The sensitivity of lightly precipitating trade wind shallow cumulus to both aerosol concentration and domain size is investigated using large-eddy simulations (LESs). The mean states of liquid water potential temperature, total water, and velocity field exhibit negligible change between all LES runs, offering the perfect opportunity to investigate microphysical–dynamical interactions solely due to variations in aerosol concentration and not changes in meteorology. As aerosol concentration increases, two cloud population responses are found: 1) cloud and cloud-core widths decrease while their strength increases and 2) cloud and core numbers increase. The narrowing of the polluted clouds is caused by enhanced evaporation rates surrounding the cloud cores, which in turn shrinks the diameter of the cumulus toroidal circulation. The more narrow toroidal circulation in polluted clouds has a faster rise rate and imparts weaker dynamical entrainment on the cloud cores, resulting in stronger clouds as aerosol concentration increases. The reduction in cloud number for more pristine conditions occurs from greater cold pool coverage, reducing the likelihood of subcloud-layer thermals reaching their lifting condensation level. The increase in cloud number as aerosol concentration increases is compensated by narrower and stronger clouds, resulting in a cumulus-core mass flux that appears to be unaffected by aerosol concentration variability. For the weakly precipitating case studied here, the trends in the response of the cumulus clouds to aerosol concentration are found to be insensitive to domain size.
Mineral dust is arguably the most abundant aerosol species in the world and as such potentially plays a large role in aerosol indirect effects (AIEs). This study assesses and isolates the individual responses in a squall line that arise (1) from radiation, (2) from dust altering the microphysics, as well as (3) from the synergistic effects between (1) and (2). To accomplish these tasks, we use the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) set up as a cloud-resolving model (CRM). The CRM contains aerosol and microphysical schemes that allow mineral dust particles to nucleate as cloud drops and ice crystals, replenish upon evaporation and sublimation, be tracked throughout hydrometeor transition, and be scavenged by precipitation and dry sedimentation.
Factor separation is used on four simulations of the squall line in order to isolate the individual roles of radiation (RADIATION), microphysically active dust (DUST MICRO), and the nonlinear interactions of those factors (SYNERGY). Results indicate that RADIATION acts to increase precipitation, intensify the cold pool, and enhance the mesoscale organization of the squall line due to changes in microphysics originating from cloud top cooling. Conversely, DUST MICRO decreases precipitation, weakens the cold pool, and weakens the mesoscale organization of the squall line due to an enhancement of the warm rain process. SYNERGY shows little impact on the squall line, except near the freezing level, where an increase in mesoscale organization takes place. The combined effect of the mineral dust AIE due to both DUST MICRO and SYNERGY is to weaken the squall line
Recent research pertaining to aerosol impacts on cloud microphysics has shown a need for understanding mineral dust entrainment into moist convection. The goal of this study is to examine the pathways in which nonmicrophysically active mineral dust is entrained into supercell storms within three commonly observed dust regimes. The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) with an interactive dust model that allows for surface emission was used to achieve this goal.First, a supercell is simulated within an already dusty environment (EXP-BACKGROUND) to investigate ingestion purely from a background source. Second, the supercell is simulated within a clean background environment and lofts its own dust via the interactive dust model (EXP-STORM) to investigate the regime in which the only source of dust in the atmosphere is due to the storm itself. Finally, the supercell is simulated with a low-level convergence boundary introduced ahead of the supercell to investigate dust lofting by outflow boundary interactions (EXP-BOUNDARY). Results indicate that the supercell in EXP-BACKGROUND ingests large dust concentrations ahead of the rear flank downdraft (RFD) cold pool. Conversely, dust lofted by the cold pool in EXP-STORM is ingested by the supercell in relatively small amounts via a narrow corridor generated by turbulent mixing of the RFD cold pool and ambient air. The addition of a convergence boundary in EXP-BOUNDARY is found to act as an additional source of dust for the supercell. Results demonstrate the importance of an appropriate dust representation for numerical modeling.
The goal of this research is to investigate the impacts of a stably stratified layer embedded within a neutrally stratified environment on the behavior of density currents in an effort to extend the environmental regimes examined by Liu and Moncrieff. Such environments frequently support severe weather events. To accomplish this goal, nonhydrostatic numerical model experiments are performed in which the strength and height of the embedded stably stratified layer within a neutrally stratified environment are varied. The 1-km-deep stable layer base is varied between 1, 2, and 3 km AGL. Additionally, the strength of the stable layer is systematically varied between Brunt-Vä isä lä frequencies of 0.006, 0.012, and 0.018 s 21 , following the methodology of Liu and Moncrieff. The model and grid setup are also similar to that of Liu and Moncrieff, utilizing the Arakawa C grid, leapfrog advection, a Robert-Asselin filter, and grid spacing of 100 and 50 m in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. Results show that the height of the density current decreases and the propagation speed increases with stronger and lower stable layers, provided that the stable layer is sufficiently thin so as to not act as a gravity wave ducting layer. As the strength of the stable layer increases and the height of this layer decreases, the horizontal pressure gradient driving the density current increases, resulting in faster propagation speeds. Such results have implications for cold pool propagation into more stable environments.
Many studies have demonstrated the intimate connection between microphysics and deep moist convection, especially for squall lines via cold pool pathways. The present study examines four numerically simulated idealized squall lines using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and includes a control simulation that uses full two-moment microphysics and three sensitivity experiments that vary the mean diameter of the hail hydrometeor size distribution. Results suggest that a circulation centered at the freezing level supports midlevel convective updraft invigoration through increased latent heating. The circulation begins with hail hydrometeors that initiate within the convective updraft above the freezing level and are then ejected upshear because of the front-to-rear flow of the squall line. As the hail falls below the freezing level, the rear-inflow jet (RIJ) advects the hail hydrometeors downshear and into the upshear flank of the midlevel convective updraft. Because the advection occurs below the freezing level, some of the hail melts and sheds raindrops. The addition of hail and rain to the updraft increases latent heating owing to both an enhancement in riming and vapor deposition onto hail and rain. The increase in latent heating enhances buoyancy within the updraft, which leads to an increase in precipitation and cold pool intensity that promote a positive feedback on squall-line strength. The upshear-tilted simulated squall lines in this study indicate that as hail size is decreased, squall lines are invigorated through the recirculation mechanism.
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