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journal article Aug 18, 2005

Evaluation of a new cloud droplet activation parameterization with in situ data from CRYSTAL‐FACE and CSTRIPE

Nicholas Meskhidze Athanasios Nenes ORCID William C. Conant John H. Seinfeld ORCID
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Vol. 110 No. D16 · American Geophysical Union (AGU)
View at Publisher Save 10.1029/2004jd005703
Abstract
The accuracy of the 2003 prognostic, physically based aerosol activation parameterization of A. Nenes and J. H. Seinfeld (NS) with modifications introduced by C. Fountoukis and A. Nenes in 2005 (modified NS) is evaluated against extensive microphysical data sets collected on board the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft for cumuliform and stratiform clouds of marine and continental origin. The cumuliform cloud data were collected during NASA's Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers–Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL‐FACE, Key West, Florida, July 2002), while the stratiform cloud data were gathered during Coastal Stratocumulus Imposed Perturbation Experiment (CSTRIPE, Monterey, California, July 2003). In situ data sets of aerosol size distribution, chemical composition, and updraft velocities are used as input for the NS parameterization, and the evaluation is carried out by comparing predicted cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC) with observations. This is the first known study in which a prognostic cloud droplet activation parameterization has been evaluated against a wide range of observations. On average, predicted droplet concentration in adiabatic regions is within ∼20% of observations at the base of cumuliform clouds and ∼30% of observations at different altitudes throughout the stratiform clouds, all within experimental uncertainty. Furthermore, CDNC is well parameterized using either a single mean updraft velocity or by weighting droplet nucleation rates with a Gaussian probability density function of w. This study suggests that for nonprecipitating warm clouds of variable microphysics, aerosol composition, and size distribution the modified NS parameterization can accurately predict cloud droplet activation and can be successfully implemented for describing the aerosol activation process in global climate models.
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References
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Showing 50 of 52 references

Metrics
87
Citations
52
References
Details
Published
Aug 18, 2005
Vol/Issue
110(D16)
License
View
Authors
N
Nicholas Meskhidze

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA

A
Athanasios Nenes

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA; School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA

W
William C. Conant

Environmental Science and Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA

J
John H. Seinfeld

Environmental Science and Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA; Chemical Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA

Cite This Article
Nicholas Meskhidze, Athanasios Nenes, William C. Conant, et al. (2005). Evaluation of a new cloud droplet activation parameterization with in situ data from CRYSTAL‐FACE and CSTRIPE. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 110(D16). https://doi.org/10.1029/2004jd005703
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