Characteristics of generating cells in wintertime orographic clouds

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-23-0029.1

Language of the publication
English
Date
2024-03-06
Type
Article
Author(s)
  • Tessendorf, Sarah A.
  • Ikeda, Kyoko
  • Rasmussen, Roy M.
  • French, Jeffrey
  • Rauber, Robert M.
  • Korolev, Alexei
  • Xue, Lulin
  • Blestrud, Derek R.
  • Dawson, Nicholas
  • Meadows, Melinda
  • Kunkel, Melvin L.
  • Parkinson, Shaun
Publisher
American Meteorological Society

Alternative title

Caractéristiques des cellules génératrices dans les nuages orographiques hivernaux

Abstract

During the Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime clouds: the Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE) field campaign, cloud-top generating cells were frequently observed in the very high-resolution W-band airborne cloud radar data. This study examines multiple flight segments from three SNOWIE cases that exhibited cloud-top generating cells structures, focusing on the in situ measurements inside and outside these cells to characterize the microphysics of these cells. The observed generating cells in these three cases occurred in cloud tops of −15° to −30°C, with and without overlying cloud layers, but always with shallow layers of atmospheric instability observed at cloud top. The results also indicate that liquid water content, vertical velocity, and drizzle and ice crystal concentrations are greater inside the generating cells compared to the adjacent portions of the cloud. The generating cells were predominantly <500 m in horizontal width and frequently exhibited drizzle drops coexisting with ice. The particle imagery indicates that ice particle habits included plates, columns, and rimed and irregular crystals, likely formed via primary ice nucleation mechanisms. Understanding the sources of natural ice formation is important to understanding precipitation formation in winter orographic clouds, and is especially relevant for clouds that may be targeted for glaciogenic cloud seeding as well as to improve model representation of these clouds.

Plain language summary

Cloud-top generating cells are frequently observed on radar and exhibited enhanced concentrations of drizzle and ice particles, which suggests the environments of these fine-scale features promote precipitation formation. The source of ice formation in winter clouds is critical to understanding and modelling the precipitation formation process.

Description

Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this Work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this Work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. All AMS journals and monograph publications are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (https://www.copyright.com). Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement, available on the AMS website (https://www.ametsoc.org/PUBSCopyrightPolicy)

Subject

  • Meteorology,
  • Aircraft,
  • Radar,
  • Ice

Rights

Pagination

649-673

Peer review

Yes

Open access level

Green

Identifiers

ISSN
0022-4928
1520-0469

Article

Journal title
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Journal volume
81
Journal issue
3
Accepted date
2023-12-15
Submitted date
2023-02-22

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Water

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