High-Resolution Simulations of Aerosol Spraying in the Great Barrier Reef: A Marine Cloud Brightening Study

In marine cloud brightening (MCB), aerosol particles are sprayed in cloud-topped boundary layers to increase cloud albedo and reflect more shortwave solar radiation back to space to counteract global warming. While the typical focus for MCB lies on stratocumulus clouds due to their large global cloud cover and typical high susceptibility to spraying, we focus on local applications of MCB under trade wind cumulus conditions at the Great Barrier Reef, where MCB is envisioned to mitigate heat waves that could lead to coral bleaching. Three-dimensional LES simulations with detailed Lagrangian cloud microphysics are carried out and compared to data from recent field trials and measurement campaigns. A focus will be the sprayed plume dispersal, the vertical transport of the sprayed aerosol, and their mixing with clouds. Various seeded aerosol sizes and size distributions from a single sea-level source are simulated to optimize future applications.