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US Climate Change Science Program

Updated 11 October, 2003

Strategic Plan for the
Climate Change
Science Program
Final Report, July 2003

Figure 5-3
from Annex C
(Graphics and Photography Source Information)

Figure 5-3: Observational evidence showing the effect of aerosols on cloud formation and precipitation processes. TRMM Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) paints yellow pollution tracks in the clouds over South Australia due to reduced droplet size (Area 2). The TRMM Precipitation Radar shows precipitation as white patches only outside the pollution tracks (Areas 1 and 3). TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) data (not shown) indicated ample water in the polluted clouds. The effective droplet radius retrieved by TRMM VIRS does not exceed 14 �m in polluted clouds within Area 2, lending credence to the hypothesis that pollution causes effective cloud water droplet size to drop below this precipitation threshold. Source: NASA GSFC (research results from Daniel Rosenfield, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem).

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