Microphysics of Clouds and Precipitation
About: This article is published in Aerosol Science and Technology.The article was published on 1998-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1809 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Microphysics & Precipitation.
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TL;DR: In this article, the optical properties of aerosols and clouds are described, including extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, and phase function.
Abstract: The software package OPAC (Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds) is described. It easily provides optical properties in the solar and terrestrial spectral range of atmospheric particulate matter. Microphysical and optical properties of six water clouds, three ice clouds, and 10 aerosol components, which are considered as typical cases, are stored as ASCII files. The optical properties are the extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients, the single scattering albedo, the asymmetry parameter, and the phase function. They are calculated on the basis of the microphysical data (size distribution and spectral refractive index) under the assumption of spherical particles in case of aerosols and cloud droplets and assuming hexagonal columns in case of cirrus clouds. Data are given for up to 61 wavelengths between 0.25 and 40 μm and up to eight values of the relative humidity. The software package also allows calculation of derived optical properties like mass extinction coefficients and Angstrom coefficients. Real aerosol in the atmosphere always is a mixture of different components. Thus, in OPAC it is made possible to get optical properties of any mixtures of the basic components and to calculate optical depths on the base of exponential aerosol height profiles. Typical mixtures of aerosol components as well as typical height profiles are proposed as default values, but mixtures and profiles for the description of individual cases may also be achieved simply.
2,603 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new bulk microphysical parameterization (BMP) was developed for use with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model or other mesoscale models.
Abstract: A new bulk microphysical parameterization (BMP) has been developed for use with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model or other mesoscale models. As compared with earlier single-moment BMPs, the new scheme incorporates a large number of improvements to both physical processes and computer coding, and it employs many techniques found in far more sophisticated spectral/bin schemes using lookup tables. Unlike any other BMP, the assumed snow size distribution depends on both ice water content and temperature and is represented as a sum of exponential and gamma distributions. Furthermore, snow assumes a nonspherical shape with a bulk density that varies inversely with diameter as found in observations and in contrast to nearly all other BMPs that assume spherical snow with constant density. The new scheme’s snow category was readily modified to match previous research in sensitivity experiments designed to test the sphericity and distribution shape characteristics. From analysis of four idea...
2,206 citations
TL;DR: The current state of knowledge, major open questions, and research perspectives on the properties and interactions of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on climate and human health are outlined.
Abstract: Aerosols are of central importance for atmospheric chemistry and physics, the biosphere, climate, and public health. The airborne solid and liquid particles in the nanometer to micrometer size range influence the energy balance of the Earth, the hydrological cycle, atmospheric circulation, and the abundance of greenhouse and reactive trace gases. Moreover, they play important roles in the reproduction of biological organisms and can cause or enhance diseases. The primary parameters that determine the environmental and health effects of aerosol particles are their concentration, size, structure, and chemical composition. These parameters, however, are spatially and temporally highly variable. The quantification and identification of biological particles and carbonaceous components of fine particulate matter in the air (organic compounds and black or elemental carbon, respectively) represent demanding analytical challenges. This Review outlines the current state of knowledge, major open questions, and research perspectives on the properties and interactions of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on climate and human health.
1,868 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented the CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas) data of downscaled model output temperature and precipitation estimates of the ERA-Interim climatic reanalysis to a high resolution of 30'arc'sec.
Abstract: High-resolution information on climatic conditions is essential to many applications in environmental and ecological sciences. Here we present the CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas) data of downscaled model output temperature and precipitation estimates of the ERA-Interim climatic reanalysis to a high resolution of 30 arc sec. The temperature algorithm is based on statistical downscaling of atmospheric temperatures. The precipitation algorithm incorporates orographic predictors including wind fields, valley exposition, and boundary layer height, with a subsequent bias correction. The resulting data consist of a monthly temperature and precipitation climatology for the years 1979–2013. We compare the data derived from the CHELSA algorithm with other standard gridded products and station data from the Global Historical Climate Network. We compare the performance of the new climatologies in species distribution modelling and show that we can increase the accuracy of species range predictions. We further show that CHELSA climatological data has a similar accuracy as other products for temperature, but that its predictions of precipitation patterns are better. Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)
1,859 citations
TL;DR: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART was originally designed for calculating the long-range and mesoscale dispersion of air pollutants from point sources, such as after an accident in a nuclear power plant.
Abstract: The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART was originally (about 8 years ago) designed for calculating the long-range and mesoscale dispersion of air pollutants from point sources, such as after an accident in a nuclear power plant In the meantime FLEXPART has evolved into a comprehensive tool for atmospheric transport modeling and analysis Its application fields were extended from air pollution studies to other topics where atmospheric transport plays a role (eg, exchange between the stratosphere and troposphere, or the global water cycle) It has evolved into a true community model that is now being used by at least 25 groups from 14 different countries and is seeing both operational and research applications A user manual has been kept actual over the years and was distributed over an internet page along with the model's source code In this note we provide a citeable technical description of FLEXPART's latest version (62)
1,656 citations