Simulation of Effects of Atmospheric Aerosols on Deep Turbulent Convective Clouds Using a Spectral Microphysics Mixed-Phase Cumulus Cloud Model. Part II: Sensitivity Study

Abstract

Effects of different size distributions of cloud condensational nuclei (CCN) on the evolution of deep convective clouds under dry unstable continental thermodynamic conditions are investigated using the spectral microphysics Hebrew University Cloud Model (HUCM). In particular, high supercooled water content just below the level of homogeneous freezing, as well as an extremely high concentration of ice crystals above the level, observed recently by Rosenfeld and Woodley at the tops of growing clouds in Texas, were successfully reproduced. Numerical experiments indicate a significant decrease in accumulated precipitation in smoky air. The fraction of warm rain in the total precipitation amount increases with a decrease in the CCN concentration. The fraction is low in smoky continental air and is dominating in clean maritime air. As warm rain is a smaller fraction of total precipitation, the decrease in the accumulated rain amount in smoky air results mainly from the reduction of melted precipitation. It is shown that aerosols significantly influence cloud dynamics leading to the elevation of the level of precipitating particle formation. The falling down of these particles through dry air leads to a loss in precipitation. Thus, close coupling of microphysical and dynamical aerosol effects leads to the rain suppression from clouds arising in dry smoky air. The roles of freezing, CCN penetration through lateral cloud boundaries, and turbulent effects on cloud particles collisions are evaluated. Results, obtained using spectral microphysics, were compared with those obtained using two well-known schemes of bulk parameterization. The results indicate that the bulk parameterization schemes do not reproduce well the observed cloud microstructure.