Invited Presentation: Aerosol particle and trace gas transport within deep convective clouds: importance for the ice nuclei budget of the upper troposphere

Atmospheric aerosol particles can influence deep convective cloud formation by acting as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei (IN). At the same time, deep convective clouds are also the major transport pathway of aerosol particles and aerosol precursor gases to the upper troposphere. The transport of the aerosol particles and trace gases is determined by the cloud dynamics as well as by the interaction of the aerosols and gases with cloud and precipitation hydrometeors. Once in the upper troposphere, the transported aerosol particles constitute potential IN and may affect subsequent homogeneous and heterogeneous ice cloud formation, causing a potential feedback loop on the deep convective cloud formation.

In the present study, a cloud-resolving model including explicit aerosol physics and chemistry is utilized to investigate aerosol particle and trace gas transport within a deep convective cloud and how the transport is affected by the modeled cloud microphysics. We will look at the importance of cloud dynamics as well as the representation of aerosol activation, impaction scavenging and in-cloud processing for the IN budget of the upper troposphere.