Investigation of the Impact of Aerosols on Clouds During May 2003 Intensive Operational Period at the Southern Great Plains
Conference
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OSTI ID:841659
The effect of aerosols on the clouds, or the so-called aerosol indirect effect (AIE), is highly uncertain (Penner et al. 2001). The estimation of the AIE can vary from 0.0 to -4.8 W/m2 in Global Climate Models (GCM). Therefore, it is very important to investigate these interactions and cloud-related physical processes further. The Aerosol Intensive Operation Period (AIOP) at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in May 2003 dedicated some effort towards the measurement of the Cloud Condensation Nucleus concentration (CCN) as a function of super-saturation and in relating CCN concentration to aerosol composition and size distribution. Furthermore, airborn measurement for the cloud droplet concentration was also available. Therefore this AIOP provides a good opportunity to examine the AIE. In this study, we use a Cloud Resolving Model (CRM), i.e., Active Tracer High-resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM), to discuss the effect of aerosol loadings on cloud droplet effective radius (Re) and concentration. The case we examine is a stratiform cloud that occurred on May 17, 2003.
- Research Organization:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC) (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 841659
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English