Stratocumulus-topped Boundary Layer Research Articles

Non-equilibrium dissipation scaling in atmospheric turbulence

This work is devoted to the detection of non-equilibrium turbulence states in atmospheric turbulence. The non-equilibrium scaling contradicts the classical Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade picture and many turbulence models do not account for it. The existence of such scaling has been discovered in various laboratory experiments. We show here that non-equilibrium states are also present in the stratocumulus-topped boundary layers, which indicates the presence rapidly changing external conditions.

Detecting Nonequilibrium States in Atmospheric Turbulence

Abstract In this work we show how to retrieve information about temporal changes of turbulence in the atmosphere based on in situ wind velocity measurements performed by aircraft. We focus on the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer high-resolution data taken by a helicopter-borne platform Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System (ACTOS). We calculate two nondimensional indicators, the dissipation factor and the integral-to-Taylor-scale ratio, and study their dependence on the Taylor-scale-based Reynolds number. By analyzing these results, we can identify regions where turbulence is in its stationary state and regions where turbulence decays in time or, on the contrary, becomes stronger. We can also detect nonequilibrium turbulence states, which indicate the presence of rapidly changing external conditions. Significance Statement The purpose of this work is to retrieve new information on turbulence in the atmosphere. We consider data from a field study based on in situ observations from a measurement payload below a slow-flying helicopter. We show that it is possible to retrieve information on temporal tendencies in a given region from such measurements. We attempt to estimate whether turbulence is in its stationary state, or possibly, turbulence decays due to insufficient production, or, on the contrary, becomes stronger. Such information provide useful knowledge of small-scale processes in the atmospheric boundary layer and can be used to improve their parameterizations.

A Single-Column Comparison of Model-Error Representations for Ensemble Prediction

Various perturbation approaches have been proposed for representing model error in convection-permitting ensemble prediction. Their evaluation usually relies on time-averaged ensemble prediction statistics and on complex case studies. In this work, their detailed physical behaviour is studied in order to understand their differences, and to help their optimization. A process-level intercomparison framework is used to investigate the widely used SPPT (stochastic perturbations of physics tendencies), independent SPPT, and random-parameters model-perturbation approaches. Ensemble predictions with the single-column version of the Arome numerical-weather-prediction model are evaluated on three different boundary-layer regimes: cumulus convection, stratocumulus-topped boundary layer, and radiation fog. The independent SPPT approach is found to produce more dispersion than the SPPT approach, particularly when several physics parametrizations are in near equilibrium. It also appears to be more numerically stable near the surface. The random parameters approach perturbations are structurally very different from the other approaches, particularly regarding cloud structure. The independent SPPT and random parameters approaches have very different sensitivities to the atmospheric conditions, which suggests that intercomparisons of ensemble-model-error approaches should carefully account for situation dependency. Substantial forecast biases are produced by random parameters with respect to the unperturbed model. These results suggest that the independent SPPT approach can bring major improvements over the SPPT approach with minimal effort, that there is some complementarity between the independent SPPT and random parameters approaches, but that implementing random-parameters-type approaches in operational applications may require careful tuning to avoid creating forecast biases.

Idealized Large-Eddy Simulations of Stratocumulus Advecting over Cold Water. Part I: Boundary Layer Decoupling

Abstract We explore the decoupling physics of a stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) moving over cooler water, a situation mimicking warm-air advection (WADV). We simulate an initially well-mixed STBL over a doubly periodic domain with the sea surface temperature decreasing linearly over time using the System for Atmospheric Modeling large-eddy model. Due to the surface cooling, the STBL becomes increasingly stably stratified, manifested as a near-surface temperature inversion topped by a well-mixed cloud-containing layer. Unlike the stably stratified STBL in cold-air advection (CADV) that is characterized by cumulus coupling, the stratocumulus deck in the WADV is unambiguously decoupled from the sea surface, manifested as weakly negative buoyancy flux throughout the subcloud layer. Without the influxes of buoyancy from the surface, the convective circulation in the well-mixed cloud-containing layer is driven by cloud-top radiative cooling. In such a regime, the downdrafts propel the circulation, in contrast to that in CADV regime for which the cumulus updrafts play a more determinant role. Such a contrast in convection regime explains the difference in many aspects of the STBLs including the entrainment rate, cloud homogeneity, vertical exchanges of heat and moisture, and lifetime of the stratocumulus deck, with the last being subject to a more thorough investigation in Part II. Finally, we investigate under what conditions a secondary stratus near the surface (or fog) can form in the WADV. We found that weaker subsidence favors the formation of fog whereas a more rapid surface cooling rate does not. Significant Statement The low-lying blanketlike clouds, called stratocumulus (Sc), reflect much incoming sunlight, substantially modulating Earth’s temperature. While much is known about how the Sc evolves when it moves over warmer water, few studies examine the opposite situation of Sc moving over colder water. We used a high-resolution numerical model to simulate such a case. When moving over cold water, the Sc becomes unambiguously decoupled from the water surface, distinctive from its warm counterpart in which the Sc interacts with the water surface via intermittent cauliflower-like clouds called cumulus clouds. Such decoupling influences many aspects of the Sc–sea surface system, which combine to alter the ability of the Sc to reflect sunlight, thereby influencing the climate. This work laid the foundation for future work that quantifies the contribution of such a decoupled Sc regime to Earth’s radiative budget and climate change.

Coupled and decoupled stratocumulus-topped boundary layers: turbulence properties

Abstract. We compare turbulence properties in coupled and decoupled marine stratocumulus-topped boundary layers (STBLs) using high-resolution in situ measurements performed by the helicopter-borne Airborne Cloud Turbulence Observation System (ACTOS) platform in the region of the eastern North Atlantic. The thermodynamically well-mixed coupled STBL was characterized by a comparable latent heat flux at the surface and in the cloud-top region, and substantially smaller sensible heat flux in the entire depth. Turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) was efficiently generated by buoyancy in the cloud and at the surface, and dissipated with comparable rate across the entire depth. Structure functions and power spectra of velocity fluctuations in the inertial range were reasonably consistent with the predictions of Kolmogorov theory. The turbulence was close to isotropic. In the decoupled STBL, decoupling was most obvious in humidity profiles. Heat fluxes and buoyant TKE production at the surface were similar to the coupled case. Around the transition level, latent heat flux decreased to zero and TKE was consumed by weak stability. In the cloud-top region, heat fluxes almost vanished and buoyancy production was significantly smaller than for the coupled case. The TKE dissipation rate inside the decoupled STBL varied between its sublayers. Structure functions and power spectra in the inertial range deviated from Kolmogorov scaling. This was more pronounced in the cloud and subcloud layer in comparison to the surface mixed layer. The turbulence was more anisotropic than in the coupled STBL, with horizontal fluctuations dominating. The degree of anisotropy was largest in the cloud and subcloud layer of the decoupled STBL. Integral length scales, of the order of 100 m in both cases, indicate turbulent eddies smaller than the depth of the coupled STBL or of the sublayers of the decoupled STBL. We hypothesize that turbulence produced in the cloud or close to the surface is redistributed across the entire coupled STBL but rather only inside the sublayers where it was generated in the case of the decoupled STBL. Scattered cumulus convection, developed below the stratocumulus base, may play a role in transport between those sublayers.

Effects of Surface and Top Wind Shear on the Spatial Organization of Marine Stratocumulus‐Topped Boundary Layers

AbstractThe convective nature of Stratocumulus topped boundary layers (STBL) involves the motion of updrafts and downdrafts, driven by surface fluxes and radiative cooling, respectively. The balance between shear and buoyant forcings at the surface can determine the organization of updrafts between cellular and roll structures. We investigate the effect of varying shear at the surface and top of the STBL using Large Eddy Simulations, taking DYCOMS II RF01 as a base case. We focus on spatial identification of the following features: coherent updrafts and downdrafts, and observe how they are affected by varying shear. Stronger surface shear organizes the updrafts in rolls, causes less well‐mixed thermodynamic profiles, and decreases cloud fraction and liquid water path (LWP). Stronger top shear also decreases cloud fraction and LWP more than surface shear, by thinning the cloud from the top. Features with stronger top than surface shear are associated with a net downward momentum transport and show early signs of decoupling. Classifying updrafts and downdrafts based on their vertical span and horizontal size confirms the dominance of tall objects spanning the whole STBL. Tall objects occupy 30% of the volume in the STBL, while short ones occupy less than 1%. For updraft and downdraft fluxes, these tall objects explain 65% of the vertical velocity variance and 83% of the buoyancy flux, on average. Stronger top shear also weakens the contribution of downdrafts to the turbulent fluxes and tilts the otherwise vertical development of updrafts.

A More General Paradigm for Understanding the Decoupling of Stratocumulus‐Topped Boundary Layers: The Importance of Horizontal Temperature Advection

AbstractMost prior studies on decoupling of a stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer (STBL) are focused on subtropics where cold air advection with moderate strength is dominant. This study expands across a wider spectrum of temperature advection spanning from moderately strong warm air advection to extremely strong cold air advection. A STBL undergoing warm advection is found to be more mixed than a STBL undergoing cold advection. This finding is consistent with the cold advection facilitating turbulent mixing in the boundary layer. When cold advection becomes sufficiently strong (<−5 K/day), the STBL becomes more stably stratified again because of emergence of the cumulus‐coupled STBL regime induced by the “deepening‐warming” mechanism. Such a “deepening‐warming” induced STBL decoupling, however, is still much weaker than that caused by warm advection flows (even weak ones), suggesting that the direction and strength of temperature advection must be considered for any STBL decoupling studies.

A study of the effect of regenerated CCN on marine stratocumulus cloud development using the WRF-LES model with spectral bin microphysics scheme

Impacts of regenerated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on daytime marine stratocumulus clouds (MSC) and stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) are investigated, by implementing five different CCN regeneration methods in the spectral bin microphysics (SBM) scheme of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) large eddy simulation (LES) model. Without the CCN regeneration process, the model shows unrealistic reduction of total (cloud drops + CCN) particle concentrations but produces very large cloud drops, compared to observations. Such reduction of particle concentrations is remedied when CCN regeneration process is implemented in the model. Evaluation of the model performance with aircraft measurement data confirms that CCN regeneration is critical for realistic simulation of MSC development. However, depending on the selected CCN regeneration method, results vary significantly especially at a later hour of simulation time (5 h). Such variabilities of the microphysical properties and dynamical structures are caused mainly by the different ways of regenerating CCN particles after entrainment of warm and dry air and subsequent evaporation of cloud drops near cloud top, which, in turn, affects cloud radiative properties such as SW heating and LW cooling that drives STBL convection. We are confident that this study can provide a guidance for simulating more realistic three-dimensional MSC cloud development by including the crucial process of CCN regeneration in the SBM scheme. All in all, we recommend the methods, which primarily replenish the depleted CCN with large CCN.

TKE-Based Moist Eddy-Diffusivity Mass-Flux (EDMF) Parameterization for Vertical Turbulent Mixing

Abstract A new turbulent kinetic energy (TKE)-based moist eddy-diffusivity mass-flux (EDMF) vertical turbulence mixing scheme (EDMF-TKE) is developed, where the nonlocal transport by large turbulent eddies is represented by a mass-flux (MF) scheme while the local transport by small turbulent eddies is represented by an eddy-diffusivity (ED) scheme, which is given by a function of a prognostic TKE. In the scheme, an MF approach is employed for the stratocumulus-top-driven downdrafts as well as for the thermals in the daytime unstable boundary layer. The scheme includes parameterizations for enhanced buoyancy due to moist adiabatic processes in condensation and for TKE interaction with cumulus convection. A scale-aware parameterization is proposed for the grid sizes where the large turbulent eddies are partially resolved. The single-column model (SCM) tests show that both the EDMF-TKE and the current operational NCEP GFS hybrid EDMF scheme (EDMF-CTL) simulate a daytime dry-convective boundary layer well and agree with a benchmark large-eddy simulation (LES). For a marine stratocumulus-topped boundary layer case, the EDMF-TKE better simulates the liquid water and wind speed profiles than the EDMF-CTL compared to the LES. For a stable boundary layer (SBL) case, the EDMF-TKE also agrees better with the LES than the EDMF-CTL, although it tends to produce a deeper SBL compared to the LES. On the other hand, three-dimensional medium-range forecast experiments show that the EDMF-TKE slightly improves forecast skill in the 500-hPa height anomaly correlation and wind vector, while it has a neutral impact on precipitation forecasts over the continental United States.

Impact of Turbulent Mixing in the Stratocumulus-Topped Boundary Layer on Numerical Weather Prediction

The impact of enhanced turbulent mixing induced by radiative cooling at the top of the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) on numerical weather prediction is examined. An additional term involving top-down turbulent mixing via in-cloud radiative cooling is applied to the Yonsei University (YSU) planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization scheme using a top-down diffusivity profile and cloud-top entrainment. The modified scheme is evaluated in an advection fog case over the Yellow Sea of Korea using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and in global medium-range forecasts using the Global/Regional Integrated Model system (GRIMs). In the fog case simulation, consideration of the additional top-down mixing parameterization in the YSU PBL simulates less formation and more rapid dispersion of the fog. As a result, the modified scheme simulates a drier and warmer boundary layer and a moister and cooler layer above the PBL. The modified algorithm also improves surface temperature prediction over the Yellow Sea accompanying early dissipation of the fog. In the global medium-range forecast experiment, the modified scheme simulates overall enhanced PBL mixing over the STBL in the tropics and subtropical ocean, showing drier and warmer regions near the surface and moister and cooler regions above the PBL, resulting in prediction of reduced low level cloud amount and increased downward shortwave radiation at the surface. The modified scheme appears to improve systematic bias in temperature and humidity in the lower troposphere compared to the control simulation.

Aerosol characteristics in the entrainment interface layer in relation to the marine boundary layer and free troposphere

Abstract. This study uses airborne data from two field campaigns off the California coast to characterize aerosol size distribution characteristics in the entrainment interface layer (EIL), a thin and turbulent layer above marine stratocumulus cloud tops, which separates the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) from the free troposphere (FT). The vertical bounds of the EIL are defined in this work based on considerations of buoyancy and turbulence using thermodynamic and dynamic data. Aerosol number concentrations are examined from three different probes with varying particle diameter (Dp) ranges: > 3 nm, > 10 nm, and 0.11–3.4 µm. Relative to the EIL and FT layers, the sub-cloud (SUB) layer exhibited lower aerosol number concentrations and higher surface area concentrations. High particle number concentrations between 3 and 10 nm in the EIL are indicative of enhanced nucleation, assisted by high actinic fluxes, cool and moist air, and much lower surface area concentrations than the STBL. Slopes of number concentration versus altitude in the EIL were correlated with the particle number concentration difference between the SUB and lower FT layers. The EIL aerosol size distribution was influenced by varying degrees from STBL aerosol versus subsiding FT aerosol depending on the case examined. These results emphasize the important role of the EIL in influencing nucleation and aerosol–cloud–climate interactions.

Anisotropy of Observed and Simulated Turbulence in Marine Stratocumulus

AbstractAnisotropy of turbulence near the top of the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer (STBL) is studied using large‐eddy simulation (LES) and measurements from the POST and DYCOMS‐II field campaigns. Focusing on turbulence m below the cloud top, we see remarkable similarity between daytime and nocturnal flight data covering different inversion strengths and free‐tropospheric conditions. With λ denoting wavelength and cloud‐top height, we find that turbulence at is weakly dominated by horizontal fluctuations, while turbulence at becomes strongly dominated by horizontal fluctuations. Between are scales at which vertical fluctuations dominate. Typical‐resolution LES of the STBL (based on POST flight 13 and DYCOMS‐II flight 1) captures observed characteristics of below‐cloud‐top turbulence reasonably well. However, using a fixed vertical grid spacing of 5 m, decreasing the horizontal grid spacing and increasing the subgrid‐scale mixing length leads to increased dominance of vertical fluctuations, increased entrainment velocity, and decreased liquid water path. Our analysis supports the notion that entrainment parameterizations (e.g., in climate models) could potentially be improved by accounting more accurately for anisotropic deformation of turbulence in the cloud‐top region. While LES has the potential to facilitate improved understanding of anisotropic cloud‐top turbulence, sensitivity to grid spacing, grid‐box aspect ratio, and subgrid‐scale model needs to be addressed.

Coherent Structures in Large-Eddy Simulations of a Nonprecipitating Stratocumulus-Topped Boundary Layer

Abstract The properties of coherent convective structures are analyzed in a nonprecipitating marine nocturnal stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) with a series of high-resolution large-eddy simulations (LESs). A new classification method based on octant analysis—using vertical velocity and two passive scalars—is introduced to systematically define convective structures in both the cloudy and the cloud-free regions. It is therefore possible to detect and track updrafts, downdrafts, and their turbulent shells (both ascending and subsiding), together with the entraining air from the inversion layer or the free troposphere. The geometrical and thermodynamical characteristics (e.g., areal fraction, temperature, liquid and total water mixing ratio, buoyancy) of those structures are then accurately described, and particular attention is given to their respective contributions to the turbulent transport of mass, heat, and moisture. It is shown that updrafts, downdrafts, and entrainment are equally important to describe the STBL dynamics. Conversely, it is found that shells, although they partially contribute to the mass transport, have a negligible contribution to the turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture.

Effects of wind shear and radiative cooling on the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer

The effects of wind shear and radiative cooling on the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer (STBL) were investigated via a set of large‐eddy simulations. The set‐up of the numerical experiments was based on Flight TO13 from the Physics of Stratocumulus Top (POST) field campaign, in which sensible and latent heat fluxes at the surface were small and thermodynamic conditions prevented cloud‐top entrainment instability.The results demonstrate that the presence of radiative cooling invigorated convective circulations across the STBL and sharpened the inversion above the cloud, while wind shear at the top of the STBL was a source of turbulence in the capping inversion and caused dilution of the cloud top. The flux and gradient Richardson numbers in the capping inversion and in the topmost layer of the cloud were nearly critical.Analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget and its transport indicated that turbulence in the inversion capping the cloud was produced locally by wind shear and was dynamically decoupled from the turbulence driven by convective circulations across the STBL. Similar conclusions were derived for the topmost part of the cloud.

Resolution and domain‐size sensitivity in implicit large‐eddy simulation of the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer

AbstractAs a complement to measurements, numerical modeling facilitates improved understanding of the complex turbulent processes in the stratocumulus‐topped boundary layer (STBL). Due to limited computational resources simulations are often run at too coarse resolutions to resolve details of cloud‐top turbulence and potentially in computational domains too small to account for the largest scales of boundary layer circulations. The effects of such deficiencies are not fully understood. Here the influence of resolution/anisotropy of the computational grid and domain size in under‐resolved implicit large‐eddy simulation of the STBL is investigated. The performed simulations are based on data from the first research flight of the DYCOMS‐II campaign. Regarding cloud cover and domain‐averaged liquid water path, simulations with horizontal/vertical grid spacing of 35/5 m, 70/10 m, and 105/15 m are found to agree better with measurements than more computationally expensive simulations with isotropic grid boxes, e.g., with 10/10 m or 15/15 m grid spacing. While decreasing the vertical grid spacing allows more representative simulation of the thin, turbulent, stably stratified interfacial layer between the STBL and the free troposphere, coarsening the horizontal resolution dampens vertical velocity fluctuations in this region and mimics the observed anisotropy of stably stratified small‐scale turbulence near the cloud top. The size of the computational domain is found to have almost no impact on mean cloud properties. However, increasing it from to does lead to the occurrence of larger coherent updraft structures. Increasing it further to shows little or no increase in the updraft size.

Reducing the biases in shortwave cloud radiative forcing in tropical and subtropical regions from the perspective of boundary layer processes

Abstract Biases in shortwave cloud radiative forcing (SWCF), which cause overestimates in tropical regions and underestimates in subtropical marine stratocumulus regions, are common in many climate models. Here, two boundary layer processes are investigated in the atmospheric model GAMIL2, entrainment at the top of the boundary layer and longwave radiative cooling at the top of stratocumulus clouds, in order to reduce biases and reveal the mechanisms underlying these processes. Our results show that including the entrainment process in the model can reduce negative SWCF biases in most tropical regions but increases positive SWCF biases in subtropical marine stratocumulus regions. This occurs because entrainment reduces the low-level cloud fraction and its cloud liquid water content by suppressing the vertical turbulent diffusion in the boundary layer and decreasing the relative humidity when warm and dry free atmosphere is entrained in the boundary layer. Longwave radiative cooling at the top of stratocumulus clouds can enhance turbulent diffusion within the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. When combined with the entrainment process, longwave radiative cooling reduces the positive SWCF biases in subtropical marine stratocumulus regions that are observed using the entrainment process alone. The incorporation of these two boundary layer processes improves the simulated SWCF in tropical and subtropical regions in GAMIL2.

How large-scale subsidence affects stratocumulus transitions

Abstract. Some climate modeling results suggest that the Hadley circulation might weaken in a future climate, causing a subsequent reduction in the large-scale subsidence velocity in the subtropics. In this study we analyze the cloud liquid water path (LWP) budget from large-eddy simulation (LES) results of three idealized stratocumulus transition cases, each with a different subsidence rate. As shown in previous studies a reduced subsidence is found to lead to a deeper stratocumulus-topped boundary layer, an enhanced cloud-top entrainment rate and a delay in the transition of stratocumulus clouds into shallow cumulus clouds during its equatorwards advection by the prevailing trade winds. The effect of a reduction of the subsidence rate can be summarized as follows. The initial deepening of the stratocumulus layer is partly counteracted by an enhanced absorption of solar radiation. After some hours the deepening of the boundary layer is accelerated by an enhancement of the entrainment rate. Because this is accompanied by a change in the cloud-base turbulent fluxes of moisture and heat, the net change in the LWP due to changes in the turbulent flux profiles is negligibly small.

The summer diurnal cycle of coastal cloudiness over west Iberia using Meteosat/SEVIRI and a WRF regional climate model simulation

The summer time cloud diurnal cycle over western Iberia is analysed here using a satellite climate data record of fractional cloud cover based on 9 years of Meteosat Second Generation observations which is distributed by the EUMETSAT's Climate Monitoring Satellite Applications Facility. These observations were complemented with a corresponding mean cloud diurnal cycle using SYNOP reports on six locations over the studied domain. It is shown that the main coastal mountain range separates regions that are characterized by two very different cloud regimes: stratocumulus-topped boundary layer convection dominates the region towards the coast and continental cumulus convection dominates the region to the east of these mountains. To explain the observed variability, a long-term regional climate model [Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF)] simulation over Iberia was used. A comparison of the observations against model output for the common period between observations and simulation shows that although the model generally underestimates cloudiness, it is able to represent the diurnal cycle in a realistic manner. It is shown that the observed cloud diurnal evolution is linked to the thermal circulations generated by the land-sea contrast and orography. The extent to which the cloud deck penetrates inland is closely related to the coastal orography: although smaller hills tend to enhance cloudiness, larger mountains block the progression of the marine boundary layer further inland, as it behaves as a density current. Larger mountains also produce katabatic flow and a rather strong subsidence aloft during the night. The warming due to this subsidence helps the blocking of the cloud deck as it is partially responsible for evaporating clouds, as shown by a potential temperature budget analysis.

Study of longwave radiative transfer in stratocumulus clouds by using bin optical properties and bin microphysics scheme

Infrared radiative cooling at the cloud top is the major driving force for stratocumulus-topped boundary layer turbulence and the major source of buoyancy within a convective mixed layer. However, there is still large uncertainty about the rate of longwave cooling at the cloud top in recent numerical models. Radiative transfer calculations within stratocumulus clouds can be further improved by using bin scheme in the calculation of longwave extinction coefficients.A method to calculate bin optical properties was developed and was implemented in the RRTM LW radiative transfer model. This bin-type radiation scheme allows us more accurate calculation of the optical properties of clouds, because it does not need any arbitrary assumption for the size distribution of the hydrometeors. The number concentrations and mixing ratios in 36 size-bins provided by bin microphysical scheme are used for calculation of the extinction coefficient. In this paper results of this new scheme were compared to that of one-moment and two-moment bulk radiation schemes where the size distributions were supposed to follow a gamma-function. It was found that the application of the two-moment bulk scheme had no advantage against the one-moment bulk scheme in simulation of radiation profiles, if radiation feedback on cloud processes was not taken into account. Although the gamma function used by bulk schemes fitted relatively well to the size distribution of the water drops calculated by the bin scheme, the longwave radiation fluxes calculated by the two schemes (bulk vs. bin) were significantly different. The bin radiation scheme gave at least 50% larger warming rates both at the cloud base and at the cloud top than the bulk schemes did. The cooling/warming occurred in a thinner vertical layer in the case of the bin scheme than in the case of bulk schemes. The shape of the net radiation profile strongly depended on the CCN concentration. Continental clouds were found to have horizontally less varying value and vertically thinner region of cloud top cooling than maritime clouds.Compared with the observations the bulk radiation schemes failed to simulate the cloud base warming, while the bin radiation scheme reproduced well the observed cloud base warming. Considering the cloud top cooling the bin scheme overestimated the observed values, but agreed well with the results of other detailed radiation models. This difference might be explained by uncertainties about the vertical extent of the layer where divergence of the net radiation profile was large.

Turbulent structure and scaling of the inertial subrange in a stratocumulus-topped boundary layer observed by a Doppler lidar

Abstract. The turbulent structure of a stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer over a 2-day period is observed with a Doppler lidar at Mace Head in Ireland. Using profiles of vertical velocity statistics, the bulk of the mixing is identified as cloud driven. This is supported by the pertinent feature of negative vertical velocity skewness in the sub-cloud layer which extends, on occasion, almost to the surface. Both coupled and decoupled turbulence characteristics are observed. The length and timescales related to the cloud-driven mixing are investigated and shown to provide additional information about the structure and the source of the mixing inside the boundary layer. They are also shown to place constraints on the length of the sampling periods used to derive products, such as the turbulent dissipation rate, from lidar measurements. For this, the maximum wavelengths that belong to the inertial subrange are studied through spectral analysis of the vertical velocity. The maximum wavelength of the inertial subrange in the cloud-driven layer scales relatively well with the corresponding layer depth during pronounced decoupled structure identified from the vertical velocity skewness. However, on many occasions, combining the analysis of the inertial subrange and vertical velocity statistics suggests higher decoupling height than expected from the skewness profiles. Our results show that investigation of the length scales related to the inertial subrange significantly complements the analysis of the vertical velocity statistics and enables a more confident interpretation of complex boundary layer structures using measurements from a Doppler lidar.