Search results for "microphysics"

A microphysics guide to cirrus clouds - Part 1: Cirrus types

2016

Abstract. The microphysical and radiative properties of cirrus clouds continue to be beyond understanding and thus still represent one of the largest uncertainties in the prediction of the Earth's climate (IPCC, 2013). Our study aims to provide a guide to cirrus microphysics, which is compiled from an extensive set of model simulations, covering the broad range of atmospheric conditions for cirrus formation and evolution. The model results are portrayed in the same parameter space as field measurements, i.e., in the Ice Water Content-Temperature (IWC-T) parameter space. We validate this cirrus analysis approach by evaluating cirrus data sets from 17 aircraft campaigns, conducted in the last…

Using evolutionary algorithms to model relativistic jets

2019

High-resolution Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry observations of NGC 1052 show a two sided jet with several regions of enhanced emission and a clear emission gap between the two jets.This gap shrinks with increasing frequency and vanishes around $\nu\sim43$ GHz. The observed structures are due to both the macroscopic fluid dynamics interacting with the surrounding ambient medium including an obscuring torus and the radiation microphysics. In this paper we investigate the possible physical conditions in relativistic jets of NGC 1052 by directly modelling the observed emission and spectra via state-of-the-art special-relativistic hydrodynamic (SRHD) simulations and radiative transfer calcula…

Microphysical Properties of Ice Crystal Precipitation and Surface-Generated Ice Crystals in a High Alpine Environment in Switzerland

2017

AbstractDuring the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE) 2013 field campaign at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, optically thin pure ice clouds and ice crystal precipitation were measured using holographic and other in situ particle instruments. For cloud particles, particle images, positions in space, concentrations, and size distributions were obtained, allowing one to extract size distributions classified by ice crystal habit. Small ice crystals occurring under conditions with a vertically thin cloud layer above and a stratocumulus layer approximately 1 km below exhibit similar properties in size and crystal habits as Antarctic/Arctic diamond …

Simulation of a biomass-burning plume: Comparison of model results with observations

2002

[1] We have simulated the dynamical evolution of the plume from a prescribed biomass fire, using the active tracer high- resolution atmospheric model (ATHAM). Initialization parameters were set to reflect the conditions during the fire. The model results are compared with airborne remote-sensing and in situ measurements of the plume. ATHAM reproduces the injection height (250-600 m) and the horizontal extent of the plume (similar to4 km) with good accuracy. The aerosol mass concentrations are underestimated but still in the range of the observations. Remaining differences between the model results and the measurements are attributed to limited meteorological and fire emission information. A…

General relativistic simulations of pasive-magneto-rotational core collapse with microphysics

2007

This paper presents results from axisymmetric simulations of magneto-rotational stellar core collapse to neutron stars in general relativity using the passive field approximation for the magnetic field. These simulations are performed using a new general relativistic numerical code specifically designed to study this astrophysical scenario. The code is based on the conformally-flat approximation of Einstein's field equations and conservative formulations of the magneto-hydrodynamics equations. The code has been recently upgraded to incorporate a tabulated, microphysical equation of state and an approximate deleptonization scheme. This allows us to perform the most realistic simulations of m…

A numerical model of the cloud-topped planetary boundary-layer: Radiation, turbulence and spectral microphysics in marine stratus

1996

A numerical model of the cloud-topped planetary boundary-layer is presented. The model is one-dimensional with special emphasis on a detailed description of cloud microphysical processes. Aerosols and cloud droplets are treated in a two-dimensional particle-distribution whereby the activation of aerosols is calculated explicitly by solving the droplet-growth equation at all relative humidities. Atmospheric radiation is determined with a δ-two-stream radiation scheme. Turbulent fluxes are parametrized as a function of the turbulent kinetic energy. Numerical results are presented which are obtained by utilizing measurements made over the North Sea. The interaction between radiation, turbulenc…

Reply to a comment by R. Brown on ‘a numerical model of the cloud‐topped planetary boundary‐layer: Radiation, turbulence and spectral microphysics in…

1997

Numerical sensitivity studies on the impact of aerosol properties and drop freezing modes on the glaciation, microphysics, and dynamics of clouds

2006

[1] Numerical simulations were performed to investigate the effects of drop freezing in immersion and contact modes for a convective situation. For the description of heterogeneous drop freezing, new approaches were used considering the significantly different ice nucleating efficiencies of various ice nuclei. An air parcel model with a sectional two-dimensional description of the cloud microphysics was employed. Sensitivity studies were undertaken by varying the insoluble particle types as well as the soluble fraction of the aerosol particles showing the effects of these parameters on drop freezing and their possible impact on the vertical cloud dynamics. The soluble fraction ɛ decides whe…

Collocated measurements of boundary layer cloud microphysical and radiative properties: A feasibility study

2010

[1] First data from collocated, helicopter-based measurements of boundary layer cloud microphysical properties (effective droplet radius Reff, droplet number concentration N) and spectral radiative quantities (cloud optical thickness τ, cloud top albedo ρ, reflectivity ) are presented. The in situ measurements of the microphysical cloud properties were collected by the Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System (ACTOS) attached to a helicopter by a 145 m long rope. Cloud spectral reflectivity was derived from radiances measured by grating spectrometers combined with downward looking optical inlets installed underneath the helicopter. Correlations between cloud microphysics and reflected r…

2020

Abstract. This study presents airborne in situ and satellite remote sensing climatologies of cirrus clouds and humidity. The climatologies serve as a guide to the properties of cirrus clouds, with the new in situ database providing detailed insights into boreal midlatitudes and the tropics, while the satellite-borne data set offers a global overview. To this end, an extensive, quality-checked data archive, the Cirrus Guide II in situ database, is created from airborne in situ measurements during 150 flights in 24 campaigns. The archive contains meteorological parameters, ice water content (IWC), ice crystal number concentration (Nice), ice crystal mean mass radius (Rice), relative humidity …