I V Gensch et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 035003 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/3/3/035003
I V Gensch1, H Bunz2, D G Baumgardner3, L E Christensen4, D W Fahey5, R L Herman4, P J Popp5, J B Smith6, R F Troy4, C R Webster4, E M Weinstock6, J C Wilson7, T Peter8 and M Krämer1
Show affiliationsPart of Focus on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions
Supersaturations, microphysics and nitric acid partitioning in a very cold subvisible tropical cirrus cloud observed on 2 February 2006, during the field campaign CR-AVE, are studied by comparing a simulated set of possible cloud development scenarios with the in situ observations. The scenario that best matches the observations is a cirrus cloud forming by heterogeneous freezing of a small number of ice nuclei with subsequent unimpeded mass accommodation of water on ice. Variation of the freezing process, the accommodation coefficient or the amount of available water leads to simulated clouds that differ microphysically from the observed cloud in important respects. In particular, the simulations suggest that heterogeneous ice nucleation or another freezing mechanism producing only a low number of ice crystals could be an important process for cold cirrus cloud formation, possibly explaining the frequent observations of high supersaturations inside the cirrus cloud in this temperature regime.
92.60.Nv Cloud physics; stratus and cumulus clouds
92.60.hv Pressure, density, and temperature
92.60.hf Tropospheric composition and chemistry, constituent transport and chemistry
92.60.Jq Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
Issue 3 (July-September 2008)
Received 13 January 2008, accepted for publication 30 June 2008
Published 24 July 2008
I V Gensch et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 035003
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