Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4599-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4599-2017
Research article
 | 
07 Apr 2017
Research article |  | 07 Apr 2017

The role of the gamma function shape parameter in determining differences between condensation rates in bin and bulk microphysics schemes

Adele L. Igel and Susan C. van den Heever

Related authors

Above-cloud concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei help to sustain some Arctic low-level clouds
Lucas J. Sterzinger and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3529–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, 2024
Short summary
Opinion: A critical evaluation of the evidence for aerosol invigoration of deep convection
Adam C. Varble, Adele L. Igel, Hugh Morrison, Wojciech W. Grabowski, and Zachary J. Lebo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13791–13808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13791-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13791-2023, 2023
Short summary
Do Arctic mixed-phase clouds sometimes dissipate due to insufficient aerosol? Evidence from comparisons between observations and idealized simulations
Lucas J. Sterzinger, Joseph Sedlar, Heather Guy, Ryan R. Neely III, and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8973–8988, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8973-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8973-2022, 2022
Short summary
Demistify: a large-eddy simulation (LES) and single-column model (SCM) intercomparison of radiation fog
Ian Boutle, Wayne Angevine, Jian-Wen Bao, Thierry Bergot, Ritthik Bhattacharya, Andreas Bott, Leo Ducongé, Richard Forbes, Tobias Goecke, Evelyn Grell, Adrian Hill, Adele L. Igel, Innocent Kudzotsa, Christine Lac, Bjorn Maronga, Sami Romakkaniemi, Juerg Schmidli, Johannes Schwenkel, Gert-Jan Steeneveld, and Benoît Vié
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 319–333, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-319-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-319-2022, 2022
Short summary
Processes contributing to cloud dissipation and formation events on the North Slope of Alaska
Joseph Sedlar, Adele Igel, and Hagen Telg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4149–4167, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4149-2021, 2021

Related subject area

Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Above-cloud concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei help to sustain some Arctic low-level clouds
Lucas J. Sterzinger and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3529–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, 2024
Short summary
Contrail formation on ambient aerosol particles for aircraft with hydrogen combustion: a box model trajectory study
Andreas Bier, Simon Unterstrasser, Josef Zink, Dennis Hillenbrand, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, and Annemarie Lottermoser
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2319–2344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024, 2024
Short summary
Effects of intermittent aerosol forcing on the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition
Prasanth Prabhakaran, Fabian Hoffmann, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1919–1937, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1919-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1919-2024, 2024
Short summary
Cloud properties and their projected changes in CMIP models with low to high climate sensitivity
Lisa Bock and Axel Lauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1587–1605, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1587-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1587-2024, 2024
Short summary
Water isotopic characterisation of the cloud–circulation coupling in the North Atlantic trades – Part 2: The imprint of the atmospheric circulation at different scales
Leonie Villiger and Franziska Aemisegger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 957–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-957-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-957-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Beheng, K. D.: A parameterization of warm cloud microphysical conversion processes, Atmos. Res., 33, 193–206, https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-8095(94)90020-5, 1994.
Grabowski, W. W.: Toward Cloud Resolving Modeling of Large-Scale Tropical Circulations: A Simple Cloud Microphysics Parameterization, J. Atmos. Sci., 55, 3283–3298, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1998)055<3283:TCRMOL>2.0.CO;2, 1998.
Harrington, J. Y.: The effects of radiative and microphysical processes on simulation of warm and transition season Arctic stratus, Colorado State University, 1997.
Igel, A. L. and van den Heever, S. C.: The Importance of the Shape of Cloud Droplet Size Distributions in Shallow Cumulus Clouds. Part I: Bin Microphysics Simulations, J. Atmos. Sci. 74, 249–258, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0382.1, 2017a.
Igel, A. L. and van den Heever, S. C.: The Importance of the Shape of Cloud Droplet Size Distributions in Shallow Cumulus Clouds. Part II: Bulk Microphysics Simulations,. J. Atmos. Sci. 74, 259–273, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-15-0383.1, 2017b.
Download
Short summary
We ran simulations of cumulus clouds with bin and bulk microphysics schemes and compared the predicted condensation rates. Differences are predominantly due to the use of a fixed shape parameter in bulk models. The shape parameter is poorly constrained by observations and requires further study.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint