Dependence of aerosol effect on meteorological variables

 

Authors

Yanni Ding — Dept of Atmos. & Oceanic Sci.
Jiwen Fan — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Category

Aerosol-Cloud-Radiation Interactions

Description

Generally, aerosols influence cloud development and precipitation processes through suppression effect on shallow clouds and invigoration effects on deep convective clouds. However, it is not always the case if the meteorological variables change. Previous studies have shown the possibility of the anti-Twomey effect, and some model simulations have shown that wind shear and relative humidity (RH) can regulate aerosol’s invigoration effects. This study attempts to identify and evaluate the dependence of aerosol effects on meteorological variables using long-term observational data from the ARM Southern Great Plains site. Various factors such as RH, wind shear, cloud water mixing ratio, and surface fluxes are investigated.