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Distinct Contributions of Ice Nucleation, Large-Scale Environment, and Shallow Cumulus Detrainment to Cloud Phase Partitioning With NCAR CAM5

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027213· OSTI ID:1433940
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3]
  1. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Dept. of Earth System Science; Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Science
  2. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Science; Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Science
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Mixed-phase clouds containing both liquid droplets and ice particles occur frequently at high latitudes and in the midlatitude storm track regions. Simulations of the cloud phase partitioning between liquid and ice hydrometeors in state-of-the-art global climate models are still associated with large biases. For this study, the phase partitioning in terms of liquid mass phase ratio (MPRliq, defined as the ratio of liquid mass to total condensed water mass) simulated from the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5) is evaluated against the observational data from A-Train satellite remote sensors. Modeled MPRliq is significantly lower than observations on the global scale, especially in the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., Southern Ocean and the Antarctic). Sensitivity tests with CAM5 are conducted to investigate the distinct contributions of heterogeneous ice nucleation, shallow cumulus detrainment, and large-scale environment (e.g., winds, temperature, and water vapor) to the low MPRliq biases. Our results show that an aerosol-aware ice nucleation parameterization increases the MPRliq especially at temperatures colder than -20°C and significantly improves the model agreements with observations in the Polar regions in summer. The decrease of threshold temperature over which all detrained cloud water is liquid from 268 to 253 K enhances the MPRliq and improves the MPRliq mostly over the Southern Ocean. By constraining water vapor in CAM5 toward reanalysis, modeled low biases in many geographical regions are largely reduced through a significant decrease of cloud ice mass mixing ratio.
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Key Research and Development Program (China); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0014239
OSTI ID:
1433940
Report Number(s):
BNL--203496-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 123; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

Impacts of Representing Heterogeneous Distribution of Cloud Liquid and Ice on Phase Partitioning of Arctic Mixed‐Phase Clouds with NCAR CAM5 journal December 2019
Comparison of Antarctic and Arctic Single‐Layer Stratiform Mixed‐Phase Cloud Properties Using Ground‐Based Remote Sensing Measurements journal September 2019

Figures / Tables (14)

Table 1(p. 48)table Table 1
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Related Subjects

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CAM5
cloud phase partitioning
ice nucleation
mixed‐phase clouds