PNNL

Abstract

Many factors control the ice supersaturation and microphysical properties in cirrus clouds. We explore the effects of dynamic forcing, ice nucleation mechanisms, and ice crystal growth rate on the evolution and distribution of water vapor and cloud properties in cirrus clouds using a detailed microphysical model and remote sensing measurements obtained at the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility located near Lamont, OK. To help understand dynamic scales important in cirrus formation, we force the model using both large-scale forcing derived using ARM variational analysis, and mean mesoscale velocity derived from radar Doppler velocity measurements. Both heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation processes are explored, where we have implemented a rigorous classical theory heterogeneous nucleation scheme to compare with empirical representations. We evaluate model simulations by examining both bulk cloud properties and distributions of measured radar reflectivity, lidar extinction, and water vapor profiles, as well as retrieved cloud microphysical properties. This approach allows for independent verification of both the large and small particle modes of the particle size distribution. Our results suggest that mesoscale variability is the primary mechanism needed to reproduce observed quantities, while nucleation mechanism is secondary. Slow ice crystal growth tends to overestimate the number of small ice crystals, but does not seem to influence bulk properties such as ice water path and cloud thickness. The most realistic simulations as compared with observations are forced using mesoscale waves, include fast ice crystal growth, and initiate ice by either homogeneous or heterogeneous nucleation. Ice crystal number concentrations on the order of 10-100 L-1 produce results consistent with both lidar and radar observations during a cirrus event observed on 7 December 1999, which has an optical depth range typical of midlatitude cirrus.