Ice Crystal Habits and Growth Processes in Stratiform Clouds with Embedded Convection Examined through Aircraft Observation in Northern China

Abstract

Abstract Ice crystal habits and growth processes in two cases of stratiform clouds with embedded convection are investigated using data observed simultaneously from three aircraft on 18 April 2009 and 1 May 2009 as part of the Beijing Cloud Experiment (BCE). The results show that the majority of ice crystal habits found in the two cases at temperatures between 0° and −16°C included platelike, needle column, capped column, dendrite, and irregular. A mixture of several ice crystal habits was identified in all of the clouds studied. However, the ice crystals recorded in the embedded convection regions contained more dendrites and possessed heavier riming degrees, and the ice crystals identified in the stratiform clouds contained more hexagonal plate crystals. Both riming and aggregation processes played central roles in the broadening of particle size distributions (PSDs), and these processes were more active in embedded convection regions than in stratiform regions. However, riming was more prevalent in the 18 April case than aggregation, though aggregates were evident. In contrast, the 1 May case had a more dominant aggregation processes, but also riming. With the decrease in height, PSDs broadened in both embedded convection regions and stratiform regions, but the broadening rates between 4.8 km (T ≈ −11.6°C) and 4.2 km (T ≈ −8°C) were larger than those between 4.2 km (T ≈ −8°C) and 3.6 km (T ≈ −5°C). In addition, the broadening rates of PSDs in the embedded convection regions were larger than those in the stratiform clouds, as the aggregation and riming processes of ice particles in embedded convection regions were active. High supercooled water content is critical to enhancing riming and aggregation processes in embedded convection regions.