scholarly journals Large‐eddy simulation of three mixed‐phase cloud events during ISDAC: Conditions for persistent heterogeneous ice formation

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (15) ◽  
pp. 7699-7725 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Savre ◽  
A. M. L. Ekman
2013 ◽  
Vol 140 (680) ◽  
pp. 855-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Hill ◽  
P. R. Field ◽  
K. Furtado ◽  
A. Korolev ◽  
B. J. Shipway

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 3901-3913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizuo Fu ◽  
Huiwen Xue

Abstract The effects of ice nuclei (IN) efficiency on the persistent ice formation in Arctic mixed-phase clouds (AMCs) are investigated using a large-eddy simulation model, coupled to a bin microphysics scheme with a prognostic IN formulation. In the three cases where the IN efficiency is high, ice formation and IN depletion are fast. When the IN concentration is 1 and 10 g−1, IN are completely depleted and the cloud becomes purely liquid phase before the end of the 24-h simulation. When the IN concentration is 100 g−1, the IN supply is sufficient but the liquid water is completely consumed so that the cloud dissipates quickly. In the three cases when the IN efficiency is low, ice formation is negligible in the first several hours but becomes significant as the temperature is decreased through longwave cooling. Before the end of the simulation, the cloud is in mixed phase when the IN concentration is 1 and 10 g−1 but dissipates when the IN concentration is 100 g−1. In the case where two types of IN are considered, ice formation persists throughout the simulation. Analysis shows that as the more efficient IN are continuously removed through ice formation, the less efficient IN gradually nucleate more ice crystals because the longwave cooling decreases the cloud temperature. This mechanism is further illustrated with a simple model. These results indicate that a spectrum of IN efficiency is necessary to maintain the persistent ice formation in AMCs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 4109-4127
Author(s):  
Robert Rauterkus ◽  
Cedrick Ansorge

AbstractCloud-top entrainment is a crucial process for the evolution of stratocumulus and is driven by interactions of radiation, microphysics, and turbulence on scales reaching down to less than one meter. Regardless of this fact, most large-eddy simulation studies still apply a horizontal resolution of tens of meters, not resolving these interactions sufficiently. Here, based on an extensive observational campaign, we define a weak-shear benchmark scenario for large-eddy simulation over Arctic ice and for the first time perform large-eddy simulation of mixed-phase stratocumulus with horizontal resolutions of 35, 10, and 3.5 m. Thereby, we investigate the processes contributing to cloud-top entrainment and their role for the evolution of stratocumulus with a particular focus on resolution sensitivity. First, we find that a horizontal grid spacing larger than 10 m insufficiently represents the effects of small-scale microphysical cooling and turbulent engulfment on cloud-top entrainment. Indeed, the small size of energy-containing eddies—a consequence of the intense stratification in the vicinity of the cloud-top region—violates the underlying assumptions of subgridscale models by buoyant suppression of eddies at the large-eddy simulation filter scale. Second, the decrease in cloud-top entrainment due to these insufficiently represented processes results in 15% less cloud water after 6 h of simulation and a corresponding optical thinning of the cloud. Third, we show that the applied nonequilibrium microphysics cause microphysical heating beneath the cloud top, which partly counteracts the evaporative cooling.


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