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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 34,
L16804,
doi:10.1029/2007GL030044,
2007
Relationships between CCN and cloud microphysics variations in clean maritime air
James G. Hudson
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education, Reno, Nevada, USA
Subhashree Mishra
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education, Reno, Nevada, USA
Abstract
Flight-averaged CCN concentrations during the Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) field project varied by a factor of four.
This was sufficient to provide correlations with flight-averaged total cloud droplet concentrations (Nc) and mean diameters (MD) that showed greater influence of CCN than updraft velocity (w) on Nc and especially MD. The product of CCN and w produced even stronger correlations with Nc and MD. An earlier RICO study had shown an inverse relationship of Nc and giant nuclei (GN) with large cloud droplet concentrations (NLD). These two RICO studies now show that the aerosol with the most influence on NLD (MD) is CCN. The results of the present study are similar to earlier studies in more polluted clouds that also showed more
influence of CCN than GN on MD/NLD/drizzle. The present study indicates that variations in CCN concentrations even within maritime air masses modulate precipitation.
Received 15
March
2007;
accepted 19
July
2007;
published 17
August
2007.
Keywords: CCN;
aerosol;
drizzle.
Index Terms: 0320 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry; 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906); 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry.
Read Full Article (file size: 284954 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Hudson, J. G., and S. Mishra
(2007),
Relationships between CCN and cloud microphysics variations in clean maritime air,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
34,
L16804,
doi:10.1029/2007GL030044.
Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.
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