Understanding rapid changes in phase partitioning between cloud liquid and ice in stratiform mixed-phase clouds: An Arctic Case Study

Details

• Journal Title:
  Monthly Weather Review
• Personal Author:
  Kalesse, Heike ; de Boer, Gijs ; Solomon, Amy ; Oue, Mariko ; Ahlgrimm, Maike ; Zhang, Damao ; Shupe, Matthew D. ; Luke, Edward ; Protat, Alain
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory)
• Description:
  Understanding phase transitions in mixed-phase clouds is of great importance because hydrometeor phase controls the lifetime and radiative effects of clouds. In high latitudes, these cloud radiative effects have a crucial impact on the surface energy budget and thus on the evolution of the ice cover. For a springtime low-level mixed-phase stratiform cloud case from Barrow, Alaska, a unique combination of instruments and retrieval methods is combined with multiple modeling perspectives to determine key processes that control cloud phase partitioning. The interplay of local cloud-scale vs. large-scale processes is considered. Rapid changes in phase partitioning were found to be caused by several main factors. Major influences were the large-scale advection of different airmasses with different aerosol concentrations and humidity content; cloud-scale processes such as a change in the thermodynamical coupling state; and local-scale dynamics influencing the residence time of ice particles. Other factors such as radiative shielding by a cirrus and the influence of the solar cycle were found to only play a minor role for the specific case study (11-12 March 2013). For an even better understanding of cloud phase transitions, observations of key aerosol parameters such as profiles of cloud condensation nucleus and ice nucleus concentration are desirable.
• Source:
  Monthly Weather Review, 144(12), 4805-4826.
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-16-0155.1
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Other
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:fc0814ec0be008fc9aff35f0663e507cd59de4c7c3699344fe37e7423219d50f
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/14560/noaa_14560_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.87 MB ]