Effects of cloud microphysical parameters on the global energy budget

• Main Author: I. Gultepe
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Canada; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=902

Cloud microphysical parameters, such as cloud droplet size (r), droplet number concentration (N d ) and liquid water content (LWC), play an important role in the energy budgets of clouds, and thus the climate of the earth's atmosphere. The observations were collected during the North Atlantic Regional Experiment (NARE) near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia between 5 August and 8 September 1993. Measurements collected by the Twin Otter of the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, and averaged over approximately 60 km (15 min) at constant altitudes, were used to estimate mean, standard deviation (σ) median, 20% and 80% percentiles. Frequency occurrence and autocorrelation coefficients are obtained for 15 cases. For each case, two-day back-trajectories are used to understand better how the source of aerosols plays a role in affecting cloud microphysical parameters. The results suggest that frequency occurrence values of microphysical data at 20% and 80% can be important for climate studies of extreme temperature values and the energy budget of the atmosphere. cloud microphysics; aerosol effect on the microphysics; energy budget; climate change.