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Title: Scaling of drizzle virga depth with cloud thickness for marine stratocumulus clouds

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077145· OSTI ID:1433941
ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
  3. Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)
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Drizzle plays a crucial role in cloud lifetime and radiation properties of marine stratocumulus clouds. Understanding where drizzle exists in the sub-cloud layer, which depends on drizzle virga depth, can help us better understand where below-cloud scavenging and evaporative cooling and moisturizing occur. In this study, we examine the statistical properties of drizzle frequency and virga depth of marine stratocumulus based on unique ground-based remote sensing data. Results show that marine stratocumulus clouds are drizzling nearly all the time. In addition, we derive a simple scaling analysis between drizzle virga thickness and cloud thickness. Our analytical expression agrees with the observational data reasonable well, which suggests that our formula provides a simple parameterization for drizzle virga of stratocumulus clouds suitable for use in other models.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AGS-1639868
OSTI ID:
1433941
Report Number(s):
BNL-203503-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 8; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 17 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Midlatitude Oceanic Cloud and Precipitation Properties as Sampled by the ARM Eastern North Atlantic Observatory journal April 2019
Characterization of shallow oceanic precipitation using profiling and scanning radar observations at the Eastern North Atlantic ARM observatory journal January 2019
A new approach to estimate supersaturation fluctuations in stratocumulus cloud using ground-based remote-sensing measurements journal January 2019
Characterization of Shallow Oceanic Precipitation using Profiling and Scanning Radar Observations at the Eastern North Atlantic ARM Observatory journal April 2019

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
marine stratocumulus cloud
drizzle
drizzle virga thickness
cloud thickness