Characteristics of Correlation Statistics between Droplet Radius and Optical Thickness of Warm Clouds Simulated by a Three-Dimensional Regional-Scale Spectral Bin Microphysics Cloud Model

Abstract

Abstract Three-dimensional downscaling simulations using a spectral bin microphysics (SBM) model were conducted to investigate the effects of aerosol amount and dynamical stabilities of the atmosphere on the correlation statistics between cloud droplet effective radius (RE) and cloud optical thickness (COT) of warm clouds off the coast of California. The regeneration process of aerosols was implemented into the SBM and was found to be necessary for simulating the satellite-observed microphysical properties of warm clouds by the SBM model used in this study. The results showed that the aerosol amount changed the correlation statistics in a way that changes the cloud particle number concentration, whereas the inversion height of the boundary layer, which is related to the atmospheric stability and the cloud-top height, changed the correlation statistics in a way that changes the liquid water path. These results showed that the dominant mechanisms that control the correlation statistics are similar to those suggested by previous modeling studies based on two-dimensional idealized simulations. On the other hand, the present three-dimensional modeling was also able to simulate some realistic patterns of the correlation statistics, namely, mixtures of characteristic patterns and the “high-heeled” pattern as observed by satellite remote sensing.