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Title: RACORO continental boundary layer cloud investigations. 2. Large-eddy simulations of cumulus clouds and evaluation with in-situ and ground-based observations

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022525· OSTI ID:1201350
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  2. NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies (GISS), New York, NY (United States)
  3. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States)
  4. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

A 60-hour case study of continental boundary layer cumulus clouds is examined using two large-eddy simulation (LES) models. The case is based on observations obtained during the RACORO Campaign (Routine Atmospheric Radiation Measurement [ARM] Aerial Facility [AAF] Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths [CLOWD] Optical Radiative Observations) at the ARM Climate Research Facility's Southern Great Plains site. The LES models are driven by continuous large-scale and surface forcings, and are constrained by multi-modal and temporally varying aerosol number size distribution profiles derived from aircraft observations. We compare simulated cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties with ground-based remote sensing and aircraft observations. The LES simulations capture the observed transitions of the evolving cumulus-topped boundary layers during the three daytime periods, and generally reproduce variations of droplet number concentration with liquid water content (LWC), corresponding to the gradient between the cloud centers and cloud edges at given heights. The observed LWC values fall within the range of simulated values; the observed droplet number concentrations are commonly higher than simulated, but differences remain on par with potential estimation errors in the aircraft measurements. Sensitivity studies examine the influences of bin microphysics versus bulk microphysics, aerosol advection, supersaturation treatment, and aerosol hygroscopicity. Simulated macrophysical cloud properties are found to be insensitive in this non-precipitating case, but microphysical properties are especially sensitive to bulk microphysics supersaturation treatment and aerosol hygroscopicity.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704
OSTI ID:
1201350
Report Number(s):
BNL-108008-2015-JA; R&D Project: 2016-BNL-EE631EECA-Budg; KP1703020
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 120, Issue 12; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 32 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

On Which Microphysical Time Scales to Use in Studies of Entrainment‐Mixing Mechanisms in Clouds journal April 2018
Remote Sensing of Droplet Number Concentration in Warm Clouds: A Review of the Current State of Knowledge and Perspectives journal June 2018
Differences in Eddy‐Correlation and Energy‐Balance Surface Turbulent Heat Flux Measurements and Their Impacts on the Large‐Scale Forcing Fields at the ARM SGP Site journal March 2019
Evaluation of Shallow‐Cumulus Entrainment Rate Retrievals Using Large‐Eddy Simulation journal August 2019
Modifications to WRF's dynamical core to improve the treatment of moisture for large-eddy simulations: WRF DY-CORE MOISTURE TREATMENT journal October 2015

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