Premium
On the parametrization of clouds containing water droplets
Author(s) -
Jonas Peter
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49711749712
Subject(s) - parametrization (atmospheric modeling) , cloud condensation nuclei , liquid water content , condensation , cloud base , effective radius , radius , radiative transfer , cloud physics , atmospheric sciences , cloud computing , environmental science , physics , mechanics , meteorology , astrophysics , optics , galaxy , computer security , aerosol , computer science , operating system
A one‐dimensional model of the growth of droplets by condensation in an entraining cumulus cloud is used to examine the sensitivity of the average spectrum at a given height to the cloud base temperature, liquid water content and condensation nucleus spectrum. It is shown that the equivalent radius of the droplet spectrum is dependent on the nucleus spectrum and cloud water content but is relatively insensitive to other properties of the cloud. The results are used to suggest a method of parametrizing the effects of cumulus clouds in radiative transfer calculations for use in atmospheric circulation models.