Abstract A two-dimensional version of the Pennsylvania State University mesoscale model has been applied to Winter Monsoon Experiment data in order to simulate the diurnally occurring convection observed over the South China Sea. The domain includes a representation of part of Borneo as well as the sea so that the model can simulate the initiation of convection. Also included in the model are parameterizations of mesoscale ice phase and moisture processes and longwave and shortwave radiation with a diurnal cycle. This allows use of the model to test the relative importance of various heating mechanisms to the stratiform cloud deck, which typically occupies several hundred kilometers of the domain. Frank and Cohen's cumulus parameterization scheme is employed to represent vital unresolved vertical transports in the convective area. The major conclusions are: Ice phase processes are important in determining the level of maximum large-scale heating and vertical motion because there is a strong anvil componen...

Numerical study of convection observed during the Winter Monsoon Experiment using a mesoscale two-dimensional model [presentation]

Predicting the formation of ice in the atmosphere presents one of the great challenges in physical sciences with important implications for the chemistry and composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, the hydrological cycle, and climate. Among atmospheric ice formation processes, heterogeneous ice nucleation proceeds on aerosol particles ranging from a few nanometers to micrometers in size, commonly referred to as ice nucleating particles (INPs). Research over the last two decades has demonstrated that organic matter (OM) is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, present as organic aerosol (OA) particles or as coatings on other particle types. The physicochemical properties of OM make predicting how OM can contribute to the INP population challenging. This review focuses on the role of OM in INPs, summarizing and highlighting recent advances in our understanding of the ice nucleation process gained from theoretical, laboratory, and field studies. Examination of ice residuals and INPs with analytical techniques demonst...

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The Role of Organic Aerosol in Atmospheric Ice Nucleation: A Review

Large biases in climate model simulations of cloud radiative properties over the Southern Ocean cause large errors in modeled sea surface temperatures, atmospheric circulation, and climate sensitivity. Here, we combine cloud-resolving model simulations with estimates of the concentration of ice-nucleating particles in this region to show that our simulated Southern Ocean clouds reflect far more radiation than predicted by global models, in agreement with satellite observations. Specifically, we show that the clouds that are most sensitive to the concentration of ice-nucleating particles are low-level mixed-phase clouds in the cold sectors of extratropical cyclones, which have previously been identified as a main contributor to the Southern Ocean radiation bias. The very low ice-nucleating particle concentrations that prevail over the Southern Ocean strongly suppress cloud droplet freezing, reduce precipitation, and enhance cloud reflectivity. The results help explain why a strong radiation bias occurs mainly in this remote region away from major sources of ice-nucleating particles. The results present a substantial challenge to climate models to be able to simulate realistic ice-nucleating particle concentrations and their effects under specific meteorological conditions.

Strong control of Southern Ocean cloud reflectivity by ice-nucleating particles.

. Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are known to affect the amount of ice in mixed-phase clouds, thereby influencing many of their properties. The atmospheric INP concentration changes by orders of magnitude from terrestrial to marine environments, which typically contain much lower concentrations. Many modelling studies use parameterizations for heterogeneous ice nucleation and cloud ice processes that do not account for this difference because they were developed based on INP measurements made predominantly in terrestrial environments without considering the aerosol composition. Errors in the assumed INP concentration will influence the simulated amount of ice in mixed-phase clouds, leading to errors in top-of-atmosphere radiative flux and ultimately the climate sensitivity of the model. Here we develop a global model of INP concentrations relevant for mixed-phase clouds based on laboratory and field measurements of ice nucleation by K-feldspar (an ice-active component of desert dust) and marine organic aerosols (from sea spray). The simulated global distribution of INP concentrations based on these two species agrees much better with currently available ambient measurements than when INP concentrations are assumed to depend only on temperature or particle size. Underestimation of INP concentrations in some terrestrial locations may be due to the neglect of INPs from other terrestrial sources. Our model indicates that, on a monthly average basis, desert dusts dominate the contribution to the INP population over much of the world, but marine organics become increasingly important over remote oceans and they dominate over the Southern Ocean. However, day-to-day variability is important. Because desert dust aerosol tends to be sporadic, marine organic aerosols dominate the INP population on many days per month over much of the mid- and high-latitude Northern Hemisphere. This study advances our understanding of which aerosol species need to be included in order to adequately describe the global and regional distribution of INPs in models, which will guide ice nucleation researchers on where to focus future laboratory and field work.

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Contribution of feldspar and marine organic aerosols to global ice nucleating particle concentrations

Strong control of Southern Ocean cloud reflectivity by ice-nucleating particles

A Possible Dynamic Mechanism for Rapid Production of the Extreme Hourly Rainfall in Zhengzhou City on 20 July 2021

Long-term in situ measurements of the cloud-precipitation microphysical properties over East Asia

An attempt was made to delineate the characteristics of ice nuclei (IN) over North China using the ground-based measurement data from 1963–2003. The results show that: (1) the IN concentrations increased during the period from 1963–1996, but decreased after 2000; (2) the average IN concentrations range from 1.0 to 26.3, 3.6 to 78.9, 19.2 to 627.3, and 92.9 to 5285.0 L−1 at temperature −15, −20, −25, and −30°C, with the overall average of 7.8, 20.6, 167.7, and 890.6 L−1, respectively; and (3) the number concentration of active IN increased nearly exponentially with decreasing temperature, with the slope (ranging from 0.11 to 0.42°C−1) being of a narrow range in a log-linear coordinate; the regression equations for the western central China and the eastern central China can be expressed as N(T) = 0.0396 exp (−0.317 ΔT) and N(T) = 0.1496 exp (−0.299ΔT), respectively. The present study may be useful toward applications in models for predicting IN effects on the cloud, precipitation and climate over North China.

An evaluation of ice nuclei characteristics from the long-term measurement data over North China

An investigation into the relationship between liquid water content and cloud number concentration in the stratiform clouds over north China

A large number of in-situ measurements of cloud-precipitation microphysical properties have been made since 1960, including measurements of particle size distribution, particle concentration, and liquid water content of clouds and rain. These measurements have contributed to considerable progress in understanding microphysical processes in clouds and precipitation and significant improvements in parameterizations of cloud microphysics in numerical models. This work reviews key findings regarding cloud-precipitation microphysics over China. The total number concentrations of various particles vary significantly, with certain characteristic spatial scales. The size distributions of cloud droplets in stratiform clouds can generally be fit with gamma distributions, but the fit parameters cover a wide range. Raindrop size distributions (RSDs) associated with stratiform clouds can be fit with either exponential or gamma distributions, while RSDs associated with convective or mixed stratiform-cumuliform clouds are best fit with gamma distributions. Concentrations of ice nuclei (IN) over China are higher than those observed over other regions, and increase exponentially as temperature decreases. The particle size distributions of ice crystals, snow crystals, and hailstones sampled at a variety of locations can be reliably approximated by using exponential distributions, while aerosol particle size distributions are best described as the sum of a modified gamma distribution and a Junge power-law distribution. These results are helpful for evaluating and improving the fidelity of physical processes and hydrometeor fields simulated by microphysical parameterizations. The comprehensive summary and analysis of previous work presented here also provide useful guidelines for the design of future observational programs.

Jinfang Yin

Papers

A Possible Dynamic Mechanism for Rapid Production of the Extreme Hourly Rainfall in Zhengzhou City on 20 July 2021

Long-term in situ measurements of the cloud-precipitation microphysical properties over East Asia

An evaluation of ice nuclei characteristics from the long-term measurement data over North China

An investigation into the relationship between liquid water content and cloud number concentration in the stratiform clouds over north China

In-situ measurements of cloud-precipitation microphysics in the East Asian monsoon region since 1960