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Cloud droplet sedimentation, entrainment efficiency, and subtropical stratocumulus albedo
Abstract
The effect of cloud droplet sedimentation on the entrainment rate and liquid water path of a nocturnal nondrizzling stratocumulus layer is examined using large‐eddy simulations (LES) with bulk microphysics. In agreement with a prior study by Ackerman et al. (2004), sedimentation is found to decrease entrainment rate and thereby increase liquid water path. They suggested this is due to reduction of boundary‐layer turbulence. Our simulations suggest otherwise. Instead, sedimentation reduces entrainment by removing liquid water from the entrainment zone. This inhibits two mechanisms that promote the sinking of entrained air into the cloud layer–entrainment‐induced evaporative cooling and longwave radiative cooling. A sensitivity study shows that the radiative effect is less important than the reduced evaporation. A possible parameterization of the effect of sedimentation on entrainment rate in a mixed layer model is proposed and tested. Since the droplet sedimentation rate is inversely related to cloud droplet (and presumably aerosol) concentration and nearly nondrizzling marine stratocumulus are widespread, sedimentation impacts on stratocumulus entrainment efficiency should be considered in climate model simulations of the aerosol indirect effect.
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Cited by
Bounding Global Aerosol Radiative Forcing of Climate Change
Bellouin, N., Quaas, J., Gryspeerdt, E., Kinne, S., Stier, P., Watson‐Parris, D., Boucher, O., Carslaw, K. S., Christensen, M., Daniau, A. ‐., et al. (2020) · Reviews of Geophysics · doi:10.1029/2019rg000660 · Cited by 1,116
“…and potentially important aci processes like evaporative-595 entrainment feedbacks (S. Wang et al., 2003; A. S. Ackerman et al., 2004; Hill et al., 2009;596 Xue & Feingold, 2006), sedimentation-entrainment feedbacks (Bretherton et al., 2007),597 and boundary-layer decoupling (Sandu et al., 2008).”
BackgroundResilience of persistent Arctic mixed-phase clouds
Morrison, H., de Boer, G., Feingold, G., Harrington, J., Shupe, M. D., & Sulia, K. (2012) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/ngeo1332 · Cited by 720
Rosenfeld, D., Andreae, M. O., Asmi, A., Chin, M., de Leeuw, G., Donovan, D. P., Kahn, R., Kinne, S., Kivekäs, N., Kulmala, M., et al. (2014) · Reviews of Geophysics · doi:10.1002/2013rg000441 · Cited by 629
vanZanten, M. C., Stevens, B., Nuijens, L., Siebesma, A. P., Ackerman, A. S., Burnet, F., Cheng, A., Couvreux, F., Jiang, H., Khairoutdinov, M., et al. (2011) · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems · doi:10.1029/2011ms000056 · Cited by 366
Formulation of the Dutch Atmospheric Large-Eddy Simulation (DALES) and overview of its applications
Heus, T., van Heerwaarden, C. C., Jonker, H. J. J., Pier Siebesma, A., Axelsen, S., van den Dries, K., Geoffroy, O., Moene, A. F., Pino, D., de Roode, S. R., et al. (2010) · Geoscientific Model Development · doi:10.5194/gmd-3-415-2010 · Cited by 300
Metadata
- Authors
- Bretherton, C. S., Blossey, P. N., & Uchida, J.
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2121296543
- Cited by
- 404
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 7.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Bretherton, C. S., Blossey, P. N., & Uchida, J. (2007). Cloud droplet sedimentation, entrainment efficiency, and subtropical stratocumulus albedo. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006gl027648
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