Computationally efficient expressions for the collision efficiency between electrically charged aerosol particles and cloud droplets

Abstract

A multifactor parameterization is described to permit the efficient calculation of collision efficiency (E) between electrically charged aerosol particles and neutral cloud droplets in numerical cloud and climate models. The four parameter representation summarizes the results obtained from a detailed microphysical model of collision efficiency, which accounts for the different forces acting on the aerosol in the path of falling cloud droplets. The parameterizations range of validity is for aerosol particle radius 0.4 to 10 micron, aerosol particle density 1 to 2.0 g.cm-3, aerosol particle charge from neutral to 100 elementary charges and drop radii 18.55-142 micron. It yields collision efficiencies well within an order of magnitude of the detailed models values, from a data set of of 3978 E values. 95 percent of these values have modeled to parameterized ratios between 0.5 and 1.5 for aerosol particle size range 0.4 to 2 micron and about 96 percent in the second size range. This parameterization speeds up the collision efficiency calculation by a factor of about 103, as compared with the original microphysical model, permitting the inclusion of electric charge effects in numerical cloud and climate models. In the following pages parameterization code in C language is provided for readymade use.