References

ACPD

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions

ACPD

1680-7375

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acpd-11-23655-2011

A continuous spectral aerosol-droplet microphysics model

Lebo

Z. J.

¹ Seinfeld

J. H.

¹ ²

Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, CA, USA

Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, CA, USA

22 08 2011

11 8 23655 23705

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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<sup>−3</sup>), and comparison with the more traditional microphysics modeling approaches (both 1-D bin and bulk schemes) is evaluated.

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