Conditions Associated with Large-Drop Regions

Abstract

In light of the significant icing hazard large drops pose to general aviation, two conditions have been previously associated with large-drop formation; these being a warm cloud-top temperature and a low droplet concentration. This paper identifies an additional condition associated with the development of large-drop regions. Wind shear is hypothesized as being a necessary but not sufficient condition for the formation of large drops. Wind shear at cloud top may cause turbulence, Kelvin-Helmholtz waves, and thus the inhomogeneous mixing leading to large drops. This hypothesis was tested in 29 cases where the Wyoming King Air aircraft made a climb or descent through the top of stratiform clouds. The presence of a wind shear layer was defined by the magnitude of the wind shear and the value of the bulk Richardson number across the layer. In 23 of the 29 cases, wind shear was associated with large-drop regions. A χ2 statistical test was applied to the data. The null hypothesis, where wind shear and large drops were considered independent of each other, was rejected to a significance level of 0.01. From this it can be inferred that large drops and wind shear are related. The depth of the shear layer was usually small, less than 150 m. The validity of the condition of low droplet concentration is questioned since several cases of large drops were found in the presence of a high droplet concentration. These cases were marked by strong wind shear.