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Contribution to the droplet effective radius parameterization of warm convective clouds: Clear air entrainment effects
Author(s) -
Pontikis Constantin
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1029/95gl00391
Subject(s) - entrainment (biomusicology) , radius , liquid water path , effective radius , adiabatic process , convection , mechanics , cloud physics , physics , mixing (physics) , liquid water content , meteorology , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , cloud computing , thermodynamics , astrophysics , aerosol , computer security , galaxy , computer science , rhythm , acoustics , quantum mechanics , operating system
The effects of clear air entrainment and mixing on the cloud droplet effective radius are investigated. Approximate expressions of the droplet effective radius corresponding to extreme scenarios of mixing and secondary droplet activation are derived. They depend upon the liquid water path as well as upon the cloud droplet effective radius and liquid water path of the corresponding adiabatic cloud. The validity of these expressions is verified by using field experiment data. A parameterization of the mean droplet effective radius for tropical warm convective clouds is deduced from the above expressions and is further validated with the same field experiment data.