ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-10-3933-2010 Influence of vortex dynamics and atmospheric turbulence on the early evolution of a contrail Paugam R. 1 3 Paoli R. 1 Cariolle D. 1 2 CNRS/CERFACS, URA 1875, Sciences de l'Univers au CERFACS, Toulouse, France Météo France, Toulouse, France now at: Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK 27 04 2010 10 8 3933 3952 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/3933/2010/acp-10-3933-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/3933/2010/acp-10-3933-2010.pdf

This study describes three-dimensional numerical simulations of the evolution of an aircraft contrail during the first 30 min following the emission of exhausts. The wake is modeled as a vortex pair descending in a stratified atmosphere where turbulent fluctuations are sustained in the late dissipation regime. The focus of the study is laid on the interactions between vortex dynamics, atmospheric turbulence and contrail microphysics, and their role in determining the growth and the distribution of ice crystals. The atmospheric turbulence is synthesized using a methodology developed to force anisotropic turbulent fluctuations. The results show the feasibility of three-dimensional simulations of the early development of a contrail in supersaturated conditions before its transition into a contrail-cirrus. %(when radiative heating and sedimentation are no more negligible). It is shown that in case of strongly supersaturated and shear-free atmosphere the optical depth is maintained as the contrail spreads by turbulent diffusion in the late dissipation regime.

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