Abstract
Abstract. The purpose of this study is to better understand how cloud microphysical characteristics such as liquid water content (LWC) and droplet number concentration (Nd) change with temperature (T). The in situ observations were collected during three research projects including: the Radiation, Aerosol, and Cloud Experiment (RACE) which took place over the Bay of Fundy and Central Ontario during August 1995, the First International Regional Arctic Cloud Experiment (FIRE.ACE) which took place in the Arctic Ocean during April 1998, and the Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS) which took place in the Ontario region during the winter of 1999–2000. The RACE, FIRE.ACE, and AIRS projects represent summer mid-latitude clouds, Arctic clouds, and mid-latitude winter clouds, respectively. A LWC threshold of 0.005 g m-3 was used for this study. Similar to other studies, LWC was observed to decrease with decreasing T. The LWC-T relationship was similar for all projects, although the range of T conditions for each project was substantially different, and the variability of LWC within each project was considerable. Nd also decreased with decreasing T, and a parameterization for Nd versus T is suggested that may be useful for modeling studies.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (cloud physics and chemistry) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; general circulation)
Highlights
Clouds in the atmosphere consist of liquid, ice, or mixed phase particles and their effect on climate is primarily influenced by the amount of water within the clouds
The analysis indicated that reff values obtained from Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS) observations were comparable to those given in Table 3, which were obtained using Eq (1) and the mean liquid water content (LWC) and Nd
– The LWC-T relationships from the three projects were found to agree with those of GI and Mazin (1995), with LWC decreasing with T
Summary
Clouds in the atmosphere consist of liquid, ice, or mixed phase particles and their effect on climate is primarily influenced by the amount of water within the clouds. The reason is that the remote sensing methods assume a particle size distribution and/or constant Nd for their inversion technique, which may not represent the real cloud systems. For these reasons, in situ observations of cloud microphysical parameters have been intensively studied Korolev et al (2001) and Gultepe et al (2001b) studied microphysical properties of continental stratiform and maritime clouds, respectively, and showed that the cloud extinction parameter that is widely used in climate simulations could be very sensitive to changes in microphysical parameters In situ observations of cloud microphysical parameters have been intensively studied (e.g. Platt, 1989; Gultepe et al, 1996) for application to climate investigations. Korolev et al (2001) and Gultepe et al (2001b) studied microphysical properties of continental stratiform and maritime clouds, respectively, and showed that the cloud extinction parameter that is widely used in climate simulations could be very sensitive to changes in microphysical parameters
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