Understanding the Effect of Aerosol Properties on Cloud Droplet Formation during TCAP Field Campaign Report

Cziczo, Daniel² 

[1] Pacific Northwest National Laboratory;Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

关键词: Aerosol properties;    cloud droplet formation;    aerosol modeling testbed;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1253924
RP-ID  :  DOE/SC--ARM-15-055
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1253924

学科分类：环境科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The formation of clouds is an essential element in understanding the Earth???s radiative budget. Liquid water clouds form when the relative humidity exceeds saturation and condensedphase water nucleates on atmospheric particulate matter. The effect of aerosol properties such as size, morphology, and composition on cloud droplet formation has been studied theoretically as well as in the laboratory and field. Almost without exception these studies have been limited to parallel measurements of aerosol properties and cloud formation or collection of material after the cloud has formed, at which point nucleation information has been lost. Studies of this sort are adequate when a large fraction of the aerosol activates, but correlations and resulting model parameterizations are much more uncertain at lower supersaturations and activated fractions.