Linear relationship between effective radius and precipitation water content near the top of convective clouds: measurement results from ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign

Ramon Campos Braga; Daniel Rosenfeld; Ovid O. Krueger; Barbara Ervens; Bruna A. Holanda; Manfred Wendisch; Trismono Krisna; Ulrich Poschl; Meinrat O. Andreae; Christiane Voigt; Mira L. Poehlker

doi:10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021

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Linear relationship between effective radius and precipitation water content near the top of convective clouds: measurement results from ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign

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Linear relationship between effective radius and precipitation water content near the top of convective clouds: measurement results from ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign

Ramon Campos Braga, Daniel Rosenfeld, Ovid O. Krueger, Barbara Ervens, Bruna A. Holanda, Manfred Wendisch, Trismono Krisna, Ulrich Poschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, Christiane Voigt, …

Atmospheric chemistry and physics, Vol.21(18), pp.14079-14088

22/09/2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14079-2021

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Environmental Sciences

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

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Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

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Quantifying the precipitation within clouds is a crucial challenge to improve our current understanding of the Earth's hydrological cycle. We have investigated the relationship between the effective radius of droplets and ice particles (r(e)) and precipitation water content (PWC) measured by cloud probes near the top of growing convective cumuli. The data for this study were collected during the ACRIDICON- CHUVA campaign on the HALO research aircraft in clean and polluted conditions over the Amazon Basin and over the western tropical Atlantic in September 2014. Our results indicate a threshold of r(e) similar to 13 mu m for warm rain initiation in convective clouds, which is in agreement with previous studies. In clouds over the Atlantic Ocean, warm rain starts at smaller r(e) , likely linked to the enhancement of coalescence of drops formed on giant cloud condensation nuclei. In cloud passes where precipitation starts as ice hydrometeors, the threshold of r(e) is also shifted to values smaller than 13 mu m when coalescence processes are suppressed and precipitating particles are formed by accretion. We found a statistically significant linear relationship between PWC and r(e) for measurements at cloud tops, with a correlation coefficient of similar to 0.94. The tight relationship between r e and PWC was established only when particles with sizes large enough to precipitate (drizzle and raindrops) are included in calculating r(e). Our results emphasize for the first time that r(e) is a key parameter to determine both initiation and amount of precipitation at the top of convective clouds.

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Title: Linear relationship between effective radius and precipitation water content near the top of convective clouds: measurement results from ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign
Creators: Ramon Campos Braga - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Daniel Rosenfeld - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ovid O. Krueger - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Barbara Ervens - Sigma Clermont
Bruna A. Holanda - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Manfred Wendisch - Leipzig University
Trismono Krisna - Leipzig University
Ulrich Poschl - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Meinrat O. Andreae - King Saud University
Christiane Voigt - German Aerospace Center
Mira L. Poehlker - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Publication Details: Atmospheric chemistry and physics, Vol.21(18), pp.14079-14088
Publisher: Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Number of pages: 10
Grant note: ANR-17-MPGA-0013 / French National Research Agency (ANR) SPP 1294 / German Science Foundation; German Research Foundation (DFG)
Identifiers: 991013093609502368
Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Linear relationship between effective radius and precipitation water content near the top of convective clouds: measurement results from ACRIDICON-CHUVA campaign

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