PNNL

Abstract

Results are presented from an intercomparison of single-column and cloud-resolving model simulations of a cold-air outbreak mixed-phase stratocumulus cloud observed during the ARM Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment. The observed cloud occurred in a well-mixed boundary layer with a cloud top temperature of –15°C. While the cloud was water dominated, ice precipitation appears to have lowered the liquid water path to about 2/3 of the adiabatic value. The simulations, which were performed by seventeen single column and nine cloud-resolving models, generally underestimate the liquid water path with the median single-column and cloud-resolving model liquid water path a factor of 3 smaller than observed. While the simulated ice water path is in general agreement with the observed values, results from a sensitivity study in which models removed ice microphysics indicate that in many models the interaction between liquid and ice phase microphysics is responsible for the strong model underestimate of liquid water path. Although no single factor is found to lead to a good simulation, these results emphasize the need for care in the model treatment of mixed-phase microphysics. This case study, which has been well observed from both aircraft and ground-based remote sensors, could be benchmark for model simulations of mixed-phase clouds.