Quantification of the Radiative Effect of Aerosol–Cloud Interactions in Shallow Continental Cumulus Clouds

Author:

Glenn Ian B.1,Feingold Graham2,Gristey Jake J.1,Yamaguchi Takanobu1

Affiliation:

1. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, and Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado

2. Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado

Abstract

Abstract The indirect radiative effect of aerosol variability on shallow cumulus clouds is realized in nature with considerable concurrent meteorological variability. Large-eddy simulations constrained by observations at a continental site in Oklahoma are performed to represent the variability of different meteorological states on days with different aerosol conditions. The total radiative effect of this natural covariation between aerosol and other meteorological drivers of total cloud amount and albedo is quantified. The changes to these bulk quantities are used to understand the response of the cloud radiative effect to aerosol–cloud interactions (ACI) in the context of concurrent processes, as opposed to attempting to untangle the effect of individual processes on a case-by-case basis. Mutual information (MI) analysis suggests that meteorological variability masks the strength of the relationship between cloud drop number concentration and the cloud radiative effect. This is shown to be mostly due to variation in solar zenith angle and cloud field horizontal heterogeneity masking the relationship between cloud drop number and cloud albedo. By combining MI and more traditional differential analyses, a framework to identify important modes of covariation between aerosol, clouds, and meteorological conditions is developed. This shows that accounting for solar zenith angle variation and implementing an albedo bias correction increases the detectability of the radiative effects of ACI in simulations of shallow cumulus.

Funder

Biological and Environmental Research

Publisher

American Meteorological Society

Subject

Atmospheric Science

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