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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 23655-23705, 2011
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/23655/2011/ doi:10.5194/acpd-11-23655-2011 © Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
A continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model
1Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, CA, USA
2Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, CA, USA
Abstract. A two-dimensional (2-D) continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model is presented and implemented into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for large-eddy simulations (LES) of warm marine stratocumulus clouds. Activation and regeneration of aerosols are treated explicitly in the calculation of condensation/evaporation. The model includes a 2-D spectrum that encompasses wet aerosol particles (i.e. haze droplets), cloud droplets, and drizzle droplets in a continuous and consistent manner and allows for the explicit tracking of aerosol size within cloud droplets due to collision-coalescence. The system of differential equations describing condensation/evaporation (i.e. mass conservation and energy conservation) is solved simultaneously within each grid cell. The model is demonstrated by simulating a marine stratocumulus deck for two different aerosol loadings (100 and 500 cm−3), and comparison with the more traditional microphysics modeling approaches (both 1-D bin and bulk schemes) is evaluated.
Citation: Lebo, Z. J. and Seinfeld, J. H.: A continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 23655-23705, doi:10.5194/acpd-11-23655-2011, 2011.