We show that the aerosol-cloud-precipitation system exhibits characteristics of the predator-prey problem in the field of population dynamics. Both a detailed large eddy simulation of the dynamics and microphysics of a precipitating shallow boundary layer cloud system and a simpler model built upon basic physical principles, reproduce predator-prey behavior with rain acting as the predator and ...

Abstract. There have been numerous recent publications showing that mineral dust might be a good absorber for solar radiation in addition to its capability to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice forming nuclei (IFN), and could lead to reduced cloud cover and precipitation in the region where it is present. This effect is investigated using a dynamic cloud model with detailed microphy...

A large dataset of aircraft cloud traverses from the Small Cumulus Microphysics Study (SCMS) was used to add to the existing knowledge of humidity halo characteristics for small cumulus clouds in a tropical environment. The findings from this investigation show a larger frequency of observed humidity halos than earlier studies. Regardless of the radial direction with respect to shear, humidity ...

This study examines the warm rain formation process in global and regional cloud-resolving models. Methodologies developed to analyze CloudSat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations are employed to investigate the cloud-to-precipitation processes and are applied to model results for comparisons with corresponding statistics from the observations. Three ...

Abstract. Turbulent mixing of dry air affects the evolution cloud droplet size spectrum via various mechanisms. In a turbulent cloud, high- and low-vorticity regions coexist, inertial clustering droplets can occur in regions. The nonuniformity spatial distribution number droplets, variable vertical velocity vortical structures, dilution by entrainment/mixing may result supersaturation variabili...

Arctic climate change inwinter is tightly linked to changes in the strength of surface temperature inversions, which occur frequently in the present climate as Arctic air masses form during polar night. Recent work proposed that, in a warmer climate, increasing low-cloud optical thickness of maritime air advected over highlatitude landmasses during polar night could suppress the formation of Ar...

5 [1] A two-dimensional cloud resolving model with explicit bin microphysics is used to 6 study the maintenance of tropical tropopause layer (TTL) cirrus. Numerical simulations 7 using this model show that a TTL cirrus with a maximum radiative heating rate of 3 K/day 8 is able to self-maintain for as long as 2 days if it contains ice crystals whose initial 9 mean radius is smaller than about 5 ...

Understanding the characteristics of cloud microphysics in precipitation is important to enable accurate rainfall estimation through space-borne radar and microwave radiometers on satellites (e.g., TRMM, GPM, and AMSR-E) (e.g., Masunaga et al. 2002). One basic need is clarification of the differences in cloud microphysical characteristics, such as the drop size distribution (DSD), in convective...