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Contribution to the cloud droplet effective radius parameterization
Author(s) -
Pontikis Constantin,
Hicks Elizabeth
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/92gl02283
Subject(s) - effective radius , radius , liquid water content , cloud computing , dispersion (optics) , turbulence , environmental science , mixing (physics) , physics , mechanics , limit (mathematics) , computational physics , statistical physics , meteorology , optics , astrophysics , mathematics , computer science , mathematical analysis , computer security , galaxy , operating system , quantum mechanics
An analytic cloud droplet effective radius expression is derived and validated by using field experiment microphysical data. This expression shows that the effective radius depends simultaneously upon the cloud liquid water content, droplet concentration and droplet spectral dispersion. It further suggests that the variability in these parameters present at all scales, due to turbulent mixing and secondary droplet activation, could limit the accuracy of the effective radius parameterizations used in climate models.