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Description
Title Entrainment-Mixing and Radiative Transfer Simulation in Boundary Layer Clouds
Type Publication
Abstract:

In general circulation models, clouds are parameterized and radiative transfer calculations are performed using the plane-parallel approximation over the cloudy fraction of each model grid. The albedo bias resulting from the plane-parallel representation of spatially heterogeneous clouds has been extensively studied, but the impact of entrainment-mixing processes on cloud microphysics has been neglected up to now. In this paper, this issue is examined by using large-eddy simulations of stratocumulus clouds and tridimensional calculations of radiative transfer in the visible and near-infrared ranges. Two extreme scenarios of mixing are tested: the homogeneous mixing scheme with constant concentration and reduced droplet sizes, against the inhomogeneous mixing scheme, with reduced concentration and constant droplet sizes. The tests reveal that entrainment-mixing effects at cloud top may substantially bias the simulated albedo. In the worse case, which corresponds to a fragmented and thin stratocumulus cloud, the albedo bias changes from −3% to −31% when using both mixing schemes alternatively.

Available from http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/JAS3975.1
Author
BRENGUIER Jean-louis
SCHULLER Lothar
Frédérick Chosson
Reference
Journal Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Volume 64
Pages 2670-2682
Year 2007
Times cited 0
Institute country France
Type of science
  • Cloud physics
Field of science
  • Troposphere
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Added March 13, 2006, 00:00
Last update Nov. 20, 2023, 14:41
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