Articles | Volume 26, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-9907-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Aerosol scavenging in DC3 and SEAC4RS deep convective storms
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- Final revised paper (published on 15 Jul 2026)
- Supplement to the final revised paper
- Preprint (discussion started on 23 Jan 2026)
- Supplement to the preprint
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
| : Report abuse
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-6552', Anonymous Referee #1, 25 Feb 2026
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Mary Barth, 24 Apr 2026
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-6552', Anonymous Referee #2, 27 Mar 2026
- AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Mary Barth, 24 Apr 2026
- EC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-6552', Jianzhong Ma, 27 Mar 2026
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RC3: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-6552', Anonymous Referee #3, 27 Mar 2026
- AC3: 'Reply on RC3', Mary Barth, 24 Apr 2026
Peer review completion
AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload
AR by Mary Barth on behalf of the Authors (25 May 2026)
Author's response
Author's tracked changes
Manuscript
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (28 May 2026) by Jianzhong Ma
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (09 Jun 2026)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (11 Jun 2026)
ED: Publish as is (11 Jun 2026) by Jianzhong Ma
AR by Mary Barth on behalf of the Authors (30 Jun 2026)
Manuscript
This manuscript derives composition-specific aerosol scavenging efficiencies (SE) through the analysis of ten storms from the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) and the Studies of Emissions, Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field experiments combined with process-scale modeling. The manuscript addresses an important problem—quantifying composition-dependent aerosol scavenging in deep convection—and provides a valuable observational dataset. The results presented can be used directly for evaluating cloud-scale chemistry transport model representation of aerosol scavenging.
The article is written clearly and would be a good contribution to ACP. However, the authors need to address the following comments before I can recommend publication in ACP.
Major comments:
The largest concern is the limited evaluation of uncertainty in entrainment rates and its propagation into scavenging efficiency (SE). Given that SE is directly dependent on the entrainment, a quantitative uncertainty analysis (e.g., sensitivity tests or error propagation) would substantially strengthen the robustness of the conclusions.
The discussion focuses primarily on chemical processes and entrainment of mid-free-tropospheric aerosol layers in interpreting SE variability. However, the dynamical controls on scavenging are less clearly developed. Although SE is shown as a function of the SWEAT index, the analysis does not fully explore how dynamical factors (e.g., convective intensity and updraft strength) may influence the observed chemical and scavenging signatures. The connection between storm dynamics and composition-dependent SE could be developed further, particularly in the Conclusions section.
Minor comments:
Tick directions are inconsistent across figures. For example, Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 have inward ticks, while other figures use outward ticks. Please standardize formatting.
Figure 2: It would be helpful to include the sample size (e.g., number of seconds of sampling) within each 1-km bin for the clear-air vertical profiles. Additionally, the method used to define the inflow aerosol concentration below cloud base should be clarified. Was the bin closest to cloud base used, or was an average taken across all sub-cloud layers?
Line 381: It would strengthen the discussion to provide references and typical magnitudes for below-cloud scavenging efficiency for comparison.
The Conclusions section would benefit from a brief, explicit statement of the main limitations of the study (e.g., entrainment uncertainty, tracer dependence, simplified chemical interpretation).