The Effects of Aerosol-cloud Interactions on Warm Cloud Properties


Book Description

When aerosols enter the atmosphere through anthropogenic and natural activities, they interact with clouds in the atmosphere in what is termed aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI). ACI alter the cloud's radiative properties by acting as cloud condensation nuclei within the cloud, thereby reducing the mean drop size and increasing the cloud's albedo and cooling the earth by reflecting incoming shortwave radiation in what is termed the first indirect effect. By reducing the mean drop size throughout the cloud, aerosol also act to delay precipitation formation, leading to larger, longer lived clouds and further cooling the earth in a process known as the second indirect effect. Using four years of satellite observations, the overall impact of aerosols on warm cloud radiative effect is evaluated. Warm clouds are defined as clouds with cloud top temperatures below freezing level. The estimates are constrained within regimes of stability, relative humidity of the free atmosphere, and by the scene liquid water path to control for how meteorology modulates the strength and sign of ACI. The sum of the first and second indirect effect, estimates of how aerosols alter the warm cloud shortwave effect and cloud fraction, are compared to an estimate of the full indirect effect, which includes all changes to the warm cloud shortwave radiative effect. The decomposed, or summative, indirect effect (-0.26 +/- .15 Wm2) is less than the full indirect effect (-0.32 +/- .16 Wm2), though they lie within each other's uncertainty estimates. When the decomposed indirect effect is further constrained by precipitation, the estimate decreases to .21 +/- .15 Wm2. The difference between the full indirect effect forcing and the decomposed forcings may be secondary indirect effects not included in our decomposition. The second indirect effect includes not only the cloud extent broadening, but the cloud depth increasing. This deepening response may increase warming due to a larger longwave cloud radiative effect. The longwave indirect effect susceptibility is decomposed to determine how large it may potentially be and whether it could offset any cooling due to the shortwave indirect effect. We find the longwave indirect effect does have the potential to offset cooling through cloud deepening in regions where the shortwave indirect effect is extremely small, however the magnitude of the longwave component is sensitive to the diurnal cycle. Cloud deepening signals clouds may be invigorated, or experiencing a state where precipitation formation and turbulence increase due to ACI. The effects of aerosol on precipitation formation and vertical motion are investigated using WALRUS, an algorithm of latent heating within the cloud determined using CloudSat radar returns. The LWP is constrained to thicker clouds 150 gm2




Aerosol-Cloud-Climate Interactions


Book Description

Aerosol and clouds play important roles in determining the earth's climate, in ways that we are only beginning to comprehend. In conjunction with molecular scattering from gases, aerosol and clouds determine in part what fraction of solar radiation reaches the earth's surface, and what fraction of the longwave radiation from the earth escapes to space. This book provides an overview of the latest research on atmospheric aerosol and clouds and their effects on global climate. Subjects reviewed include the direct and indirect effects of aerosol on climate, the radiative properties of clouds and their effects on the Earth's radiation balance, the incorporation of cloud effects in numerical weather prediction models, and stratospheric aerosol and clouds.




Mixed-Phase Clouds


Book Description

Mixed-Phase Clouds: Observations and Modeling presents advanced research topics on mixed-phase clouds. As the societal impacts of extreme weather and its forecasting grow, there is a continuous need to refine atmospheric observations, techniques and numerical models. Understanding the role of clouds in the atmosphere is increasingly vital for current applications, such as prediction and prevention of aircraft icing, weather modification, and the assessment of the effects of cloud phase partition in climate models. This book provides the essential information needed to address these problems with a focus on current observations, simulations and applications. - Provides in-depth knowledge and simulation of mixed-phase clouds over many regions of Earth, explaining their role in weather and climate - Features current research examples and case studies, including those on advanced research methods from authors with experience in both academia and the industry - Discusses the latest advances in this subject area, providing the reader with access to best practices for remote sensing and numerical modeling




Solar Variability and Planetary Climates


Book Description

This book provides an updated overview of the processes determining the influence of solar forcing on climate. It discusses in particular the most recent developments regarding the role of aerosols in the climate system and the new insights that could be gained from the investigation of terrestrial climate analogues. The book’s structure mirrors that of the ISSI workshop held in Bern in June 2005.




Aerosol-Cloud Interactions from Urban, Regional, to Global Scales


Book Description

The studies in this dissertation aim at advancing our scientific understandings about physical processes involved in the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction and quantitatively assessing the impacts of aerosols on the cloud systems with diverse scales over the globe on the basis of the observational data analysis and various modeling studies. As recognized in the Fifth Assessment Report by the Inter-government Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols is highly uncertain, representing the largest uncertainty in projections of future climate by anthropogenic activities. By using a newly implemented cloud microphysical scheme in the cloud-resolving model, the thesis assesses aerosol-cloud interaction for distinct weather systems, ranging from individual cumulus to mesoscale convective systems. This thesis also introduces a novel hierarchical modeling approach that solves a long outstanding mismatch between simulations by regional weather models and global climate models in the climate modeling community. More importantly, the thesis provides key scientific solutions to several challenging questions in climate science, including the global impacts of the Asian pollution. As scientists wrestle with the complexities of climate change in response to varied anthropogenic forcing, perhaps no problem is more challenging than the understanding of the impacts of atmospheric aerosols from air pollution on clouds and the global circulation.




Remote Sensing of Aerosols, Clouds, and Precipitation


Book Description

Remote Sensing of Aerosols, Clouds, and Precipitation compiles recent advances in aerosol, cloud, and precipitation remote sensing from new satellite observations. The book examines a wide range of measurements from microwave (both active and passive), visible, and infrared portions of the spectrum. Contributors are experts conducting state-of-the-art research in atmospheric remote sensing using space, airborne, and ground-based datasets, focusing on supporting earth observation satellite missions for aerosol, cloud, and precipitation studies. A handy reference for scientists working in remote sensing, earth science, electromagnetics, climate physics, and space engineering. Valuable for operational forecasters, meteorologists, geospatial experts, modelers, and policymakers alike. - Presents new approaches in the field, along with further research opportunities, based on the latest satellite data - Focuses on how remote sensing systems can be designed/developed to solve outstanding problems in earth and atmospheric sciences - Edited by a dynamic team of editors with a mixture of highly skilled and qualified authors offering world-leading expertise in the field




The Impact of Aerosol-cloud-radiation Interaction on California Weather


Book Description

The source-oriented Weather Research and Forecasting chemistry model (SOWC) was modified to include warm/cold cloud processes and applied to investigate 1) how source-oriented aerosols influence fog formation and optical properties in the atmosphere, 2) how aerosol mixing state influences cloud and ice formation and atmospheric optical properties during a winter storm, and 3) the direct, semi-direct, and indirect effects of long-range transport dust on severe weather over California and the Eastern Pacific. SOWC tracks 6-dimensional chemical variables (X, Z, Y, Size Bins, Source Types, Species) through an explicit simulation of atmospheric chemistry and physics. In this study, all aerosol source types can activate to form cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) based on the Köhler theory, but the dust is the only source of ice nuclei (IN). Furthermore, a new source-oriented cloud module in the two-moment Purdue Lin microphysics scheme, and a new module with all source-oriented hydrometeors (cloud, ice, rain, snow and graupel) in the Morrison two-moment microphysics scheme were implemented into the SOWC model to study fog events and winter storm cases, respectively. In Chapter 2, the enhanced SOWC model was used to study a fog event that occurred on January 17th, 2011, in the Central Valley of California. The SOWC reasonably portrays the spatial distribution and duration of the fog event consistent with observations. The source-oriented mixture representation of particles reduced cloud droplet number relative to the internal mixture approach that artificially coats hydrophobic particles with hygroscopic components. The fraction of aerosols activating into CCN at a supersaturation of 0.5% in the Central Valley decreased from 86% in the internal mixture model to 68% in the source-oriented model. This increased the surface energy flux by 3-5 W m-2 and surface temperature by as much as 0.15 K. In Chapter 3, the enhanced SOWC model was used to study a winter storm that occurred on March 6th, 2011, in California. Compared to ground based observations, SOWC with the modified Morrison microphysics scheme and modified Goddard radiation schemes predicted reasonable precipitation, but the onset of precipitation is delayed by 5 hours. Immersion freezing was the main mechanism for ice nuclei formation. Secondary coatings on dust particles increased IN from immersion freezing but decreased IN from contact freezing. Increasing CCN and IN in the internal mixing experiment produced more ice crystals and cloud droplets but did not significantly alter total perception under the conditions studied. However, because of the reducing riming efficiency from snow to graupel in the source-oriented mixing experiment, it resulted more snowfall (less rainfall) on the ground, especially over the mountain area. In Chapter 4, the SOWC model was used to understand the direct, semi-direct, and indirect effects of long-range transport dust on severe weather over Eastern Pacific Ocean. The maximum averaged IN nucleation rate increased 36% after adding long-range transport dust. Because clouds in mid-latitude originate precipitately via the ice phase, an increase in IN can enhance ice formation from supercooled water by heterogenetic freezing (mainly contact freezing) and then to alter hydrometer water amount. Adding long-range transport dust increased the mixing ratio and number concentration for almost all hydrometers. However, the changes of adding local dust in local+LR_dust from LR_dust is more complicated due to the importance of hydrometers in the cumulus scheme. The change in the strength of convection after adding long-range transport dust (or local dust) also produces a noticeable distinction in the precipitation pattern, but the total precipitation did not have major difference after adding long-range transport dust (or local dust).




Clouds and Climate


Book Description

Comprehensive overview of research on clouds and their role in our present and future climate, for advanced students and researchers.







Aerosols and Climate


Book Description

The ever-diversifying field of aerosol effects on climate is comprehensively presented here, describing the strong connection between fundamental research and model applications in a way that will allow both experienced researchers and those new to the field to gain an understanding of a wide range of topics. The material is consistently presented at three levels for each topic: (i) an accessible "quick read" of the essentials, (ii) a more detailed description, and (iii) a section dedicated to how the processes are handled in models. The modelling section in each chapter summarizes the current level of knowledge and what the gaps in this understanding mean for the effects of aerosols on climate, enabling readers to quickly understand how new research fits into established knowledge. Definitions, case studies, reference data, and examples are included throughout. Aerosols and Climate is a vital resource for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, senior researchers, and lecturers in departments of atmospheric science, meteorology, engineering, and environment. It will also be of interest to those working in operational centers and policy-facing organizations, providing strong reference material on the current state of knowledge. - Includes a section in each chapter that focuses on the treatment of relevant aerosol processes in climate models - Provides clear exposition of the challenges in understanding and reducing persistent gaps in knowledge and uncertainties in the field of aerosol-climate interaction, going beyond the fundamentals and existing knowledge - Authored by experts in modeling and aerosol processes, analysis or observations to ensure accessibility and balance