Search results for "microphysics"

An Estimate of Global, Regional and Seasonal Cirrus Cloud Radiative Effects Contributed by Homogeneous Ice Nucleation

2020

There are two fundamental mechanisms through which cirrus clouds form; homo- and heterogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth hom and het). The relative contribution of each mechanism to ice crystal production often determines the microphysical and radiative properties of a cirrus cloud. This study attempts to estimate the radiative contribution of hom relative to het by constraining the cloud microphysics in a climate model to conform with satellite retrievals of cirrus cloud effective diameter De, where the sampled cirrus cloud base had a temperature T Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite retrievals for cirrus clouds are compared against an updat…

The nature of ice-nucleating particles affects the radiative properties of tropical convective cloud systems

2020

Abstract. Convective cloud systems in the maritime tropics play a critical role in global climate, but accurately representing aerosol interactions within these clouds persists as a major challenge for weather and climate modelling. We quantify the effect of ice-nucleating particles (INP) on the radiative properties of a complex Tropical Atlantic deep convective cloud field using a regional model with an advanced double-moment microphysics scheme. Our results show that the domain-mean daylight outgoing radiation varies by up to 18 W m−2 depending on the bio- and physico-chemical properties of INP. The key distinction between different INPs is the temperature dependence of ice formation, whi…

Analysis of a strong wildfire event over Valencia (Spain) during Summer 2012 – Part 1: Aerosol microphysics and optical properties

2013

Abstract. The most intense wildfire experienced in Eastern Spain since 2004 happened in Valencia during summer 2012. Although the fire was mostly active during days 29–30 June, a longer temporal period (from 24 June to 4 July) was selected for this analysis. Column-integrated, vertical resolved and surface aerosol observations were performed continuously at the Burjassot station throughout the studied period. The aerosol optical depth at 500 nm shows values larger than 2 for the most intense part of the wildfire and an extremely high maximum of 8 was detected on 29 June. The simultaneous increase of the Ångström exponent was also observed, indicating the important contribution of small part…

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 …

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…

The scavenging of two different types of marine aerosol particles calculated using a two-dimensional detailed cloud model

2011

Our 2-D dynamic model including spectral microphysics and scavenging has been evaluated for a warm precipitating convective cloud at Day 261 (18 September 1974) of the GATE campaign. Two different chemical species ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and NaCl) of aerosol particles were followed in the air, inside the drops in the cloud, and inside the drops reaching the ground. Concerning the dynamics and microphysics, as well as the scavenging and wet deposition, the model results agree quite well with available observations. The cloud rained after 19 min of cloud life time. For the considered aerosol loading of the atmosphere, rough estimates are derived for the total material processed by such a warm convect…

Model simulations with COSMO-SPECS: impact of heterogeneous freezing modes and ice nucleating particle types on ice formation and precipitation in a …

2018

Abstract. In deep convective clouds, heavy rain is often formed involving the ice phase. Simulations were performed using the 3-D cloud resolving model COSMO-SPECS with detailed spectral microphysics including parameterizations of homogeneous and three heterogeneous freezing modes. The initial conditions were selected to result in a deep convective cloud reaching 14 km of altitude with strong updrafts up to 40 m s−1. At such altitudes with corresponding temperatures below −40 ∘C the major fraction of liquid drops freezes homogeneously. The goal of the present model simulations was to investigate how additional heterogeneous freezing will affect ice formation and precipitation although its c…

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 …

2018

Abstract. A regional modeling study on the impact of desert dust on cloud formation is presented for a major Saharan dust outbreak over Europe from 2 to 5 April 2014. The dust event coincided with an extensive and dense cirrus cloud layer, suggesting an influence of dust on atmospheric ice nucleation. Using interactive simulation with the regional dust model COSMO-MUSCAT, we investigate cloud and precipitation representation in the model and test the sensitivity of cloud parameters to dust–cloud and dust–radiation interactions of the simulated dust plume. We evaluate model results with ground-based and spaceborne remote sensing measurements of aerosol and cloud properties, as well as the in…

Vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol in orographic mixed-phase clouds

2020

Orographic wave clouds offer a natural laboratory to investigate cloud microphysical processes and their representation in atmospheric models. Wave clouds impact the larger-scale flow by the vertical redistribution of moisture and aerosol. Here we use detailed cloud microphysical observations from the Ice in Clouds Experiment – Layer Clouds (ICE-L) campaign to evaluate the recently developed Cloud Aerosol Interacting Microphysics (CASIM) module in the Met Office Unified Model (UM) with a particular focus on different parameterizations for heterogeneous freezing. Modelled and observed thermodynamic and microphysical properties agree very well (deviation of air temperature <1 K; spe…