Aerosol and dynamic effects on the formation and evolution of pyro-clouds

Abstract. A recent parcel model study (Reutter et al., 2009) showed three deterministic regimes of initial cloud droplet formation, characterized by different ratios of aerosol concentrations (NCN) to updraft velocities. This analysis, however, did not reveal how these regimes evolve during the subsequent cloud development. To address this issue, we employed the Active Tracer High Resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM) with full microphysics and extended the model simulation from the cloud base to the entire column of a single pyro-convective mixed-phase cloud. A series of 2-D simulations (over 1000) were performed over a wide range of NCN and dynamic conditions. The integrated concentration …