Exploring Causal Relationships and Adjustment Timescales of Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions in Geostationary Satellite Observations and CAM6 Using Wavelet Phase Coherence Analysis

Zhou, Xiaoli; Painemal, David; Gettleman, Andrew; Feingold, Graham

doi:10.1029/2024GL111961

i

Exploring Causal Relationships and Adjustment Timescales of Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions in Geostationary Satellite Observations and CAM6 Using Wavelet Phase Coherence Analysis

2025
By Zhou, Xiaoli ; Painemal, David ; Gettleman, Andrew ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Geophysical Research Letters
Personal Author:

Zhou, Xiaoli ; Painemal, David ; Gettleman, Andrew ; Feingold, Graham
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; CSL (Chemical Sciences Laboratory)
Description:

We present for the first time within the cloud physics context, the application of wavelet phase coherence analysis to disentangle counteracting physical processes associated with the lead‐lag phase difference between cloud‐proxy liquid water path (LWP) and aerosol‐proxy cloud droplet number concentration (Nd) in an Eulerian framework using satellite‐based observations and climate model outputs. This approach allows us to identify the causality and dominant adjustment timescales governing the correlation between LWP and Nd. Satellite observations indicate a more prevalent positive correlation between daytime LWP and Nd regardless of whether LWP leads or lags Nd. The positive cloud water response, associated with precipitation processes, typically occurs within 1 hr, while the negative response resulting from entrainment drying, usually takes 2–4 hr. CAM6 displays excessively rapid negative responses along with overly strong negative cloud water response and insufficient positive response, leading to a more negative correlation between LWP and Nd compared to observations.
Source:

Geophysical Research Letters, 52(2)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111961
ISSN:

0094-8276 ; 1944-8007
Format:

pdf
Publisher:

American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Document Type:

Journal Article
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY-NC-ND
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:c4f1f06c4206675bceb074c04f642bb85eb969539e6463c854bcde1387178762f1619b00a58fd71ba32c555e7acddea7fb123b8ee25b2756ea92201cefd6732d
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/71537/noaa_71537_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 960.62 KB ]

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