Description:

Many shallow cloud systems are sensitive to changes in aerosol properties, which act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN, or giant CCN), modulate cloud microphysical properties, and can influence precipitation formation and cloud-scale dynamics. Ultimately, these controls may alter low-cloud radiative properties and climate. Aerosol particles, in turn, are impacted by shallow-cloud processes. Together, these interactions result in a coupling of the aerosol–cloud system whose coupling strength is highly variable and is poorly understood in terms of basic process understanding. Correctly representing this coupling has proven challenging to represent in large-scale models. In this session we invite presentations on all topics related to aerosol–cloud coupling in shallow clouds, including those addressing basic physical understanding, the quantification of aerosol indirect effects, cloud effects on aerosols, and the coupling between aerosols and boundary layer turbulence, cloud dynamics, and precipitation.