Extended Abstract (140K)9.6
Simulations of aerosol-cloud-dynamical feedbacks resulting from entrainment of aerosol into the marine boundary layer during ASTEX
Hongli Jiang, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; and G. Feingold and W. R. Cotton
Numerical simulations of a cloudy marine boundary layer (MBL) observed during the Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment were performed to study the influence of entrainment of free tropospheric cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on cloud microphysics, dynamics, and radiative properties. The initial CCN concentration is 100 cm{-3} in one simulation, while in the second simulation it varies from 100 cm{-3} below the cloud top to a peak of 1200 cm{-3} at the inversion. In the case with the elevated pollution layer, penetrating cumulus are less effective at supplying surface moisture to the cloud which results in a much lower liquid water path (LWP) relative to the clean case. Thus, although entrained CCN enhance the droplet concentration, the net effect on the cloud albedo is small. Additional simulations were performed to study the sensitivity of the MBL to varying levels of large-scale subsidence. The change in large-scale subsidence has a large effect on boundary layer dynamics, cloud microphysics, and the radiative budget. The simulations are used to separate the effects of enhanced albedo due to enhanced drop concentrations at constant LWP, and those where LWP is modified due to dynamical feedbacks. For this case study, weaker subsidence results in a cloud with higher LWP, and a cloud albedo that is enhanced over and above that due to enhanced entrainment of CCN. The simulations point to the complex dynamical-microphysical-radiative feedbacks in the MBL, and how elevated polluted layers can change cloud radiative forcing in ways that would not be easily predicted by large-scale models.
Session 9, Aerosol Physics and Chemistry
Friday, 7 June 2002, 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
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