Two‐Point Mixing, Buoyancy Sorting, and Updraft Dilution in the RACORO Campaign

Abstract

AbstractAircraft measurements of shallow cumulus cases from the Routine Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility (AAF) Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) campaign are studied in a transformed Paluch diagram. Previous studies have interpreted samples in Paluch diagrams in terms of two‐point mixing and buoyancy sorting. The two‐point mixing behavior is frequently seen in the RACORO observations and can be unambiguously distinguished from buoyancy sorting. The latter is not found in the RACORO observations and is also rare in a large‐eddy simulation (LES) of a RACORO case. As opposed to often assumed gradual dilution of updrafts, around half of the instances of two‐point mixing show no clear evidence of updraft dilution. We also find substantial spread in the properties of parcels that have adjusted to their level of neutral buoyancy and that a LES with horizontally homogeneous surface underestimates this spread. The inclusion of surface heterogeneity in the LES improves the agreement of its horizontal moisture variations with the aircraft measurements.