.0.CO;2, 1992. 
Baker, M. B., Corbin, R. G., and Latham, J.: The influence of entrainment on the evolution of cloud droplet spectra: I. A model of inhomogeneous mixing, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 106, 581–598, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710644914, 1980. 
Bateson, C. P. and Aliseda, A.: Wind tunnel measurements of the preferential concentration of inertial droplets in homogeneous isotropic turbulence, Exp. Fluids, 52, 1373–1387, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1252-6, 2012. 
Download
Short summary
Many theories speculate drop clustering is an important facet of precipitation initiation. This study evaluates the relationship between drop size and drop clustering surrounding the individual drops. Large drops are generally isolated from neighboring drops, particularly in subsaturated environments. Samples capturing this trend also have the broadest drop size distributions and largest drops, suggesting the importance of entrainment-mixing to precipitation initiation.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint