Turbulence as a Key Driver of Ice Aggregation and Riming in Arctic Low‐Level Mixed‐Phase Clouds, Revealed by Long‐Term Cloud Radar Observations

Abstract

AbstractTurbulence in clouds is known to enhance particle collision rates, as widely demonstrated for warm rain formation. A similar impact on ice growth processes is expected but a solid observational basis is missing. A statistical analysis of a 15‐month data set of cloud radar observations allows for the first time to quantify the impact of turbulence on ice aggregation and riming in Arctic low‐level mixed‐phase clouds. Increasing eddy dissipation rate (EDR), from below 10−4 to above 10−3 m2 s−3, yields larger ice aggregates, and higher particle concentration, likely caused by increasing fragmentation. In conditions more favorable to riming, higher EDR is associated with dramatically higher particle fall velocities (by up to 125%), under similar liquid water paths, indicative of markedly higher degrees of riming. Our findings thus reveal the key role of turbulence for cold precipitation formation, and highlight the need for an improved understanding of turbulence‐hydrometeor interactions in cold clouds.