Explore Relationships between Vertical Velocity, Entrainment Rate, Mixing Mechanisms, and Cloud Microphysics for Parameterization and Remote Sensing

Description

Although a cloud is generally recognized as a system with couplings between vertical velocity, entrainment, mixing, and cloud microphysics, detailed coupling mechanisms and their resultant relationships have been poorly understood and parameterized in atmospheric models. This study aims to improve the situation by empirically examining the relationships between vertical velocity, entrainment rate, mixing mechanisms, and microphysical properties. Aircraft measurements collected from the RACORO and other field campaigns will be analyzed. A new parameterization for the degree of homogeneous mixing will be presented, and the importance to consider the spectral shape of cloud droplet size distribution will be investigated with a moment-based approach. We will further base the empirical results to explore a theoretical framework for the dual purposes of 1) improving parameterizations of these coupled processes, and 2) developing a remote sensing approach that takes advantage of cloud radar and lidar measurements.