Condensed Water Content Research Articles

Relationship of Multiwavelength Radar Measurements to Ice Microphysics from the IMPACTS Field Program

Abstract Coincident radar data with Doppler radar measurements at X, Ku, Ka, and W bands on the NASA ER-2 aircraft overflying the NASA P-3 aircraft acquiring in situ microphysical measurements are used to characterize the relationship between radar measurements and ice microphysical properties. The data were obtained from the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS). Direct measurements of the condensed water content and coincident Doppler radar measurements were acquired, facilitating improved estimates of ice particle mass, a variable that is an underlying factor for calculating and therefore retrieving the radar reflectivity Ze, median mass diameter Dm, particle terminal velocity, and snowfall rate S. The relationship between the measured ice water content (IWC) and that calculated from the particle size distributions (PSDs) using relationships developed in earlier studies, and between the calculated and measured radar reflectivity at the four radar wavelengths, are quantified. Relationships are derived between the measured IWC and properties of the PSD, Dm, Ze at the four radar wavelengths, and the dual-wavelength ratio. Because IWC and Ze are measured directly, the coefficients in the mass–dimensional relationship that best match both the IWC and Ze are derived. The relationships developed here, and the mass–dimensional relationship that uses both the measured IWC and Ze to find a best match for both variables, can be used in studies that characterize the properties of wintertime snow clouds. Significance Statement The goal of this study is to provide reliable microphysical measurements and algorithms to facilitate improvements in cloud model microphysical parameterizations and in retrieval of snow precipitation properties from spaceborne active remote sensors and to characterize ice and snow precipitation development within clouds. This work draws upon a unique set of in situ measurements of the ice and total water content coupled with overflying aircraft radar measurements at four radar wavelengths. Better estimates of the contributions of the ice phase to the total global precipitation using spaceborne radar data pave the way for assessing and advancing global climate modeling, thereby strengthening predictions of global climate change.

Interpretation of the Precipitation Structure Contained in Polarimetric Radio Occultation Profiles Using Passive Microwave Satellite Observations

AbstractObservationally, a major source of uncertainty in evaluation of climate models arises from the difficulty in obtaining globally distributed, fine scale profiles of temperature, pressure and water vapor, that probe through convective precipitating clouds, from the boundary layer to the upper levels of the free troposphere. In this manuscript, a two-year analysis of data from the Radio Occultations through Heavy Precipitation (ROHP) polarimetric RO demonstration mission onboard the Spanish PAZ spacecraft is presented. ROHP measures the difference in the differential propagation phase delay (Δ𝜙) between two orthogonal polarization receive states that is induced from the presence of non-spherically shaped hydrometeors along the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) propagation path, complementing the standard RO thermodynamic profile. Since Δφ is a net path-accumulated depolarization and does not resolve the precipitation structure along the propagation path, orbital coincidences between ROHP and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) constellation passive MW radiometers are identified to provides three-dimensional precipitation context to the RO thermodynamic profile. Passive MW-derived precipitation profiles are used to simulate the Δφalong the ROHP propagation paths. Comparison between the simulated and observed Δφare indicative of the ability of ROHP to detect threshold levels of ray path-averaged condensed water content, as well as to suggest possible inferences on the average ice phase hydrometeor non-sphericity. The use of the polarimetric RO vertical structure is demonstrated as a means to condition the lower tropospheric humidity by the top-most height of the associated convective cloud structure.

Microphysical processes producing high ice water contents (HIWCs) in tropical convective clouds during the HAIC-HIWC field campaign: evaluation of simulations using bulk microphysical schemes

Abstract. Regions with high ice water content (HIWC), composed of mainly small ice crystals, frequently occur over convective clouds in the tropics. Such regions can have median mass diameters (MMDs) <300 µm and equivalent radar reflectivities <20 dBZ. To explore formation mechanisms for these HIWCs, high-resolution simulations of tropical convective clouds observed on 26 May 2015 during the High Altitude Ice Crystals – High Ice Water Content (HAIC-HIWC) international field campaign based out of Cayenne, French Guiana, are conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with four different bulk microphysics schemes: the WRF single‐moment 6‐class microphysics scheme (WSM6), the Morrison scheme, and the Predicted Particle Properties (P3) scheme with one- and two-ice options. The simulations are evaluated against data from airborne radar and multiple cloud microphysics probes installed on the French Falcon 20 and Canadian National Research Council (NRC) Convair 580 sampling clouds at different heights. WRF simulations with different microphysics schemes generally reproduce the vertical profiles of temperature, dew-point temperature, and winds during this event compared with radiosonde data, and the coverage and evolution of this tropical convective system compared to satellite retrievals. All of the simulations overestimate the intensity and spatial extent of radar reflectivity by over 30 % above the melting layer compared to the airborne X-band radar reflectivity data. They also miss the peak of the observed ice number distribution function for 0.1<Dmax<1 mm. Even though the P3 scheme has a very different approach representing ice, it does not produce greatly different total condensed water content or better comparison to other observations in this tropical convective system. Mixed-phase microphysical processes at −10 ∘C are associated with the overprediction of liquid water content in the simulations with the Morrison and P3 schemes. The ice water content at −10 ∘C increases mainly due to the collection of liquid water by ice particles, which does not increase ice particle number but increases the mass/size of ice particles and contributes to greater simulated radar reflectivity.

Photoacoustic hygrometer for icing wind tunnel water content measurement: design, analysis, and intercomparison

Abstract. This work describes the latest design, calibration and application of a near-infrared laser diode-based photoacoustic (PA) hygrometer developed for total water content measurement in simulated atmospheric freezing precipitation and high ice water content conditions with relevance in fundamental icing research, aviation testing, and certification. The single-wavelength and single-pass PA absorption cell is calibrated for molar water vapor fractions with a two-pressure humidity generator integrated into the instrument. Laboratory calibration showed an estimated measurement accuracy better than 3.3 % in the water vapor mole fraction range of 510–12 360 ppm (5 % from 250–21 200 ppm) with a theoretical limit of detection (3σ) of 3.2 ppm. The hygrometer is examined in combination with a basic isokinetic evaporator probe (IKP) and sampling system designed for icing wind tunnel applications, for which a general description of total condensed water content (CWC) measurements and uncertainties are presented. Despite the current limitation of the IKP to a hydrometeor mass flux below 90 gm-2s-1, a CWC measurement accuracy better than 20 % is achieved by the instrument above a CWC of 0.14 g m−3 in cold air (−30 ∘C) with suitable background humidity measurement. Results of a comparison to the Cranfield University IKP instrument in freezing drizzle and rain show a CWC agreement of the two instruments within 20 %, which demonstrates the potential of PA hygrometers for water content measurement in atmospheric icing conditions.

Evaluation of Precipitation Vertical Profiles Estimated by GPM-Era Satellite-Based Passive Microwave Retrievals.

Precipitation estimation based on passive microwave (MW) observations from low-Earth-orbiting satellites is one of the essential variables for understanding the global climate. However, almost all validation studies for such precipitation estimation have focused only on the surface precipitation rate. This study investigates the vertical precipitation profiles estimated by two passive MW-based retrieval algorithms, i.e., the emissivity principal components (EPC) algorithm and the Goddard profiling algorithm (GPROF). The passive MW-based condensed water content profiles estimated from the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GMI) are validated using the GMI + Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar combined algorithm as the reference product. It is shown that the EPC generally underestimates the magnitude of the condensed water content profiles, described by the mean condensed water content, by about 20%-50% in the middle-to-high latitudes, while GPROF overestimates it by about 20%-50% in the middle-to-high latitudes and more than 50% in the tropics. Part of the EPC magnitude biases is associated with the representation of the precipitation type (i.e., convective and stratiform) in the retrieval algorithm. This suggests that a separate technique for precipitation type identification would aid in mitigating these biases. In contrast to the magnitude of the profile, the profile shapes are relatively well represented by these two passive MW-based retrievals. The joint analysis between the estimation performances of the vertical profiles and surface precipitation rate shows that the physically reasonable connections between the surface precipitation rate and the associated vertical profiles are achieved to some extent by the passive MW-based algorithms.

A mass balance method for measuring condensed water content in gas reservoirs

Abstract The accurate measurement of condensed water content in gas reservoirs is critical for the effective development of gas reservoirs. In this study, a more accurate and faster method for measuring the condensed water content in gas reservoirs was developed by using a high-temperature and high-pressure PVT device combined with the law of conservation of matter. A condensed water content test was subsequently conducted in the Dong Fang X (DF13) gas reservoir as an example to investigate the variation of condensed water content in gas reservoirs with different temperature and pressure. The results indicate that the condensed water content decreases with the increase in pressure, demonstrating a good exponential relationship, and vice versa. Based on the test results, a comprehensive prediction model for the variation of condensed water content in different sand bodies of the DF13 reservoirs with temperature and pressure was established, which could predict the precipitation of condensed water, thereby laying a solid foundation for the design of waterproof and water control strategies of the DF13 gas reservoir.

A ubiquitous ice size bias in simulations of tropical deep convection

Abstract. The High Altitude Ice Crystals – High Ice Water Content (HAIC-HIWC) joint field campaign produced aircraft retrievals of total condensed water content (TWC), hydrometeor particle size distributions (PSDs), and vertical velocity (w) in high ice water content regions of mature and decaying tropical mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). The resulting dataset is used here to explore causes of the commonly documented high bias in radar reflectivity within cloud-resolving simulations of deep convection. This bias has been linked to overly strong simulated convective updrafts lofting excessive condensate mass but is also modulated by parameterizations of hydrometeor size distributions, single particle properties, species separation, and microphysical processes. Observations are compared with three Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations of an observed MCS using different microphysics parameterizations while controlling for w, TWC, and temperature. Two popular bulk microphysics schemes (Thompson and Morrison) and one bin microphysics scheme (fast spectral bin microphysics) are compared. For temperatures between −10 and −40 °C and TWC > 1 g m−3, all microphysics schemes produce median mass diameters (MMDs) that are generally larger than observed, and the precipitating ice species that controls this size bias varies by scheme, temperature, and w. Despite a much greater number of samples, all simulations fail to reproduce observed high-TWC conditions ( > 2 g m−3) between −20 and −40 °C in which only a small fraction of condensate mass is found in relatively large particle sizes greater than 1 mm in diameter. Although more mass is distributed to large particle sizes relative to those observed across all schemes when controlling for temperature, w, and TWC, differences with observations are significantly variable between the schemes tested. As a result, this bias is hypothesized to partly result from errors in parameterized hydrometeor PSD and single particle properties, but because it is present in all schemes, it may also partly result from errors in parameterized microphysical processes present in all schemes. Because of these ubiquitous ice size biases, the frequently used microphysical parameterizations evaluated in this study inherently produce a high bias in convective reflectivity for a wide range of temperatures, vertical velocities, and TWCs.

Evaluation of radar reflectivity factor simulations of ice crystal populations from in situ observations for the retrieval of condensed water content in tropical mesoscale convective systems

Abstract. This study presents the evaluation of a technique to estimate cloud condensed water content (CWC) in tropical convection from airborne cloud radar reflectivity factors at 94 GHz and in situ measurements of particle size distributions (PSDs) and aspect ratios of ice crystal populations. The approach is to calculate from each 5 s mean PSD and flight-level reflectivity the variability of all possible solutions of m(D) relationships fulfilling the condition that the simulated radar reflectivity factor (T-matrix method) matches the measured radar reflectivity factor. For the reflectivity simulations, ice crystals were approximated as oblate spheroids, without using a priori assumptions on the mass–size relationship of ice crystals. The CWC calculations demonstrate that individual CWC values are in the range ±32 % of the retrieved average CWC value over all CWC solutions for the chosen 5 s time intervals. In addition, during the airborne field campaign performed out of Darwin in 2014, as part of the international High Altitude Ice Crystals/High Ice Water Content (HAIC/HIWC) projects, CWCs were measured independently with the new IKP-2 (isokinetic evaporator probe) instrument along with simultaneous particle imagery and radar reflectivity. Retrieved CWCs from the T-matrix radar reflectivity simulations are on average 16 % higher than the direct CWCIKP measurements. The differences between the CWCIKP and averaged retrieved CWCs are found to be primarily a function of the total number concentration of ice crystals. Consequently, a correction term is applied (as a function of total number concentration) that significantly improves the retrieved CWC. After correction, the retrieved CWCs have a median relative error with respect to measured values of only −1 %. Uncertainties in the measurements of total concentration of hydrometeors are investigated in order to calculate their contribution to the relative error of calculated CWC with respect to measured CWCIKP. It is shown that an overestimation of the concentration by about +50 % increases the relative errors of retrieved CWCs by only +29 %, while possible shattering, which impacts only the concentration of small hydrometeors, increases the relative error by about +4 %. Moreover, all cloud events with encountered graupel particles were studied and compared to events without observed graupel particles. Overall, graupel particles seem to have the largest impact on high crystal number-concentration conditions and show relative errors in retrieved CWCs that are higher than for events without graupel particles.

Liquid–Ice Mass Partition in Tropical Maritime Convective Clouds

Abstract The liquid–ice mass partitioning in tropical maritime convective clouds is studied using data collected by the National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130 research aircraft during the Ice in Clouds Experiment–Tropical project. The clouds investigated by the C-130 in this study generally contained weak to moderate updrafts. The liquid water content (LWC) is calculated using a combination of hot-wire and imaging probes. The total condensed water content (CWC) is measured by a counterflow virtual impactor. The ice water content (IWC) is calculated as CWC minus LWC. Taking into account potential significant measurement uncertainties, the liquid fraction [i.e., LWC/(LWC + IWC)] between 0° and −15°C appears to decrease by a factor of about 3 in updrafts near (<500 m) cloud top and a factor of 2 in updrafts far below (>500 m) cloud top. The decrease in liquid fraction as a function of temperature is also correlated with cloud life cycle. In dissipating clouds, ice dominates in all temperature ranges. A comparison between this study and two parameterizations shows that at different geographic locations the liquid fraction in convective clouds differs. Because of the sampling bias and the limitations of instruments, more measurements, especially with more advanced instruments, are needed in the future.

Analysis on High-Pressure Water Separator

High-pressure water separator (HPWS) is one of the most important components of airplane environmental control system (ECS). Through introducing the Wall-Film Splashing Model into the simulation process, the trajectories of droplets, pressure drop and water separation characteristics under different condensed water contents are researched with Ansys-Fluent. Comparison with the experiment has proved that the Wall-Film Splashing Model can improve the accuracy for HPWS's simulation. Meanwhile, modeling results verified that the existence of splashing is the main cause of the relative low water separation efficiency of the HPWS. So it's of great importance to improve the design process and manufacture technique of the separation section of the HPWS in order to increase its efficiency.

Constraining mass–diameter relations from hydrometeor images and cloud radar reflectivities in tropical continental and oceanic convective anvils

Abstract. In this study the density of ice hydrometeors in tropical clouds is derived from a combined analysis of particle images from 2-D-array probes and associated reflectivities measured with a Doppler cloud radar on the same research aircraft. Usually, the mass–diameter m(D) relationship is formulated as a power law with two unknown coefficients (pre-factor, exponent) that need to be constrained from complementary information on hydrometeors, where absolute ice density measurement methods do not apply. Here, at first an extended theoretical study of numerous hydrometeor shapes simulated in 3-D and arbitrarily projected on a 2-D plan allowed to constrain the exponent βof the m(D) relationship from the exponent σ of the surface–diameterS(D)relationship, which is likewise written as a power law. Since S(D) always can be determined for real data from 2-D optical array probes or other particle imagers, the evolution of the m(D) exponent can be calculated. After that, the pre-factor α of m(D) is constrained from theoretical simulations of the radar reflectivities matching the measured reflectivities along the aircraft trajectory. The study was performed as part of the Megha-Tropiques satellite project, where two types of mesoscale convective systems (MCS) were investigated: (i) above the African continent and (ii) above the Indian Ocean. For the two data sets, two parameterizations are derived to calculate the vertical variability of m(D) coefficients α and β as a function of the temperature. Originally calculated (with T-matrix) and also subsequently parameterized m(D) relationships from this study are compared to other methods (from literature) of calculating m(D) in tropical convection. The significant benefit of using variable m(D) relations instead of a single m(D) relationship is demonstrated from the impact of all these m(D) relations on Z-CWC (Condensed Water Content) and Z-CWC-T-fitted parameterizations.

A fiber-coupled laser hygrometer for airborne total water measurement

Abstract. The second-generation University of Colorado closed-path tunable-diode laser hygrometer (CLH-2) is an instrument for the airborne in situ measurement of total water content – the sum of vapor-, liquid- and ice-phase water – in clouds. This compact instrument has been flown on the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream-V aircraft in an underwing canister. It operates autonomously and uses fiber-coupled optics to eliminate the need for a supply of dry compressed gas. In operation, sample air is ingested into a forward-facing sub-isokinetic inlet; this sampling configuration results in particle concentrations that are enhanced relative to ambient and causes greater instrument sensitivity to condensed water particles. Heaters within the inlet vaporize the ingested water particles, and the resulting augmented water vapor mixing ratio is measured by absorption of near-infrared light in a single-pass optical cell. The condensed water content is then determined by subtracting the ambient water vapor content from the total and by accounting for the inertial enhancement of particles into the sampling inlet. The CLH-2 is calibrated in the laboratory over a range of pressures and water vapor mixing ratios; the uncertainty in CLH-2 condensed water retrievals is estimated to be 14.3% to 16.1% (1-σ). A vapor-only laboratory intercomparison with the first-generation University of Colorado closed-path tunable-diode laser hygrometer (CLH) shows agreement within the 2-σ uncertainty bounds of both instruments.

Effect of water vapour condensation on the radon content in subsurface air in a hypogeal inactive-volcanic environment in Galdar cave, Spain

Fluctuations of trace gas activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were monitored over a year in a shallow volcanic cave (Painted Cave, Galdar, Canary Islands, Spain). 222Rn concentration was used due to its greater sensitivity to hygrothermal variations than CO2 concentration. Radon concentration in the cave increases as effective vapour condensation within the porous system of the rock surfaces inside the cave increases due to humidity levels of more than 70%. Condensed water content in pores was assessed and linked to a reduction in the direct passage of trace gases. Fluctuations in radon activity as a response to variations in weather and microclimate conditions were statistically identified by clustering entropy changes on the radon signal and parameterised to predict radon concentration anomalies. This raises important implications for other research fields, including the surveillance of shallow volcanic and seismic activity, preventive conservation of cultural heritage in indoor spaces, indoor air quality control and studies to improve understanding of the role of subterranean terrestrial ecosystems as reservoirs and/or temporary sources of trace gases.

Observations of ice nuclei and heterogeneous freezing in a Western Pacific extratropical storm

Abstract. In situ airborne sampling of refractory black carbon (rBC) particles and Ice Nuclei (IN) was conducted in and near an extratropical cyclonic storm in the western Pacific Ocean during the Pacific Dust Experiment, PACDEX, in the spring of 2007. Airmass origins were from Eastern Asia. Clouds associated primarily with the warm sector of the storm were sampled at various locations and altitudes. Cloud hydrometeors were evaporated by a counterflow virtual impactor (CVI) and the residuals were sampled by a single particle soot photometer (SP2) instrument, a continuous flow diffusion chamber ice nucleus detector (CFDC) and collected for electron microscope analysis. In clouds containing large ice particles, multiple residual particles were observed downstream of the CVI for each ice particle sampled on average. The fraction of rBC compared to total particles in the residual particles increased with decreasing condensed water content, while the fraction of IN compared to total particles did not, suggesting that the scavenging process for rBC is different than for IN. In the warm sector storm midlevels at temperatures where heterogeneous freezing is expected to be significant (here −24 to −29 °C), IN concentrations from ice particle residuals generally agreed with simultaneous measurements of total ice concentrations or were higher in regions where aggregates of crystals were found, suggesting heterogeneous freezing as the dominant ice formation process in the mid levels of these warm sector clouds. Lower in the storm, at warmer temperatures, ice concentrations were affected by aggregation and were somewhat less than measured IN concentrations at colder temperatures. The results are consistent with ice particles forming at storm mid-levels by heterogeneous freezing on IN, followed by aggregation and sedimentation to lower altitudes. Compositional analysis of the aerosol and back trajectories of the air in the warm sector suggested a possible biomass burning source for much of the aerosol. Comparison of the particles from the CFDC with the other aerosol in the residuals of ice particles suggested that the largest portion of IN had similar inferred origins (from biomass burning with minor amounts of rBC) as the other aerosol, but contained slightly elevated amounts of calcium and less influence from sea salt.

Response of the Nevzorov hot wire probe in clouds dominated by droplet conditions in the drizzle size range

Abstract. During the airborne research mission ASTAR 2004 (Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosols, Clouds and Radiation) performed over the island of Svalbard in the Arctic a constant-temperature hot-wire Nevzorov Probe designed for aircraft measurements, has been used onboard the aircraft POLAR 2. The Nevzorov probe measured liquid water (LWC) and total condensed water content (TWC) in supercooled liquid and partly mixed phase clouds, respectively. As for other hotwire probes the calculation of LWC and/or TWC (and thus the ice water content IWC) has to take into account the collection efficiencies of the two separate sensors for LWC and TWC which both react differently with respect to cloud phase and what is even more difficult to quantify with respect to the size of ice and liquid cloud particles. The study demonstrates that during pure liquid cloud sequences the ASTAR data set of the Nevzorov probe allowed to improve the quantification of the collection efficiency, particularly of the LWC probe part with respect to water. The improved quantification of liquid water content should lead to improved retrievals of IWC content. Simultaneous retrievals of LWC and IWC are correlated with the asymmetry factor derived from the Polar Nephelometer instrument.

PC2: A prognostic cloud fraction and condensation scheme. II: Climate model simulations

AbstractA prognostic cloud fraction and prognostic condensate scheme (PC2) has been developed for the Met Office Unified Model. A companion paper discussed the motivation for a new scheme and described its formulation in detail. In this paper we describe the results of climate model simulations, concentrating on the mechanisms by which the cloud and condensate predicted by the model change between the Control and new scheme. We demonstrate that the detrainment of condensate from the convection scheme directly into the large scale, as parametrized in the PC2 scheme, produces improved simulations of deep tropical cloud. We also show that the unphysical strong link between cloud fraction and condensed water content that is present in the Control scheme has been broken by using PC2, but that it is still challenging to produce optically thin cloud in a large‐scale model. Shallow convection proves to be a difficult cloud type to parametrize using a prognostic scheme, although the PC2 scheme performs well. The use of increased vertical resolution, in both the Control and PC2, improved the simulation of cloud when compared to observations. © Crown Copyright 2008. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Analysis of tropical radiative heating profiles: A comparison of models and observations

The vertical distribution of radiative heating in the atmosphere is an important driver of atmospheric circulation. Evaluation of model simulations of the Earth's radiation budget typically focus only on performance at the top of the atmosphere or at the surface. In this study, we compare the vertical distribution of cloud properties and radiative heating rates calculated from observations at the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) sites on the islands of Nauru and Manus to simulations performed using the Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF) and the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). Significant differences are found in the vertical profiles and diurnal cycle of cloud amount, condensed water content, and cloud effect on heating rates between the two models and between the models and the observations. The differences in the heating rates between the models and ARM results depend partly on the details of the parameterization of effective radius and absorption coefficients used and partly on differences in cloud frequency, vertical location of clouds, and optical thickness. Since the same radiative model is used in the CAM and MMF, differences in the effect of clouds on heating rates between the two models are due to the differing treatment of cloud processes in the models and the interaction of clouds and radiation on the local scale in the MMF.

Cloud fraction parameterization as a function of mean cloud water content and its variance using in‐situ observations

The main objective of the present work is to use in‐situ data to parameterize cloud fraction (Cs) as a function of both cloud condensed water content and its variability over scales of 10 km and 100 km. In‐situ data were obtained during the Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS) field project and represent mid‐latitude winter stratiform clouds. The main observations used in the analysis were condensed total water content (qc) and liquid water content. It is shown that Cs, defined as the length of cloudy segments divided by the clear and cloudy segments along a flight leg, can change up to 5%–25% if the averaging scale is changed from 10 km to 100 km. A new parameterization of Cs versus the ratio of qc to its variance is suggested. The sub‐grid scale variability is usually not known directly from the models and it needs to be obtained by prognostic or diagnostic equations. It is found that cloud sub‐grid variability, represented by the standard deviation (σ) of qc, increases with increasing qc for both 10 and 100 km scales, and σqc for 10 km scales is larger by about 50% as compared to 100 km scales for a given qc value. These conclusions suggest that both averaging scales and sub‐grid scale variability should be considered for cloud cover parameterizations.

Effective Radius of Ice Cloud Particle Populations Derived from Aircraft Probes

Abstract The effective radius (re) is a crucial variable in representing the radiative properties of cloud layers in general circulation models. This parameter is proportional to the condensed water content (CWC) divided by the extinction (σ). For ice cloud layers, parameterizations for re have been developed from aircraft in situ measurements 1) indirectly, using data obtained from particle spectrometer probes and assumptions or observations about particle shape and mass to get the ice water content (IWC) and area to get σ, and recently 2) from probes that derive IWC and σ more directly, referred to as the direct approach, even though the extinction is not measured directly. This study compares [IWC/σ] derived from the two methods using datasets acquired from comparable instruments on two aircraft, one sampling clouds at midlevels and the other at upper levels during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers (CRYSTAL) Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (FACE) field program in Florida in 2002. A penetration by one of the aircraft into a cold midlatitude orographic wave cloud composed of small particles is further evaluated. The σ and IWC derived by each method are compared and evaluated in different ways for each aircraft dataset. Direct measurements of σ exceed those derived indirectly by a factor of 2–2.5. The IWC probes, relying on ice sublimation, appear to measure accurately except when the IWC is high or the particles too large to sublimate completely during the short transit time through the probe. The IWC estimated from the particle probes are accurate when direct measurements are available to provide constraints and give useful information in high IWC/large particle situations. Because of the discrepancy in σ estimates between the direct and indirect approaches, there is a factor of 2–3 difference in [IWC/σ] between them. Although there are significant uncertainties involved in its use, comparisons with several independent data sources suggest that the indirect method is the more accurate of the two approaches. However, experiments are needed to resolve the source of the discrepancy in σ.

Effective ice particle densities for cold anvil cirrus

This study derives effective ice particle densities (ρe) from data collected by the NASA WB‐57F aircraft near the tops of Florida anvils during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers (CRYSTAL) Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (FACE). The ρe‐ice particle mass divided by the volume of an equivalent diameter liquid sphere‐, is obtained for particle populations () and single sizes from a few to 200–300 μm in maximum dimension using measurements of condensed water content and particle size distributions. Density values are needed for numerical modeling of ice cloud microphysical properties and remote sensing retrievals, and have not up to now been characterized for cold ice clouds containing mixed particle habits. The decrease with increasing slopes of gamma size distributions fitted to the size distributions, ranging from 0.15–0.91 g cm−3. For single sizes, ρe obeys a power‐law with an exponent of about −0.4.