The impact of aerosol on cloud water: a heuristic perspective

Details

• Journal Title:
  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Personal Author:
  Hoffmann, Fabian ; Glassmeier, Franziska ; Feingold, Graham
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CSL (Chemical Sciences Laboratory)
• Description:
  Aerosol–cloud interactions modulate the role of clouds in Earth's climate. We derive, evaluate, and apply a simple model to understand aerosol-mediated cloud water adjustments in stratocumulus based on only two prognostic equations for the integrated cloud water L and droplet number concentration N. The model is solved numerically and analytically and agrees well with documented large-eddy-simulation data and satellite retrievals. A tight relationship between adjustments at low and high N is found, revealing the influence of non-precipitation processes (primarily entrainment) on adjustments in precipitating clouds. Furthermore, it is shown that adjustments in non-precipitating clouds tend to be positively biased by external L or N perturbations, while adjustments in precipitating clouds are barely susceptible. By deliberately reducing the complexity of the underlying system, this study constitutes a way forward to facilitate process-level understanding of cloud water adjustments.
• Source:
  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 24(23), 13403-13412
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13403-2024
• ISSN:
  1680-7324
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Copernicus GmbH
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• License:
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:75bae2c2d47c4767b6b95b4301c765b78c4153ecbe324f4584f8ff5061bc503d2c51cc1255924420f3688cff912fab8b963ce6694581447be35a46ba9161f7d9
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/67128/noaa_67128_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.42 MB ]