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Title: Factors Governing Cloud Growth and Entrainment Rates in Shallow Cumulus and Cumulus Congestus During GoAmazon2014/5

Abstract

Shallow cumulus and cumulus congestus clouds play an important role in the large-scale tropical circulation by mixing heat and moisture vertically and preconditioning the environment for deeper convection. Different representations of these shallow clouds account for much of the spread in General Circulation Model (GCMs) climate sensitivity, potentially because of how entrainment is represented in GCM parameterizations. This study uses observations from the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) mobile facility deployed at Manacapuru, Brazil, during the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Campaign. Environmental thermodynamic profiles and observations of cloud-top height are used to constrain an entraining plume model to estimate bulk entrainment rates. Estimates of cloud-top height are obtained from a combination of vertically-pointing W-band ARM cloud radar (WACR) and 1290-MHz Radar Wind Profiler (RWP) observations. A combination of radiosonde, microwave radiometer profiler (MWRP) and microwave radiometer (MWR) observations provides new best estimates of the environmental thermodynamic state. We quantify uncertainty in entrainment rates considering uncertainties in estimated cloud-top height, environmental thermodynamic properties, and assumed initial parcel characteristics. We find entrainment rates ranging from 0.16 to 2.8 km-1 with an average of 0.58 ± 0.10 km-1 over a selected population of 469 shallow cumulus and cumulus congestus clouds. Usingmore » the retrieved estimates of entrainment rate, we evaluate several entrainment closures that are currently used in atmospheric models or have been proposed based on theory or large-eddy simulation. Entrainment rates in cumulus clouds are weakly correlated with low-level buoyancy, cloud depth, and cloud size.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center; Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)
OSTI Identifier:
1786319
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1797545; OSTI ID: 1798475; OSTI ID: 1830094
Report Number(s):
BNL-221653-2021-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-897X
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0016522; SC0012704; DE‐SC0016522; DE‐SC0012704
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 126; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; entrainment; cumulus

Citation Formats

Eissner, J. M., Mechem, D. B., Jensen, M. P., and Giangrande, S. E. Factors Governing Cloud Growth and Entrainment Rates in Shallow Cumulus and Cumulus Congestus During GoAmazon2014/5. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.1029/2021jd034722.
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Eissner, J. M., Mechem, D. B., Jensen, M. P., & Giangrande, S. E. Factors Governing Cloud Growth and Entrainment Rates in Shallow Cumulus and Cumulus Congestus During GoAmazon2014/5. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jd034722
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Eissner, J. M., Mechem, D. B., Jensen, M. P., and Giangrande, S. E. Sat . "Factors Governing Cloud Growth and Entrainment Rates in Shallow Cumulus and Cumulus Congestus During GoAmazon2014/5". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jd034722. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1786319.
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@article{osti_1786319,
title = {Factors Governing Cloud Growth and Entrainment Rates in Shallow Cumulus and Cumulus Congestus During GoAmazon2014/5},
author = {Eissner, J. M. and Mechem, D. B. and Jensen, M. P. and Giangrande, S. E.},
abstractNote = {Shallow cumulus and cumulus congestus clouds play an important role in the large-scale tropical circulation by mixing heat and moisture vertically and preconditioning the environment for deeper convection. Different representations of these shallow clouds account for much of the spread in General Circulation Model (GCMs) climate sensitivity, potentially because of how entrainment is represented in GCM parameterizations. This study uses observations from the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) mobile facility deployed at Manacapuru, Brazil, during the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) Campaign. Environmental thermodynamic profiles and observations of cloud-top height are used to constrain an entraining plume model to estimate bulk entrainment rates. Estimates of cloud-top height are obtained from a combination of vertically-pointing W-band ARM cloud radar (WACR) and 1290-MHz Radar Wind Profiler (RWP) observations. A combination of radiosonde, microwave radiometer profiler (MWRP) and microwave radiometer (MWR) observations provides new best estimates of the environmental thermodynamic state. We quantify uncertainty in entrainment rates considering uncertainties in estimated cloud-top height, environmental thermodynamic properties, and assumed initial parcel characteristics. We find entrainment rates ranging from 0.16 to 2.8 km-1 with an average of 0.58 ± 0.10 km-1 over a selected population of 469 shallow cumulus and cumulus congestus clouds. Using the retrieved estimates of entrainment rate, we evaluate several entrainment closures that are currently used in atmospheric models or have been proposed based on theory or large-eddy simulation. Entrainment rates in cumulus clouds are weakly correlated with low-level buoyancy, cloud depth, and cloud size.},
doi = {10.1029/2021jd034722},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres},
number = 12,
volume = 126,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Sat Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jd034722
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