[1] Cloud responses to changes in aerosol remain a dominant uncertainty in the radiative forcing of climate. Two main constructs related to aerosol effects on clouds have been postulated: (i) the ''albedo effect'' whereby anthropogenic aerosol results in increased droplet concentrations that generate increases in cloud albedo, all else (particularly cloud water) being equal; (ii) the ''lifetime effect'' whereby anthropogenic aerosol suppresses precipitation and results in clouds with more liquid water, higher fractional cloudiness, and longer lifetimes. Based on new observations presented here, and supported by previous fine-scale modeling studies, we suggest that the balance of evidence shows that non-precipitating cumulus clouds can experience an evaporation-entrainment feedback, and respond to aerosol perturbations in a manner inconsistent with the traditional ''lifetime effect.'' Because most cumulus clouds evaporate without producing significant precipitation, this is particularly relevant to estimates of aerosol indirect effects on climate.

Conducting accurate cloud microphysical measurements from airborne platforms poses a number of challenges. The technique of phase Doppler interferometry (PDI) confers numerous advantages relative to traditional light-scattering techniques for measurement of the cloud drop size distribution, and, in addition, yields drop velocity information. Here, we describe PDI for the purposes of aiding atmospheric scientists in understanding the technique fundamentals, advantages, and limitations in measuring cloud microphysical properties. The performance of the Artium Flight PDI, an instrument specifically designed for airborne cloud measurements, is studied. Drop size distributions, liquid water content, and velocity distributions are compared with those measured by other airborne instruments.

Abstract. The colocation of clouds and smoke over the southeast Atlantic Ocean during the southern African biomass burning season has numerous radiative implications, including microphysical modulation of the clouds if smoke is entrained into the marine boundary layer. NASA's ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) campaign is studying this system with aircraft in three field deployments between 2016 and 2018. Results from ORACLES-2016 show that the relationship between cloud droplet number concentration and smoke below cloud is consistent with previously reported values, whereas cloud droplet number concentration is only weakly associated with smoke immediately above cloud at the time of observation. By combining field observations, regional chemistry–climate modeling, and theoretical boundary layer aerosol budget equations, we show that the history of smoke entrainment (which has a characteristic mixing timescale on the order of days) helps explain variations in cloud properties for similar instantaneous above-cloud smoke environments. Precipitation processes can obscure the relationship between above-cloud smoke and cloud properties in parts of the southeast Atlantic, but marine boundary layer carbon monoxide concentrations for two case study flights suggest that smoke entrainment history drove the observed differences in cloud properties for those days. A Lagrangian framework following the clouds and accounting for the history of smoke entrainment and precipitation is likely necessary for quantitatively studying this system; an Eulerian framework (e.g., instantaneous correlation of A-train satellite observations) is unlikely to capture the true extent of smoke–cloud interaction in the southeast Atlantic.

Abstract. Southern Africa produces almost a third of the Earth’s biomass burning (BB) aerosol particles, yet the fate of these particles and their influence on regional and global climate is poorly understood. ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) is a five-year NASA EVS-2 (Earth Venture Suborbital-2) investigation with three Intensive Observation Periods designed to study key atmospheric processes that determine the climate impacts of these aerosols. During the Southern Hemisphere winter and spring (June-October), aerosol particles reaching 3–5 km in altitude are transported westward over the South-East Atlantic, where they interact with one of the largest subtropical stratocumulus subtropical stratocumulus (Sc) cloud decks in the world. The representation of these interactions in climate models remains highly uncertain in part due to a scarcity of observational constraints on aerosol and cloud properties, and due to the parameterized treatment of physical processes. Three ORACLES deployments by the NASA P-3 aircraft in September 2016, August 2017 and October 2018 (totaling ~350 science flight hours), augmented by the deployment of the NASA ER-2 aircraft for remote sensing in September 2016 (totaling ~100 science flight hours), were intended to help fill this observational gap. ORACLES focuses on three fundamental science questions centered on the climate effects of African BB aerosols: (a) direct aerosol radiative effects; (b) effects of aerosol absorption on atmospheric circulation and clouds; (c) aerosol-cloud microphysical interactions. This paper summarizes the ORACLES science objectives, describes the project implementation, provides an overview of the flights and measurements in each deployment, and highlights the integrative modeling efforts from cloud to global scales to address science objectives. Significant new findings on the vertical structure of BB aerosol physical and chemical properties, chemical aging, cloud condensation nuclei, rain and precipitation statistics, and aerosol indirect effects are emphasized, but their detailed descriptions are the subject of separate publications. The main purpose of this paper is to familiarize the broader scientific community with the ORACLES project and the data set it produced.

The mechanism responsible for formation of rain in warm clouds has been debated for over six decades. Here, the authors analyze new measurements of shallow cumulus made with a phase Doppler interferometer during the Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) experiment. These observations show that drops sufficiently large (Ͼ55-m diameter) to initiate precipitation (termed collision-coalescence initiators or CCIs) are found preferentially at cloud top, tend to cluster with each other, and are found in environments that are thermodynamically, dynamically, and microphysically distinct from those of smaller drops. The CCI environments exhibit cloud spectra that are shifted to larger sizes, with enhanced broadening toward larger drop sizes. Increased entrainment is also associated with CCIs, suggesting that it is an important process in CCI production. A simple model combining inhomogeneous mixing and condensation is inadequate to explain these observations. It is hypothesized that CCIs are produced in cloud-top regions where turbulence generated by entrainment mixing locally enhances collision-coalescence rates.

[1] We study the relationships between aerosols, clouds, and large scale dynamics over a north coastal Australia (NCA) region and a southeast Australia (SEA) region during the period 2002-2009 to evaluate the applicability of the aerosol microphysics-radiation-effect (MRE) theory proposed by Koren et al. (2008) in a low aerosol environment. We use aerosol optical depth (t a ), fire counts, and cloud fraction ( f c ) from Aqua-MODIS, and NCEP Reanalysis vertical velocities at 500 mb (w 500 ) as a proxy for dynamic regime. In the NCA we find a monotonic increase f c (35%, absolute f c ) as a function of increasing t a . In the SEA, we find that f c initially increases by 25% with increasing t a , followed by a slow systematic decrease (∼18%) with higher t a . We show that the MRE theory proposed by Koren et al. (2008) adequately represents the variation of f c with t a in both the NCA and SEA. By conditionally sorting data by w 500 we investigate the role dynamics plays in controlling the t a -f c relationship and the rate at which f c changes with t a . We find that the MRE theory can be used to empirically fit both −w 500 and +w 500 observations. By analyzing meteorological parameters from the NCEP Reanalysis, we find that variations in local meteorology are not likely the cause of the observed relationships of t a and f c during biomass burning seasons. However, additional factors such as aerosol type and cloud type may play a role. Citation: Small,

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The South-East Atlantic (SEA) is host to a climatologically significant biomass burning aerosol layer overlying marine stratocumulus. We present directly measured Above Cloud Aerosol Optical Depth (ACAOD) from the recent ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) airborne field campaign during August and September 2016. In our analysis, we use data from the Spectrometers for Sky-Scanning Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) instrument and found an average ACAOD of 0.32 at 501 nm, with an average Ångström exponent (AE) of 1.71. The AE is much lower at 1.25 for the full column (including below cloud level aerosol), indicating the presence of large aerosol particles, likely marine aerosol, embedded within the vertical column. ACAOD is observed to be highest near coast at about 12° S, whereas its variability is largest at the southern edge of the average aerosol plume, as indicated by 12 years of MODIS observations. In comparison to MODIS derived ACAOD and long term fine-mode plume-average AOD, the directly-measured ACAOD from 4STAR is slightly lower than the ACAOD product from MODIS. The peak ACAOD expected from long term retrievals is measured to be closer to coast in 2016 at about 1.5°–4° W. By spatially binning the sampled AOD, we obtain a mean ACAOD of 0.37 for the SEA region. Vertical profiles of AOD showcase the variability of the altitude of the aerosol plume and its separation from cloud top. We measured larger AOD at high altitude near coast than farther from coast, while generally observing a larger vertical gap further from coast. Changes of AOD with altitude are correlated with a gas tracer of the biomass burning aerosol plume. Vertical extent of gaps between aerosol and cloud show a large distribution of extent, dominated by near zero gap. The gap distribution with longitude is observed to be largest at about 7° W, farther from coast than expected.</p>

Abstract. Cloud droplet number concentration (Nd) is of central importance to observation-based estimates of aerosol indirect effects, being used to quantify both the cloud sensitivity to aerosol and the base state of the cloud. However, the derivation of Nd from satellite data depends on a number of assumptions about the cloud and the accuracy of the retrievals of the cloud properties from which it is derived, making it prone to systematic biases. A number of sampling strategies have been proposed to address these biases by selecting the most accurate Nd retrievals in the satellite data. This work compares the impact of these strategies on the accuracy of the satellite retrieved Nd, using a selection of in situ measurements. In stratocumulus regions, the MODIS Nd retrieval is able to achieve a high precision (r2 of 0.5–0.8). This is lower in other cloud regimes but can be increased by appropriate sampling choices. Although the Nd sampling can have significant effects on the Nd climatology, it produces only a 20 % variation in the implied radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions, with the choice of aerosol proxy driving the overall uncertainty. The results are summarised into recommendations for using MODIS Nd products and appropriate sampling.