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Macroscopic impacts of cloud and precipitation processes in shallow convection

Acta Geophysica volume 59, Article number: 1184 (2011) Cite this article

Abstract

This paper presents application of the EULAG model combined with a sophisticated double-moment warm-rain microphysics scheme to the model intercomparison case based on RICO (Rain in Cumulus over Ocean) field observations. As the simulations progress, the cloud field gradually deepens and a relatively sharp temperature and moisture inversions develop in the lower troposphere. Two contrasting aerosol environments are considered, referred to as pristine and polluted, together with two contrasting subgridscale mixing scenarios, the homogeneous and the extremely inhomogeneous mixing. Pristine and polluted environments feature mean cloud droplet concentrations around 40 and 150 mg−1, respectively, and large differences in the rain characteristics. Various measures are used to contrast evolution of macroscopic cloud field characteristics, such as the mean cloud fraction, the mean cloud width, or the height of the center of mass of the cloud field, among others. Macroscopic characteristics appear similar regardless of the aerosol characteristics or the homogeneity of the subgrid-scale mixing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA

    Wojciech W. Grabowski & Andrzej A. Wyszogrodzki

  2. Institute of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Joanna Slawinska & Hanna Pawlowska

Authors
  1. Wojciech W. Grabowski
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  2. Joanna Slawinska
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  3. Hanna Pawlowska
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  4. Andrzej A. Wyszogrodzki
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Correspondence to Wojciech W. Grabowski.

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Grabowski, W.W., Slawinska, J., Pawlowska, H. et al. Macroscopic impacts of cloud and precipitation processes in shallow convection. Acta Geophys. 59, 1184 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11600-011-0038-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11600-011-0038-9

Key words

  • shallow convection
  • cloud microphysics
  • CNN activation
  • homogeneity of subgrid-scale mixing