Relative Humidity in Liquid, Mixed-Phase, and Ice Clouds

Abstract

AbstractThe results of in situ observations of the relative humidity in liquid, mixed, and ice clouds typically stratiform in nature and associated with mesoscale frontal systems at temperatures −45°C < Ta < −5°C are presented. The data were collected with the help of instrumentation deployed on the National Research Council (NRC) Convair-580. The length of sampled in-cloud space is approximately 23 × 103 km. The liquid sensor was calibrated in liquid clouds with the assumption that the air in liquid clouds is saturated with respect to water. It was found that the relative humidity in mixed-phase clouds is close to saturation over water in the temperature range from −5° to −35°C for an averaging scale of 100 m. In ice clouds the relative humidity over ice is not necessarily equal to 100%, and it may be either lower or higher than saturation over ice, but it is always lower than saturation over water. On average the relative humidity in ice clouds increases with a decrease of temperature. At −40°C the relative humidity over ice is midway between saturation over ice and liquid. A parameterization for the relative humidity in ice clouds is suggested. A large fraction of ice clouds was found to be undersaturated with respect to ice. The fraction of ice clouds undersaturated with respect to ice increases toward warmer temperatures.