Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Radiative Forcing: Modeling and Observations
| Graham Feingold | NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory |
| K. Schmidt | University of Colorado at Boulder/ LASP |
| Hongli Jiang | |
| Paquita Zuidema | RSMAS/MPO University of Miami |
| Peter Pilewskie | University of Colorado |
| Adrian Hill | NOAA/ERSL |
| Hailong Wang | CIRES and NOAA ESRL, Boulder Colorado |
Category: Cloud Properties
The effect of aerosol on cloud microphysical properties is often equated with the aerosol indirect effect, whereas in fact the indirect effect pertains to the radiative forcing of a perturbed cloud field, which depends on both the cloud microphysical response, as well as on macroscale properties such as cloud fraction, cloud depth, distances between clouds, and the aerosol that resides between clouds. We will present results from both modeling and observations that address this point. The results will include (1) comparisons between measured irradiance fields for a field of cumulus clouds, and irradiance fields calculated based on large eddy simulations of these clouds; (2) calculations of the relative contributions of the microphysical and macrophysical responses to an aerosol perturbation for modeled cloud fields; (3) simulations of the transition from closed cell convection to pockets of open cells that provide an example of how aerosol, through its effect on precipitation, can very effectively change radiative forcing; and (4) demonstrations of how sensitive the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions is to the representation of entrainment-mixing.
This poster will be displayed at ARM Science Team Meeting.
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