Reconciling and Validating the Cloud Thickness and Liquid Water Path Tendencies Proposed by R. Wood and J. J. van der Dussen et al.

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 2033-2040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed S. Ghonima ◽  
Joel R. Norris ◽  
Thijs Heus ◽  
Jan Kleissl
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Mixed Boundary ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Heat And Moisture ◽  
Cloud Thickness ◽  
Detailed Derivation ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract A detailed derivation of stratocumulus cloud thickness and liquid water path tendencies as a function of the well-mixed boundary layer mass, heat, and moisture budget equations is presented. The derivation corrects an error in the cloud thickness tendency equation derived by R. Wood to make it consistent with the liquid water path tendency equation derived by J. J. van der Dussen et al. The validity of the tendency equations is then tested against the output of large-eddy simulations of a typical stratocumulus-topped boundary layer case and is found to be in good agreement.

scholarly journals The Role of Eddy Diffusivity Profiles on Stratocumulus Liquid Water Path Biases

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (7) ◽  
pp. 2786-2793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan R. de Roode
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Eddy Diffusivity ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Heat And Moisture

Abstract Results from simulations of the stratocumulus-topped boundary layer with one-dimensional versions of general simulation models typically exhibit a wide range of spread in the modeled liquid water path (LWP). These discrepancies are often attributed to differences in the modeled entrainment rate. Results from a large eddy simulation of the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment I stratocumulus case are analyzed. The diagnosed eddy diffusivities for heat and moisture are found to differ by about a factor of 3. Moreover, both have a much larger magnitude than the ones typically applied in boundary layer parameterization schemes. Motivated by these results mean state solutions are analyzed for the specific case in which the vertical fluxes of heat and moisture are prescribed, whereas eddy diffusivity profiles are systematically varied by multiplication with a constant factor. The solutions demonstrate that any value, ranging from zero to a maximum adiabatic value, can be obtained for the LWP. In the subtropical parts over the ocean where horizontally extended stratocumulus fields persist, the surface sensible heat flux is typically small, whereas surface evaporation and entrainment of relatively dry air from above the surface can result in significant moisture fluxes. If the eddy diffusivity values are small, then the mean specific humidity will tend to decrease quite rapidly with height in order to support the humidity flux. This results in erroneous low humidity values in the upper part of the boundary layers causing low LWP values.

scholarly journals Large eddy simulation of ship tracks in the collapsed marine boundary layer: a case study from the Monterey area ship track experiment

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 5851-5871 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Berner ◽  
C. S. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Ship Tracks

Abstract. For the first time, a large eddy simulation (LES) coupled to a bulk aerosol scheme is used to simulate an aircraft-sampled ship track. The track was formed by the M/V Sanko Peace on 13 June 1994 in a shallow drizzling boundary layer with high winds but very low background aerosol concentrations (10 cm−3). A Lagrangian framework is used to simulate the evolution of a short segment of track as it is advected away from the ship for 8 h (a downwind distance exceeding 570 km). Using aircraft observations for initialization, good agreement is obtained between the simulated and observed features of the ambient boundary layer outside the track, including the organization of the cloud into mesoscale rolls. After 8 h, a line of aerosol is injected to start the ship track. The simulation successfully reproduces the significant albedo enhancement and suppression of drizzle observed within the track. The aerosol concentration within the track dilutes as it broadens due to turbulent mixing. A sensitivity study shows the broadening rate strongly depends on the alignment between the track and the wind-aligned boundary layer rolls, as satellite images of ship tracks suggest. Entrainment is enhanced within the simulated track, but the observed 100 m elevation of the ship track above the surrounding layer is not simulated, possibly because the LES quickly sharpens the rather weak observed inversion. Liquid water path within the simulated track increases with time even as the ambient liquid water path is decreasing. The albedo increase in the track from liquid water and cloud fraction enhancement (second indirect effect) eventually exceeds that from cloud droplet number increases (first indirect or Twomey effect). In a sensitivity study with a higher initial ambient aerosol concentration, stronger ship track aerosol source, and much weaker drizzle, there is less liquid water inside the track than outside for several hours downwind, consistent with satellite estimates for such situations. In that case, the Twomey effect dominates throughout, although, as seen in satellite images, the albedo enhancement of the track is much smaller.

scholarly journals Large Eddy Simulation of the Diurnal Cycle in Southeast Pacific Stratocumulus

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 432-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Caldwell ◽  
Christopher S. Bretherton
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Diurnal Cycles ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Droplet Concentration ◽  
Large Eddy

Abstract This paper describes a series of 6-day large eddy simulations of a deep, sometimes drizzling stratocumulus-topped boundary layer based on forcings from the East Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC) 2001 field campaign. The base simulation was found to reproduce the observed mean boundary layer properties quite well. The diurnal cycle of liquid water path was also well captured, although good agreement appears to result partially from compensating errors in the diurnal cycles of cloud base and cloud top due to overentrainment around midday. At all times of the day, entrainment is found to be proportional to the vertically integrated buoyancy flux. Model stratification matches observations well; turbulence profiles suggest that the boundary layer is always at least somewhat decoupled. Model drizzle appears to be too sensitive to liquid water path and subcloud evaporation appears to be too weak. Removing the diurnal cycle of subsidence had little effect on simulated liquid water path. Simulations with changed droplet concentration and drizzle susceptibility showed large liquid water path differences at night, but differences were quite small at midday. Droplet concentration also had a significant impact on entrainment, primarily through droplet sedimentation feedback rather than through drizzle processes.

scholarly journals Large-eddy simulation of ship tracks in the collapsed marine boundary layer: a case study from the Monterey Area Ship Track experiment

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 24387-24439
Author(s):  
A. H. Berner ◽  
C. S. Bretherton ◽  
R. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Ship Tracks

Abstract. For the first time, a large-eddy simulation (LES) coupled to a bulk aerosol scheme is used to simulate an aircraft-sampled ship track. The track was formed by the M/V Sanko Peace on 13 June 1994 in a shallow drizzling boundary layer with high winds but very low background aerosol concentrations (10 cm−3). A Lagrangian framework is used to simulate the evolution of a short segment of track as it is advected away from the ship for eight hours (a downwind distance exceeding 570 km). Using aircraft observations for initialization, good agreement is obtained between the simulated and observed features of the ambient boundary layer outside the track, including the organization of cloud into mesoscale rolls. After eight hours, a line of aerosol is injected to start the ship track. The simulation successfully reproduces the significant albedo enhancement and suppression of drizzle observed within the track. The aerosol concentration within the track dilutes as it broadens due to turbulent mixing. A sensitivity study shows the broadening rate strongly depends on the alignment between the track and the wind-aligned boundary layer rolls, as satellite images of ship tracks suggest. Entrainment is enhanced within the simulated track, but the observed 100 m elevation of the ship track above the surrounding layer is not simulated, possibly because the LES quickly sharpens the rather weak observed inversion. Liquid water path within the simulated track increases with time even as the ambient liquid water path is decreasing. The albedo increase in the track from liquid water and cloud fraction enhancement (second indirect effect) eventually exceeds that from cloud droplet number increases (first indirect or Twomey effect). In a sensitivity study with a higher initial ambient aerosol concentration, stronger ship track aerosol source, and much weaker drizzle, there is less liquid water inside the track than outside for several hours downwind, consistent with satellite estimates for such situations. In this case, the Twomey effect dominates throughout, although, as seen in satellite images, the albedo enhancement of the track is much smaller.

scholarly journals Observational Evidence That Enhanced Subsidence Reduces Subtropical Marine Boundary Layer Cloudiness

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (19) ◽  
pp. 7507-7524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Myers ◽  
Joel R. Norris
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Marine Stratus ◽  
Temperature Inversions ◽  
Cloud Thickness

Abstract Conventional wisdom suggests that subsidence favors the presence of marine stratus and stratocumulus because regions of enhanced boundary layer cloudiness are observed to climatologically co-occur with regions of enhanced subsidence. Here it is argued that the climatological positive correlation between subsidence and cloudiness is not the result of a direct physical mechanism connecting the two. Instead, it arises because enhanced subsidence is typically associated with stronger temperature inversions capping the marine boundary layer, and stronger temperature inversions favor greater cloudiness. Through statistical analysis of satellite cloud data and meteorological reanalyses for the subsidence regime over tropical (30°S–30°N) oceans, it is shown that enhanced subsidence promotes reduced cloudiness for the same value of inversion strength and that a stronger inversion favors greater cloudiness for the same value of subsidence. Using a simple conceptual model, it is argued that enhanced subsidence leads to reduced cloud thickness, liquid water path, and cloud fraction by pushing down the top of the marine boundary layer. Moreover, a stronger inversion reduces entrainment drying and warming, thus leading to a more humid boundary layer and greater cloud thickness, liquid water path, and cloud fraction. These two mechanisms typically oppose each other for geographical and seasonal cloud variability because enhanced subsidence is usually associated with stronger inversions. If global warming results in stronger inversions but weaker subsidence, the two mechanisms could both favor increased subtropical low-level cloudiness.

Importance of Accurate Liquid Water Path for Estimation of Solar Radiation in Warm Boundary Layer Clouds: An Observational Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 2997-3009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manajit Sengupta ◽  
Eugene E. Clothiaux ◽  
Thomas P. Ackerman ◽  
Seiji Kato ◽  
Qilong Min
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Boundary Layer Clouds

scholarly journals Climatology of Warm Boundary Layer Clouds at the ARM SGP Site and Their Comparison to Models

2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 4760-4782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manajit Sengupta ◽  
Eugene E. Clothiaux ◽  
Thomas P. Ackerman
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Water ◽  
Solar Flux ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Cloud Liquid Water ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Cloud Forcing ◽  
Cloud Liquid Water Path ◽  
Ecmwf Model ◽  
Cloud Thickness

Abstract A 4-yr climatology (1997–2000) of warm boundary layer cloud properties is developed for the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Parameters in the climatology include cloud liquid water path, cloud-base height, and surface solar flux. These parameters are retrieved from measurements produced by a dual-channel microwave radiometer, a millimeter-wave cloud radar, a micropulse lidar, a Belfort ceilometer, shortwave radiometers, and atmospheric temperature profiles amalgamated from multiple sources, including radiosondes. While no significant interannual differences are observed in the datasets, there are diurnal variations with nighttime liquid water paths consistently higher than daytime values. The summer months of June, July, and August have the lowest liquid water paths and the highest cloud-base heights. Model outputs of cloud liquid water paths from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model and the Eta Model for 104 model output location time series (MOLTS) stations in the environs of the SGP central facility are compared to observations. The ECMWF and MOLTS median liquid water paths are greater than 3 times the observed values. The MOLTS data show lower liquid water paths in summer, which is consistent with observations, while the ECMWF data exhibit the opposite tendency. A parameterization of normalized cloud forcing that requires only cloud liquid water path and solar zenith angle is developed from the observations. The parameterization, which has a correlation coefficient of 0.81 with the observations, provides estimates of surface solar flux that are comparable to values obtained from explicit radiative transfer calculations based on plane-parallel theory. This parameterization is used to estimate the impact on the surface solar flux of differences in the liquid water paths between models and observations. Overall, there is a low bias of 50% in modeled normalized cloud forcing resulting from the excess liquid water paths in the two models. Splitting the liquid water path into two components, cloud thickness and liquid water content, shows that the higher liquid water paths in the model outputs are primarily a result of higher liquid water contents, although cloud thickness may a play a role, especially for the ECMWF model results.

scholarly journals The Spiderweb Structure of Stratocumulus Clouds

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 730
Author(s):  
Georgios Matheou ◽  
Anthony B. Davis ◽  
João Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Water ◽  
Evaporative Cooling ◽  
Liquid Water Content ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Integral Boundary ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Stratocumulus Clouds ◽  
Distinctive Structure

Stratocumulus clouds have a distinctive structure composed of a combination of lumpy cellular structures and thin elongated regions, resembling canyons or slits. The elongated slits are referred to as “spiderweb” structure to emphasize their interconnected nature. Using very high resolution large-eddy simulations (LES), it is shown that the spiderweb structure is generated by cloud-top evaporative cooling. Analysis of liquid water path (LWP) and cloud liquid water content shows that cloud-top evaporative cooling generates relatively shallow slits near the cloud top. Most of liquid water mass is concentrated near the cloud top, thus cloud-top slits of clear air have a large impact on the entire-column LWP. When evaporative cooling is suppressed in the LES, LWP exhibits cellular lumpy structure without the elongated low-LWP regions. Even though the spiderweb signature on the LWP distribution is negligible, the cloud-top evaporative cooling process significantly affects integral boundary layer quantities, such as the vertically integrated turbulent kinetic energy, mean liquid water path, and entrainment rate. In a pair of simulations driven only by cloud-top radiative cooling, evaporative cooling nearly doubles the entrainment rate.

scholarly journals Evaluation of stratocumulus cloud prediction in the Met Office forecast model during VOCALS-REx

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 10541-10559 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Abel ◽  
D. N. Walters ◽  
G. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Good Representation ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path

Abstract. Observations in the subtropical southeast Pacific obtained during the VOCALS-REx field experiment are used to evaluate the representation of stratocumulus cloud in the Met Office forecast model and to identify key areas where model biases exist. Marked variations in the large scale structure of the cloud field were observed during the experiment on both day-to-day and on diurnal timescales. In the remote maritime region the model is shown to have a good representation of synoptically induced variability in both cloud cover and marine boundary layer depth. Satellite observations show a strong diurnal cycle in cloud fraction and liquid water path in the stratocumulus with enhanced clearances of the cloud deck along the Chilean and Peruvian coasts on certain days. The model accurately simulates the phase of the diurnal cycle but is unable to capture the coastal clearing of cloud. Observations along the 20° S latitude line show a gradual increase in the depth of the boundary layer away from the coast. This trend is well captured by the model (typical low bias of 200 m) although significant errors exist at the coast where the model marine boundary layer is too shallow and moist. Drizzle in the model responds to changes in liquid water path in a manner that is consistent with previous ship-borne observations in the region although the intensity of this drizzle is likely to be too high, particularly in the more polluted coastal region where higher cloud droplet number concentrations are typical. Another mode of variability in the cloud field that the model is unable to capture are regions of pockets of open cellular convection embedded in the overcast stratocumulus deck and an example of such a feature that was sampled during VOCALS-REx is shown.

scholarly journals Manipulating marine stratocumulus cloud amount and albedo: a process-modelling study of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in response to injection of cloud condensation nuclei

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 885-916 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wang ◽  
P. J. Rasch ◽  
G. Feingold
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Marine Boundary Layer ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Cloud Amount ◽  
Number Concentration ◽  
Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Liquid Water Path ◽  
Water Path ◽  
Injection Method

Abstract. We use a cloud-system-resolving model to study marine-cloud brightening. We examine how injected aerosol particles that act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are transported within the marine boundary layer and how the additional particles in clouds impact cloud microphysical processes, and feedback on dynamics. Results show that the effectiveness of cloud brightening depends strongly on meteorological and background aerosol conditions. Cloud albedo enhancement is very effective in a weakly precipitating boundary layer and in CCN-limited conditions preceded by heavy and/or persistent precipitation. The additional CCN help sustain cloud water by weakening the precipitation substantially in the former case and preventing the boundary layer from collapse in the latter. For a given amount of injected CCN, the injection method (i.e., number and distribution of sprayers) is critical to the spatial distribution of these CCN. Both the areal coverage and the number concentration of injected particles are key players but neither one always emerges as more important than the other. The same amount of injected material is much less effective in either strongly precipitating clouds or polluted clouds, and it is ineffective in a relatively dry boundary layer that supports clouds of low liquid water path. In the polluted case and "dry" case, the CCN injection increases drop number concentration but lowers supersaturation and liquid water path. As a result, the cloud experiences very weak albedo enhancement, regardless of the injection method.

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